Paul Payne

sjordan2, no crucifixion required! If the model had not been a decent build and had not had all the original decals applied, I probably would have disassembled it and painted it. However, I liked the idea of preserving a period build and only doing the repair work. Back in the day (and I go back that far), it was pretty common to not paint kits that were molded in color- often you could barely afford the kit, never mind paint as well!

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When I was home from switching jobs from Alabama to Elmira, New York, I decided to snap a few comparison pix of my rebuilt Black Widow and one I had bought already assembled. Here they are:

a few more pix:

I bought this one on line a while back. The front axle was broken and it was missing one hairpin radius rod. The build was clean original, and the builder must have used every decal on the sheet. The seller also included a very good repro box- love the old style Monogram artwork.

Well, the project is on hold for a bit, in fact it is packed away ready to be moved as I start a new job. I have been in Alabama for 7 months, but am relocating to Elmira New York. I will be 3-1/2 hours from Erie, where my wife is, and about the same distance from her family and my 93 year old mother in central PA. Once resettled, out will come the project. I figured out the rear suspension, also decided, at least for now, to use the side draft carb induction setup in AMT's 57 Chevy, where I got the blower from. I haven't decided whether to mold the headlight buckets into the fenders or let them float. The sheet metal between the grille and hood still needs a lot of work to blend properly, and I may need to lengthen the hood a bit to acommodate the Monogram 1/24th scale grille. Everyone, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! [Edit Tags]

Shots of the new firewall and an overall shot of how the interior will look in comparison to the exterior. The seat will have a filler panel on each side between the ends and the divider to eliminate the gap you see. [Edit Tags]

Here's a comparison shot of a stock chassis and modified chassis- exhaust removed, battery box removed, engine compartment frame rails reinforced, rails here cut back to (hopefully) clear the exhaust pipes, and the chassis floor pan ribs removed. Shots of the interior- package shelf and divider panel cut from interior shell, will be glued to body with filler pieces added between the divider and rear of door openings. Floor was sectioned almost 1/4" at transmission tunnel and floor board kickup to fit the new filewall and (hopefully) clear the big transmission. Seat is from the Revell 1932 Ford 3 window coupe- these were very plushy seats! [Edit Tags]

Re: 1936 Ford Project Guys, I fianally got some more things done- been concentrating on the chassis, steering, rear axle placement, a low profile induction manifold to fit under the hood, and reworking the floor pan to fit a new firewall. Here is a picture of the induction manifold- ribbed center section with side draft ends. Not sure if I will go with mechanical fuel injection or side draft carbs. Started drilling out some styrene tube for fuel injection- very rough so far, threw some silver paint on the ends to check the look..... Poseable steering with a comparison shot to the unmodified kit dropped axle- still need drag lonk connection, steering arms, and tie rod- not sure how to route steering through the engine compartment, not going to be much room with the exhausts- thinking of pitman arm and drag link with a Schroeter steering box behind the dash dropping down through a chain drive on the firewall to the steering column- more darn engineering! [Edit Tags]

Go to 1936 Ford Project in this column- should have my name attached- will post more pix soon. In the mean time, keep working on your awesome project!

Great chassis and body mods- I am working on a 36 with chopped top also- looking for a 40's look on mine- my body had issues with thick and thin areas passenger side to drivers side making the chopped top difficult to attach- how did you resolve these issues? I also opened up the doors, found discrepancies between passenger and drivers side contours, will address with styrene strip on leading edge of passenger side opening and sanding back the leading edge of the door, about 0.060 to 0.090 at bottom to zero at belt line. Still, the AMT kit is the best for build options, especially if you want 1/25th scale. Check my concept out at 1936 Ford Project if you get a minute.

The color will be dark maroon with a black interior. The dash will also be maroon.

They are both 1940's hot rods from the dry lakes era, and it doesn't get any better than that! Race?

I think you are right! Much too saggy!

Inspired by the Pierson Brothers 1936 3 window Ford, which set many records at the dry lakes, and was later chopped and customized, I began with AMT's 1936 Ford and used an original issue chopped top. My intent was to create a high performance hot rod that would also incorporate much custom body work, but would by no means be considered a "lead sled"! The engine will be a late model flathead incorporating Ardun heads, the blower from AMT's 1957 Chevy, and side draft carbs or fuel injection, since I don't want anything sticking through the hood. The next step was to open the doors, which will be hinged suicide style. A Monogram grille will be used, since it has a much more accurate "tuck under" at the bottom as compared to AMT's grille. The hood sides will be molded to the fenders and body, with bulges fitted at the bottom to clear the very wide Ardun heads. The fenders will also be relieved for this. The rumble seat will be converted into a trunk. Fender skirts were cut from sheet plastic using original skirts as templates. The rear bumper will be a tube, wrapping around the continental spare, and incorporating two small bullet tail lights as well as the license plate and club plaque. The trunk will hold gas and oil cans, tools and a tool box, etc. The interior will feature a stock dash with added gauges, tuck and roll upholstery including the head liner made from 1/8" half round styrene, and a seat from Revell's 1932 Ford 3 window coupe (a very cushy seat). The running boards were removed and new rocker panels fabricated from sheet styrene and pinned in place with brass rod. Material was also added to the bottom portion of the front and rear fenders. I wanted a pontoon look for the fenders, similar to the 810 and 812 Cords, and last iteration Auburn Speedsters, designed by Gordon Buhrig. Here are some pix so far: I discovered that the carbs and air cleaner would stick through the hood, so the engine will be reworked with a side draft inductin system which will fit under the hood.

Great build, especially as a replica of an original 40's rod. I built a 29 a-v8 a few years back using a junker 29 Ford body and new 32 frame with a flathead v8. Here are a couple of pix: I tried scratch building a Gordon Schroder steering box like Doane Spenser used in his deuce, but it came out a little large. I used it anyways, too good to junk!

Guys, thanks so much for the enthusiastic response to this project! I actually planned this one out, writing down all my ideas for it, because even built up models are few and far between and I didn't want to forget an idea or feature and then not be able to incorporate it. One idea was to use parts from my stash which would have been available when the kit was available. The grille shell was molded in black plastic with a small Ford oval molded in- I think it was from an old AMT Deuce kit. The flathead was also from an early AMT kit, I have no idea which one, its basically two halves including the block, transmission, front end details, and oil pan. It was dressed up with newer heads but the big feature of the engine is the kit three carb manifold, which is a real gem. I removed the magneto at the back and substituted an oil filler tube. The manifold only needed to be narrowed to fit between the heads. I consider this part to be the gem of the whole kit. Because the frame is split horizontally to trap the rear axle, the front rails for some reason were not brought back up to the full thickness. I added material to the top and this really stiffens the frame. The windshield is from another deuce kit, while the top is also old but I have no idea what kit it might be from. The kit was missing the bed cover, so I modified a bed cover from the 1934 Ford pick up kit. I was determined to create a complete drive train, so a lot of cutting was done to make things fit under the bed area. This is where the gear clearance areas were anyways, but mods were necessary because they were off center. I love the quick change and rear axle from the Green Hornet, so I went to my junker stash and rescued one where the axle ends had been broken off. I was surprised how much more had to be taken off to preserve the proper track. The frame was cut in two and stepped up to provide centering for the axle to maintain the same relationship with the rear fenders. The Black Widow had no tail lights, so I used a tail light from the parts box, painted the lens red, and used a trim ring to complete it. The club plaques were copied rom the Internet with the exception of the Dry Lakers. I designed this myself in SolidEdge and that's the name of my own club in honor of al the original hot rodders who raced on the dry lakes. The trailer hitch was a last minute addition, but now I have a great tow vehicle. I guess I need to finish that old style tow trailer..............

I shot the pix with my wife's new digital slr, so I need to play around a bit more with settings, light, and editing. I decided to add a trailer hitch, so I made one using an old license plate, bent brass rod, and a dress maker's pearl bead. Add paint and there you are. I also couldn't resist adding a few club plaques (the owner is a Black Widows member with affiliations with other clubs......) as well as an S.C.T.A. timing tag on the dash. I included the fuel pressure pump from the Green Hornet as well, since almost every 1940's hot rod had one.

When did you last see a Black Widow with a drive train? I used the quick change and narrowed rear axle from a junk Green Hornet.

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Some more pix:

Having aquired some built up Black Widows over the years, I decided to restore the one in poorest shape. However, I decided to backdate it to a 1940's style roadster pickup as pictured in some of Don Montgomery's hot rod books and The Birth of Hot Rodding by Robert Genat and Don Cox. I decided to install a Deuce grille shell, flathead engine, lower windshield and top, and a full drive train, since this kit never had one. I also decided to use The Model Car Garage's Spiderweb Hot Hoodz and grille insert for the graphics, since I had no original decals. Instead of a spider, I decided to use cut outs of Lady Luck in the web center.

Peter, the car is just awesome, your working features are great. The Phantom Corsair had bumpers that wre three slabs of chromed metal stacked one above the other, bottom furthest out. This look or something similar might really work with the four accent slashes.

Dry lakes cars from the 1940's usually had hand painted numbers. Looks like they used water base white poster paint. I would just hand letter the numbers with white water base craft paint.

Herb Deeks used to make some nice racing tires which would look good on the back. I don't have a way to contact him, maybe someone can help. Also, Norm Veber at Replicas and Miniatures has a set of big and littles that would work. The Revell 1932 Ford sedan has nice chrome Kelsey Hayes wires- chuck them in E-Z Off and the chrome should disappear in about 1/2 hour. For tires caked with dry lakes dirt, try diluting white glue and brushing it on the tread. Then roll the tires through some flour mixed with ground ginger, or add some light brown pastel.