Dr. Cranky

Man, I love those . . .they are mean & clean monsters!!!

Thanks for the great idea, Jantrix . . . that should work beautifully . . . and you are right the material is soft enough to provide the right look . . . . In keeping with Jairus's idea behind the illustration, when I went to bed last night it dawned on me that if this Frankie was cobbled together, chopped, and sown together, then the good Dr. should be screaming "It's Alive!" when the lightning bolts hit . . . so I had a flash of what to put on the license plate. A L I V E Should help get another smile! Stay tuned in for more progress!

I could not go to bed without just one more time checking to make sure I have not lost all of my mind, or maybe I have . . . That's the nature of playing Herr Doktor . . . I just had to mock it up with the few parts I have ready . . . Good night for now!

Oh, and the all-important radiator . . . I cleaned up the shortened hood so that the radiator will sit flush against it . . . and look, well, neater but yet exposed . . .

Since I've been up photographing some of the smaller parts to be used, I thought I'd share some of them with you . . . again, all from the different kits Jairus mentioned but also some stuff from the parts box . . . this also helps explain to my wife why in fact I have to have so many kits up on the shelves . . . Here are some real gems from that '62 Impala kit: And finally the shoes . . . from the Revell '29 Ford 3 in 1 kit . . . I never get tired of using these . . . they are almost as good as any ever made . . .

I love 50s Chevys . . . and this one has a great in-the-weeds look to it . . . great stuff. Keep it going.

Here's another angle of the shortened bed . . . Again, I am setting this up so that the raked cab, chassis and bed all fit at a angle and everything kisses up perfectly . . . nothing is set in stone yet because as you all know something is always bound to go wrong . . .

That would work too, and it will allow you plenty of time to make sure it looks just right . . . thanks for the input . . .

Some of the things that are NOT pictured on Jairus's illustration are the kinds of things I am hoping to have some fun with in terms of poetic liscense. A few small details like for example, the gas cap. I found this little gem in my parts box. I think it's a wheel spinner from a 61 Impala . . . Another one are the rear lights . . . I figure since I was already diving for parts in the spares box, I would do so in the spirit of the idea behind the illustration: I know, I know, where would I put them, but since I was going through the trouble of shortening the '50 Chevy bed, I though I make a place for them . . . like right here: In case you are wondering why the peculiar angle to the shortened bed, well, it's part of what is going to help that raked look of the whole build . . . as you will see when I make some more progress . . . oh, BTW, I shortened and narrowed the bed . . . not a bad day's work.

Man, that looks great . . . it looks like you have the right foundation for the mud to go on . . . this thing is going to be mean and powerful!!!

That sounds great, but I wonder if rubber cement will also work. I am painting this sucker with my Iwata Micron C, so I can go slow and careful . . . the other thing is that I want to be able to put the "Frankie Auto Salvage" on there with rub-on letters . . . I figured if I sprayed the body with a good dark gray primer, put the letter graphics on, THEN paint the silver, etc . . . do the process you are describing, then I can kill all those birds with one stone . . . I already have been mixing the blue so it is almost ready . . . and I like the fact that you put a few hints of rust and white in a few spots . . . this thing is chockful of personality!!! But I'm getting ahead of myself here . . . I'm still working on the major components and test fitting everything . . . Thanks for the input and suggestions though--these go a long ways to keep me sane--I think!!!

The thing that has kept me up most nights just mulling it over and trying it again and again was the rake and how low this baby sits on the chassis . . . and again once I settled on building the chassis from scratch it all started to come together . . . I guess I could have really raked it out with the pie cuts, but I wasn't sure how big to make the cuts, so I devised another way which works which was to angle the rails on the chassis in such a way that would lift the cab a bit more from the rear . . . This is one of the early mockups that I liked . . . I'm still working on getting the "look"

The other thing that looks different on the illustration and had me a little anxious was the size of the grill and the way Jairus cuts it . . . and when I did it the first time it was too tall because I had not cut one of the slats off . . . the illustration has four and the kit part has five, so it took me a while to figure that out, duh!!! It's always been my favorite part of the 50 Chevy along with the fat fenders!!! I'm keeping it chrome so I had to be careful cutting off the excess, plus when I paint the front of the hood (what's left of it, LOL!), I will glue it together in place . . . right now it's all mocked with Aileen's tack glue . . .

No, Enzo, no problem . . . believe me, I tried it several different ways . . . and it was a matter of finding the right tools and strip size . . . The illustration shows you how to make the cuts and though Jairus cut-graphic was not to scale nor included measurements for the pie cuts, I took the dive and guessed. My innitial worry was that I needed to find a way of doing the welts, so my buddy Brad at the local Hobby Town told me how the tank builders did it and so I ran with it . . . I wanted to use putty, but putty was going to be too thin . . . or so I thought . . . Your ideas and comments are greatly appreciated and much welcomed!

Thanks for the encouraging words, Jairus and everyone . . . yeah, it's not going to go fast, though I am working on it most nights . . . just stay tuned in . . . You never know when I might need Igor to fetch me some more parts out of the "salvage" cementary!

Believe me, after I was possessed by this illustration, for days I contemplated how the heck to do and portray the welds . . . this is exactly the attraction here . . . the welds look done over the paint, so what I am planning to do is, after I primer the vehicle, I will airbrush some aged silver over the welds and then shoot the blue paint . . . I think when I scuff the blue paint lightly, the metallic will show through acheiving the effect and right look. Of course, like everything else (like the frame so far, which I've built 3 times, the front grill, built twice, and many of the other elements to this build) it's a matter of fitting and trying it until the right look is achieved . . . Having said that, I really don't know how it is going to turn out . . .

One of the things that immediately drew me to this build was the way Jairus did the stitch welding on the panels and for a while I did not know how to what would work, until I found a way of adding half round plastic rod to where I had made the cuts for the rake and I used my Weller tool to melt it in place. Maybe it's hard to tell from the pictures, but the stippling on the melted rod looks real good in person . . . also, the angle of the picture doesn't show much rake, but believe me it's there . . . In his write up, Mr. Watson talks about making sure not to cut the cab without first installing the firewall, which is important for stability but also for fit purposes . . . plus I've always liked this firewall on this '50 Chevy . . . this is one of the few AMT kits that I've always loved . . . Here's a better shot . . . I like the weldt-look of the weld . . . very Frankestein indeed!!!

Here's the mill I chose to work with . . . it comes from the AMT '62 Impala, which I've worked with in the past and I find it easy to wire and work with . . . Not only does it come with two different sets of valve covers, but it's set up for two carbs in place . . .

Here are some pictures of the frame, which I ended up building from scratch . . . though Andy suggests using a '29 Ford frame, I wanted something a little beefier and a blank canvas upon which to add some element that though might not be seen underneath will be there . . . I ended up using the lover part of the 50 Chevy grill pan to anchor the rails and give this end a rounder feel. I know it's not on the illustration but it's a poetic-license liberty I hope does not change the overall look and feel of the vehicle . . . I borrowed the front suspension brace from the '32 Ford roadster . . . and then built a pan for where the '39 radiator is going to sit . . .

FRANKIE AUTO SALVAGE Notes on a Build A 1950 Chevrolet “Trucksterâ€â€“concept designed and drawn by Jairus Watson (Model Cars, Aug/Sept 2007, Issue #125, Page 33). As I am sure all of you are, I've been a big fan of Mr. Watson's work for years . . . and this illustration really spoke to me not only because I love 50 Chevys but because the rake, the color, the details just blew me away. So I hope that with his permission to post a picture of his original and some closeups, I can get started . . . This is what Mr. Watson wrote about the concept behind this build: “1950 Chevrolet 3100–AMT kit: Requiring a bit more work, this ‘50 cab loses more than its roof. The front fenders are removed and the body section is cut out of the door to create a neat raked look, and then a cut-down pick up bed attached securely to the back of the cab. Don’t worry about realism while mocking it up, because you can always work out the details later. It is the “LOOK†that is important! I went for a more “Rad Rod†look for this illustration since Thom illustrated a clean shiny ‘50 in Rods & Customs. Because of that, the body still sports exposed welds and original paint plus the name on the door. (Did you get it?) Don’t forget to use the ‘50 pickup grille and front section of the hood to cover up the radiator.†Overall Impressions: this one jumped out at me, so much so that I contacted Jairus Watson to not only pick his brain but to procure the original drawing for my collection . . . I figure it would allow me to ask him some further questions during the build. My first reaction to this one was that it SCREAMED the best of what a Rat Rod has to offer plus a tongue-in-cheek flavor I like . . . FRANKIE simply shout it: “Build me, build me!†I knew the toughest part was going to be chopping the thing in all the right places, but this was made easy by Mr. Watson’s drawing . . . The other concern I had was that I knew I was going to have to scratchbuild the frame and for that I turned to an informative how-to Andy Johnson (who is one of my favorite builders), see: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v214/rag...sis%20How%20to/ by Ragtop63). I still needed the front and rear suspension from the Revell ‘32 Ford Highboy, along with the front suspension cut off from the chassis of the ‘32. Suggested kits needed: AMT #6437 ‘50 Chevrolet 3100 Pick Up AMT #8209 ‘62 Chevrolet Impala SS REVELL #85-2898 ‘32 Ford Roadster High Boy Street Rod MONOGRAM #2240 ‘39 Chevrolet Sedan Deliver The ‘62 Impala donated it’s great engine, the ‘39 Chevy it’s headlights and radiator, and the rest of the basic parts (other than chassis) came from the ‘50 Chevy and ‘32 Ford.

Ken, about 35 builders or so spent a few months buiding vehicles in HO scale and modifying them and then sent them in for the Kruize . . . Ken Hamilton built the diorama of the Kruize grounds and has been having great fun building the 2007 Mays Landing Kar Kruize . . . and there's a whole new set of pictures that just went up . . . this guy is amazing the action and real-life feel he can bring to a scene that small. Check it out . . . and stay tuned in!!!

Continue to check out the Kruize for the plot thickens . . .

The action continues this week, check it out . . . stay tuned in . . .

Mercs popping up everywhere. I love it. This one looks great!

Fabulous . . . that yellow silver is sick. Great work.