Alyn

Tasteful and tasty. The red and white really make for a nice cleanly built deuce.. Nice work. P.S. Your avatar looks pretty cool to.

You'd be hard pressed to improve on that steering wheel. It looks great. Nice dash too. If this is an indication of things to come, I'm definitely ready for more.

You would be hard pressed to find a suitable type of paint that can handle bending, so if you insist on continuing to use the same type of wire, change your process to accomplish most of the necessary bending prior to painting the wire. As an example, glue the wires to a loose distributor, set it in place and route the wiring close to the finished positions. The remove and paint. After the paint dries, attach the distributor/wiring assembly to the motor and do the minimal final bending necessary. Touch up as required. Plastic insulated wire or bare copper, which usually has a varnish coating will both have the same issues, although the bare copper may fair slightly better. Paint is a thin film designed to provide a hard protective coating and just doesn't have the flexibility to handle excess bending. For a better solution, use the wrap wire that many builders are so fond of. It doesn't require any painting and bends nicely as well. It's a solid conductor wire as opposed to stranded wire which doesn't hold a bend well. As far as the starter goes, consider that to wire up an engine in great detail, three diameters of wire are required; larger diameter for battery cables, smaller diameter for plug wires and very fine wire for other details. The GM style starter has the solenoid on top of the starter motor with a direct connection to the battery. This is where the positive (red) battery cable should go. The negative side of the starter circuit is not wired, but rather is provided by the physical connection of the metal starter body attached to the engine block(metal to metal). There are additional wires on the solenoid, but most guys don't add them since they would require the ultra fine wire. If you want to run these, just route them into a wire bundle or back through the firewall or into the firewall bulkhead connector if one exists. A bit of work in an area that will probably be hidden by headers and chassis components. For reference, .030" is reasonable for battery cables, .020" for plug wires and .007" for fine details. Human hair is around .005" give or take a ten thousandth or two. If you calculate the actual size of wire in scale these measurements are a bit large, but based on readily available wire, they will achieve a petty decent look for your engine.

Man! this car has a lot going for it. You really made a good decision adapting the louvered trunk lid to the 29. The open grille lends a bit of realism, going with the 6 banger really sets it apart from other roadster, the seat is killer, the side profile is double killer, the red paint is richer than all get out... Really, really nice looking roadster

I made the bad mistake of using the headlights when I built this kit. Rushing a build is never a good idea. Chrome headlights should be outlawed. FYI, the AMT 29 Ford roadster has the same lights, but with the clear lenses. I have both, but didn't think about looking in the AMT when I built the truck. I like how each layer of paint or other media adds another dimension to the image. I've applied a bit of chalk powder scraped from pastel chalks and have had mixed results with it sticking. Do you apply anything before or after the chalk to help it adhere?

Nice work! I thought the rust looked quite realistic, but a little over done, until you added the yellow and blue. The dabs of color finished it off nicely. Now it looks just right. The seat color is great too. It reminds me of old station wagon and truck seats I've seen years ago with a cheap redo in a similar color of naugahyde. Looks like you may have added a slight dusting of a darker chalk on the seat?

Come on, Raul. we need a fix. Got some more progess shots to share??? I was just reviewing your body work with the red basecoat. Each time I see this truck, I appreciate the styling more and more. Maybe you're smarter than me and actually let your putty shrink down before the final paint job. That mistake has caught me a time or two.

Thank you, Mr. Perez, and thank you for the offer on the heads. I hope you're right on the outlet location. The kit I'm using for the engine is the Revell 40 Ford Good Guys kit. It has stock heads, but they have a front outlet with the radiator hoses angling in a straight line up to an overhang coming off the back side of the radiator. I plan on a cut down 32 Ford grill shell, so I don't think this style will work out. The center outlet heads provide a little more flexibility on the hose routing. None the less, if you have a set of the one's I need, I could use them to cast a master and then return then unharmed (theoretically). cheers,

I thought everyone was doing 29's. You guys have a bunch of 40's on the bench! Nevermind. Raul's is a 37 Chevy This summer I went to Salina Kansas for the 2009 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular(and model contest). Over 1,000 rods and customs(1:1) registered for the event. Way cool. Anyway, over the course of the weekend, they had Bill Hines and a crew of body men chop a top on a volunteer car. The chop on your 40 reminds me of this top chop demo. Lot's of cuts and welding seams, but in the final result, it appeared that after grinding down the weld seams, very little filler would be needed. The key seems to be the willingness to make lots of cuts in the right places. You present an interesting situation. You're in charge of presenting a finished model showcasing your own skills while not hiding or taking away from the skill invested by your friend. In fact your work will be a stage to display his skills. His work will be the foundation on which you apply your skills. Good luck getting the most out of both. So far, I'd say you're right on track.

Between this car and you Ford, I am definitely inspired to attempt this style of paint job. I have to think many others are as well. So not only congrats on a beautiful paint job, but also thanks for providing such great examples and setting the bar. I'm sure I have a car in my stash suitable for this style. Now if I only had the guts !

Thanks for the good words, guys. Bernard, I'm definitely using the 34 Ford Flathead, but the heads are still up in the air. I want to use heads with the center outlets for the radiator tubes so I resin cast another set of the ones used on the previous flat head(in this thread). I'm having second thoughts because they are Edelbrock heads. For this build, stock heads would be my first choice. The 34 heads are stock, but they have the front outlets. Still looking; trying to decide. For the intake, I resin cast the same 2-carb manifold used on the previous Flathead. In fact, ideally this motor will look very much like the other one with the exception of having the stock, non-finned heads. Thanks again Bob. I'm hoping this one will live up to your expectations. I'm already thinking of a better way to have done the trunk hinges, but they'll stay as-is. BTW, it was good seeing you again in Bellevue. Here's the rest of my current progress (not much). I added a lip around the trunk opening, and then trimmed it down to 1/32". The last pic shows a start on the floor panel, so obviously, I'll be scratch building the interior. I'm itching to scratch build some bomber seats like Bernard's, but on the other hand, a budget rod might still have the stock bench seat. Another decision ...

It's been a while for this one. Some of you may have seen the flathead for this build going into my 29 Ford pickup. It's gone for good, so another flathead will have to be built. Looks like the one from AMT's 34 Ford coupe will do. Got the halves glued together. The doors on this roadster are going to be blocked by the exhaust, so there's no point in opening them. I did decide to open up the trunk however. You can see how thick the plastic is; roughly 1/16" which is 1 1/2" in scale. Pretty thick sheet metal! I decided to replace the plastic with brass to get the thickness down. The brass is almost 1/4 the thickness. The sheet brass was first bent over my X-acto knive handle. The the curve was adjusted several times until it matched the curve of the fenders. Finally, a flat file was used to knock down a few high spots at the corners. The hinges are bent up from some 1/16" square brass rod. It's a little larger than I'd like (1/32" or 3/64"), but will have to do. For the actual hinge mechanism, each square rod was drilled on the end (body side) to accept some 1/32" brass rod. The rod slides into some 1/16" aluminum tube and is then soldered into the holes in the square hinges. The aluminum tube will eventually be epoxied to the underside of the body. Since solder doesn't adhere to aluminum, the brass can easily be soldered without affecting the action of the hinge. The net result is a tighter fitting hinge (less slop).

This kind of work is about as good as it gets; finding a way to do what needs to be done. My hats off to you for your success. And even more so for the gorgeous design work. As nice as the bodies have turned out, do you think it would help to have a spacer under the buck. Maybe about 3/8", slightly undercut to allow the styrene to pull tight to the very bottom of the body? You've really stepped up to the challenge and shown why your work is so unique.

Your firewall design looks pretty cool, but I'm really diggin' that seat and steering wheel. The silver you used looks great.

This thing is looking so good you're going to need to point one of those "honey I shunk the kids" zapper guns at yourself to fully enjoy it. Using the real materials like you have makes it especially nice. Really dig that counter top. Perfect choice of patters for the retro look.

This car is the only example where I have both an indoor and outdoor picture. I do have an area set up for taking indoor pictures and they turn out ok, but look at the difference in color. The color balance correction feature of PaintShop Pro was used on the indoor one, but it still looks a lot creamier. The actual color is pretty close to GM Arctic White which is a very white, white. The outdoor picture captures the true color much better. More importantly, I think it looks more realistic as well.

Thanks, Raul. Glad you like the brass work. The way this winter is starting off, I may not be doing any outside camera work for the next 6 months.

This is a quickie build for me; right around 6 or 7 weeks including a couple of weeks for the flathead. I cut some basswood for the pickup bed and covered it with about 10 coats of clear, sanding with 600 between coats. Then the clear was sanded with finer grits and polished. The V8 fit like a glove although the floor had to be cut out for tranny clearance with a hump to cover it up. It's kind of hard to tell, but the door panels are the same burgundy as the seats with BMF and knobs on the door handles. I used a combination of brass tube and styrene rod to scratch build the headers. Like the visor, the brass was used to achieve the thin edge. Brass rod was also used for the radiator support struts. A few more touches like clear fuel lines going to a fuel block on the firewall, aluminum tube for radiator plumbing with heat shrink used for coupling hoses and then some valve stems using 30g wire. The nice thing about this one, is that it matches my eyes When I get some nice weather, I hope to shoot some outdoor shots for an "under glass" entry. Thanks for checking this one out.

Wow, what's not to like on this car. Your wheel treatment, engine detail, paint. Every aspect of this build is looking top notch. I'll never forget a similar 70's root beer colored Z-28 I had to paint match in my younger days. That color is a real bear. Your paint is a good rendition of the one I remember. Hope the interior is on the way. Can't wait.

Come on, Shane. Your cars are outstanding. The scratch built detail you put into them is second to none. That body-off view and detail close-ups really shows off the work you put into it. Is there a story behind your choice of this car to build? It's a good one.

Great information, Terry. One of the more interesting posts in recent times. But, you're selling the Summers Brothers and the Goldenrod short. The record is actually 409.277 MPH, not 406. Even more impressive is the that it still stands as the fastest unblown, wheel driven, piston engine car on the planet. This record is 44 years old and was set with 4 HEMI's. Last year at the Top One private meet at Bonneville, Tom Burkland set the FIA outright wheel driven, piston engine record at 415 MPH. He already holds the SCTA record at 417. His car is powered by 2 blown HEMI's. Some friends of my Dad's, Terry Nish with his son Mike as driver, have spent the last dozen or more years in pursuit of the Summers Brothers unblown record. Their Royal Purple streamliner is powered by a single, unblown big block Chevy. They hold several streamliner records in some of the smaller displacement classes, but have yet to get the car with the big motor over 400 MPH. The lay claim to the fastest small block Chevy on the planet.

This is great stuff! I've always wanted to build a 1:1 teardrop out of a small utility trailer I have. Your 1:12 looks as good as a full size. Excellent modelling. Kudos to your wife's work on the bedding. It's tough making small things in cloth look good, but hers is excellent.

Thanks, Ed. Here's more progress. Fresh yellow always looks cool. Trial fit of the brass window frame. The fit is pretty good, but not that critical as I plan on tilting the window out at the bottom. This was the 1929 version of air conditioning.

Can't seem to stay away from the brass. This truck doesn't come with a separate frame for the windshield. There's a piece of clear stock that is used to cut out a windshield. This is then glued to the backside (inside) of the windshield opening. I used a length of 1/16" square brass tube for the new frame. The opening in the body has a gentle curve across the top of the cowl, so the the brass tube was gently rolled across a spray can to create a slight bow. Then the proper length was marked and some 45 degree notches were cut in the tubing for the corner bends. A separate piece of brass strip was soldered across the top to provide the upper section.

These wheels come in the 29 kit, but the chrome has been stripped off with Super Clean. The spokes are painted Model Masters magnesium and the outer rims aluminum. I don't think the two colors have enough contrast, but I'm not going through the trouble of masking off the spokes a second time. I also mocked it up with some chrome steel rims and baby moons. The added chrome would look good with the yellow, but the tires that fit the chrome rims didn't have the look I want, so the Torque Thrust mags win the day.