Duntov

AMT 40 Ford coupe by far and away.... believe it or not.... it came out in 159-1960 and I bought one.....and another and another and....well you get the picture.....

Matija.... thanks for sharing this build... It is a good kit and and I will be interested to see what you do with it... Regards Bill (Duntov)

Nice...

Hi Roger: I did not drill out and clear the outer bars because of a 1:1 error...but MY FAULT.... a local chevy parts after market dealer builds this grille for the hot rod 1:1 trucks.... and it does not have the outer bars opened up...something about strength if I recall.... a small concession to NOT making an exact copy... it is still licensed by GM if I recall so go figure.... I copied that part....... The real part is beautiful and it is crazy expensive... my hot rod friends say it worth every penny and I have to agree!!!! As for the Alclad Chrome.... there is really no big secret but a couple of tips..... 1) Use a very smooth primer like Tamiya grey or Mr. Surfacer.... a smooth surface it critical (See the tutorial Greg did) 2) Use a shinny black under coat and let it dry for a week or so...at least....(I use Tamiya gloss black) 3) Be sure to shake the Alclad up before adding it to the color cup and only use a little at a time.... 4) Several light coats at low pressure should be applied... 5) Paint at a steep angle to the work.... (Again see the tutorial by Greg)... This last step keeps the lacquer from spreading and bouncing off the part when it hits....low pressure helps too.... That is really all I did here and the results seem to speak for themselves.... But be careful... the smooth black surface helps make the chrome look real but it is also VERY delicate and can rub off easily with too much handling... the trade off is that the shinny black helps the chrome look but has almost no "tooth" for the Alclad.... It is a bit harder to do wheels - especially deeper ones because at some point you have to spray straight on to get into the recess - but I have had good luck there as well... Hope this helps... Regards Bill (Duntov)

VERY NICE!!!! Real cars for a change!!!!!

Thanks... I will try this!!!

Christopher.... Very nice work here.... I like this one a bit better than the one I did... I may try the grind out technique on my next one.... I have to admit that the drill and saw method I used can cause some unintended breakage as you work to the outside.... either way I think this effort really helps these trucks to look much better... Thans for adding to this post.... It's some great work you did here!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

Nice work!!!

This is incredible....

HI Silas: I generally do not use glue for a mock-up... in most cases I "CAREFULLY" set up the car without any glue.... a little tape sometimes helps..... but overall the mock-up process is just to see how the car will look "generally".... see the photo of my in-progress '29 salt flats car..... no glue used here......But if you look closely you can see the tape I used in this instance.... Also... I try very hard to make most of my build parts press fit.... see my note about pins below.... both make the mock-up process pretty easy.... Also.... if you touch this car... it will fall apart (unless the pins are in place or I have a tight press fit part).... so this is temporary and posed at best....it really can't be moved or picked up per se.... Others will no doubt offer their solutions a well but this is just me.... so it is just ONE way... Also.... I am a big proponent of using pins in my builds to make them press fit".... I use .032 brass wire to press fit most things on a build.... The Orange 34 street rod pictured here has 37 different .032 pins in it and it can be totally dis-assembled at any point....including the engine, frame and interior .....only a small amount of glue was actually used... ....the mock-ups in this case were all press fit and posed ... The engine alone on this truck has 17 of the 36 total pins in it and can be removed and dis-assembled if desired.... Again... no glue on the mock ups.... (or the build if I can help it!!!!) Hope this helps.... Bill Look closely at the rear of the truck below and you can see the .032 pins for the pick-up bed sticking up in the back.... many many more are hidden here and there...

Great tip!!

I like the 39 Ford a lot!!! I have said it many times before .... I like the old kits and you have proven again that with some attention to detail you can turn out a quality piece of work from a vintage kit!!! Nice work!!

This is some really nice work.... I like what you did with and old AMT kit..... These are still some of my sentimental favorites (many of my first ever builds in the 50's and 60's)....you did a great job here!!!

NIce work here...... you captured the look....

It just does not get any better than this!!!! Very nice!!

Wow.... great idea!!!

Thanks SKip!! I really attribute it to the gloss black under coat and the angle of the air brush on application.... Bill

Simple..... very cool.....

Perfect... I have some of these....great match up!!

This is some seriously nice work.... the wheels and tires really seem to fit well with the car as a whole.... sometimes the modern wheels like that just don't seem to fit well with the car but this is well executed indeed.... Nice work!!!

Nice build...... there are about a million of those things running all over Atlanta...they look just like that....front plate included!!!!. you nailed the look!!!!

Bill: I did not know the stock 41 had a white grille.... the build I am doing is a "Stock Phantom"....basically a dually equipped base truck with a ribbed steel plate bed (instead of wood) and a chrome grille..... Thanks for the 1:1 info... Regards Bill (Duntov)

OK... let me clarify... you have to drill from the front to have a better chance to get the drill centered.... and to your point you can't tell where to drill from the back any way... But MORE IMPORTANTLY... and I was not clear about this.... my apologies.... Drill out the inner most recess first and progress to the outer ones last..... by the time you get to the outer bars the grille structure is positively delicate / flimsy at best..... if you work inward you run a much greater risk of damaging the part.....as there is no real structure behind it as with the one piece part.... believe it or not there a half dozen or so repairs done with scrap plastic to get the stability needed...and Tenax saved the day in several places....this is all invisible once sanded down and primed..... also the upper vertical brace behind the top horizontal bars are on the 1:1 truck.... so that needs to be added for strength and accuracy.... the outer grille bars and the upper horizontal bars are VERY flimsy so be careful there.... Lastly.... thanks to everyone for the kind words!!!! I will post the finished truck photos when my travel slows a bit.....

This is a short tutorial on how to make the 41 Chevy grille a lot better looking. You will need some mini files, an exacto saw blade and handle, a #61 drill bit and pin vise,some scrap plastic for repairs, Tenax, a good primer like Mr. Surfacer or Tamiya grey and some gloss black Tamiya paint...... and of course Alclad Chrome (don't forget an air brush). Here we go.....this is what you start with: Strip the kit chrome (I use bleach).... Start by drilling out the surface between the grille bars with a #61 drill. WORK SLOWLY!!!!!!! Work from the INSIDE to the outer surface.....trust me.... go the other way and disaster will strike... Like this.......I carefully sawed out the area between the holes with the exacto mini saw blade (fits the #11 handle). You end up with this..... Clean up the bars with mini-files....and shoot with grey primer.........you get this.... I also added vertical support rod from scrap behind the upper grille area as well.... Once the primer is dry shoot the grille with SHINNY GLOSS BLACK paint...... DO NOT USE GREY PRIMER as the base.... It simply does not work well.....unless you want the grille to look like it was painted with silver paint..... Use Alclad Chrome and lay down several smooth coats at a steep angle so the lacquer will not bounce and spread..... Polish lightly with a kleenex and...... Final result....... (before and after) you be the judge.... I think it was worth it!!!!! Regards Bill (Duntov) One more of the final product.....you can see the vertical support bar that I added....

Very nice work...