mrm

Some of the WIP http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/172847-the-stepchild-32-b400/ And how the whole thing started... http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/166846-32-ford-b400-formerly-tricky-vicky/

Really cool! That engine makes the model a winner for me even before looking at the rest. The colors on it are just perfect. Good luck at DD. That show would be heaven for me, but way too far for my current situation.

This model has been a rollercoaster. First off it started kinda by accident. I wanted to build a nice B400 for many years and I finally started doing one. This model was a second JF body I had, on which I wanted to experiment with some ideas, instead of messing up the good body I wanted to use. (this one had some issues). It was also build under very tight deadline, as I wanted it complete for the model show in Louisville held yesterday, the 16th, which I end up not making actually. Anyway.... The chassis, fenders, grille shell and drivetrain are from Revell's 32 Ford 5 Window. The hoods are from Revell 32 Ford 3 window with modified dash from same kit. Wheels and tires are from Revell 32 Ford Roadster, the original issue. Interior floor and both front and rear seats are from Revell 32 Ford Speedwagon. The rest of the interior is scratch built from Evergreen Styrene sheets of different thickness and patterns with many of the photoetched pieces that come from Model Car Garage's detail set for the Speedwagon, including the grille. The grille surround was made from jewelry wire. The engine valve covers and air filter are resin/photo etch set from Model Car Garage. Paint is Tamiya TS-3 Dark yellow for the drivetrain with clear coat; Tamiya TS-43 Racing Green (not to be confused with British Racing green) followed by Tamiya TS-65 Pearl Clear ( a mistake IMHO) and the interior is SEM Portola Red. All of them come in spray cans, which were decanted and shot through an airbrush. Body parts received 2K clear. I have been wanting to do a green on red street rod for a while. It is a classic British combo which also prompted the yellow headlights, as fog is something else that is very British. LOL Any questions, comments and critique are welcome.

Wow! Thanks a lot brother! I just bought it. Now it will go in the box full of engines that need models to be created around them. "She's so fine, my 409...."

The main reason this model came to be was experimenting with the Jimmy Flintstone resin body. I wanted to see if the interior of that resin blob could be done in a really nice way. So after the top was removed the interior was sanded to thin the body and then the interior walls were lined with styrene. The inside window frames on the front doors were glued to the body, but the rear window frames were painted separately and then glued to a clear sheet of Evergreen. And then the clear was cut around the frames, leaving some extra underneath the windows. The new interior panels were glued to the line created earlier and then the rear windows with their inner frames were glued to the body. Next the modified trim strip from the Dan Fink Speedwagon's interior, which was painted half green half red clicked right in the recess created bellow the window frames and above the new door panels, creating a really nice three dimensional interior details on the door windows. I had forgotten to trim the Speedwagon's piece at the rear before paint, so I had to sand it down during assembly, which are the white spots. Next the floor and rear seats from the Speedwagon received some extra styrene to fill the spate behind the seat back and to widen the handrests/wheelwells. Fits perfect. Just needs some touch ups here and there. The front received MCG photo etched grille It's surround is also a photoetched piece in the MCG kit, which would be fin for a billet look, but I wanted something more traditional. So I made one from silver jewelry wire, which I bent on a jig made from an extra 32 grille shell. The instrument panel came from the same MCG photoetched set as the grille. My favorite method doing these panels id taking the clear acetate sheet that the gauges are printed on and laying a nice coat of 5min epoxy on it. Immediately, before the epoxy has set, I lay down the photoetched piece and press it down. This pushes the epoxy from underneath the metal around it, but inside the gauge faces it creates a dome lens effect. Once the epoxy has set, but is still kind of rubbery, I cut out with scissors the excess epoxy and acetate around the metal panel. just few more minutes and the epoxy is hard as plastic. Thats when I panted clear orange on the back of the clear gauge faces and backed the whole piece with BMF. Now I have a jewel of an instrument panel, made in about 20 minutes.

Thank you. the color combo actually is not loud at all in person. The somewhat darker Portola Red interior and the Racing Green kinda cancel eachother out for a nice typical british combo. The thing is that I sprayed clear pearl on top of the green instead of mixing it in the green as I should have. So now, in pictures the camera picks up all the metal flakes above the green which overpowers the color on photos or the flakes look like dust. I personally think the metallic addition was a mistake. But after all, the whole model was but a guinea pig for the B400 I really wanted to build.

You sir, are like an encyclopedia for hotrod parts. It’s greatly appreciated. I always wanted to put a 409 W motor between Deuce rails and what has stopped me is that I can’t find the proper chromed valve covers.

Great model. The color choice suits it well too. I have one of those kits still sealed in its box. I think I bought it online to use the fenders under the Revell new ‘30 body, but never attempted it.

Looks great. I think the “frog green” came out perfect. What kit did the chrome valve covers come from?

Long story short - I did not make it to the show today, because I'm a dumb a$$. LOL I made it about 30 miles north of my house before I turned around, realizing I had completely brain farted the distance and on top of that I just realized there is an hour time difference. All this crazy rushing and sleep deprivation for nothing.... Anyway...... Some more progress pictures. In today's world of modern hotrods, often times everything is hidden in boxed frame rails, double floors hollow firewalls etc., etc.. And that's the way I like it in 1:1. So here's the master cylinder with the lines disappearing into the frame. The beginning of the longest and hardest distributor/spark plug wiring in my life. For some reason this fought me all the way and took me three times the usual time I get the job done in. The carburetor all plumbed up. I did not go crazy on it not only because I was short on time, but also because you don't see any of it once everything is assembled. The radiator received it fan and some black wash. The airfilter received same color treatment. Engine finally in the chassis and the carb receiving some more detail. Carb completely disappearing under the filter. I wanted a monochromatic look under the hoods as seen on many rods today, so I painted the hoses to literally tie up the engine colors to the radiator. I really like the look. Next comes the interior, but I have to load the pics. Thanks for looking.

Looking killer. This top is begging for a mild chop.

If anyone is going to the show, I’ll see you there. The Stepchild just got finished like 30 min ago, after an all-nighter. Still I have a lot of WIP photos to post.

I realized that there was no way to complete this model the way I wanted it for the show this weekend. So all effort is being concentrated towards the "Stepchild". This model will be resumed after the show in order to do it proper justice.

Full steam ahead.... Wheels and tires are from the original Revell '32 Roadster. I really wish Revell had these tires with different wheels in their other Deuces. They are the absolute perfection in size, whether you build a Deuce with or without fenders. The suspension is all done in the accent color, which is Tamiya Dark Yellow TS-3 The exhausts from the 5 window coupe (which is my main donor kit) were cut right behind the rear axle, sanded and drilled. They were primed, followed by flat black, then Tamiya metallic black and then a light coat of Tamiya matt clear. I wanted them to have that ceramic coat feel. The running boards were sprayed matt clear and then the floor underneath the chassis was painted matt black. The exhaust is not gloss, but still a nice contrast to the floor. The front shocks had their frame horns modified and then were drilled to accept pins for mounting. They were then installed with the help of the pins and some 5min epoxy. The frame horns were then painted body color by brush. The kit's rear shocks had their sprigs sanded off. While the silver on the shock bodies was drying, new springs were wound from green craft wire. And now we have nice new shocks with original size and mounting points with color matched real springs. Easy-peasy.... I love MCG's photoetched Deuce grilles. They make such a difference on a model. But they also create the problem of what can be seen behind them. I decided to try something new and stupid-simple (and cheap), mainly because I'm pressed for time. I asked my wife what kind of black embossed aper stock she has in her scrapbooking supplies. Lo and behold, she had exactly what I was looking for. So, I made a template from another grille shell (every hotrod modeler worth their salt, should have at least a dozen of these grille shells laying around. LOL) and made a copy from my wife's paper. Perfect radiator surface ! Next the kit's radiator and my new paper radiator were painted gunmetal. Aluminum would have had even better effect, but not the look I am after, for the overall style of the street rod I'm building. Here the radiator is already masked to receive a light coat of primer before a coat of the accent color and some clear coat. Meanwhile on my deck, I was taking advantage of the blistering sun with unusual low humidity to speed up the curetime for some more details. Aaaaaannnndddddd......this is where I am as of an hour ago. Next, few Advills to help me with my back and I am storming the engine. I am determined to complete this for the show tomorrow.

Thank you Bob Thanks Rusty

As I have mentioned erlier, the color combo is going to be very British......

I've got quite a bit of progress on this model, but just did not have time for pictures. Everything was primed, painted black and the decals were applied. A day later everything got clear coated to protect the decals, so they could be masked over. The bottom of the trailer first received a coat of flat black, which will be masked and then all the silver will be applied. My solution for the tires was resin. I just could not bring myself to leave them hollow. All the proper diameter holes were drilled after the resin hardened. I think that it was a great solution, which only cost me $17 and I still have half of the resin left over for other projects. Now I just need to clean up the tires a little and paint them black. Thanks for looking and stay tuned.

It’s the Derby City Ohio Valley Regional. I have a flyer on my fridge. When I get home I’ll snap a picture.

Nice. Well, the Louisville show is this coming weekend and I may look to pick one of these kits. It seems like it would be a cool challenge.

Great pair. Looking at the red one reminds me, that I still can't wrap my head around the fact, that after all the countless Deuce models under the sun, by pretty much every manufacturer, no one makes a decent hotrod convertible top in 1/25 scale.

Very nice project you've got there. Off to a great start. What is going to make or brake the look of this model or any full fendered Hotrod for that matter, is your choice f wheels and tires and the rake they would create.

I was thinking about that, but trucks are not really my thing and frankly, I don’t think this particular kit deserves that kind of investment. I did buy some resin tho and I will “fill” the tires up, which after painting and assembly should look just fine.

After a coat of primer, it was more evident that areas needed to be addressed. I always like rescribe panel lines on all models before paint. The problem with resin is that those lines don't stay true. Especially with a poor casting like this one. So some lines had to be corrected. Now it's ready for Tamiya primer and the base coat.

Yes they are lowered. The green one not that much, but the red one is lowered as much as possible without completely modifying things. Basically it is the standard fair of grinding material from the front spring and shortening the shocks. This is the WIP I had going on here: Thank you Hector. Thank you Derrick Thank you Steve. The majority on here seems to gravitate towards the green.

Great work so far, Misha. Some really cool details going on. Can’t wait to see it finished.