fractalign

The belt line for the other side was cut in preparation and the contour extended out.

Before I can get the passenger side body done I needed to get the driver's side door right. The gap was scribed in more deeply using a compass. With this door done down to the belt line, I can do the other door to exactly the same shape by taking a paper template of the this one and transferring it to the other side.

Hey Guys. I have been trying to get both body sides done before moving onto there next stage of construction. But one thing I wanted to do was finish off the top of the hood, so that was filled in the centre and either side of the spine.

I still need to add the belt line on this side and tidy up the crease line. At some stage I will either be starting to put the roof together or doing the firewall. One I begin either of these tasks the body will need to be glued together. I won't do either of those tasks until i get this side as finished as the other side. That will mean adding the belt line scribing the door and finishing the wheel arches. Those will all be the next tasks.

The other thing I did was open up the wheel arch. You will notice extra putty has been added to the sides. This is to fill the gap between the body and the contour. I would not have noticed this gap had i not created this cradle jig, so it is more than doing its job.

Hey Guys. After putting the jig together last night I was able to make the necessary correction to the passenger side of the body. The first task was to sand down the inside edge of the top of the fender so that the hood would sit flush inside the engine bay.

If you look carefully you will see the corners at the top. I may end up scratch building these corners if i can't find any suitable source material. I have never scratch built rounded corners before, but having come this far with the hood that might be such a big challenge. The next task will be to finish the hood.

Having done that, I used automotive putty on the inside and out side to reinforce the unit. And once the putty on there outside had set it was sanded back and white putty was added. Its starting to look more like a hood now. This has been the hardest part of the build so far and the one thing I have been dreading. Once I have finished the front and the sides i will move onto doing the top starting with the centre section. The corners were going to be from one of my old resin cabs but the curve is the wrong shape for this hood.

Hey guys. Thanks for the all the compliments they are much appreciated. Back to the build, after reshaping the cowl I got construction of the hood started. This unit will be totally scratch built. The first thing i did was glue the grill shell back into place. I then cut two pieces of 2mm thick styrene for the sides and measured them against the cowl and grill to work out how to cut them. I needed to make sure the bottom of the hood sides followed the curve of the tops of the fenders as well. Once I was happy with the shape of the sides I then got another pace of 2mm thick styrene to make up the front part. I was going to attach this directly to the sides but realised that because all the edges are curved I would end up losing met of the material sanding back. My solution was to get a couple of lengths of sprue and use them for the corners.

The other thing I did was sand back the cab and remove all the mould marks. The next task will be to make up the hood and to make a flange around the cowl edge for the hood to be able to attach to it.

Hey Guys. I focussed on on the cab again today, cutting the cowl area back further and removing the top part in preparation for the hood.

The other thing that will need cutting back is the wheel arch which will need to be opened up more so that it sits over and not above the jig's arch. All in all the jig is working very well, so the next task will be to make these corrections and add the belt line on this side.

The reason for this is because more of the edge needs to be cut back on the top passenger side fender in order for the hood to sit flush with this edge.

Here is how the unit works. You will notice that i have not attached the contour on the other sider on there front cradle.

Once the contours were attached, extra tabs were added at the front too keep them rigid. This is the rear cradle.

Hey Guys. Got the rest of the jig done, starting with completing the other contours, these are the front ones. The piece of timber has two saw cut, one at each end. This is the guide for the correct width of the cradles.

It sure will, its only there to hold the hood in place. I will need to take the hood apart so those tabs will make it easier. Since that shot I have added the front face to the hood. I still have to work out how the hood and the grill shell join up so that will be tomorrows task.

Thanks for the comments guys ! And just a quick update, I did not get much done today other than filling the inside of the other body side. I had a job on in another town which set things back. But when I get back into the build tomorrow, I plan to wrap up the cradle jig and get top work on the wheel arches. Cheers !

Hey Tom. Sorry for the very late reply. But here is where things stand at the moment. The BB trucks are nearing completion I need to mould the diff and finish the wheels. The wheels will have separate lugs, I can make these up easily enough but the cab needs the rear studs replaced as they look too messy. Its not so much a matter of time as much as bang able to find the right studs for the cab. Once I get these, I can mould the cab. I am also adding studs for all the cross members in the chassis. If i can get the studs for one I can use the studs on the other. I figured pin heads might do the trick. Anyway as soon as I get it done I will let you know. Cheers !

Thanks for the compliment. Owning one definitely helps, I would not undertake this build otherwise.

One thing that has been holding me back with starting the hood is how to make the rounded corners at the top. I worked out that by using to top rear section of one of my old resin cabs I could solve this problem. The cab next to it shows the section that I cut out for this one's hood. Next task will be to finish the rest of the hood

And here is how the cab looks with the newly finished windscreen area. The next task with the cab is to start shaping the hood, the sides are attached to the newly re shaped cowl. I have used balsa woods tabs to minimise damage to inside of the body.

The other thing I needed to do was get the lower windscreen area in line with the top. The 35 and 36 Fords still had the flat windscreens. To make this correction I got lazy and used the angle grinder to cut out a section in the middle. I used balsa wood as a backfill, once the glue is bonded with it, it sets like cement, it also saves on putty. As far as putty goes I purchased some more while away and this stuff is much better than the usual stuff I use, it sets more like cement than a sticky putty so it does less damage to the plastic it bonds with.

Hey Guys. It has been so long since I put anything up with the build that i had to look over my old posts to see what I was working on. Anyway I am finally back into the build having decided to turn my attention to the cab again, this time to actually finish it. The first thing I did was reshape the front cowl area. It is now completely vertical, this is in preparation for the hood. I also shortened the running boards as well.

Before I started putting the jig together this morning I did find some time to work on the other body side. With the contour gauge I can see that there will still be some filling to be done before this side gets up to speed with the other. Next task will be to finish the three remaining contour gauges. With that completed, the main part of the jig will be completed and I will be able to really start finishing this body side.