1937 RR woody... I mean, "shooting brake"...

[Harry P.]

This is a project that has been kicking around in my cranium for literally years. This is what I have in mind (not necessarily this exact car, but something similar):

My first plan was to use the Pocher "Star of India" RR as the donor kit. I even went so far as to buy a Pocher "Star of India" RR for mucho bucks. with the intention of going ahead with this project.

But for some reason, I was never able to pull the trigger. I went over the building sequence in my head dozens of times... but every time, I decided that it was just too much of a project. Scratchbuilding a 1/8 scale woody body just seemed like a mountain I couldn't climb... and the project stalled.

I still have the Pocher "Star of India" kit... still unstarted. Maybe someday I'll build it. But I finally decided to actually do this project–in a smaller (and hopefully easier) scale. Since I have amassed quite a collection of classics in 1/16 scale (as those of you who follow my posts already know), I figured it made sense to do my RR woody at that scale. From what I found out doing my research, it seems that most RR woodies (or "shooting brakes" or "estate wagons" to use the proper British terms) were based on the Phantom III. So step one was to find a suitable kit.

I bought this Entex Phantom III on ebay, from a seller that described it as a "junkyard kit"...

The reason the ebay seller described the kit as a "junkyard kit" was that there were a lot of broken pieces. The fenders, the frame rails, many smaller frame and suspension parts were literally broken in pieces. I have no idea how that happened, but I got the kit for a steal because of the "junkyard" status. Turns out that all the broken bits were in the box... the kit was complete. A little gluing together of various parts here and there and the kit was good to go. The only rub was that the instruction booklet was missing, but as usual, MCM forum members came to the rescue,

[cobraman]

Nice ! So your going to do this as a workbench so we can all follow along ?

[Ace-Garageguy]

A Roller Phantom III woody...really cool.

Here's a real one...sorta. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20498/lot/458/

Edited May 9, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[Harry P.]

Nice ! So your going to do this as a workbench so we can all follow along ?

Yes.

[Harry P.]

Let's get started. I jump around while I build... might work on the chassis a while, jump to the interior/dash, back to the engine, etc.

The first thing I'll do is get rid of what I don't need. Here's the stock body:

The only part of this that I need is the cowl and windshield frame. All else will be scratchbuilt. So let's cut the portion I need from the portion I don't. A razor saw makes quick work of it...

Everything from the cowl back goes in the trash...

[Harry P.]

The floor ends where the trunk begins. The woody body obviously doesn't have a trunk, so I'll need to extend the floor back to meet the rear wall of the woody body. I'll need to get rid of that raised edge at the back...

Once again, a razor saw makes the job easy...

Once I have the new body developed further, I'll know exactly how far I'll need to extend that floor backwards.

[Harry P.]

In building the woody body. I'll need a solid base to build on and to mark the various reference points. I glued the broken fender unit together, then glued the altered floorboard in place. Then I covered the fenders and running boards with masking tape and temporarily added the cowl in place. I used a red Sharpie to mark on the running boards where the outer surface of the cowl is...

Then I used the Sharpie to draw a line along the running boards and rear fenders to represent the outer edge of the woody body:

[Harry P.]

Because the body sides of the woody will be fairly straight vertically and not "tuck under" at the running boards like the sheetmetal of the stock body and doors, the woody body will be wider at the base then the stock sheetmetal body would be. That means I can't use the kit's door posts as is... I'll have to move the door posts further out a bit. So I filled the openings where the stock doorposts would go with sheet styrene...

[Harry P.]

Because the fenders/floorboard unit will get a lot of handling as I build the body, I want all glue joints to be extra strong. I didn't want to rely on only the edges of the floorboard gluing to the rear fenders, I wanted a meatier joint. So I added lengths of square styrene rod to reinforce that joint (after making sure there was enough clearance between the frame rails and the underside of the floor. Liquid cement is the way to go...

[wayne swayze]

Love to see your finished builds Harry, but this will be a real treat to see come together.

[cobraman]

This will be fun. Last build of the season ? If I recall you don't build in the summer. Maybe you'll be too busy tooling around in that 2015 Mustang you'll be getting . : )

[Harry P.]

This will be fun. Last build of the season ?

Probably. I usually don't build during the summer.

[Harry P.]

Here are a few more examples. As you can see, no two are exactly alike, they were all custom-bodied... which means that no matter how I build mine, I can't be wrong!

I'm going to take a detail from one, a detail from another, make up a few details, and create my own design.

[Cato]

Side-mount spares too?

[Harry P.]

Yes.

[Cato]

Sure-you don't have to lace these....you scoundrel.

[Harry P.]

Sure-you don't have to lace these....you scoundrel.

And I'm going with the full wheel covers, too. Like this one...

[Cato]

That's a good thing in this scale.

This last one looks like a poor job of coachbuilding - roof sags and looks like the body broke apart. All the horizontal lines are on different planes.

The first one seems the best with straight hood, roof, side panels and good swoopy fenders. Tiny tires for carrying loads though...

[jbwelda]

from wiki...

Shooting-brake is a car body style that has evolved through several distinct meanings over its history.

Shooting-brake originated as an early 19th century British term^[1] for a vehicle used to carry shooting parties^[2] with their equipment and game. The term brake^[3] was initially a chassis used to break in horses — and was subsequently used to describe a motorized vehicle.

The term was later applied to custom-built wagons by high-end coachbuilders and subsequently became synonymous with station wagon or estate.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

In contemporary usage, the term shooting-brake has broadened to include a range of vehicles from five-door station wagons — to three-door models combining features of a wagon and a coupé.

^jb

^jb

[Harry P.]

That's a good thing in this scale.

This last one looks like a poor job of coachbuilding - roof sags and looks like the body broke apart. All the horizontal lines are on different planes.

It looks like the Pontiac Aztec of RR woodies!

[Twokidsnosleep]

from wiki...

Shooting-brake is a car body style that has evolved through several distinct meanings over its history.

Shooting-brake originated as an early 19th century British term^[1] for a vehicle used to carry shooting parties^[2] with their equipment and game. The term brake^[3] was initially a chassis used to break in horses — and was subsequently used to describe a motorized vehicle.

The term was later applied to custom-built wagons by high-end coachbuilders and subsequently became synonymous with station wagon or estate.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

In contemporary usage, the term shooting-brake has broadened to include a range of vehicles from five-door station wagons — to three-door models combining features of a wagon and a coupé.

^jb

^jb

I had to look that definition up as well

Seemed like a really weird term to me, but makes a bit more sense now

Really happy to have another of Harry's WIP's to follow

ps who is the Harry in the Avatar this month????

[southpier]

Harry Dean Stanton --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Dean_Stanton

[sjordan2]

Coming along nicely, at Harry's usual combination of speed and excellence.

Have you decided on paint color yet?

[sjordan2]

May I suggest a pair of Purdey double-barrel, side-by-side shotguns for milord's shooting party? You're exceptional at building luggage.

http://www.icollector.com/Pair-of-Purdey-full-side-lock-double-barrel-side-by-side-shotguns-in-original-leather-over-oak-carr_i8787495

"Pair of Purdey full side lock double-barrel side by side shotguns, in original leather over oak carrying case with label in lid. Serial numbers 17550 and 17551. The pair show 30 barrels, nitro proofed for 2-1/2 shells and 3 tons (now opened to 2-3/4). Both guns are beautifully scroll and floral engraved and show best London quality....They are cased within their original to-the-period English style red-lined case, which shows James Purdey label in lid with south Audley street address, and original label denoting charges showing correct serial number. The case remains in original very good condition and shows the name H. D. Stanning, Leyland embossed in top of leather cover."

Perfect for shooting pheasants. Or peasants.

Edited May 10, 2015 by sjordan2

[Harry P.]

Coming along nicely, at Harry's usual combination of speed and excellence.

Have you decided on paint color yet?

Not yet. I've been kicking it around in my head. Right now I'm leaning toward a pale, muted yellow (pretty much the color of the molded plastic body) with black wheels and black interior. I think that might look nice against the wood tones of the body and the black roof, but I might change my mind. At this point at least, I'm leaning that way.