Spex84 Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 Thought I'd make this AMT '25 T my first build on MCM. Started it about a month ago....it's been progressing slowly, so I think I'll update with a couple photos every couple days until it's caught up to the present day. I wanted a quick project with less scratchbuilding and finicky detailing than some of the other projects I've started over the last couple years. It's turned out to be more involved than initially planned, but will still be a relatively simple build with a minimal interior and not much in the way of wiring. It combines parts from the double T (body, frame), the AMT '34 ford street rod (rear suspension), and the AMT Phantom Vicky (front suspension, engine, bench seat). Wheels and tires are cut down from the AMT "Boyd's" '32 Ford 5-window. Brakes are corvette C4 from the junk pile. Intake bells are craft grommets. Exhaust is from the Revell 427 Ford parts pack.
Bernard Kron Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 A modern rod! Welcome Chris. I'm curious to see what you do with the injection bits on the motor. I've always liked the detail of that mill but hated the injector setup.
Spex84 Posted June 3, 2015 Author Posted June 3, 2015 The Boyd's '32 wheels are kind of ridiculous. They're huge, and while I think they'll look good on the back, the fronts needed fixing. The front tires are taken from the Revell '41 Chevy pickup, and I sawed a ring off of the backs of the '41 wheels to form the new front rims, which sandwich the cut-down center from the Boyd's '32 wheels to form a complete wheel. The C4 brakes will sit between the two halves of the rear wheels, so sort of inside of the wheel rather than attached o the wheel back. Not very realistic, but it'll do, and gives more or less the correct spacing/offset. The wheel backs had to be opened up a bit to accept the center hub on the brakes. I also made an aluminum sleeve to make the C4 brakes fit the axle stubs on the AMT '34 rear suspension.
Spex84 Posted June 4, 2015 Author Posted June 4, 2015 The '32 vicky bench seat needed some narrowing in order to fit the '25 body. In retrospect, I probably should have narrowed it another 3mm or so. Getting it up and into the body will be a bit of a trick. For the dash, I want to use the kit part on another build, so it was replaced with some flat stock and will receive a photoetched gauge panel.
Spex84 Posted June 4, 2015 Author Posted June 4, 2015 Bernard--I'll post what I did with the intake soon. It's pretty simple and maybe not all that realistic--I just pitched the kit intake, filled the top of the manifold to make it flat, and have plunked the intake bells right down on the manifold. I figure it's an electronic direct-injection setup, or something. Lol. It has the look, and that's what counts!
Spex84 Posted June 4, 2015 Author Posted June 4, 2015 After test-fitting the body and suspension, I found the back end needed a step-up and the stock crossmember removed. In order to get the grille in-line with the front wheel centerline, I couldn't use the complete '32 vicky IFS unit...it had to be split and the A-arm towers mounted separately to the T frame. Then the frame needed to be opened up to clear the steering rack. The rack has been split in 3 and shaved down in a couple places to clear the radiator. And a mockup of what it looked like at this point. Coming together!:
Bernard Kron Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 Now that's a niiiice stance! It even makes the modern narrow section tires and large rims look good! Nice and tight and close-coupled looking. I'm sensing you're solving the problem of the well proportioned modern rod, here.
Spex84 Posted June 4, 2015 Author Posted June 4, 2015 Thanks all! I've been trying to decide on the paint scheme...the intial plan was to do an unconventional hi-tech theme with silver/matte black and black chrome, but I'm not sure how to achieve a black chrome effect. So it might end up silver/gunmetal/chrome with red accents.
Bernard Kron Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 Do you airbrush? If so a transparent color like Tamiya Smoke over kit chrome will do the trick.
mrm Posted June 5, 2015 Posted June 5, 2015 I like this very much. The mock up has a very promising stance. I love your choice of suspension. I wish there were more kits with nice IFS. This particular set up on the Phantom Vicky is mostly used on full fendered rods in 1:1. Actually there isn't a single decent "highboy IFS" ever made in scale. Can't wait to see this finished.
Spex84 Posted June 5, 2015 Author Posted June 5, 2015 Michael-- the suspension in the Phantom Vicky is somewhat simplified, but it does an OK job of representing something like what you see on the various builds of the Rat's Glass 'Speedstar' bodies: I remember there were a few years where it seemed like every other car featured in Street Rodder Magazine was a Speedstar (part of the reason I lost interest, even though I like the design of the body)...so the Phantom Vicky kit is actually fairly useful for depicting that era of hot rodding. But yeah, IFS choices are pretty limited. There's the Revell '37 (not chromed), the AMT '34 street rod (chunky and not very convincing) and Testors' Smoothster (1/24 scale). Maybe there are more, but I can't think of them right now.
Spex84 Posted June 8, 2015 Author Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) So here's what I did to the intake. I don't know if it would ever work in real life, but it has the look, so it'll do. Because I'm undecided on color, I tried out a few things in Photoshop: And... here's how the gas cap was done. It's two aluminum standoffs used in electronics (salvaged from some junk circuit boards), chopped up and screwed back together: Edited June 8, 2015 by Spex84
Dirty Dave Posted June 8, 2015 Posted June 8, 2015 I remember there were a few years where it seemed like every other car featured in Street Rodder Magazine was a Speedstar (part of the reason I lost interest, even though I like the design of the body)...so the Phantom Vicky kit is actually fairly useful for depicting that era of hot rodding. But yeah, IFS choices are pretty limited. There's the Revell '37 (not chromed), the AMT '34 street rod (chunky and not very convincing) and Testors' Smoothster (1/24 scale). Maybe there are more, but I can't think of them right now. Buttera's T chassis is another place to look. Another starting place for something wilder are '60s and '70s Indy and GP cars.
Spex84 Posted June 9, 2015 Author Posted June 9, 2015 (edited) Thanks guys! Dave--I totally forgot about the Buttera T. I have not built it before but I'd like to someday; I hear it's really fiddly. Here is some work on the floor. Because I hate building transmission tunnels, I tried something different this time: Milliput. The resulting 'blanket' was trimmed to fit the floor. It's a bit crude but I think it's working. *edit: yeah, no foot room in this thing. That's the price you pay for horsepower, haha. Edited June 9, 2015 by Spex84
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