My First Completed Kitbash of Revell's '29A Hot Rod Roadster Kit...

[tim boyd]

Here's a sneak peak of a Highboy based on the kit's Z'ed Model A frame (as opposed to the Highboy with a 32 Deuce frame and a Channeled Roadster with the Model A Frame, the two build versions in the stock kit).

As we've discussed here in other threads, Model A Highboys based on Model A frames are not nearly as popular as Highboys based on the Deuce frame, but they are seen and often are older restored rods, or new rods build in the old school style.

This one uses mostly kit components, modified to accommodate the Model A Highboy/Model A Frame configuration, along with these changes: * BareMetal Foil applied to the brake backing plates, with color insert accents * Chrome Firewall * Hairpin front radius rods * Larger OD rear tires, that also match the tread pattern and sidewall patterns of the kit front tires * Dual Four Barrel intake, carbs, and air cleaner * Holthaus Steelies with Chrome Spyders * Pinstripes from Revell's '50 Olds Custom kit. Paint is Tamiya, Pearl White with Clear on the body, Maroon interior/brake packing plate inserts, and Dark Blue driveline/wheels (it appears black in pictures, but in reality its a dark, midnight/navy blue).  Here's a picture....five more posted at this photo album link: http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/tim-boyd-on-line-mo/tim-boyd-on-line-mo-2/tim-boyd-on-line-mo/

 

Next up? Not shown right now, but well underway is a '30 Chopped A coupe, employing the extra, unused parts in the new Revell '29A kit, with the '30 A Five Window Coupe body from Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland. It also includes tall/'n/taller wires and whitewalls, a hot rodder '59 Cad engine, and much more. The overall vibe is very much "Race of the Gentlemen" as opposed to the "spit/'n/shine" gloss of the Roadster discussed above

Edited September 22, 2015 by tim boyd

[mike 51]

very nice...gotta love a 3 in 1 kit! 

Modelhaus tires out back?

looking forward to seeing your coupe..

Edited September 22, 2015 by mike 51

[Atmobil]

Very cool looking rod, the more I see of this kit the more I feel I need one to build myself aswell. I have never been a hot rod guy but this looks really cool

[unclescott58]

Looks good Tim, but.... I'd like to see more.

[cobraman]

Nice clean build.

[bismarck]

x3

[Danno]

Sweet!

[Spex84]

Sweet! Love the tweaks you made to the basic formula here. I can't wait to see the coupe--sounds right up my alley. ROG is a very cool event and spawns all manner of interesting 1:1 vintage-style builds each year.

[slusher]

Sharp build Tim..

[59 Buick]

Hi Tim

Nice and clean finish, did you thin the radiator as previously discussed in the other thread to move it back.

Looking forward to the caddy powered one, this is one of my engine choices when my kits arrive.

regards

Marty

Edited September 23, 2015 by 59 Buick

[tim boyd]

very nice...gotta love a 3 in 1 kit! 

Modelhaus tires out back?

looking forward to seeing your coupe..

Mike...nah....they're the FRONT tires from the Revell/Monogram Black Widow kits (the recent reissues with newly tooled tires).  Pretty amazing match, huh?  Of course, they're not hollow centered so if you are using the Revell kit wheels (which fit better than the Holthaus wheels which were a tad too small in diameter), you'll have to remove the center rib on the Revell wheels.  All of a couple of minutes of work if you have a Xuron style parts runner nipper tool....TIM 

[tim boyd]

Hi Tim

Nice and clean finish, did you thin the radiator as previously discussed in the other thread to move it back.

Looking forward to the caddy powered one, this is one of my engine choices when my kits arrive.

regards

Marty

Marty...no it's just the stock Highboy (not lowboy) radiator grille assembly.

I don't know why the lowboy/channeled radiator is so much larger in depth, but the radiator of my next build of the channeled version is going to cut back to match the depth of the HIghboy radiator with a big improvement (I'm betting) in appearance as a result.  Cheers...TIM 

[tim boyd]

Thanks everyone for your comments.  

I don't know why exactly, but for me this kitbash seems to perfectly capture  the more pure, late 1950's/early 1960's time period of the hot rod world.  It's not even close to being slammed on the ground, and it's almost too simple or plain in its appearance, but somehow it delivers a purity of thought about the hot rod genre and build style of the period.  

Now....onward to finishing the next project!  TIM 

 

 

[tim boyd]

Don't forget that those of you planning to attend the NNL Nats in October are invited to bring your Traditional Hot Rod Builds....including partially completed Revell '29A Roadster kits, to display in our "Traditional Hot Rods" NNL Cult Theme this year.   TB  

[Phildaupho]

Very nice traditional hot rod. I especially like the black wheels and spiders as well as dual quads. Keep them coming!!

[beeRS]

Lovely build Tim. I love the traditional Rod look.

Are those finned drums a kit part?

[tim boyd]

Lovely build Tim. I love the traditional Rod look.

Are those finned drums a kit part?

Sonny....you bet they are!   Here's how they look coming out of the kit box....Just in case you  or anyone else missed my detailed review of the kit contents I posted about a month ago..here's the link - http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/first-look-at-all-n/first-detailed-look/first-detailed-look/  Cheers...TIM

[Dennis Lacy]

Beautiful kit bashed '29 Roadster, Tim! It looks sweet in white pearl and I never would have thought to combine the maroon and midnight blue accents but somehow it really does work. Although Firestone never made the ribbed track tires in big rear sizes it does look pretty neat having the matching sidewall and tread design fore & aft. The dual quad intake is a nice touch, too.

Did you prop the front of the engine up with spacers? Also, which set of exhaust pipes did you use front and rear, hiboy or channeled? 

[rmvw guy]

Nice job Tim, very clean build, maybe it's the white.  Great hot rod, looking forward to building a few of these.

[beeRS]

Sonny....you bet they are!   Here's how they look coming out of the kit box....Just in case you  or anyone else missed my detailed review of the kit contents I posted about a month ago..here's the link - http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/first-look-at-all-n/first-detailed-look/first-detailed-look/  Cheers...TIM

Thanks Tim. That really looks like a nice kit. I think I'll order two !

[tim boyd]

Beautiful kit bashed '29 Roadster, Tim! It looks sweet in white pearl and I never would have thought to combine the maroon and midnight blue accents but somehow it really does work. Although Firestone never made the ribbed track tires in big rear sizes it does look pretty neat having the matching sidewall and tread design fore & aft. The dual quad intake is a nice touch, too.

Did you prop the front of the engine up with spacers? Also, which set of exhaust pipes did you use front and rear, hiboy or channeled? 

Dennis....yes I propped up the engine with spacers....thanks for the earlier headsup on that as I don't know I would have caught it on my own.  It does make a big difference.   I used the Channeled version front and rear exhaust pipes.  They fit fine, but the rear ones really need to be vertically sectioned about 1/8" as they tips hang too low on the completed car.  I shortened the chrome exhaust tips by 50% which reduces the visual impact, but they are still too low beneath the body.  I need to mock it up with the highboy rear pipes but I don't think those will work because of the difference in floorboard (actually trunk floor) heights between the two versions of the kit.

 I photo'ed a how-to article on this conversion because although it is a relatively easy kitbash, there are a few things that will make a big difference between a successful vs. a less-than-successful result.  

Dennis, now that I think about it, you are right on the taller ribbed rears, historically speaking.  But doesn't the aftermarket today (Coker Tires) do a taller OD ribbed rear tire these days?  Seems to me (without double checking) that many of today's 1/1 scale builds do have matching front and rear sidewall/tread patterns????  

All - Thanks for the comments on the color scheme - I wasn't sure myself about the result....glad to know it registered favorably with a number of you...

TIM  

Edited September 24, 2015 by tim boyd

[Dennis Lacy]

Dennis....yes I propped up the engine with spacers....thanks for the earlier headsup on that as I don't know I would have caught it on my own.  It does make a big difference.   I used the Channeled version front and rear exhaust pipes.  They fit fine, but the rear ones really need to be vertically sectioned about 1/8" as they tips hang too low on the completed car.  I shortened the chrome exhaust tips by 50% which reduces the visual impact, but they are still too low beneath the body.  I need to mock it up with the highboy rear pipes but I don't think those will work because of the difference in floorboard (actually trunk floor) heights between the two versions of the kit.

 I photo'ed a how-to article on this conversion because although it is a relatively easy kitbash, there are a few things that will make a big difference between a successful vs. a less-than-successful result.  

Dennis, now that I think about it, you are right on the taller ribbed rears, historically speaking.  But doesn't the aftermarket today (Coker Tires) do a taller OD ribbed rear tire these days?  Seems to me (without double checking) that many of today's 1/1 scale builds do have matching front and rear sidewall/tread patterns????  

All - Thanks for the comments on the color scheme - I wasn't sure myself about the result....glad to know it registered favorably with a number of you...

TIM  

I'm using the hiboy exhaust pipes on my A-framed hiboy. The relationship between the floor and body is no different because we're still using the hiboy interior panels which set the height of the floor relative to the body, All we've done is switched frames, which the floor doesn't care about. I mocked it all up as the only concern I had was that the hiboy pipes would snake around the A frame cross members correctly, which they do.

Coker only offers the straight ribbed track tires in front sizes. They come in 500-15, 500-16, 500-17 and 500-18.

I look forward to seeing your conversion article surface, Even though I've already done the same conversion I just enjoy your how-to articles!

[tim boyd]

I'm using the hiboy exhaust pipes on my A-framed hiboy. The relationship between the floor and body is no different because we're still using the hiboy interior panels which set the height of the floor relative to the body, All we've done is switched frames, which the floor doesn't care about. I mocked it all up as the only concern I had was that the hiboy pipes would snake around the A frame cross members correctly, which they do.

Coker only offers the straight ribbed track tires in front sizes. They come in 500-15, 500-16, 500-17 and 500-18.

I look forward to seeing your conversion article surface, Even though I've already done the same conversion I just enjoy your how-to articles!

Dennis...thanks for the tip on those exhaust pipes.  At one point I had convinced mysefl that was the right approach, but changed my mind, perhaps due to the A frame as you've noted.  Best!  TIM 

[Kustom Steve]

Tim, great to see this version finished. Has anyone noticed and commented about the longer frameframe rails to accommodate the longer Buick engine? I tried an AMT hood and it came up way short.

[Dennis Lacy]

Tim, great to see this version finished. Has anyone noticed and commented about the longer frameframe rails to accommodate the longer Buick engine? I tried an AMT hood and it came up way short.

The problem isn't so much that the frame is too long, it's that Revell placed the radiator and shell farther forward to make room for the length of the engine. On the version I'm building I used a chopped Revell '32 grill and mounted it over the front cross member like it should be. The hood top is an AMT '29 Roadster with no modification other than thinning the back side so it fit around the firewall.

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