Spex84 Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 So, in anticipation of the Revell '30 kit I had saved up some parts to build a highboy with hemi power, but I just wasn't feelin' it once the parts were mocked up. The Revell '30 sort of wants to be either a modern neo-traditional hot rod, the kind of thing you might see competing for the Ridler or America's Most Beautiful trophies, or a rat rod. The custom top insert and chromed suspension components do suggest a third route, however: a late 50s/early 60s show rod. I'd been wanting to build a chrome-laden show car for some time, and have a bunch of kits to rob parts from, so here goes: -Revell '30 body with cowl band removed, channeled over the "A" style frame. I'll probably make some other adjustments too. -Frame Z'd in front and back...rear will probably get a transverse leaf spring adapted to the kit axle. -Ala Kart front axle -Revell '29 roadster channeled interior panels, modified to fit the coupe. -Monogram '30 Woody dash (fits perfectly) -Monogram '30 Woody chrome firewall (fits perfectly but had to be trimmed for frame/engine clearance because of the channel job) -MPC deuce grille hollowed out and filled with drawer-pull panel from Aurora Custom Grilles Parts Pack. -AMT '57 Ford V8 with parts box "thunderbird" logo valve covers, chrome pulleys from Revell Ford 427 parts pack, and 6x2 carbs from either the Tweedy Pie or Lil Coffin. -Revell '30 Tudor seats, cut down. -AMT '57 chrysler rear tires and hubcaps all 'round...Revell-Monogram tires up front (from '50 Ford pickup, or '59 Chevy Impala..probably other kits too) -going to tunnel metal exhaust tips from Monogram '30 Touring into the kit's taillight locations, and slide in bullet-shaped lenses made from sprue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKerry Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 That is looking sharp!!!!!!! Will be watching this for sure!!!!! Please, build on!!!!!So are you using a paper clip to hold the rear wheel up or what did you use for it??? That's a kool little tire prop there!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 Kerry--Thanks! Regarding the tire prop.... I've probably spent weeks of my life in total trying to get tires to stand up properly while I'm doing mockups. "Almost there...almost there...*plop*" The worst are the tires that aren't molded square across the tread, so they'll never stand upright. I tried using sticky-tac, but it picks up dust and doesn't hold very well, and eventually dries out, leaving gunk in the treads (because I sometimes leave mockups sitting for weeks, if not months).Finally, after literally years of propping tires up, only to watch them tip over again, I took 5 minutes to bend a paperclip into a holder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modlbldr Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Brilliant idea!! I can't believe how much time I've spent doing the same. Now I have an easy fix. Your build is looking great too. Can't wait to see more progress on it.Later- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 (edited) Sweet. Proportions are fine fine fine. Absolutely perfect frame rake visible on the side shot. Nice selection of vintage parts too. Man, I love it! And that tire holder is a stroke of genius. Edited August 1, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mredjr Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 That is great! Love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantrix Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 This is gonna be great. Love the stance, the y-block, the wide whites. Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAT-T Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 LOOKS GREAT CHRIS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Love it. Great start. The tire prop is brillant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 As with most here, the first thing I spotted was the wire gizmo holding up the tire. I'd certainly like to know more about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne swayze Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Great looking rod Chris! Tasty combo of parts and stance, and I like the steering shaft angle and the notch for the box in the frame rail. Looking forward to seeing your progress on this cool piece! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ningoth4 Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Great idea with the paper clip tire holder! What amount of kick up did you use on the front and rear Zee's? This has a pretty great stance. Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted August 2, 2016 Author Share Posted August 2, 2016 Thanks all! I'll post some more shots later.Kevin, the kickup is 4mm or so in front (basically sliced the frame at an angle and stacked it atop itself). In the back, I stacked styrene bar stock atop the frame and then cut away everything that wasn't part of the new, taller Z. It ended up being about 9mm total drop (roughly 9 scale inches). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKerry Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Kerry--Thanks! Regarding the tire prop.... I've probably spent weeks of my life in total trying to get tires to stand up properly while I'm doing mockups. "Almost there...almost there...*plop*" The worst are the tires that aren't molded square across the tread, so they'll never stand upright. I tried using sticky-tac, but it picks up dust and doesn't hold very well, and eventually dries out, leaving gunk in the treads (because I sometimes leave mockups sitting for weeks, if not months).Finally, after literally years of propping tires up, only to watch them tip over again, I took 5 minutes to bend a paperclip into a holder!very kool idea.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Looking sweet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Outstanding project idea and the mock up is a fantastic combination of pieces. I can't wait to see it once you get those headers built!Also, thanks for the neat tire holder-upper idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 Update: The Ala Kart axle has been paired with shortened radius rods from the Revell '30 coupe, and a shaved-down parts-box spring is mounted behind the axle. The trailing edge of the front crossmember was cut out and boxed in, so now it's flat. The frame had to be notched slightly for spring clearance. One little problem: the big mechanical fan I'd planned to use no longer has enough clearance. Might have to go with a smaller fan or cheat the water pump/timing cover depth to gain space.I'm planning to add a triangle of material to the top of the frame where the radius rods mount, allowing me to keep those nice big chrome brackets. I've noticed from viewing lots of vintage photos that 50's builders were often proud of their chromed bracketry, whereas these days people try to clean everything up and hide it. Out back, for the sake of convenience I'm using the kit rearend and coilovers, with the ladder bars cut down to represent a 4-link. New anchor brackets were made for the ends of the 4-link. The body has metal tailpipe tips from the Monogram '30 Touring sunk into the kit taillight locations. The track width in front needs narrowing, but I like the idea of having finned drums...I have made the left front removable, with a magnet in the wheelback and a steel pin in the brake drum to hold it together. The wheelbacks are gluebomb AMT '62 Impala with the center post removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltsr Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 That looks so good, Chris, great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 Nice, "Period Correct" Hot Rod! You've got a great foundation going on there, be watching the rest of this one for sure.You sort of did and didn't mention what you'll be doing with the top insert. Perusing the early '60's Hot Rod magazines you see many of the "over-the-top" Hot Rods with plexiglass filled inserts either color complementing the paint or yellow, orange, blue etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordRodnKustom Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 looking real good. Great idea with paper clip. You should get some kind of award for that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 Thanks guys. Skip--I have not decided on a top insert yet, but right now I'm favoring either the kit insert, painted white, or a colored acetate insert to represent a tinted plexi insert. If I could heat and vacu-form the acetate over the kit insert, that would be perfect. We'll have to see...I'm also hoping to track down some white embossing powder so I can build a display base with "salt" on the floor, surrounded by the stanchions from the Outlaw kit. I picked up some in-scale chain the other day at a thrift store, to run between the stanchions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 I gave in and decided it was time to try coaxing the body into something I'm more satisfied with...so the top has been sanded across the back panel to make it flatter (a little too much on the driver's side, oops), the top has been split and wedged to force the back panel into a vertical orientation (parallel with the door cut lines), the quarter windows were split and forced into a shape that I feel is more consistent with 1:1 chopped '30 coupes, and the visor was split and re-glued after removing some material so it would take on a slightly bowed appearance, as per the 1:1 example. Visor still needs work, has a duck-bill appearance. Also, the door top seams were cut open and the door tops forced into a slight curve. Finally, because I'm using a Monogram '30 dashboard, it worked as a template to remove a little material from the bottom corners of the windshield opening. Now the kit windshield won't fit and I'll have to make a new one, but at least the curve is a bit more pronounced. Cleaning up all the cut seams will add work, but I'm much happier with the roof shape now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogfish_7 Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Most Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robberbaron Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Liking everything about this build - looking forward to following the updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim boyd Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Chris....excellent composition and build so far....this one will definitely be on my watch list. Y-Block as you described it should be super-cool, too!. Cheers and keep up the great work! TIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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