Anyone got a link for how to chop an AMT 49 Mercury

[HotRodaSaurus]

I have the Revell kit for the bits but also an old stock AMT Mercury. I would like the challenge of how to do it the old fashioned way. Anyone built one or got a link? 

Cheers, John.

[Art Anderson]

I've not searched the net for such information, but it's hard for me to believe that there hasn't been at least one website showing how to chop a REAL '49-'51 Mercury.  The techniques (as regards to where to cut, how to fit the various panels back together) will be remarkably similar on a 1/25 scale plastic model though!  After all, take away the difference between 1:1 sheet metal and 1:25 scale plastic, the altering and modifying the various pieces in any chop are very, VERY similar!

Art

[dodgefever]

I seem to recall an article in SAE, but that was probably 20+ years ago.  Here's how it's done in real life - the key points are to cut out the whole rear window intact and lay it down, and to make sure you don't have the front lower than the rear (which Revell got horribly wrong):

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-chopping-a-49-50-merc-the-barry-mazza-way.168831/

[HotRodaSaurus]

Thanks for the info fella's The Barry Mazza feature is real neat.

 

[Casey]

The AMT '49 Mercury Customizing Series kit includes directions to do exactly what you're asking about:

[Ace-Garageguy]

Art is absolutely right in his assertion that the same basic things are done to chop a little car as to chop a big one, and that HAMB thread is a great reference.

One word of caution though. Go slow (which is two words, actually  ). 

A carefully planned and executed chop can really improve the lines and "flow" of just about any car, but one that's rushed without serious thought and a very critical eye as it progresses can ruin a car, and at worst, make it look squashed.

More is not always better, so look at a LOT of photos of chopped Mercs to determine exactly what you want to accomplish FIRST, and then follow the basic technique from the HAMB reference, but pay close attention to relationships between height and angle of pillars etc. as you work, so that your finished product will match your vision.

Careful measuring is also imperative to make sure you get everything symmetrical. A few thousandths of an inch can make a noticeable difference in 1/25 scale, and can make or break a model.

[Lunajammer]

[Bernard Kron]

Here's a link to Tim Boyd's classic step-by-step article on chopping the AMT '49 Mercury. Should be everything you'll need to know...

http://www.cjhilton.com/models/chop.htm 

or

http://cs.scaleautomag.com/sca/general_discussion/f/3/t/64000.aspx 

A simplified set of steps from an acknowledged master of scale styrene traditional customs, Steve Boutte, as shown on Custom Car Chronicles:

http://www.customcarchronicle.com/forums/topic/1949-mercury-in-scale/ 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Another few words of caution: cutting the roof of these cars into multiple sections as shown on the post above is NOT recommended (by me), as it creates a vast amount of additional work, introduces HUGE potential to get things all wonky and out-of-square, is rarely done on a real car, and is simply unnecessary.

You MAY find you want to lengthen the roof both forward and behind the door-cut-line on the B-pillar, but generally, just leaning the A-pillar back does the trick in front (and makes the car look slipperier).

Widening the roof like this before you drop it can also lead to a car that has a too-fat-at-the-top appearance.

It's done to get the pillars to line up (and on a real car, to avoid the necessity of modifying the window tracks to accommodate a different angle of inward-tilt) but that is MUCH better achieved on a model by pie-cutting the pillars, or simply bending them to where they need to be.

Just remember that pleasing proportions are the single most important goal in chopping a car.

Edited December 13, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Bernard Kron]

Another few words of caution: cutting the roof of these cars into four sections as shown on the post above is NOT recommended (by me), as it creates a vast amount of additional work, is rarely done on a real car, and is simply unnecessary.

Widening the roof like this before you drop it can also lead to a car that has a too-fat-at-the-top and a too-long-roof appearance.

It's done to get the pillars to line up, but that is MUCH better achieved by pie-cutting the pillars, or simply bending them to where they need to be

Tim Boutte's elegantly simple approach I linked above (to repeat: http://www.customcarchronicle.com/forums/topic/1949-mercury-in-scale/ ) leaves the roof intact and relies virtually exclusively on surprisingly small amounts of additional styrene strip for detail filling. Plus it looks great!

Edited December 13, 2016 by Bernard Kron

[Ace-Garageguy]

Tim Boutte's elegantly simple approach I linked above (to repeat: http://www.customcarchronicle.com/forums/topic/1949-mercury-in-scale/ ) leaves the roof intact and relies virtually exclusively on surprisingly small amounts of additional styrene strip for detail filling. Plus it looks great!

I think Mr. Boutte has one of the best senses of proportion and line in the model-car world. Plus, his craftsmanship is beyond reproach. If he does it that way, that's pretty much guaranteed to be the way to do it. His results speak for themselves.  

Edited December 13, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Junkman]

Isn't the really big question here which method you would like to employ?
There are at least three 'classic' ones.

- Barris

- Winfield

- Hines

There are more, but those are the classic ones I know of.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Isn't the really big question here which method you would like to employ...

The first question is how much do you want to lower the profile of the car? (It's best to establish the final ride-height first too, as it will have an effect on how a chop is perceived).

The second question is how the chosen amount of chop is going to affect the rake of the A-pillar, whether or not you come straight down on the B-pillar (and whether you elect to rake it forward or rearward), and how much flattening of the backlite and forward rake of the C-pillar is going to be necessary.

Third question is what this amount of lowering does to the proportional relationships between the window openings and the rest of the visual masses. Some people like the gun-turret (mail-slot) look, some don't.

Fourth question is whether or not you want to enlarge or otherwise modify the window openings to address these relationships, and if so, which windows (sometimes only the windshield and / or backlite are adjusted, sometimes all of them, sometimes none).

All these questions are interrelated and changing one often requires changing another, and so on, until a coherent projected design emerges.

Only then do you start cutting, after making the decision as to which of the techniques, or combinations of techniques, you'll employ.  

The talented and highly-skilled pros make it look easy, like they just start whacking and welding, but this is what their brains are actually doing as they work.

It's necessary to "walk around" the car as the work progresses too, as making a good-looking change in one plane may very well have an adverse effect when the car is viewed from a different angle. Unless you're working with a very good 3D computer model to plan a chop, there's no way to visualize all the effects a change in one dimension will have on the other two without cutting and tacking and looking.

Chops that go forward without this kind of analysis and planning usually don't flow well and have clumsy proportions, at least from some perspectives.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[tim boyd]

The method for chopping Mercury tops that I showed in that Scale Auto article (and earlier in my Modeler's Corner column in Street Rodder) was based on an article by Jerry Weesner on how real 1/1 scale Mercs were chopped, as appearing in Street Rodder magazine c. 1975 or so; the issue where Pat Ganahl first featured chopped Mercs.  

I was very surprised years later when I saw a reprint of a classic 1950's reference on customizing (part of the Dan Post reprint set from Rodder's Journal) that showed the exact same approach.  

Not to suggest my approach is the best one overall, only that it has a good deal of historical accuracy behind it....TIM 

 

 

[Mark]

Another few words of caution: cutting the roof of these cars into multiple sections as shown on the post above is NOT recommended (by me), as it creates a vast amount of additional work, introduces HUGE potential to get things all wonky and out-of-square, is rarely done on a real car, and is simply unnecessary.

I've got one of the George Barris photo books from maybe twenty years ago, and in it there's a couple of pages devoted to a '54 Mercury hardtop that someone rolled into their shop.  The guy cut the roof into four pieces just like that.  The thing was a mess.  They wound up getting another roof from a wreck and starting over with the chop.

The early issues of the AMT '57 Chevy include a chopped top option.  Same deal: cut the roof into four sections, lay them over a clear piece that includes the windshield and rear glass, and putty the seams.  You're supposed to mask the glass before priming and painting.  I've got one of those chops roughed in; it looks absolutely hideous.  The "four-piece roof" method is definitely NOT the way to go.

[HotRodaSaurus]

I have to say , THANKS to just about everybody here for their replies  I'll read through the lot over a few times. I did have the Barris custom books at one time but alas, no more. I remember the quartered roof, yes it did look a mess and I thought it HAD to be done that way.

One thing I remember about the Revell chopped Merc is the front screen did not look that realistic for some reason. Some great parts in the kit though.

Cheers all

[Ron Hamilton]

About 20 years ago, I was challenged by a good friend of mine to do a custom. My car of choice was a 49 Merc. I even went as far as to chop the top, using Joe Ballion's method, which is similar to the approach that Tim Boutte employed on his Beautiful '49 mentioned earlier in the thread. If I can find the car, I will dust it off, and post some pics.

[carrucha]

Good tips!  Thanks guys!

[Richard Bartrop]

The method for chopping Mercury tops that I showed in that Scale Auto article (and earlier in my Modeler's Corner column in Street Rodder) was based on an article by Jerry Weesner on how real 1/1 scale Mercs were chopped, as appearing in Street Rodder magazine c. 1975 or so; the issue where Pat Ganahl first featured chopped Mercs.  

I was very surprised years later when I saw a reprint of a classic 1950's reference on customizing (part of the Dan Post reprint set from Rodder's Journal) that showed the exact same approach.  

Not to suggest my approach is the best one overall, only that it has a good deal of historical accuracy behind it....TIM 

 

 

The one you're thinking of is the November 1974 issue.  It's what I used the first time I ever tried to chop a AMT Merc, and the technique seems adaptable to anything with a roundish roof.

[tim boyd]

The one you're thinking of is the November 1974 issue.  It's what I used the first time I ever tried to chop a AMT Merc, and the technique seems adaptable to anything with a roundish roof.

Right you are.....that cover Merc custom, and the Merc chopping article, eventually led to a model that won second nationwide in the 1976 MPC National Model Car Customizing Championship, the largest model car contest in the world back then, and in some ways comparable to today's GSL in terms of its significance back then.....TIM .

[HotRodaSaurus]

Not seen that issue before  a little more help, thanks.