50 Austin Gasser chop

[Farmboy]

I've been wanting to chop this kit for awhile and decided to finally dive in.  It's based on keeping the original lean of the A pillars.  That means everything else will move forward. 

First, here's the Revell '50 Austin Coupe in original form.

I did the actual cut by following the belt line where the rear C pillars join the body with the back of an XActo knife till it wore thru.  I also did this to the tops of the B pillars for a short distance, and simply cut the windshield A pillars where they were of the same profile.  The B pillars will be cut to make them fit the chop after the roof is reattached

Note that the bottom curve for the C pillar is still attached.  This will be removed by following the curve with an XActo blade for a short distance and reinstalling it as well after the top is reattached.

Here are the pieces after removal, waiting to be reinstalled;  The top and bottom left are for the passenger side, the top and bottom right for the driver's side.

Now the odd(er?) part.  The rear window is as narrow as I want it to be.  To get around modifying it, I simply cut the section out (yes, the cut is crooked but it's not a big deal).  I then deepened the section up into the roof and reinstalled it.

I'll get more on it done today and post later.  Comments and observations welcome.

 

[James2]

Chop Chop...

[geetee66]

I'm also attempting a chop, so I'll be watching what you do.

Looks more complex than mine, though!

[Farmboy]

this is a look at the underside of the chop.  The white portion is just some styrene cut for the rear C posts to rest on as they are narrower now due to their being cut.  This will be covered with a package tray of some sort or cut back altogether.  There is a strip above the rear window, that's another small slit of styrene to fill the gap caused by my crooked cut

 

[Farmboy]

This will just about wrap up the chop, so here we go...

I showed you this earlier, the two parts I kept from the side windows.  The worst part of a chop --at least for me -- is the successful merge of the rounded part of the window should the body have any.  What I've done is kept them, and will hopefully easily mate them to the cut areas and with a bit of luck have a factory rounded inside radius on the window frames...

the two pieces for each side...

and where they will fit...

so to review, there's the original body

...the chop

the difference in the height with a stock door.  The window frames will easily be shortened in width and height to fit the openings

and the finished chop with the extended trunk line.

The big work is done bodywise, the window frames will be an easier fit. 

That's it.  Thanks for lookin' in.  Comments and observations welcome.

 

[Muncie]

cool chop - looks good!

I would have looked at all those curved surfaces and said no way for me - but you made it look easy.

[Southern Fried]

Nice work . This should be interesting...

[Lowlife ! !]

That's the secret to a good chop, precise planning !  Very well thought out, chop looks spot on !

[MeatMan]

Very nice chop!

[Farmboy]

Thanx for the nice words everybody!  I'll probably do a separate post sometime in the future on the rest of the car which will be tubbed, have an aluminum interior and sporting a blown, streetable flathead.

[misterNNL]

Great job on a tough chop.

[Farmboy]

just a couple of shots of a more complete -- but not finished -- chop.  Just got it primered after making and installing the drip rails but as you can see, still has a substantial bit of finish sanding and spots that need a bit more filler attention. 

the bumps on the rear fender are from where I've been holding it and the primer not fully cured at the time.  More sanding......

Comments and observation welcome

[belfast boyo]

She is looking good,just a few spots to fill like the rear scuttle - below the back window.

[iBorg]

I've tried to chop two VW Bugs. Tried being the operative word. After screwing up both tries, I'll have to try your method.

 

Looks very good. This is a build I'll be following.

[Farmboy]

Good eye Boyo  lol!   iBorg, it's my first chop on a difficult beast like this.  My object was to keep the original windshield angle and move everything forward to accentuate that wonderful trunk hump found in a lot of older English cars.  For a bug if you follow that path, you'll need to saw thru your roof to keep the rear slope.  No biggie, and remember that you should remove the rear window and upper rear section as one piece.  I'm sure there are plenty of vw chops to be found.  Thanks for the look in.

Edited December 24, 2016 by Farmboy
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[maltsr]

Nice chop!  You make it look easy....well done.

[geetee66]

You got that chop right.

Looks very good. You got that roof sitting perfectly 

[Farmboy]

Thanks for the kind words and observations everybody.  The project is on hold for the next 3 months (snowbirding in Kissimmee till April).  I have a Revell Orange Crate I'm bringing with me and  I'll be smoothing out the flash/parting lines, opening holes and doing sub assemblies on it.  Got the chop done on the Austin its finished -- but no pics -- and again, thanks for looking in.  Hope I was able to confuse the issue.