Orange Smoothie

[OldNYJim]

So, my last build was a red 32 Vicky and I wanted to build a series of Deuces in all the primary colours to make a nice colorful display.  Red down, next up is the orange one!  I also wanted to try building as many of the different 1:25 Deuce kits as I can find and not just the Revell ones.  This one is a 1980s Monogram kit that I found on eBay Buy It Now for a super cheap price:

It looks like a pretty nicely molded kit - Small Block Chevy included and decent detail.  I'm not super excited about those wire wheels or the clunky looking roof tho, and I think cleaning up some of the trinkets and doodads off this thing would make it look nicer.  Shave the door handles and hinges, bob the rear fenders a little maybe, lose the front and rear bumpers and make the headlights and taillights sit on there a little nicer.  Paint it all in a bright glossy Dukes of Hazzard solid orange, swap the wheels out for something more modern (my last build was pretty traditional so I thought a more modern build would be fun), get it sitting right and make it look a little more street rod than hot rod for this one.

That said, I dont want to reengineer the kit - just take what's there, add a couple of parts to detail it up and just make it look cool.

More soon, soon as I have more

 

[OldNYJim]

So, first job was to mock up the wheels I chose with the kit axles and see how it sits:

Not bad in the front but kinda high in the rear - gave it more of a raked look than I wanted.  Luckily, the fix was pretty easy - there's a couple of pins that protrude from the chassis that hold the axle in place...

I just needed to file those down a couple of scale inches - got the wheel sitting just where I wanted in the arches

Much better!

Next up, remove the fuel tank and bumper mounts from the rear end, and fit a strip of plasticard to to bridge the gap between the body and the top of the frame

Whilst I was doing some bodywork, I wanted to make the bead that runs around the tops of the doors level rather than having this dip at the rear

I used some half-circular plastic rod, cut into smaller angled segments where needed and brought the line upwards a little - it'll need some filler and sanding to make it perfect but it's not too far off

Whilst I was staring at those four holes next to the rear decklid I stretched some old kit sprue and made some plugs for them

Then, finally today for this update, I sanded the moulded in badge detail from the front grille to smooth it out a little

Off to work on the engine now!  The it has a small block Chevy in - and though this build will be designed to be displayed with the hood and hoodsides in place, I'm going to make it look as nice as I can. Maybe permanently affix the hoodsides and have the top part of the hood removable?  More progress as I make it!

[Dirty Dave]

Good looking stance now. The OCD side of me feels the need to point out that orange is a secondary color. Only yellow, red and blue are primaries.

[OldNYJim]

Good looking stance now. The OCD side of me feels the need to point out that orange is a secondary color. Only yellow, red and blue are primaries.

Huh!  I learned a thing!  Thanks Dave!

[DumpyDan]

Well done, looks good

[OldNYJim]

Continuing with the bodywork here - I wanted to smooth out the louvres on the hoodsides and the hood, so I spent a few minutes with my favourite new tool - I little diamond file.  Makes quick work of smoothing these out!

Nice and smooth!

The fit isn't as perfect as I'd like, so I'll need to do some tweaking to get them just-so

I had to use a little putty on them to smooth out some ejector pin marks on the insides of the panels too, and whilst I was doing that I filled a couple on the chassis, underside of the hood and on the seat too

And, so I can start to get the engine assembled and detailed I smoothed out the valve covers too (top: before, bottom: after)

Next up, work on chopping down the windscreen and adjusting the frame to suit!

[James2]

Most guys are trying to put louvers on, you file them off! Could you send them to me please?

It is looking good...

[OldNYJim]

Could you send them to me please?

They're pretty powdery at this point - might take some reshaping to get them usable

Just a mini update, seeing as i was replying to the post above anyway...I wanted to lose the top bar of the windshield frame and lay it back a bit.  Not a big job, but I'm pleased to have it done!

Box stock:

After:

A real update coming soon, when I've made some real progress!

[ZTony8]

When I first bought this kit I was originally disappointed that it has no complete frame in it. Now I just appreciate it as a simple basic kit and a quick builder. 

[Slotto]

Continuing with the bodywork here - I wanted to smooth out the louvres on the hoodsides and the hood, so I spent a few minutes with my favourite new tool - I little diamond file.  Makes quick work of smoothing these out!

Nice and smooth!

 

The thing about louvres is they are easy to remove but how on earth would you put them on?

Your build looks great so far!

[chepp]

Nice start. Smooth is good!

[Spex84]

I'm enjoying this, lots of good modifications so far!

I've only built one of these monogram roadsters so far, and despite the simplicity of the kit it turned into one of my favorite projects...with some small modifications the kit can be made to look really good.

 

[PARTSMARTY]

As a big fan of these cars-I'm digging everything you're doing-very very cool-can't wait to see more.

[oldnslow]

If the lack of a separate frame bothers you , add a strip of styrene to the inside of the fender unit , I added it to attach the new suspension for my gasser. 

 

[OldNYJim]

When I first bought this kit I was originally disappointed that it has no complete frame in it. Now I just appreciate it as a simple basic kit and a quick builder. 

I've never built one of these before - I thought the frame was missing at first
 

 

The thing about louvres is they are easy to remove but how on earth would you put them on?

Carefully

Nice start. Smooth is good!

Thanks Charley!  I'm normally much more about the nostalgic hot rods than a smoothed-out street rod like this, but it's fun to build something outside of my comfort zone a little!

I'm enjoying this, lots of good modifications so far!

I've only built one of these monogram roadsters so far, and despite the simplicity of the kit it turned into one of my favorite projects...with some small modifications the kit can be made to look really good.

 

Have you got a link to yours!  I always enjoy your builds so it'd be cool to see!

As a big fan of these cars-I'm digging everything you're doing-very very cool-can't wait to see more.

Thanks Marty!

If the lack of a separate frame bothers you , add a strip of styrene to the inside of the fender unit , I added it to attach the new suspension for my gasser. 

 

I did think of doing that Robert - I probably won't for this one but I'd love to do a more detailed build of one of these!  Good tip!  Have you got a link to this build - looks interesting!

[OldNYJim]

A few little uninteresting updates have happened since I last posted - none of them interesting enough to justify a new post, but there's a few now so here goes...

Started to fill the hollow rear axle - not sure what to use to fill the centre section - I guess some styrene sheet cut to the correct shape and stacked in there in layers

I found an aftremarket three piece air cleaner in my parts box that I preffered to the kit one, so I used a round doodad (also from the parts box) to adapt that to fit onto the SBC that this thing comes with in the kit

The stock headlights were too high for my liking so I dug some different ones out of the parts box and mounted them lower

...and filled the original holes with some styrene bar, then sanded smooth

And I started work on a scratchbuilt dashboard - the original one is cool but I wanted something smoothed out with maybe a single gauge right behind the steering wheel.  I figured it was easier to make a new one than carefully sand and fill the existing one, so I traced the shape of the original, cut it from some sheet and added some bead detail at the bottom.  Not sure where to find a single gauge to mount in it yet - I'll have to do some digging

Next up, I guess I need to find some primer and see how much bodywork I'll have left to do before paint - more progress as I make it!

[oldnslow]

Here's a link to my build .

http://s155.photobucket.com/user/Robn30/library/Son%20of%20Ford%20gasser

 

[OldNYJim]

Here's a link to my build .

http://s155.photobucket.com/user/Robn30/library/Son%20of%20Ford%20gasser

 

How cool!  I love it!  Great looking build!  I need to build a 32 drag car of some sort!

[oldnslow]

Thanks

[Slotto]

killer air cleaner

go, go, go

 

[mod3l Lover]

Most guys are trying to put louvers on, you file them off! Could you send them to me please?

It is looking good...

       Yes, . . . I agree with Rooster!!  I would have gladly traded

you smooth parts for those.

    The Corvette wheels look great on there, and that air cleaner

is a bit of genius!!  This will be fun, thanks for sharing.

 

       David S.

P.S.- From who did you get that air cleaner kit?

  It looks really cool!!

Edited April 28, 2017 by mod3l Lover