alan barton Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Some years ago I picked up the MPC Jolly Roger show rod and built a screen side delivery from it. I was very impressed by the accuracy and proportions of the Oldsmobile components that harked back to its Beverley Hillbillies origins. When the BH truck was eventually re-issued, I grabbed one, not knowing what I would do with it other than knowing that it wasn't going to be a TV car anymore! Anyhow, as the whole vintage rod and TROG thing started to grow, I started thinking about doing a very early gow job using the Olds as a base. There is a picture that often turns up in discussions of early hot rodding, either in magazines or the internet, of a low slung roadster in front of a shack with the inscription "World's first speed shop". You may know the one I mean. That low slung roadster was the inspiration for my project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 The bucket style body was a good start for what I wanted to do. For a turtle deck, I used a vacformed component that I made many years ago for a 27 T project that I never did get finished. The size was about right so it just took some careful mating up with the Oldsmobile body. There were a few gaps where the body met the fenders so additional sections of plastic were added to blend this together. I also used some half round Evergreen strip to add some swage lines to the body to add a factory look to it. For rear fenders, I chose a pair from the rear of Revell's 27 T series (Tudor, Delivery or Phaeton). The swage lines and pressings on the T fenders bore a striking resemblance to the Oldsmobile items up front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 At this stage I was pretty happy with where the body was going but man, that frame was long enough for a truck. That would never do. I sawed a significant chunk out of it just in front of the rear kickup and spent quite a bit of trial and error time getting it to a more roadster like length. After all that, I mocked up a simple metal axle across the rear frame only to find that the fuel tank was going to clash with any size or brand or rear end that I might want to install. There was nothing for it but to sever the fuel tank crossmember and slide the assembly rearwards to ensure plenty of room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 There really was no interior to speak of in the original kit so I started by making some templates out of old business cards to see what would fit. These were then transformed to sheet plastic, with some details added with Evergreen strip. While I was at it I carved up a swoopy dash, right hand drive of course! I used some slivers of K&S aluminium tubing to make instrument trim rings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 So here we are at first mockup stage. So far so good - it has the low slung stance I was aiming for and the body is looking fairly factory like - I have no idea what an Olds roadster really looks like but, hey, it's a hot rod - it can be any shape it wants to be! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Metallic Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 This is a very cool project. What are your plans for an engine? Since you mentioned TRoG, I'm assuming you'll be going for a patina look? I'm following for sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 (edited) Looking legit. This will fun to follow through to the finish. Remember that If you are indeed going to build a TROG car one of the rules for their cars is no fenders. Edited April 12, 2018 by misterNNL Forgotten details Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DumpyDan Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Very cool, so much that can be do with this kit. Will be watching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 Nah, she won't be a TROG car and she will be shiny. I'm just taking my inspiration from that era and mindset. Thanks for looking and for the positive comments!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Great fabrication work on this build. I really like the dash. Have you considered what engine you are going to use ? I like your idea of a shinny Street Rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Macleod Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Ooo La La. I can't wait to follow this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoffman Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Looks great, Alan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 Because George Barris carved the hood full of holes for those gawd awful Mercedes SSK or Cord style flex exhausts that he seemed to love, there was quite a bit of work needed on these parts. I must have filled that hood three times before it cracked yet again so I ended up laminating a very thin sheet of styrene underneath and that seemed to sort it out. Filling the holes in the hood sides without damaging the louvers or the belts was not a fun time either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 I decided I wanted to try something a little funky in the way of headlights. A couple of years ago I bought a pair of E & J headlights from thepartsbox.com and I thought they would be perfect. I used some thin pieces of Everegreen rod to make some simple mounts and then drilled holes in the leading edge of the fender flange to accept them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 Unfortunately, that simply wasn't going to work. Love the headlights, just hate the look for this project. That sent me digging deep into my parts box to uncover a very obscure part that I can't say I have ever seen used before on a model. These are the Woodlights from the MPC George Barris Mail Truck. The bar in the middle was very ugly so I replaced it with a short length of polished K&S aluminium tubing. The chrome had faded from years of rattling around in my headlight box so I restored that with my Molotow pen, the greatest thing to come along in decades!!! Finally, I went digging in my lens box and much to my surprise found the original clear lenses for them - it would be over 45 years since I bought this kit so that was just short of miraculous. Never, ever, throw anything out! With a bit more trial and error I had them mounted and they looked waaaaaaaay better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eshaver Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Alan, I'm going to be following ya on this cause I may want to copy it for a diorama I'm in the middle of... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Van Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Very cool..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Metallic Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Those Woodlights are cool, and a few years ago they were very trendy in the 1:1 traditional hot rod segment. However, I think you either have them backwards, or the ones from the mail truck weren't molded very well. Do they look like this on the backside? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 13, 2018 Author Share Posted April 13, 2018 Good point Craig. I'm going to go with badly molded, because, after all, the lens can only fit into the cavity that has been made available for it. I might have to do some Googling - maybe there were other models to the one in your photo? Ellen, the Olds would make a great little roadster, it could have the Monogram 29 Pickup bed grafted on for a neat little farm truck and I wouldn't think it would be too hard to graft an AMT 25 T coupe body onto the Olds cowl, similar to what landman is doing with his Dodge project. The stock mechanicals are surprisingly detailed for a kit from the showrod era. There's heaps of potential here. And espo, the engine won't be what you expect! Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 13, 2018 Author Share Posted April 13, 2018 For wheels, I decided to use the plastic ones from an Eastwood Collectibles (perhaps Spec Cast was the manufacturer) diecast Posie's 30 Model A delivery. The original Posies delivery ran V8 wires so I had adapted some AMT 32 Ford wires for the job Spec Cast also do a Model A cabriolet with the same wheels. Now straight up, the detail isn't the greatest, especially on the backside, but the look is exactly what I was going for and, well, I had them! I also found that Monogram 30 Model A tyres would fit and were slightly smaller than the Eastwood tyres so I got a smidgeon of rubber rake without getting too carried away. The next problem was, they are mounted on childhood proof knurled metal axles and no amount of gentlly increased pressure would free the plastic hubs from the metal. Well, not without ripping the entire centre out of the spokes. After carefully easing off the rear half of the rim, I finally resorted to using a sharp X-acto to make numerous vertical cuts through the hub around the axle, finally releasing the interference fit enough for me to get the wheels off without damaging them. Very nerve wracking but we lived to tell the tale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Great work Alan! There is a lot of potential in that Olds kit! Ken Kitchen has done some great conversions. I have a few ideas and kits stashed away myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldmopars Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 I like what your doing, keep it up. Is this kit currently available? What is the kit #? I can see lots of possibilities from this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 14, 2018 Author Share Posted April 14, 2018 Thanks guys. I've no idea if this kit is still in the RC2 catalogue but the kit number is 31753. The copyright notice says 2004 so it was a while ago. The Jolly Roger has a lot of the good bits also but if I remember correctly it doesn't have the stock running gear. You can cut the rear sailing ship half off and graft other bodies on - other conversions that might work would be the Revell 27 T Tudor and Phaeton bodies. With those conversions you wouldn't need the fully finished bucket body contained in the Beverley Hills version. Here's what I did a few years ago by combining the Monogram Paddy Wagon sides and roof with the Jolly Roger. I never took any construction photos but it was a pretty cruisy conversion. Bodywork consisted of narrowing the Paddy Wagon roof about 2mm, cutting open the screen sides and framing them with Evergreen half round, cutting out rear wheel arches and outlining the doors with Evergreen after sanding off all the woodwork from the sailing ship. Most of the rest of it came out of the box. Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 14, 2018 Author Share Posted April 14, 2018 In keeping with the roaring twenties theme for my roadster, I chose to use the Olds running gear. I adapted two side draft carbs off the Revell Offy midget kit by cutting the updraft carb off the original manifold first. I also made a three pipe header out of K&S tubing. I cut the brake rods off the rear axle and mounted the front axle on top of the spring instead of under it. Eventually I had to do a fair bit of trimming on the rear springs to get them to work with the shortened frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 11 hours ago, Mr. Metallic said: Those Woodlights are cool, and a few years ago they were very trendy in the 1:1 traditional hot rod segment. However, I think you either have them backwards, or the ones from the mail truck weren't molded very well. Do they look like this on the backside? These lights are now available 3D printed from Shapeways. I have a couple pair and they are incredible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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