'50 Ford F1 street truck (completed 8/23/08)

[JayVee]

I'm just starting out on this street truck project. The rims in the latest release of the kit have a pretty beefy look to them suitable for a truck but I wanted to widen the front wheels and widen the rear wheels even more, so I added Pegasus sleeves to the rear wheels and used wide Pegasus tires up front:

The chassis and drivetrain will be from the '41 Willy's coupe kit. I think that hemi will fit nicely under this tall hood. I'll need to graft two chassis together to get the right length. The seats are from one of the Revell tuner kits. I'm thinking of using Testor's Evening Orchid paint with a clear pearl coat. If I add flames I'm thinking about painting true fire licks with clear purple, clear red, and maybe clear blue. The Evening Orchid is a light color so it would serve as the base color for the true fire, and the tinted clear licks would be painted using templates, as opposed to the standard true fire scheme of painting the solid base colors with templates and overcoating with tinted clears.

This project is based on the same basic concept as this '57 Chevy street truck I did a while ago that has two WagonRod chassis grafted together:

Here goes!

-JV

Edited August 24, 2008 by JayVee

[rollinoldskoo]

thanks for the ideas

[Marcelspeed]

This ought to be Fun!!! Great idea John... Why didn't i think of that.

[randx0]

what does this have to do with formula 1? just kidding looks and sounds like it will be pretty sweet.

[sdrodder]

nice. That is going to be sweet with the hemi in it.

[MikeMc]

And a 1 piece tilt front would show off that elephant!!!!

[JayVee]

And a 1 piece tilt front would show off that elephant!!!!

...and avoid the controversy over inner front fender wells.

[JayVee]

Here's the new chassis (basically a stretched version of the Willys coupe chassis). The original chassis was used to set the wheelbase. The chassis mounting points were repositioned to mount to the cab floorboard, and the upper control arms were seperated because they'll be repositioned with spacers to lower the front end. Whenever I narrow a set of Pegasus wheels I use a razor saw and save the excess chrome rings to be used to widen rims as shown on these wheels:

Here's the chassis in place. Next I'll modify the bed floor to clear the rear wheels, frame, and axle diff. There will be Dremel plastic shavings everywhere as usual:

[Slim Louis]

Nice fab work!

[Nick F40]

This project is based on the same basic concept as this '57 Chevy street truck I did a while ago that has two WagonRod chassis grafted together:

Here goes!

-JV

Are those AMG wheels?

This thing looks beautiful, paint, wheels, stance, everything

Great work done Definetly will watch this

[JayVee]

Are those AMG wheels?

This thing looks beautiful, paint, wheels, stance, everything

Great work done Definetly will watch this

Thanks, this was a set of wheels made by Aoshima. They definitely have the AMG look. Perfect for a new Benz or an old Chevy truck.

[rollinoldskoo]

This project is based on the same basic concept as this '57 Chevy street truck I did a while ago that has two WagonRod chassis grafted together:

Here goes!

-JV

do you have more pics of how this chassis went together? where did you stretch it, etc.....

[kasteer]

You got a nice lookin truck! This new one is going to be awesome! Keep us posted on the progress...

[JayVee]

do you have more pics of how this chassis went together? where did you stretch it, etc.....

Here's a thread with info on the Chevy truck:

'57 Chevy street truck

[Smokin Models]

wow Cant wait to see more

[JayVee]

I opened up the rear wheel wells and the bed floor to clear the wheels and the frame:

After test fitting, I could see that the diff will sit low enough so the central part of the floor didn't need to be removed. So, I'll add this bed floor made from sheet styrene:

These wheel tubs were made from a monster truck rim and sheet styrene:

The rear ride height will end up about here:

The headlights were seperated from the grille, and the grille was filed down to recess it. Here's the back of the grille:

Here it is in place. The bumper slots were also filled in:

Now that I see it coming together I think it will look good painted dark gunmetal with a gray interior with purple, silver, and black fabric highlights (using the spatter paint technique). Thanks for checking out the progress photos!

[Bernard Kron]

Meticulous ... that's the only word for your builds. Your chassis work is stunning, second to none IMHO. You have a signature look with youtr combination of traditional bodies and contemporary slammed to the ground, big wheeled stance. A real inspiration for those of us looking to get out of the "Old Skool" rut!

Looking forward to more!

B.

[mikelo]

Looking good so far. I just got back from HobbyLobby and had that kit in my hands along with a 40% off coupon. Man I should go back & get it. Thanks for keeping us posted on your progress.

Mike

[MikeMc]

Quick more rags........I've got drool on the keyboard!!!!!!

[diymirage]

looks awesome

very nice , i love the one off bits on it

this is the my ford

[gilsdropshop1]

nice!!! more please, pics pics pics pics

[JayVee]

Thanks guys! One of things that I've struggled with regarding the looks of this '50 Ford is the goofy look of the grille area. (Others will probably take offense to this observation, but that's just how it looks to me.) But I think by recessing the grille a bit and ditching the bumper it helps to modernize the front end a bit. I chose Tamiya light gumetal with pearl clear to try for a tougher,meaner look to further counteract the cartoony look of the front end, and I think it works. Here's how it came out:

As far as the hood chrome goes, I'd like to leave off the side trim, but I don't know if the indented lines are really how the 1:1 hood is made. If they aren't on the 1:1 then I'll use the side trim. The front nostrils will have the chrome trim with the centerbar removed. The seats have open oval headrests so that should look good with the oval hood openings. Thanks for checking out the progress!

[Raul_Perez]

...One of things that I've struggled with regarding the looks of this '50 Ford is the goofy look of the grille area. (Others will probably take offense to this observation, but that's just how it looks to me.) But I think by recessing the grille a bit and ditching the bumper it helps to modernize the front end a bit...

Interesting observation, John. I think that you'll find many people agree with you.

Have you seen the May/June issue of MCM? Harry P made a similar comment about the grille in the Sketch Pad section of the magazine, stating "To me, the 1950 Ford F-1 is a bit of an ugly duckling. Its narrow grille and closely set headlights give it a dumpy look". His solution was to widen the grille opening, setting the headlights farther apart and widening the grille to fit between them. He also removed the nostrils on the front of the hood and pulled the side trim on the hood all the way back to the rear of the doors. If you haven't seen it, its worth a look.

Keep up the GREAT work and the posts!!

Later,

[JayVee]

Harry P made a similar comment about the grille in the Sketch Pad section of the magazine, stating "To me, the 1950 Ford F-1 is a bit of an ugly duckling. Its narrow grille and closely set headlights give it a dumpy look". His solution was to widen the grille opening, setting the headlights farther apart and widening the grille to fit between them. He also removed the nostrils on the front of the hood and pulled the side trim on the hood all the way back to the rear of the doors.

It sounds like he made it look more like the '55-'56 F-100 grille that is more suited to the wide front end of the truck. I'll check it out. With the right ride height this '50 is starting to grow on me. It sort of looks like some kind of industrial ant eater.

[JayVee]

I wanted to make sure the hood would clear the top of the hemi, which it will if I use these air cleaners instead of the blower scoop. The hood has the modified snorkel chrome, and I'm going to leave off the hood side chrome after seeing some 1:1 reference photos. I'll touch up the snorkel chrome with Alclad as I go along. Now I'll build the engine, drivetrain, and chassis, and then see how the tranny tunnel and firewall will need to be modified to clear the hemi.