32 Roadster sectioning ?

[Jon Haigwood]

Want to give a Deuce Roadster about a 2" sectioning. Any tutorials or tips, tricks or hints ?

Search turned up nothing

Thanks

[Mark]

Search turned up nothing, because you'll probably be first to do it.  Except for the old AMT '32 Fords which came pre-sectioned...

[Jon Haigwood]

I am currently in the process of building some A's and Deuces in various configurations. Thinking about a slick looking sectioned highboy.

 

[Snake45]

43 minutes ago, Mark said:

Search turned up nothing, because you'll probably be first to do it.  Except for the old AMT '32 Fords which came pre-sectioned...

Yeah, I was gonna suggest using an AMT body. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

The best way (easiest by far) to section a '32 is to take the cut out just below the lower door hinge. You can easily reduce the height without getting into complex curves on the tail and rear deck.

Be very careful with your proportions. People tend to get carried away, and often end up spoiling the lines of the cars with a squashed looking mess.

Then, simply move the fender arches up to match your photo by forming a raised roll with half-round stock and blending it in with filler. Cut enough off of the rear pan to get a pleasing look, or if you want to get carried away, re-scribe the lower rear decklid opening line higher, to match your sectioning cut.

The AMT body shells are not sectioned full length. Rather, they're wedge-sectioned, short at the cowl, but run to almost stock height by the time they get to the rear fender arch.

The pink shell is an AMT Victoria body being modified back to stock body height (though with a chopped top) to fit on a set of Revell fenders and frame.

This will give you a clear idea of how much the AMT body is sectioned.

 

 

[Jon Haigwood]

16 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Yeah, I was gonna suggest using an AMT body. 

I would like to use it as a learning experience and do it myself.  

[Jon Haigwood]

I found this article  thought I might try and do it on a model. Using 1/2 round for a new fender arch may be easier than how it was done in the article.

.    https://www.hotrod.com/articles/0601rc-1932-ford-body-section/

[Ace-Garageguy]

10 minutes ago, Jon Haigwood said:

I found this article  thought I might try and do it on a model. Using 1/2 round for a new fender arch may be easier than how it was done in the article.

.    https://www.hotrod.com/articles/0601rc-1932-ford-body-section/

You'll notice Ladd took his section out exactly where I recommended.

And unless you're just a glutton for completely unnecessary punishment, using half-round stock to raise the fender arch is definitely the way to go with a model.

Edited July 30, 2019 by Ace-Garageguy

[Plowboy]

I've only done a couple of section jobs. One a hard seven inch section on a '62 Studebaker. The other was a mild three inch section on a '40 Ford. Both were done by simply cutting the bottom of the bodies off. Looking at the '32 by Revell, I would do it the same way and add the lip back at the bottom and around the wheel wells. The bottom door line would need to be scribed in. The rear of the body may not even need to be sectioned if you get rid of the gas tank and frame section. But, it could be done the same way. Best part, no joints to work with! 

[Tom Geiger]

If you want to practice with something square, start out with a sedan.  This is the AMT '34 Ford 2 door sedan.  I started this just for the  experience, then built a model around it.

Here's what I took out marked with cross hatch...

Here's the result.  I took the top down a few scale inches.  It's not radical and most folks don't even notice it from stock. (Bill would!)

And the finished product..  and that got me thinking what to try with the spare body...

This time I took out a heck of a lot more plastic, but below the belt line instead of between the two top lines.

Three pieces...

Notice the ragged edges. I actually cut with a small battery power drill.  I drill holes all the way around, then score it on the inside. It comes apart like tearing postage stamps!   I clean it up a bit, but I find the rough edges, glued together with gap filling CA accepts putty well and helps me hide the line.   

Completed section came out well.  The beauty of this is it's all straight lines. On the first one the doors even lined up. On this one I had to reposition the back area of the doors to match. 

And since I was feeling good, I opened up the top as well.  This one is still sitting in my project pile waiting for some day.

Now on to the hard part.  Once you have sectioned a body, you now have to section or fit all the other components.  That can mean a custom chassis, making your own interior or sectioning one the same amount you did the body.  You have changed the position of everything!  

[Snake45]

18 hours ago, Jon Haigwood said:

I am currently in the process of building some A's and Deuces in various configurations. Thinking about a slick looking sectioned highboy.

 

That's a pretty sharp looking Deuce! 

[misterNNL]

You might try cutting up some photocopies with scissors to find an acceptable result b4 cutting any plastic.