W.I.P. 1939 Ford standard coupe

[MarkJ]

Making a 39 ford standard coupe from a 40 ford kit.

[george 53]

WoW! that ALREADY looks good! It'll be killer an you'll be the only kid on the block with one! Great job, so far, an I can't wait to see her done. Keep up the great effort an impress us all! It's lookin GOOD!!!

[MarkJ]

I modified and fitted the hood. I shot the first of many primer coats with Duplicolor gray primer.

[Jairus]

Mark,

I like what you have done so far!

Hope you are not offended by what I write in this post as this project is NOT for the faint hearted. Many have tried to replicate a 1938 Deluxe or a 1939 Standard and only a few have managed to pull it off. Bill Aitchison and Ron Martinolich are the only two who I feel have managed to do so successfully.

The problem I see it is that the nose of a 1938 -39 Ford is very blunt and rounded. Not at all like the '39 Deluxe - 1940 nose! It is a unique shape not found anywhere in scale and because of this reason, makes it out of the realm of the average scratchbuilder.

The following picture shows that the grill bars are flush with the rest of the sheet metal. The chrome strips are simple add-on's to differentiate between the previous years model. This is because the lower grill is just a carry over design. Only the hood side panels were changed slightly along with the hood "bull nose".

I attempted this on an unfinished woody street rod. The grill here was modified by filling and rounding until a smooth nose approximated the shape. Then the grill openings were cut out, backed and grill bars cut individually and glued in. After the bars were dry the outer surface was block sanded. Some of the bars are not as straight as I would have liked despite using separators between... but it's the best I could do.

Another option is to use a '39 chevrolet grill like I did before that on this Phaeton. The openings were again cut after shaping but the '39 grille was placed into the opening. Ron Martinolich did that when he built his really neat '39 Standard coupe back in the late 80's and so I used his idea.

Unfortunately, I feel that this option ends up being too narrow. At least to my eyes, which is the reason for attempting option #2 above.

Another thing you need to remember to do is to re-sculpt the back side of the front fenders. The 1938 Deluxe and the 1939 Standard both had flares where the fender connected to the running boards.

Even though the headlight lenses changed slightly between the years.... the lenses from the Revell 1937 Ford will work in a pinch. Model Car Garage makes some beautiful red resin '39 taillights. Leave off the wind wings and the wipers would be up on the roof over the windshield on the coupes for '39.

Good Luck with this one!

[MarkJ]

Wow, to have the great Jairus Watson comment on my model is truly an honor. I too used many reference pictures to try an get the 40 to look like a 39 standard. I know the grille is way off and my headlight pods are too big but the car does look more like a 39 now than a 40. My modeling skills just wont allow me to build the model I would like to have. I'm trying to replicate the 39 Ford that Lloyd Seay campaigned back in 1941 way before Nascar was even a twinkle in Bill France's eyes. Speaking of Bill France, the founder of Nascar, he said that Lloyd Seay was the greatest driver he had ever seen. That is why I wanted to do this project. Luckily they ran without the sides of the hood in place so I don't have to worry about modeling them. Below is a picture of the car I'm trying to get close to replicating. Thanks again for your comments I really appreciate them and your tips as well.

[MarkJ]

If you see this Jairus. Thank you for the tip on the front fenders. I tryed to make them look more like a 39 and also removed the small section of the body close to the firewall on the sides. Thanks again for your interest in my model.

[MarkJ]

Painted the body.

[george 53]

WOW, mark that paint job sure came out nice! And it sure looks like it'll be REALLY neat when your done.Great job so far!

[MarkJ]

WOW, mark that paint job sure came out nice! And it sure looks like it'll be REALLY neat when your done.Great job so far!

Thanks George. I finished the decal sheet and who knows, with this long weekend coming up, I might get to finish this project.