'40 Willys coupe gasser (AMT, Round 2)

[Roadrunner]

After a few minutes with some files, I finally got the grille to fit flush. One corner of the grille opening is still a bit messed up, but I'll be fixing that soon enough.

[TarheelRick]

19 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Great point, I'll have to look at that on mine. 

Also, the character line on the doors should carry forward onto the hood, and they don't. Hmmmmm, I wonder if both these problems could be solved at the same time--Cut the top of the hood away with a razor saw, chop it a little, and then narrow the sides a bit before gluing it back on? This would also allow more of the blower scoop to show, which would be a good thing. 

These are definitely issues that should be addressed.  However, during the early to mid 60's when these cars ruled the Gasser class, there were many manufacturers of fiberglass parts.  Some were more observant than others and their parts reflected that.  A low-budget racer would probably seek the lowest priced 'glass parts he could afford, and the lack of detail often showed in the finished racer.  Just my $.02.

Looking forward to more of this one.  I have used parts to build three completely different builds and have enough leftover parts to build three more.  I absolutely love this kit, except for the fit of the nosepiece to the fenders.

[Roadrunner]

OK now, thanks to the generosity of a fella here on the forum, I’ve received a parachute pack that I can use on this kit. Much to my surprise, I actually already had one, found in this Mustang kit, of which I actually have two. I still haven’t determined which to use yet, but most certainly will select one or another, probably the one on the far left. I’ll also jury-rig a shroud line enclosure (choke sleeve) and release cable somehow too.

 

[Roadrunner]

I completely forgot one of my own rules and used acrylic instead of enamel for the wash on my grille. Whereas the acrylic I use dries as hard as a rock and and can be very difficult to remove (almost impossible sometimes), enamel thinner seems to have no negative impact on chrome at all, such as this grille from my '68 Charger.

[mustang1989]

Good progress so far Kevin. Glad you got the wash issues all sorted out.

[Roadrunner]

1 hour ago, mustang1989 said:

Good progress so far Kevin. Glad you got the wash issues all sorted out.

Me too, Joe. From now on, no more acrylics for this application, not by me.

[Roadrunner]

Engine gets some gloss white lacquer as a base for the Alclad to come. I had actually painted this a few days ago, but found some minor boo-boos that needed correcting. The ejector pins on the headers will be hidden by the fender inserts, so I'm not sweating those.

[Roadrunner]

Dash gets some careful dry brushing. Looks OK, I think, not great, but at least OK. Some careful dial trim and a touch-up here and there, and I'll call this finished.

[Roadrunner]

One thing that I fortunately caught in time, is that the kit hood opening for the included shoe box scoop, while fine for that, is narrower than the Hilborn style scoop that I’ll actually be using on this model, so I’ll be widening the opening just a wee bit.

[mustang1989]

Progress looks good. You did about as well with that OOB instrument panel as a person could Kevin. Looks great !

[Roadrunner]

4 hours ago, mustang1989 said:

Progress looks good. You did about as well with that OOB instrument panel as a person could Kevin. Looks great !

Thanks, buddy. I'm trying to get a little done each day now. If this thing comes out even half as nice as I'm expecting/hoping, I'll be a very happy guy indeed. In addition to our annual IPMS show here in September, there's also the MMVA show in October, and I'd really like to enter this in both contests.

[Roadrunner]

I wanted aluminum, I now have aluminum. I'm pretty happy with this so far.

[Nazz]

Looking good so far.

[Roadrunner]

4 hours ago, Nazz said:

Looking good so far.

Thanks a bunch. I'm having fun with this, that's for sure.

[Roadrunner]

Another thing that I don't care for here, is the fact that the blower end plates extend well beyond the body of the blower itself, which I have never seen on a real blower. Did they just make this stuff up as they went along, or what?

[Roadrunner]

Engine now gets some paint slopped on. I'm quite confident that about 95% of the engine will never be seen anyway, so was none too careful in painting it.

[Roadrunner]

I was finally able to find some of my Tamiya semi gloss acrylic clear, so spritzed the seats to give more of a sheen to them. I had to washout the photo with a flash, just to show them at all. They actually look much better in person.

 

[Roadrunner]

With hood opening now widened a tad (roughly 1/8"), blower and scoop fit just fine. Now I've noticed that the headers hit the fender well inserts, so those will now need to be "adjusted" as well. There's also a bit of crud stuck inside the scoop opening, but I'll get rid of that shortly enough.

[Roadrunner]

I did something tonight that I had really dreaded doing, scribing the fender join lines on my Willlys. Once I figured out what to use as a straightedge, it was actually a snap. They still need to be cleaned up, but they are actually very straight right now. I'm a happy guy.

 

[Roadrunner]

Here's a photo of the half-eaten axle I discussed elsewhere on the site.

[Roadrunner]

Fresh paints and decals arrived today, so I'm definitely on the march here.

[Roadrunner]

With wheel well inserts now ground back, headers clear just fine.

[MeatMan]

Sweet project coming along nicely!

[Roadrunner]

3 hours ago, MeatMan said:

Sweet project coming along nicely!

Thanks a bunch. I'll be ordering more paint, as what I'd planned for this car looked terrible.

[Roadrunner]

After numerous stripping/repainting sessions, I now believe I'm almost done. Both front wheels have somewhat minor molding boo boos that only seem to show up after painting, so I'll correct those and repaint.