'40 Willys coupe gasser (AMT, Round 2)

[Roadrunner]

By and large, one of the worst things about some of these old kits (this one dates back to at least 1963, as far as I am aware), are the fairly prominent molding seams; necessary for sure, but still a pain in the neck. Also, a lot of aircraft modelers tend to complain about flash;... Ha! They should try building an old car model.

[Snake45]

And that's not the half of it! That flip front end fits only slightly better than the one in the MPC '57 Vette gasser, which is to say, not at all! I ended up gluing the thing on solid and then cutting the hood away separately, and the whole front end now looks 100% better. And I've still got a LOT of work to do on the wretched backbirth! 

[Roadrunner]

I'm working on the rear and front body parts right now and noticed the same problem with the Coupe kit; the front and rear don't really line up well at all, so I'll be epoxying them together (it's a curbside anyway), then correcting any alignment problems. Also, for whatever it's worth, I'll be removing the raised fender seams at the rear, then re-scribing them to look more like the actual car.

[Roadrunner]

Now how cool is this? I was completely unaware of this miniature model kit box in the bottom of the kit until a few nights ago. What a cool display companion this will make, eh? (I really like these Round 2 kits.)

[Roadrunner]

Front end, while not yet 100% complete, has been tidied up a lot; still some sizing/cleanup to do around the grill area. (This shot reminds me of a happy face, for some reason.)

As has the rear. I'm debating whether or not to scribe in the fender attachment lines, front and rear. It seems the Revell '41 Willys has these correct, whereas this AMT kit does not.

Edited February 1, 2020 by Roadrunner

[Roadrunner]

Interior is rather plain-Jane, and I doubt I’ll be doing much to it, save for correcting the inevitable ejector pin marks, which are clearly visible through the windows. I think a small ball bit in my Dremel will help to eradicate any remnants of these marks, or at least I hope so.

[iBorg]

Concerning parachutes, NHRA has been historically pretty strict on parachutes. If the car runs in a class with a 150 mph record, any car that runs that class needs a chute.

[Roadrunner]

I think my oven cleaner may have lost it's zing, as repeated attempts at stripping the chrome have been less than satisfactory. Any ideas on what might be a good alternative to oven cleaner for this?

(It also appears that I inadvertently installed the ignition where the starter goes, oops, but no one will ever see it anyway, so I'm not concerned.) Also, on this  particular engine, the blower belts didn't fit to the engine worth a darn, so I ended up chopping off a few interfering pieces and just glued the heck out of it. Again, this will never be seen anyway, so really no big deal.

[Roadrunner]

2 minutes ago, iBorg said:

Concerning parachutes, NHRA has been historically pretty strict on parachutes. If the car runs in a class with a 150 mph record, any car that runs that class needs a chute.

That's interesting. I have no real idea what this model class might be, perhaps C/G, so I really have no idea what's what.

[iBorg]

Depending on the year, a suppercharged motor would be a double letter, like AA, BB, CC. More than likely, with that motor, BB/Gas.

[Roadrunner]

On 2/2/2020 at 7:03 PM, iBorg said:

Depending on the year, a suppercharged motor would be a double letter, like AA, BB, CC. More than likely, with that motor, BB/Gas.

Great. I can get decals for the BB/Gas (I think), so that'll work out just great for me.

[Roadrunner]

I at least got the front end cranked up where I wanted it, using some .25" channel sections. The front end should pretty well cover this area, so I think I'm safe there.

[Roadrunner]

Now this thrills me silly. Apparently the '62 Corvette model, has a slide molded, one-piece Hilborn style injector scoop, so cleanup will be minimal. Thank you, Revell!

[Roadrunner]

My new oven cleaner seems to have done the trick, removing most, if not all, of the remaining chrome. Now ready for primer and paint. I'm a happy guy.

[Roadrunner]

I have no idea what the deal is with this. I have two 1940 Willlys brochures, and neither one shows a dash that looks anywhere even close to this one. Oh well, I'll just paint it up the best I can and move on.

 

[Snake45]

6 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

I have no idea what the deal is with this. I have two 1940 Willlys brochures, and neither one shows a dash that looks anywhere even close to this one. Oh well, I'll just paint it up the best I can and move on.

This is a drag car, there's nothing stock about it, and that includes the dash. 

[Jantrix]

Straight bleach will strip most chrome pretty well. I'm enjoying the build.

[Roadrunner]

9 hours ago, Snake45 said:

This is a drag car, there's nothing stock about it, and that includes the dash. 

That's a good point, and perhaps the only explanation that makes sense.

9 hours ago, Jantrix said:

Straight bleach will strip most chrome pretty well. I'm enjoying the build.

I've read that, but thanks for the suggestion. So far my new can of oven cleaner is doing the job pretty well.

[Roadrunner]

Engine now in primer, more than will actually show on the finished model anyway. Some tiny issues with the injector scoop that I hadn't seen previously, but those will be an easy fix, then it'll get the gloss white base coat.

[mustang1989]

Lookin' good so far Kevin. You could drill out those instrument dials and come in from the back side with blank sheets of styrene and use decals for the actual gauges. A drop of clear over the gauges after installing will look great.

Here's what I did on my Challenger:

 

[Roadrunner]

That looks excellent, Joe. I'll try to paint them first, as I don't want to spend more time on this than is absolutely necessary. (I'm also trying to finish two fighter planes for a show here in September.)

[magicmustang]

On 2/1/2020 at 3:32 PM, Roadrunner said:

Front end, while not yet 100% complete, has been tidied up a lot; still some sizing/cleanup to do around the grill area. (This shot reminds me of a happy face, for some reason.)

 

Great work so far.

One thing that always bugged me about the AMT Willys verses The Revell version is the shape of the hinged front body piece. It looks to large compared to the rest of the body. Like Snake45 did, I have scribed off the hood on mine and the fenders look okay. It's was the hood, it's too tall. I plan on sanding down the lower edges until it looks better. 

Edited February 11, 2020 by magicmustang

[Snake45]

12 minutes ago, magicmustang said:

Great work so far.

One thing that always bugged me about the AMT Willys verses The Revell version is the shape of the hinged front body piece. It looks to large compared to the rest of the body. I have scribed off the hood on mine and the fenders look right. It's was the hood, it's too tall. I plan on sanding down the lower edges until it looks right. 

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. 

[magicmustang]

10 minutes 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. 

Also, a good idea. Although, I will probably just extend the BMF strip along the hood where the character line should be..

Edited February 11, 2020 by magicmustang

[Roadrunner]

Interesting points. I doubt that I'll try to adjust either issue, but still good to know. The '40 Willys gasser photos that I've gathered so far, seem to be a mix of full tilt front ends and traditional hood arrangements, so I'll just go with what the kit offers.