38 Ford Coupe Hardtop racer

[alan barton]

Here she is, warts and all.  It started off as a very gluebombed '40 coupe.  I am happy that it definitely reads as a '38 now but I will need to refine my techniques if I want to do a "nice" one as a street rod.  The colour scheme is growing on me but if I suddenly found a picture of a colour scheme that spoke my name, it would be stripped in an instant and off to the spray booth.  Equally, i don't think the numbers and signwriting are quite era correct but I couldn't find anything else better in my stash (if only a decal printer would one day do a set of random race numbers that are NOT NASCAR based!)  Rear tyres are the front tyres from a sprintcar kit.  Damage was done with a lit candle and a pair of pliers and the edges of sheetmetal were thinned wherever I could. 

It is seen racing my '37 Tudor that I finished a few years ago.  The Monogram 40 Ford pickup is a great chassis swap if you want to backdate this kit - it drops in like it was made for it!

Hope you enjoy my day at the races!

Cheers

Alan

[alan barton]

Just realised I took the race photos before I got the weathering done.  Will get a new set done shortly.  And I hadn't put the steering wheel in yet!  That will teach me for getting impatient to take some photos. 

Edited May 31, 2020 by alan barton

[Phildaupho]

Great to see this finished so soon after discovering your on the workbench thread. You really captured the look of a 38 racer. I really enjoy the photos of the two cars together in action. I remember cars just like these racing way back when and even attempted to build a model of one when I was a teenager in the sixties. 

Congratulations on a great project.

[Muncie]

or is it clean just because it's the first lap of the first race of the season - what an unfortunate incident in turn one.

Alan, You've done it again - car looks spot on for this kind of racer.  The racing scene really gives it life.  Well done. 

Edited May 31, 2020 by Muncie

[misterNNL]

On 5/31/2020 at 9:29 AM, alan barton said:

Just realised I took the race photos before I got the weathering done.  Will get a new set done shortly.  And I hadn't put the steering wheel in yet!  That will teach me for getting impatient to take some photos. 

Both those things are easily explained away. No weathering(1st.day on the track). No steering wheel(inferior fasteners broke+wheel came loose=wreck on track). See how easy that was.

[randyc]

I figured it was a time lapse kind of thing.   No worries.   GReat build!

[alan barton]

Thanks guys, glad you all liked it. It was a fun build and it could never be worse than what I started with!

Cheers

Alan

 

[echo]

Nice job on the jalopy style car & nice conversion.  Polecat decals has a large selection of vintage stock car decals. They are for specific cars but could be used to make a more vintage non NASCAR look. Again nice job.

[slusher]

Super nice!

[stavanzer]

Beautiful Build. You really convey the feel of the era. Good Show!

[hack-n-whack]

Way cool!! Great job on the '40 to a '38 conversion. How did you finally make that '38 grill?  Thin brass rods?  Plastic?  The dents look real too.

[alan barton]

Thanks everyone, it is nice to know other people appreciate dirt track racers.  Getting the right amount of wear and tear without looking like poor modelling skills is a constant challenge!

Thomas, I started with the blanking grille panel out of the 39/40 sedan kit.  I carved out two nostrils if you like, and then bent up strips of plastic and glued them in individually.  That is where I went wrong, you simply can't control such small pieces of plastic.  Next time I will used thin brass wire, wound around something of about the same radius as the grille bar curvature  and then mass produce a truck load of bars and then set to trimming them to fit.  I think that would improve the consistency considerably - gluing will still be a challenge, however!

The dents on both cars are mostly done by very quickly waving the panel over a candle, but I stress you have to be quick. I use small pliers to bend it to shape while it is soft.  Then I cut, file or sand the edges to something approaching scale thickness - this is critical to getting "the look"  Otherwise it looks like your body was made from concrete. I also carve some damage straight into the plastic with an Xacto.

Two other things I do to these old racecars is a) score through some of the panel openings so that you see a bit of daylight.  I don't remove or hinge the doors, you are just trying to get the impression that they are separate panels.  You will see on the 37 that I then bent part of the door out like it was bent during a roll over.

The other thing I do is glue a thin strip of styrene around the windshield opening, to advertise that the windshield frame has been removed.  It just helps give the impression of factory tin without spending hours superdetailing things. 

Cheers

Alan

[hack-n-whack]

Thanks for the information Alan. Are you going to continue on with your '38 Ford street rod project? I'm really interested ,because I want to try a '38 Ford woody rod. I hope my skill level improves enough to attempt my ambitious project. Your models are a true inspiration to me!  Thanks again.     Bast wishes.

[alan barton]

The 38 street rod project is a fair way down the list right now, Thomas, but just tonight, while looking for something totally unrelated, i came across the custom grille from the AMT 37 Chevy and with it's thin horizontal bars it may be where I go on my next attempt.  

 

Cheers

Alan

[DrKerry]

Beautiful!!!! Like both cars and the dio you have adds to them perfectly!!!!

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[Sam I Am]

Excellent rendition of this era. I have a 40 Ford coupe in this style.