49 Mercury Joker-Mobile: WIP

[David G.]

I bought this as a bagged kit many years ago at a local swap meet and I've been waiting for the proper inspiration to build it.

From plain box stock to all out chopped and channeled customs I, like many of us, have seen just about every rendition of 1949 Mercury that can possibly be built. There are, in fact a couple beautiful examples going on on this board right now. But I wanted to do something different with mine. 

 

A few years ago I built this kit as the Gotham City Police car.

 

Unfortunately, this edition didn't come with the complete Joker decal set which is part of the reason that I settled on building the police car. But I still wanted a Joker-Mobile for my Batman collection and I ended up purchasing a Joker decal set online for future use.

That future is now!

This Merc will be built as the Joker-Mobile! More than just a goon car, this will be the royal chariot of the Clown Prince of Crime himself.

The custom work won't be too involved and will consist mostly of paint and accessories.

I decided to start with the basic kit-provided flathead V-8

 

Here's a color test on the chassis. I think the green is a little too bright compared to the purple. I think I'll do a few spoon tests to see if I can balance them against each other a little better.

 

That's all for now!

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

 

Edited January 14, 2022 by David G.

[slusher]

I will be following along. Really nice start friend..

[Beamerman]

That green is reaallly bright...what color is it? that thing will look awesome...

[Bullybeef]

This appeals to me, mostly for my love of the Tim Burton Batman movie! 

[David G.]

19 hours ago, slusher said:

I will be following along. Really nice start friend..

Thank you Carl, your support is always appreciated.

15 hours ago, Beamerman said:

That green is reaallly bright...what color is it? that thing will look awesome...

Thanks Beamerman, it's Tamiya TS 42 Light Green.

I painted the chassis as a test to see how well the two colors played with each other. On the chassis, I painted the purple (TS 37 Lavender) first, then masked for the green areas. Not knowing how opaque the green was going to be, I sprayed a base coat of white first. I've since done a spoon test and found that the green will cover quite well straight over the purple and this will tone down the florescence a good deal and hopefully, bring the colors into a better relation to one another.

9 hours ago, Bullybeef said:

This appeals to me, mostly for my love of the Tim Burton Batman movie! 

Thank you Bil. I've built a pretty good collection of Bat-Vehicles and I wanted a Joker-Mobile to round things out a bit. My Joker is somewhere between Jack Nicholson's and Heath Ledger's, still kind of campy but getting more dangerous.

David G.

[David G.]

Time for a quick update.

I noticed this during the initial inspection- a casting flaw or some other damage to the drip rail. Though I don't plan this as a top tier build, this is more than I am willing to let pass.

 

I removed the offending bit and replaced it with a fresh piece of strip styrene.

 

Shaped, smoothed, primed and ready for paint. It's not perfect but it's a significant improvement.

I also have all the chassis bits painted and in the process of assembly, so I should have more photos soon.

Thanks,

David G.

[espo]

Good looking repair on the drip molding. 

[David G.]

21 hours ago, espo said:

Good looking repair on the drip molding. 

Thank you David.

David G.

[Dave Van]

Those colors hurt my eyes!!!! COOL!!

[David G.]

23 hours ago, Dave Van said:

Those colors hurt my eyes!!!! COOL!!

That's the idea, thanks Dave.

[David G.]

Ok progress is good and steady on this one. I should have it done fairly soon.

Here is the assembled chassis... complete with posable wheels!

 

For the under-shot I taped the nearly completed interior to the chassis to show its the floor pan. If you build this one with the optional lowered rear axle (and you should just because it's cool) be aware that the fin on the top of the differential will need to be trimmed down. Otherwise it will contact the front of the axle well and not allow the axle to be positioned properly.

 

Test fitting the interior and the body to the chassis. No issues!

 

Now, on to the paint shop! I bought the spray booth a few weeks ago from Micro Mark. It's nice to have a chance to try it out.

 

Best Regards!

David G.

[slusher]

Real nice work David!

[David G.]

12 hours ago, slusher said:

Real nice work David!

Thank you Carl!

David G.

[David G.]

Hello All!

I've just been plugging away on this one a little bit at a time. 

I have the base coat down, it needs a little smoothing before the second coat. Then I'll put the green on the roof.

 

The headlight bezels are green of course but I'm trying to decide if I want to tint the headlight lenses red.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[slusher]

Looks.really good David' should really pop in those colors with clear...

[David G.]

Getting closer to completion, here is the next update.

The interior is done. I built the TNT crate from furniture veneer and the dynamite from styrene rod and wire. The Thompson is from the parts box. I know it should have a drum mag but eh, wadda gonna do?

What I'm looking for now are a jerry can or two for the trunk.

Thanks again,

David G.

[David G.]

22 hours ago, slusher said:

Looks.really good David' should really pop in those colors with clear...

Thanks Carl, Just got the second coat shot late yesterday and I'm hoping to paint the green on the top today or tomorrow.

David G.

Edited March 28, 2021 by David G.
typo

[TarheelRick]

Definitely a different build.  I really like what you are doing with this one.  Never been much of a Batman fan, "Spidey" was my hero.

[Modlbldr]

6 hours ago, David G. said:

Getting closer to completion, here is the next update.

The interior is done. I built the TNT crate from furniture veneer and the dynamite from styrene rod and wire. The Thompson is from the parts box. I know it should have a drum mag but eh, wadda gonna do?

What I'm looking for now are a jerry can or two for the trunk.

Thanks again,

David G.

Looking good David!

If you need a Jerry can or two I can take a look. I believe I have some. PM me if you do.

Later-

[David G.]

21 hours ago, TarheelRick said:

Definitely a different build.  I really like what you are doing with this one.  Never been much of a Batman fan, "Spidey" was my hero.

Thanks Ricky. I like Spiderman too but it seems that he never really had to drive anywhere.  

15 hours ago, Modlbldr said:

Looking good David!

If you need a Jerry can or two I can take a look. I believe I have some. PM me if you do.

Later-

Thank you Tom and thanks for the offer.  I did some searching and found a set of 5 1:24th jerrycans from Shapeways for $8.18 but shipping is $9.99. ? I'm going to look and see if they may have something else that I want that I can throw in with the same order to make the shipping charge a little more worth while. Their web site could use a bit of reorganization. They offer 1:24 products but there is no separate browsing category for that scale. It's just lumped in with all the other scales.

Again, thanks for the offer, I'll let you know.

David G.

[Modlbldr]

5 hours ago, David G. said:

 

Thank you Tom and thanks for the offer.

Again, thanks for the offer, I'll let you know.

David G.

Yes, let me know.

Later-

[stinkybritches]

7 hours ago, David G. said:

Thanks Ricky. I like Spiderman too but it seems that he never really had to drive anywhere.  

Thank you Tom and thanks for the offer.  I did some searching and found a set of 5 1:24th jerrycans from Shapeways for $8.18 but shipping is $9.99. ? I'm going to look and see if they may have something else that I want that I can throw in with the same order to make the shipping charge a little more worth while. Their web site could use a bit of reorganization. They offer 1:24 products but there is no separate browsing category for that scale. It's just lumped in with all the other scales.

Again, thanks for the offer, I'll let you know.

David G.

I find that to be the most frustrating thing about the Shapeways website. That and some of the parts have no description whatsoever. 

[David G.]

Hello Everybody.

After color sanding and another coat, here's the final shot on the purple. This photo shows the color much more accurately.

Incidentally, not a bad color for a '49 Merc. It would have to be purple and gray though.

Thanks,

David G.

[David G.]

I've been so wrapped up in my Hearse Conversion, I almost forgot about this one.

I masked and shot the green on the roof and gave the paint a little time to cure. I then added a little BMF to create a trim strip below the windows. I've also started picking out the window trim with the "Ol' Siver Sharpie".

The green bullet bumper in the front attaches to an inset grille that attaches to the front of the frame. I had to do a bit of filing on the grille and the body to get them to go together in such a way that allowed the custom bumper (yet to be installed) to fit flush against the body.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[David G.]

I started throwing some decals at the thing. It looks like I'm going to need to do a little clean-up work on them.

It's kind of a little cartoony but maybe that's the point.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to let me know what you think.

David G.