Jump to content
Board will be offline for a little while tonight ×
Model Cars Magazine Forum

‘53 Studebaker


Recommended Posts

On 1/11/2024 at 5:44 PM, espo said:

If chopping the top is even a consideration, now would be the time since it looks like you're shortening the body and removing material from the roof. Since chopping the top usually requires adding material to lengthen the roof now would be the time to see how little would need to be removed from the roof.

And I thought I had a plan... 🤔 I will have to think it over this night... Either way, the roof will have to be cut in half. Aaaah, decisions, decisions...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, milo1303s said:

You say Dremel to cut that  what are you cutting with and at what speed ?

Actually, it‘s a Proxxon motor tool

11Proxxon.jpg.7ea89d2dbee05a2e7648597583dc634c.jpg

but it‘ basically the same as a Dremel. When cutting, I use this little circular saw

12saw.jpg.bd6077739bf3abc053498ba6ad01b88d.jpg

at speed stage 2 or 3. Sorry, I don‘t have clue what rpm that is but  it cuts through styrene like a hot knife through butter...

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I decided to stick to my original plan and to shorten the body first before I chop the top. I cut the body in half and removed the section between the rear door lines and the rear roof pillar...

13firstcuts.jpg.dae0a943f4d91a255344b4c9f255cb36.jpg

...and glued it together again:

14shorter.jpg.0c6d81c95dc847c38b7b99723a328444.jpg

Next step will be to shorten the rear window and to move the rear wheel wells forward, so more cuts will happen here:

15nextstep.jpg.99c336e9b69a43ba94a04815ba68260c.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now that I took off some material from behind the rear pillar...

16shorter2.jpg.e73cff136fc01337112ca2978e59abe8.jpg

...I still think it is not short enough, yet. I engraved new, curved door lines and again I marked the area where I want remove material from between the doors and the rear wheel wells  and to shorten the trunk a little bit:

17 restyled door lines.jpg

18morecuts.jpg.442f8ff33546fab0812a07b08b66af3e.jpg

Edited by Koellefornia Kid
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some nice slicing and dicing going on here!👍 Not that you need any advice from me…but I think that door line would look better straight (not curved), to match the angle of the back of the cove and front edge of the rear wheel opening. I’ll follow along ‘cause I love this kinda stuff!😎

Edited by NOBLNG
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I compared my previous body work with the Stanford rendering and realised that it won‘t meet exactly the proportions Steve Stanford had drawn. I guess I should have taken out some material from the door and trunk areas but I will continue to try to build a nice looking sport coupe with a more daily use suitability and decided to perform the top chop a little bit less aggressive. First I lowered the rear section of the roof:

22chop1.jpg.f801ba3e08c815a12e78d1a017241834.jpg

And continued with the front:

23chop2.jpg.01d80c95d46fa6ec04c5517ceff5c277.jpg

The resulting gap was filled with a piece I cut from the middle of the roof earlier:

24chop3.jpg.1b01a830986d5b82a11d30139760dd01.jpg

Now the real putty and sanding orgy can begin...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry for the slow progress, guys. Bench time is getting rare these days. 😐

After some dusty hours of sanding, "Stoo Short" is taking shape slowly:

25body.jpg.009c2f54cc5aaa7261e7c83ae827e9d7.jpg

I lost a lot of the drip rail details during sanding, so I made new rails from small diameter Evergreen rod:

26driprail.jpg.2e092986819d3b8c5091577cc4b6d978.jpg

Under the hood I scratch built new inner fender arcs:

27innerwheelsrcs.jpg.6b955557352bbc590ed6bedc16af880c.jpg

And I also frenched the headlights:

28frenchedheadlights.jpg.d7caccbff666f0fa6f817a42153c19bf.jpg

I‘m pretty sure I will have to do some touch ups here and there, a coat of primer will tell. But first I want to take care of the  interior tub and the chassis plate...

So long...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Health issues are keeping me away from the work bench but I got a few things done. The chassis plate...

29frame1.jpg.805adaf2d15a796abadc534708bf94b8.jpg

...has been shortened and I scratch built rear wheel tubs:

31frame2.jpg.93c7039a50542afd2fd53371a6a68cda.jpg

32frame3.jpg.2f8643cb5b483c35439453bded129e77.jpg

The interior tub...

30interior1.jpg.b10c954256311f2d9ee8d5209c7aa3e3.jpg

has been shortened, too:

33interior2.jpg.0179866d8a81af58de4d242cbf191e59.jpg

...featuring scratch built wheel tubs, too. Scale Production seats...

34interior3.jpg.86e2fd3778428d34b295cbad8528fb39.jpg

...steering wheel and floor shifter from the parts box and a NOS bottle from SP.

Also decided to use this engine:

35engine.jpg.baac8fdd0ce1a21bfa5314664a47fa46.jpg

which came from the amt 1972 Corvette Street Machine kit

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...