Plastic surgery for a '41 Plymouth

[customline]

17 hours ago, LennyB said:

Jim

I think adding that trim to the front really helps a lot. On the two I'm working on the trim on the passenger side is almost non-existent. 

I was working on the front end of my two last night and as you say there is a lot of work involved just to make the nose look right.  On the Woody I sanded off the fender welting and made a groove for solder or beading wire as you did. I know it will be harder to form but I'm leaning towards the beading wire in black so that after the body is painted I can sand thru the paint to expose the wire rather then painting the beading black.

Feel free to post a few pix of your '41s here, Len. We are in a somewhat uncharted wilderness and those of us interested in this kit want to see what's out there.  I'm waiting for Hobbylinc to send me some .020 styrene rod that I plan to try. The danger with styrene that small is the solvent melting it. I also ordered a bottle of thin CA for that task. Not sure how that's going to go. I'm pretty sure the original fender welt was black but many photos on the web are showing a bright finish on the bead. I recall J. C. Whitney catalogs advertised "chrome" fender welt. It's an aftermarket item, as far as I know. It looks great but I'm going to play it down. I don't want to mess with the paint job by adding the bead post-paint. Besides, whatever you do on the fronts should be the same on the rears. 

I have a '41 Ford Woody kit that I'm considering converting. But all that woodwork 😞.  BTW, is the black beading wire just a metal wire with a very thin coating of something black? Might you sand through it? 

[LennyB]

Jim

 

I'm actually sitting here now working on the Coupe and getting aggravated with the front end. Took a day off from work as I need to take the dogs to the vet so I'm putting in some bench time while the snow comes down outside. The more I look at it the more I see it needs work. Started by filling in the cutouts for the bumper brackets as I'm eliminating the front bumper on this one. Which that part is easy.

 

Then I put the hood on and looking at the alignment of everything the gap between the hood and the grill top are so uneven. 

 

Next I removed all the trim and am in the process of adding the trim back with some .040 half round as you did. That is in the process of drying right now so I can't grab a pic.

I pulled out the grill and put it in place before I attached the vertical trim and it appears to me that the trim will actually have to overlap the grill a bit.

 

As for the fender welting that should be black and I thought about the issue of scrapping thru the black and exposing shiny metal. Also thought about applying the welting after painting but that comes with it's own set of risks. For now I haven't changed the welting on the Coupe, but on the Woody I took it off for the solder or whatever to fill in the task.

And you are correct, J. C. Whitney did sell, and probably still does, chrome welting. Many cars had the welting painted over also in a respray, but we're not going to be that lazy now are we? LOL.

I was contemplating the headlight issue next but as I went thru my parts I found I only have one pair of headlights. As the coupe is a resto-mod I may just go with something different for the headlights, but the Woody will be correct. I know I have more kits stashed away but I don't want to cannibalize one for just the headlights.

 

One last thing as I got to run, when I pulled out the grill from the parts stash I found one to have a gold tint to the chrome. Not sure who, what or why about that.

 

Anyway, catch up later.

 

[customline]

5 hours ago, LennyB said:

Jim

 

I'm actually sitting here now working on the Coupe and getting aggravated with the front end. Took a day off from work as I need to take the dogs to the vet so I'm putting in some bench time while the snow comes down outside. The more I look at it the more I see it needs work. Started by filling in the cutouts for the bumper brackets as I'm eliminating the front bumper on this one. Which that part is easy.

 

Then I put the hood on and looking at the alignment of everything the gap between the hood and the grill top are so uneven. 

 

Next I removed all the trim and am in the process of adding the trim back with some .040 half round as you did. That is in the process of drying right now so I can't grab a pic.

I pulled out the grill and put it in place before I attached the vertical trim and it appears to me that the trim will actually have to overlap the grill a bit.

 

As for the fender welting that should be black and I thought about the issue of scrapping thru the black and exposing shiny metal. Also thought about applying the welting after painting but that comes with it's own set of risks. For now I haven't changed the welting on the Coupe, but on the Woody I took it off for the solder or whatever to fill in the task.

And you are correct, J. C. Whitney did sell, and probably still does, chrome welting. Many cars had the welting painted over also in a respray, but we're not going to be that lazy now are we? LOL.

I was contemplating the headlight issue next but as I went thru my parts I found I only have one pair of headlights. As the coupe is a resto-mod I may just go with something different for the headlights, but the Woody will be correct. I know I have more kits stashed away but I don't want to cannibalize one for just the headlights.

 

One last thing as I got to run, when I pulled out the grill from the parts stash I found one to have a gold tint to the chrome. Not sure who, what or why about that.

 

Anyway, catch up later.

 

A word about the hood, Len....the hood fit just plain sucks.  The whole kit sucks.  But because we like the subject matter, we must endeavor to persevere. My hood trim isn't going to meet with the nose trim because of the crappy fit of the hood. I wish I had spotted that issue earlier so I could have dealt with it before doing the trim mods.  There's only so much we can do before it becomes a fool's errand. I have done what I can to improve the look of the mess that AMT left me with. I wasn't going to continue with it beyond re-shaping the nose, for now, but I put the engine block together and found that to be pretty poor too. In the photo below you can see the manifold in place using the locating pins in their corresponding holes. Does that look right to you? Another thing to fix. And oh, yeah....no distributor. 

I did a bit more today on the "dent" I created and some other minor gaffs and got some primer on it. Thanks for your input, Len, I'm sure the others here are interested in what you are doing as well. 

Here's what it's supposed to look like 👍 

If I try for a better fit of the hood, it will probably mean a re-do of the hood trim. I need to figure out exactly what is causing the bad fit.  I've got to think about this. 😒

 

Edited January 31 by customline

[LennyB]

55 minutes ago, customline said:

A word about the hood, Len....the hood fit just plain sucks.  The whole kit sucks.  But because we like the subject matter, we must endeavor to persevere. My hood trim isn't going to meet with the nose trim because of the crappy fit of the hood. I wish I had spotted that issue earlier so I could have dealt with it before doing the trim mods.  There's only so much we can do before it becomes a fool's errand. I have done what I can to improve the look of the mess that AMT left me with. I wasn't going to continue with it beyond re-shaping the nose, for now, but I put the engine block together and found that to be pretty poor too. In the photo below you can see the manifold in place using the locating pins in their corresponding holes. Does that look right to you? Another thing to fix. And oh, yeah....no distributor. 

I did a bit more today on the "dent" I created and some other minor gaffs and got some primer on it. Thanks for your input, Len, I'm sure the others here are interested in what you are doing as well. 

Here's what it's supposed to look like 👍 

If I try for a better fit of the hood, it will probably mean a re-do of the hood trim. I need to figure out exactly what is causing the bad fit.  I've got to think about this. 😒

 

Yes, the hood is a pain. I filed away some of the bottom of the sides on the hood to get the nose to drop down a bit. But my hood is slightly warped and it wants to drift to the left rather then sit where it belongs. Probably going to need to fabricate some type of hinges to hold it in place as it's never going to sit in the right place on it's own.

 

This is where I'm at right now. The glue is still drying so I have to let it sit overnight before I can clean this up and shoot some primer to get a proper look at it.

 

 

[slusher]

Real nice work Jim and I know your just getting started..

[customline]

19 hours ago, LennyB said:

Yes, the hood is a pain. I filed away some of the bottom of the sides on the hood to get the nose to drop down a bit. But my hood is slightly warped and it wants to drift to the left rather then sit where it belongs. Probably going to need to fabricate some type of hinges to hold it in place as it's never going to sit in the right place on it's own.

 

This is where I'm at right now. The glue is still drying so I have to let it sit overnight before I can clean this up and shoot some primer to get a proper look at it.

 

 

Yeah, Len, the hood is a hot mess. I feel like I should try to do something with it because I've put this much into it so why not?  If I can get the hood to sit down properly, I will need to re-do the little horizontal bars (which I'm not really happy with anyway ☹️) and I know I'll need to replace the hood trim completely. Oh well.....

[customline]

7 hours ago, slusher said:

Real nice work Jim and I know your just getting started..

Thanks, Carl, it's do-over time 😞.

[David G.]

Wow Jim, this build has really become a headache for you!

It seems like every time I check in on this thread there's another problem or issue that you're having to deal with. Those molds must have really degraded in the time since the one I build was cast. I feel like I got lucky with the one I built.

All your work addressing the issues has been excellent and I've enjoyed following along with your build.

David G.

[LennyB]

33 minutes ago, David G. said:

Wow Jim, this build has really become a headache for you!

It seems like every time I check in on this thread there's another problem or issue that you're having to deal with. Those molds must have really degraded in the time since the one I build was cast. I feel like I got lucky with the one I built.

All your work addressing the issues has been excellent and I've enjoyed following along with your build.

David G.

David

You have me curious now. I'm having the same issues as Jim and I thought I was working with two early releases on my project. I'll have to go up in the attic this weekend as I have one ore two un-built early releases stashed and take a look.

Len

[LennyB]

11 hours ago, David G. said:

Wow Jim, this build has really become a headache for you!

It seems like every time I check in on this thread there's another problem or issue that you're having to deal with. Those molds must have really degraded in the time since the one I build was cast. I feel like I got lucky with the one I built.

All your work addressing the issues has been excellent and I've enjoyed following along with your build.

David G.

Went up in the attic when I go home tonight and dug out the Rocker release which is from 1978, it is the earliest one I have that isn't sealed.

 

The grill center piece has the same issues.

 

Edited February 2 by LennyB
Added info

[NOBLNG]

Great work Jim! You and Len are getting those front ends looking a lot better. I haven’t used it, but for the fender welting, BMF makes a black foil that may work? One thing that bothers me about this kit is the center nose piece between the grills is way too wide…not an easy fix though.😕. I can’t wait to get home next week and dig my kit out for a look.🥴

[LennyB]

3 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Great work Jim! You and Len are getting those front ends looking a lot better. I haven’t used it, but for the fender welting, BMF makes a black foil that may work? One thing that bothers me about this kit is the center nose piece between the grills is way too wide…not an easy fix though.😕. I can’t wait to get home next week and dig my kit out for a look.🥴

Greg

Great idea on that BMF. I was getting ready to order some of the regular BMF so I'll add a sheet of the black.

[customline]

On 2/2/2024 at 7:07 AM, LennyB said:

Went up in the attic when I go home tonight and dug out the Rocker release which is from 1978, it is the earliest one I have that isn't sealed.

 

The grill center piece has the same issues.

 

.

I hate to say this, Len, but if you are holding still sealed '41 Plymouth kits for future collectability, you may be wasting valuable attic space. 🥴.  Unless, of course, you have a first issue, but other than that.....well.....I think you know. Just sayin' 🤓.

I have the black BMF in stock but the only way I could use it, at this point, would be after a bead has filled the groove that I have created. Is that what we are talking about? It just may work, but it's going to be uncharted territory. You go first! 😀.

Did the"Rocker" have the same crappy custom wheels as the current $13 Ollie's kits?

[customline]

On 2/2/2024 at 1:50 PM, NOBLNG said:

Great work Jim! You and Len are getting those front ends looking a lot better. I haven’t used it, but for the fender welting, BMF makes a black foil that may work? One thing that bothers me about this kit is the center nose piece between the grills is way too wide…not an easy fix though.😕. I can’t wait to get home next week and dig my kit out for a look.🥴

Hey, Greg, thanks for your kind words and I hope to get more done soon but progress is slow lately.  I'm trying to get my painting station put together in my garage plus some other stuff. 

My nose panel seemed too narrow but I think my body shell may have been a little warped because I had to glue one side and after it had set, pulled it together and glued the other side. Let's face it, it's a pretty crappy kit. It's a shame because these pre-war Plymouths were good 1:1 hot rod material in the '70s and '80s. There should have been more attention paid to them in the 1:25 world (and still should).

[LennyB]

28 minutes ago, customline said:

I hate to say this, Len, but if you are holding still sealed '41 Plymouth kits for future collectability, you may be wasting valuable attic space. 🥴.  Unless, of course, you have a first issue, but other than that.....well.....I think you know. Just sayin' 🤓.

I have the black BMF in stock but the only way I could use it, at this point, would be after a bead has filled the groove that I have created. Is that what we are talking about? It just may work, but it's going to be uncharted territory. You go first! 😀.

Did the"Rocker" have the same crappy custom wheels as the current $13 Ollie's kits?

 

The sealed one in the attic is the original issue. Yes, I'm well aware you're not going to get a hot meal at the local diner by selling off one of these kits. 😁

 

I was thinking of putting the BMF over a bead. Tried to go out this morning and get some round stock but Hobby Lobby didn't have anything suitable, unless I wanted a 1/25th scale baseball bat. Gonna have to order some online. Not sure of the size, probably .040".

 

Here is a shot of the wheel from the Rocker kit.

 

[customline]

I think maybe the easiest thing to do in order to get the trim to meet without a gap is to do the nose trim over and extend it a bit rather than mess with the hood. The look will be better with a closed hood. I should set the hood up with magnets first, though, so it always lines up. When the hood is off, the trim will be seen to extend a bit but hey, you're the only ones who will know 🙂

The first photo shows the poorly shaped hood. I would like to fix that. The second photo speaks for itself. I gotta fix that (again) 😞

 

 

[LennyB]

1 hour ago, customline said:

I think maybe the easiest thing to do in order to get the trim to meet without a gap is to do the nose trim over and extend it a bit rather than mess with the hood. The look will be better with a closed hood. I should set the hood up with magnets first, though, so it always lines up. When the hood is off, the trim will be seen to extend a bit but hey, you're the only ones who will know 🙂

The first photo shows the poorly shaped hood. I would like to fix that. The second photo speaks for itself. I gotta fix that (again) 😞

 

 

 

Jim

 

It looks like you have the center trim bar right up at the top of the nose. It actually has a bit of body above the trim. Couldn't you just add a bit of body above the trim to close the gap?

 

[customline]

Edited February 4 by customline
Just noticed this

[David G.]

Wow Jim, this is the kit that just keeps on giving. 

Giving surprises. Giving disappointments. And giving problems in general.

You seem more than capable of addressing these and I'm sure that the end result will be worth all the time and effort.

David G.

[customline]

12 minutes ago, David G. said:

Wow Jim, this is the kit that just keeps on giving. 

Giving surprises. Giving disappointments. And giving problems in general.

You seem more than capable of addressing these and I'm sure that the end result will be worth all the time and effort.

David G.

I don't know, David, it's challenging my patience, certainly, and lately I wonder if it really is worth it.  If it helps to keep my old brain functioning properly then yeah, I suppose it is.  Thanks for your encouragement, I appreciate it.

[NOBLNG]

12 hours ago, customline said:

That’s not how a real one looks.😬 It almost looks like the hood needs to be narrowed some?🥴

Edited February 4 by NOBLNG

[customline]

8 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

That’s not how a real one looks.😬 It almost looks like the hood needs to be narrowed some?🥴

Yeah, Greg, it's a hot mess. It's as if they didn't care about accuracy very much. I guess it's all about the bottom line. It's unfortunate. If they had gone with a '36-'38, they might have had an easier time of it. Oh well, at least we have this.

[customline]

On 2/3/2024 at 5:36 PM, LennyB said:

Jim

 

It looks like you have the center trim bar right up at the top of the nose. It actually has a bit of body above the trim. Couldn't you just add a bit of body above the trim to close the gap?

 

 

That's a great shot of the 1:1 nose, Len.  The work you did on yours looks darn good. I would (and plan to) go with .020 but making it stick without melting it will require some finesse. I'm waiting for mine to get here. I'm not too sure about the BMF idea but I wouldn't tell you not to try it. I may paint the car black simply to avoid the problem. The wheels provided in the Rocker kit are a far sight better than the ones in the current kit (why would they do that?)

I think I need to do some re-doing, Len, it's unavoidable if I want this thing to work.

[customline]

Quick update. Decided to attack the hood issues. Started by removing the molded-in trim and continued to remove material along both sides in order to facilitate adding new trim using .040 half round. I also removed the trim on the cowl and replaced it because I want the hood trim and the cowl trim to line up better. Everything I do creates another issue to resolve. Ya gotta love it.

I removed the small top nose trim bar because i will need to relocate it slightly. I also added some sheet stock to the bottom of the hood peak. This seemed like an easy way to get things a bit tighter. I discovered that my hood was slightly twisted and some tweaking was in order. Before I do any more, though, I will be setting up the magnets that will keep the hood closed and in alignment ( I hope.) Thanks for keeping up!  🤓

 

 

 

[TarheelRick]

I am really impressed with the attention you are showing to the appearance of this car.  I have a few in my stash and will keep this post flagged to come back to. The local WalMart had 6 of the Coke versions on their Clearance shelf for more than 5 months. I approached the manager about selling them to me at a more reduced price, she agreed. When we got to the cash register they rang up 1/2 of what I had considered paying for them.  Anyway, I built one of these before getting that deal and here is the way I fixed the grille problem.

 

Edited February 6 by TarheelRick