'49 Ford lead sled (sorry George)

[customline]

The shoebox Ford.  The first car I remember (Dad kept that oil burner for ten years) in my life was a '51 Ford custom tudor, color brown (bronze?) metallic. I heard him say more than once that it burned oil from the day he bought it. (So why didn't he...oh....)

The idea of this one is chopping it a very healthy four scale inches and it is because I'm trying to look like a chopped Merc. Can't do that with a coupe. Gotta have a tudor.  So....I got it in my head that if I  could maybe move the backlight rearward to say...half-way to the trunk opening and lay it way down on a low roof, I could get close to that Merc lead sled feeling.  It's a little scary; there's lots of taper, bottom to top, on the greenhouse.  This body is an easy section job but the roof is not an easy chop.

The early plan was both section and chop but after a week of mental activity the conservative won out.  Here's the victim, an eBay find ? 

This is not an attempt to model any particular car.  It's an adventure, an experiment. I've been lusting...well, needing to butcher this one into a sorta "punk" lead sled.  Something with a quickie stolen car smell to it.  You've seen them. You'd peg it for a novice, which, it so happens, it is! Gotta learn it somehow and this way is fun for me. The following is not for the squeamish.  

Our victim was given a bath and scrubbed with DAWN ( go away, I'm no good for you....) uh...

The shiny black was tough on my eyes for some reason so I dusted it with some light gray primer

Check your magazine archives. See any customs with no windshield wipers? 

Smooth is king here. All you need is Rain-x anyway. 

And here we go .....don't expect much ?!  

This is what I would like to say, but without the accent....and lower.....black cherrrrry

[TarheelRick]

Looking forward to this build. I love lead sleds, especially the medium radical ones. Going to be fun watching that top chop.

[NOBLNG]

Oh God… that’s UGLY!? (JMO of course)?

That’s more like it!?? I’m itching to see what you do with it Jim. Four inches sounds like a lot, but it does have a pretty tall roof so…? I have a ‘50 Ford so I’ll follow along. Good luck with her!?

 

Edited November 10, 2024 by NOBLNG

[Bullybeef]

You got this Jim! Fire up the chopsaw and let that plastic fly.

[customline]

Remember what I said about the squeamish now.....

This is known as "flying by the seat of your pants"

 

and there's turbulence ahead.....

[customline]

25 minutes ago, TarheelRick said:

Looking forward to this build. I love lead sleds, especially the medium radical ones. Going to be fun watching that top chop.

Medium radical says it precisely sort of. It will NOT  be fun if I can help it! Just you watch!  You won't be able to look. It's truly scary.

[customline]

25 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

Oh God… that’s UGLY!? (JMO of course)?

That’s more like it!?? I’m itching to see what you do with it Jim. Four inches sounds like a lot, but it does have a pretty tall roof so…? I have a ‘50 Ford so I’ll follow along. Good luck with her!?

 

Yeah, man, can't believe Barris would let them put his name on that.  I'll bet them shtickers are worth a week's pay by now. Hmmmmm.

[customline]

28 minutes ago, Bullybeef said:

You got this Jim! Fire up the chopsaw and let that plastic fly.

Yessssir! The styrene is all up in there now, Boss.

[LennyB]

My neighbor down the road had a '49 until recently. He turned 94 this summer, decided he couldn't drive it anymore and sold it. It was a bit of a bear to drive and kept you busy every minute.

 

I don't think he would have let me chop the top.?

[Bullybeef]

40 minutes ago, customline said:

Yessssir! The styrene is all up in there now, Boss.

Well I’m down to follow along and maybe learn. Im sure it will be lots of fun. 

[Can-Con]

1 hour ago, customline said:

Yeah, man, can't believe Barris would let them put his name on that.  I'll bet them shtickers are worth a week's pay by now. Hmmmmm.

Barris would put his name on anything for a buck. He was well known for buying customs other people built and putting his name on them like he built them himself.

Those stickers were great, weren't they? Whoever thought "rub and stick" dry transfers were a good idea for a model should have been fired.

But, Good on ya Jim for jumping right in there and start cutting. A bit scary at first but don't be afraid of making mistakes. Mistakes are how we learn what works and what don't. ?

[customline]

47 minutes ago, LennyB said:

My neighbor down the road had a '49 until recently. He turned 94 this summer, decided he couldn't drive it anymore and sold it. It was a bit of a bear to drive and kept you busy every minute.

 

I don't think he would have let me chop the top.?

He's 94. 

[LennyB]

1 minute ago, customline said:

He's 94. 

Yes, sir!

[customline]

On 11/10/2024 at 8:17 PM, Can-Con said:

Barris would put his name on anything for a buck. He was well known for buying customs other people built and putting his name on them like he built them himself.

Those stickers were great, weren't they? Whoever thought "rub and stick" dry transfers were a good idea for a model should have been fired.

But, Good on ya Jim for jumping right in there and start cutting. A bit scary at first but don't be afraid of making mistakes. Mistakes are how we learn what works and what don't. 

Absolutely.

Edited November 23, 2024 by customline

[TopherMcGinnis]

NICE!

[LennyB]

1 hour ago, Can-Con said:

 

Those stickers were great, weren't they? Whoever thought "rub and stick" dry transfers were a good idea for a model should have been fired.

Actually I put one of the rub and dry transfers of a surfer from one kit on the base of my work lamp and it’s held up to this day. Looks as good as the day I did it.  Used a lot of rub on transfers for lettering at the time and they were better then decals as you didn’t have a clear halo around them like decals.

What bothered me was the simulated sheet of turned metal sticker that came in each kit to be put on the body, such as on the rear fender on the 49 here. I have a whole bunch of them somewhere that I never used.  

[customline]

9 minutes ago, LennyB said:

Actually I put one of the rub and dry transfers of a surfer from one kit on the base of my work lamp and it’s held up to this day. Looks as good as the day I did it.  Used a lot of rub on transfers for lettering at the time and they were better then decals as you didn’t have a clear halo around them like decals.

What bothered me was the simulated sheet of turned metal sticker that came in each kit to be put on the body, such as on the rear fender on the 49 here. I have a whole bunch of them somewhere that I never used.  

I'm thinking roadster firewall ?

[LennyB]

3 minutes ago, customline said:

I'm thinking roadster firewall ?

Or dashboard?

[customline]

On 11/10/2024 at 10:00 PM, LennyB said:

Or dashboard?

Or the trash can. 

Edited November 23, 2024 by customline

[customline]

I want it understood that this is not a "how-to" because  I'm learning as I go (and this ain't like whacking a Model A.)  

I started to put the pieces back together in their new locations. It's no surprise my cuts were not terribly accurate. I added small pieces of sheet to the inside of the pillars to make it easy to get the top pieces in place.  During this process I used the Testors liquid in the black dispenser because it allows a little "adjustment" time (but not much).  I glue a piece of .015 sheet to the inside of a roof pieces and manipulate them into place.  You can imagine how that goes but the pictures may help you decide if you want to try this.

the .015 evergreen is pliable enough for bending during "adjustments" and it holds it all together. The next step is to fill in the top.  I am using the top from the '53 Ford for those filler pieces.  The package shelf will need to be extended and the the glass will need to be created and mountings put in place. All of that later.  Thanks for looking in and feel free to say I'm nuts. ☺️

[TopherMcGinnis]

Aren't we all nuts? Looking good by the way. I tried swapping rooves from a '65 Plymouth to a '65 Dodge for a sedan A990 build. Not easy stuff for sure. 

[customline]

1 hour ago, TopherMcGinnis said:

Aren't we all nuts? Looking good by the way. I tried swapping rooves from a '65 Plymouth to a '65 Dodge for a sedan A990 build. Not easy stuff for sure. 

Greenhouse work on lot of later cars is tricky. Thanks, Topher.

[Mattilacken]

That’s some impressive cutting and joining! Great work! 

[customline]

7 hours ago, Mattilacken said:

That’s some impressive cutting and joining! Great work! 

You really think so? Thank you, Anton! ......(I see it more as hacking and glue-bombing ?)

[Bullybeef]

Well Jim, I’d say you are having fun playing with your plastic puzzle, filling the gaps in the roof and the c pillars will be an adventure for sure. I’m hoping to learn some techniques for carving and filling to make some things smoother for my 40 build.