My 1st 41 Willy’s

[James2]

 Over the years I have stayed away from building the 41 Willy’s if for no other reason than the amount of over saturated builds that existed. (IMO) Below is a timeline of the various kits and manufacturers. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/revell-85-2371-41-willys-street-rod--1117124/timeline 

Moving forward to today 8/18/25 I finally gave way to build the now famous model. This kit was gifted to me after my friend and modeling legend/car guy, Al Auth passed. In the box were almost enough pieces-parts to build 1 1/2 cars. Missing were a body and chassis and a few other pieces. 
Ed over at Drag City Castings has a beautiful 41 flip nose body, after contacting Ed the deal was struck and the parts arrived. 
First order of business after cleaning was to add the chrome strips to the hood. According to Ed these were left off on the master to represent a fiberglass piece in 1:1…

Edited Monday at 12:15 PM by James2

[TopherMcGinnis]

Those magnifiers are hobby savers! I don't know if I could build anymore without them. The Willys is a super cool car. I've built a couple with 2 more in the queue. 

What's your plans for it?

[James2]

3 hours ago, TopherMcGinnis said:

Those magnifiers are hobby savers! I don't know if I could build anymore without them. The Willys is a super cool car. I've built a couple with 2 more in the queue. 

What's your plans for it?

Yes, at almost 65 my eyes are not as good as they once were, and I find that I need lots of light now too! I am looking forward to this build and hope to build it as Big John Mazmanian's classic.

[Zippi]

That's going to be a nice build Rooster.  I just got two 41 Willy's in today on a trade I did.  I think I've already built 4 so far.

[James2]

I made the chrome trim by scrapping some round Evergreen into a half round and shaping the end. 

Then I layer out the location for the trim with tape, matching the molded in piece. 

I also made and added the door hinges. The Drag City body is looking good.

[FoMoCo66]

That chrome trim looks like it was molded on there. One question, is the drag city body based on the revell just with a flip nose sence the amt body isnt super accurate?

[James2]

34 minutes ago, FoMoCo66 said:

That chrome trim looks like it was molded on there. One question, is the drag city body based on the revell just with a flip nose sence the amt body isnt super accurate?

Yes, the Revell kit is the donor. And I’ll say the floor board and chassis fits perfectly. 

[Zippi]

That trim is looking pretty good there Rooster.  

[James2]

Thanks Zippi. I made some pivot points to open the hood. 1st the pattern and then the pieces. They work but I may need to re-engineer when the front suspension is installed. Pretty happy so far…

I can see now that the hood hits the hinges but not enough the keep it from working.