Monogram 1934 Ford

[Chris V]

I figured I better stop hanging around the "General" and "Industry Corner" sections of this place, and actually post some of the stuff I'm working on.

Thanks to the "Daily Dose" (of inspiration) posted on Facebook by Drag City Casting, I've decided to replicate this late fifties' style Hot Rod:  

  
The build will be based on vintage Monogram parts with just a few miscellaneous parts from other manufacturers thrown in to fully capture the look of the car.

As some of you may know, all early issues of Monogram's 1934 Fords suffer from a mold-misalignment making the lower part of the body flush with the beltline molding. The issue wasn't corrected until the early eighties, when the tooling was altered into the ZZ Top "Eliminator". Thus I'm using one of the subsequent Thom Taylor '34 Cabriolet issues as donor for the main body, while the roof, rear filler panel and stock chassis with bumper brackets are from a seventies "Early Iron" Series '34 Ford Coupé:

Out of the two (Monogram) Buick Nailhead engines available in 1:24 scale I chose the one out of the somewhat commonly available "Orange Hauler" - Parting out an "Uncertain T" for the project just didn't seem like a viable option... 😉

The rolling stock is mainly sourced from the Revell "Skip's Fiesta" Series issue of the 1959 Ford Fairline Skyliner, which features 1:24 scale Oldsmobile Fiesta hubcaps with Monogram's large whitewall tires originally found in the 1958 Ford Thunderbird and 1953/57 Corvettes:

To add a bit of "Rubber Rake" I chose to use the smaller tires from the Lindberg reissues of Pyro's old Cord Convertible and Auburn Speedster kits up front, as the tread and sidewall detail closely matches that of the Monogram tires, only smaller:

As you can see, their inside diameter makes the smaller Lindberg tires an excellent fit for the large Revell/Monogram wheels, which can also be found in the more recent Revell-reissues of Monogram's 1958 Ford Thunderbird:

 

 

[NOBLNG]

Sounds like a nice plan Chris. I like the inspiration photo! 😎

[Chris V]

Another issue common to all versions of the '34 tooling is the difference between the main body and the door top/roof-assembly: The two pieces differ by more than a scale inch in width by the rear edge of the doors:

Luckily the solution is pretty straightforward: Cut out the center sections of the main body with a razor saw, making sure the cuts are perfectly parallel. Carefully sand the edges of the upper piece smooth, making sure to remove an even amount from each side and test fit along the way. Reinstall the upper piece. When the glue has set you repeat the procedure for the lower piece making sure to keep the corners in a right angle: 

MUCH better: 

[Zippi]

You've got a good start on the 34 christian. Looking good.

[Dan Hay]

I’ve built a bunch of these.. loving it so far! 
 

And, that’s a genius way to fix the body. I’ve got one in process, definitely copy that trick!

Edited 4 hours ago by Dan Hay

[Dave Van]

Cool work! Wish Revell would restore this kit with older parts.