29 A roadster - budget hot rod

[vizio93]

That grill look amazing, keep it up !!!

[Alyn]

Thanks, guys. Here's another evenings work.

I like the look of the old lever action friction shocks, so I decided to see what I could come up with. These started with a slice of 1/8" styrene rod and a matching slice of aluminum. The end of each rod was drilled with an .022" bit prior to cutting so there would be plenty of material to hold in a vice.

These disks were matched up with a thin plastic lever arm and a star bolt. All parts are held together with CA.

Here's another shot of the final part. The gold part will be glued to the frame rails and a small metal rod will extend from the hole in the lever arm to the front axle. Now that they're assembled, I not sure the red and gold were the right way to go. Kinda gives the shocks a circus look.

[Alyn]

couple more...

Here's mock-up of the chassis. The chassis will be complete once the steering are and tie rods are built. The headlights, which are mounted on short sections of brass rod, were created from pen caps. I made a mold from my first set and now I can pour as many as I need in resin. The basic part is extra long and can be cut shorter as the situation demands. The bezels will be made from slices of aluminum tube.

Still more to do on the engine too, including fuel lines and generator wiring. the radiator tubes are just set in place. I need to add the hose clamps and then make sure everything fits in place. The fan had to be cut off to bring it in closer to the front of the engine. There wasn't quite enough room to mount the radiator the way it was. The upper tank of the radiator was covered in gold BMF and then painted matte black. then some of the paint was rubbed off to show a brass radiator underneath.

[Danno]

Outstanding.

[Raul_Perez]

Looking good, Alyn!!

The exhaust wrapping is a nice touch

Later,

[Hizoot]

WOW Alyn,

This looks like a true labor of love for you..! Very interesting project & well done, luv the scratch building !

Hizoot

[Jairus]

That is some "old school" building tricks. Very nice!

Keep it simple and no photoetch, good job.

I would suggest picking up some Floquil flat paint for a final touch. Just airbrush it over everything to mute down the glossy surfaces after you are done handling it. (not the glass of course) Floquil is not enamel so it can be sprayed on tires too.

[Alyn]

Thanks for the good words, gentlemen.

While I wouldn't equate model building to work, I can tell you that I do love doing it, as I'm sure most all of you do as well.

Jairus, thanks for the comments and tips. Floquil paint is great stuff.

I've shot some Testors dull coat on most of the detail and sub assembly parts on this build. You can see the lack of gloss on the red frame rails in the mock-up shot. the interior is dulled down as well. The main body finish will remain glossy though. I'm trying to temper the use of weathering and not over do it. Any of you that have dabbled in rust and weathering know how easy it is to do just a little more...

The story on this car is that it was stripped down to build a hot rod on a slim budget. The short cuts taken to do body repair have come back to rust through. Later on, the 29 grill shell was swapped out for the 32 shell along with headlights from who knows what. Now that the car is back together and on the road again, an engine swap, wheels and new paint job is planned when the savings account permits.

[kasteer]

Simply..... WOW...

Outstanding, Amazing, Spectacular work!

[exesivefire]

this is the first build I have had the opportunity to really look at on this site, and I must say I am inspired!

awesome detail here, read through the whole thing, cant wait till after work tomorrow to get going on a few of my projects now.

kudos to the build quality!

[Jantrix]

I/m really enjoying seeing this come together. Very authentic look.

[codie27]

Alyn, I dont know how I have managed to miss this until now. That is going to be one awesome model, the amount of work you have put into this is amazing, you have a great eye for detail. Those rust spots really add to the charm of the car and I can understand how you say its easy to go too far once you get some nice weathering, you've managed to get it just right. Really dig your pics showing how things were done and you explain your steps clearly, by which Im trying to say I learnt something by reading how you have done things. There are a number of your tips and tricks I want to try myself. Thanks for sharing, looking forward to seeing it finished.

[Chuck Most]

Once it's done, I'm willing to bet your only gripe will be it's not 1:1!

[Alyn]

Again, thanks for all your good words. Some of these comments are down right humbling. Shows what a great site this is. MCM, in my opinion is like the watering hole of automotive model building. There's plenty of model related sites out there on the internet. Most frequented by some impressive, if not down right awesome builders. But most of them that want to know wants going on, who's doing what, or just to be part of a broader community will show up here.

My 29 is getting really close to the finish line. Here's some of the last of the parts to get done. I've mentioned before that the cap off of a ball-point or other type of pen can be used to scratch build headlight buckets. Once I found one the shape I liked, I poured a silicone mold to make more in the future. These are purposely left long to use as is, or you can cut it down to various lengths to suit the circumstances.

To finish off the headlight, I cut a slice of small diameter, heavy wall aluminum tubing for the trim ring. This tubing has a .030" wall thickness whereas the usual tubing is .015"

It's not too difficult to round over the edge of the tubing to the proper shape. Just like polishing a paint job, these are sanded with progressively finer grits to smooth out the scratches. Then Dupont #7 polishing compound provides the final shine.

I scrounge through my parts box for a clear lense that will fit inside the tubing and cover it in clear parts glue to hold it it place. Tin foil is glued behind the lense to give the appearance of a reflector. This is right after the glue is poured. Of course it clears up as it dries.

Here's the final result. You can also see one of the friction shocks mounted just bolow the headlight.

... and here's a shot of the coolant tubes in their final form before gluing them to the engine and radiator. The hose clamps are BMF. I brush the hose area with Tamiya acrylic clear to keep the foil from peeling off.

[Bernard Kron]

Fabulous work, as usual. The model companies have really gotta hate you! You must have a tiny parts stash since you fabricate everything yourself! Can't wait to see more, more, more... except you must be approaching the end - I'll miss it...

Edited October 7, 2010 by gbk1

[Alyn]

Fabulous work, as usual. The model companies have really gotta hate you! You must have a tiny parts stash since you fabricate everything yourself! Can't wait to see more, more, more... except you must be approaching the end - I'll miss it...

They gotta love every one of us builders. After all, we buy far more of their kits than we'll every have time to put together.

My parts stash is actually growing pretty fast. Since I make my own, I have lots of left overs.

This one's very close to the end. All I have left is steering components; tie-rods, drag link and pitman arm. Then some valve stems (should have done them long ago), paint touch up and weathering and she'll be a photo shoot away from "under glass".

[Romell R]

I love it Alyn ive been watching for some time now and Im always amazed with your skill and scratch building I cant wait to see the finished product keep up the good work

Edited October 7, 2010 by Aftashox

[Fuel Coupe]

fantastic Alyn. There are some who just pile details into a model and forgo fit and finish. You are NOT that guy. Great stuff here. I'm blown away and can only hope to build half as good as you someday

[Alyn]

Thank you both very much for your compliments and interest.

Shane, everytime I see the TxRat sig line, I am reminded of your Pure Hell AA/FA (not that you haven't done some really cool stuff since). As I followed that build, my main thought was "this guy thinks like me". You seem to take pride in creating the details yourself, as do I. The fun is in the challenge.

One of these days when I build a nice set of brake shoes...

[sjordan2]

On the headlight rings, you said it's not too difficult to round over the edge of the tubing to the proper shape. Exactly how did you get the rounded effect? This would also be a good technique for more realistic instrument gauge bezels than most PE parts.

[Alyn]

Using a jewelers or rifle file, I bevel the edge to a 45° angle. This leaves two edges that can then be filed down, leaving four, At that point, round over all the edges to a 1/4 round profile. Use sandpaper as mentioned to smooth out the final shape and clean up scratches. Follow up with the Dupont #7 polish.

Here's the same trick using regular .015" wall aluminum tubing for guage bezels.

[Alyn]

One final build update before this one is done. Some time ago, I dropped a chrome tie-rod into the purple pond, stripped it and rinsed in preparation for paint. Now I can't find it, so more scratch building is in order. I used brass for the tie rod, dipped in Blacken-It although it will still get a coat of matte black paint. the ends are hex styrene and the steering arms are flat strips of styrene. A couple of Grandt Line bolts add just enough detail.

The drag link is all styrene. The larger piece on the end that connects to the pitman arm mimicks the way rod-ends were designed in the old days.

Here's the finished product. I may add another bolt head on the pitman arm.

Finally, a finished shot of the rear of the car. Taillights, as mentioned previously are brads from Hobby Lobby with a few drops of Tamiya clear red used for lenses.

... and a practice shot I took outside.

After I add a couple of bolt heads and a radiator cap, she'll be ready for some under glass pics.

Thanks for following along

[Terror]

Thats coming out nice man.Cool work too.I think the seat needs a seam rip or 2.Nothing major just to let you know it's used.

[W-409]

I've been following this one, now I have to say, it looks very good! I can't wait to see it finished. This is just good looking hot rod, you got some great talents also... That tie rod looks awesome, great scratchbuilding there! I like that rust on it. Great job all the way with this.

[Foxer]

This was a totally enjoyable build to watch! Seeing all your scratch built bits and pieces was an education.