'48 Woody Update 12/30

[Fletch]

I needed another project like a hole in the head, so I jumped into Cranky's Christmas Model Contest. I dug out a kit that I had been meaning to build for sometime now, the Revell '48 Woody.

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The first order of business was to get the Woody to sit as I envisioned it. The first attempt was to use the dropped axle and spring/wishbone from the Revell Good Guys '40 Ford Coupe.

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The parts were not quite a drop in on the '48 chassis but with minimal modification it fit nicely. Using the wheel/tire combination from Revell '48 Convertible, the results were not what I had expected. It doesn't even begin to sit like I want it to.

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So the next option was the 'Hot Rod' wheel/tire combination from the Revell '40 Coupe, even though the front sits lower the rear high attitude still isn't what I'm looking to achieve.

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Next up was a set of tires and wheels from an AMT '60 Starliner I had sitting on the bench. While they don't look to bad, the Woody still is to high.

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So, we're now to 'Plan B', which is the installation of the IFS and Corvette suspension from the Revell '37 Coupe.

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Stay tuned

Edited December 30, 2009 by Fletch

[LVZ2881]

looks like an interesting project..i'll be watching...

[Dr. Cranky]

Cranky likes it!!! Cranky thinks you are making progress!!!

Cranky happy!!!

[Fletch]

Dave, you should be able to take that '40 front spring and flatten it out, even reverse arch it to get the front down low. the styrene should be soft enough to allow this without cracking or breaking. i've done two of the '40 kit's that way and it dropped them down quite nicely.

Dave Z

That is a great idea Dave, however I remembered earlier this evening that Revell had put in additional parts in the Good Guys '37 Coupe. Both the front spindles and Corvette trear suspension have additional drop to them.

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Being this is not going to be a 100% traditional build the IFS and IRS should accomplish what I set out to do in regards to ride height.

[Bernard Kron]

Promises to be another great "hole in the head" build! Keep drillin' them holes!

[Fletch]

hey Dave have you considered using the billet wheels from the '37 kit too? they have a very cool 5-spoke design and if you have one of the snap "new" Revell Thunderbird kits, the tires from that fit the 37's rims and give you a nice big-n-little set-up if you use the T-bird tires on the rear.

Dave Z

Actually Dave, I had considered those wheels, still not 100% sure. A couple of other sets I have that might work for this build are the Halibrands from Historic Racing Miniatures.

HRM-405: Large Hole Kidney Bean Halibrands

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HRM-406: 2 Large and 2 small Hole Kidney Bean Halibrands.

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The large hole wheels were slated for another build, but I've already ordered 2 more sets from HRM. They are fantactic wheels the photos do not do them justice.

[Fletch]

hey Dave have you considered using the billet wheels from the '37 kit too? they have a very cool 5-spoke design and if you have one of the snap "new" Revell Thunderbird kits, the tires from that fit the 37's rims and give you a nice big-n-little set-up if you use the T-bird tires on the rear.

Dave Z

Dave this is a great tip about using the tires from the new generation Thunderbird in order to get a big and little combination for the larger diameter wheels.

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The wheels at the top are from the '37 Coupe, while the ones at the bottom are from the '50 Pickup.

I don't know if I will use either on this project, but you never know. It certainly not set in stone at this point in time.

[Harold]

Looking good so far. I have that kit also (got it at Dean's for 5 bucks). Can't wait to see yours finished- looks like a nice job of kitbashing.

[Fletch]

The clean up on the chassis continues. This has to be the worst of the Revell '48 Ford chassis I've seen. The only portion of the frame that didn't require a fair amount of filing and filling was the inside of the rails between the center X-members.

The plan is to use the kit flathead with the addition of MCG, Parts by Parks and RMoM pieces

MCG:

MCG-1002 Finned Flathead Edelbrock Center Port Heads

MCG-1009 2-Carb Intake Manifold W/Separate Risers

Parts by Parks:

8002 Long Beehive Filter

8003 Flathead Air Cleaners

8013 Flathead Turned Aluminum Pulleys (1942-53 Set)

Replicas and Miniatures Company of Maryland:

FH-44 1/25 "Edmunds" Air Cleaners

I am not sure which air cleaners will be used for the final build. The IFS and Corvette Rear suspension should be mounted later today. The clean up of the body has been completed and should get the first coat of primer later in the day.

Yesterday, we were at the local one-stop shopping center and found a new finger nail polish called L.A. Girl Matte Flat Finish Nail Color. There are several colors in the line up and they are dead flat straight from the bottle. I picked up 2 bottles of their NL536 Matte Alpine Green for use on the Woody.

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Stay tuned more to come soon.

[Fletch]

Turns out that the '48 Chassis is aprox .125" wider then the '37 Chassis. Requiring the IFS cross menber to be split and a .100X.125 piece of Evergreen .125 long to be fit between the 2 pieces of the member.

The Cross Member mounted in the frame, I left the bump-stops in place on both the front and rear of the '48 frame to indicate the center-line of the axle.

To mount the Corvette IRS in the '48 Chassis required that the rear cross member normally used for the transverse spring be cut down by aprox..090. After that the Independent Rear Suspension dropped into place.

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Stay tuned

[Modlbldr]

Dave-

Your work is looking good on this thing. I've got a question. What is this New Generation Thunderbird Snap kit that you used the taller tires from? Do you have a kit # or a picture? The big and littles look good.

Keep it up.

Later-

[Fletch]

Dave-

Your work is looking good on this thing. I've got a question. What is this New Generation Thunderbird Snap kit that you used the taller tires from? Do you have a kit # or a picture? The big and littles look good.

Keep it up.

Later-

Tom, the Thunderbird that Dave Zinn and I were talking about is the Revell 'Wheels of Fire' New Thunderbird. The copyright on the box is 1999 and on the instruction sheet is 2000. It's kit #85-1916, I don't think it's been in Revell catalog for some time now but are plentiful on ebay and swap meets.

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[Fletch]

the chassis looks good Dave are you going to update the engine and trans too or go with the flathead?

Dave Z

The plan was to use the kit flathead along with parts from MCG and RMoM, but with some of the other options out there nothing is written in stone at this point in time.

I still have a couple of the Phantom Vicki's floating around, I might see how that 4.6 litre would fit before we're done.

[Fletch]

Got the front suspension completed last night, it's a combination of the kit stock and lowered IFS from the Revell '37 Ford Coupe.

With the suspension work completed it was time for the first serious mock-up to see if the Woody sits like I wanted it.

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The tires/wheels are a combination of those from the Revell '50 Ford Pickup and the Revell New Thunderbird.

The color on the side is Minwax Golden Oak from one of their Stain Markers. It has potential, I just need to get comfortable with their use.

That's it for this morning.

[Fletch]

The SBC in the '37 has always been an option. The EFI set-up in the Good Guys version is even nicer the the original kit with it's single 4 barrel intake. But, then the Detail Masters P/E dress up pieces go a long way to help the overall look.

I think before I go much farther I'm going to open up the window section of the rear, not sure if I'll open both or just the upper half.

We have a guy here locally that will do hard wood surf boards in scale, he charges like $8 each. I'm thinking one slid in the back and perhaps 1 or 2 on a roof rack.

I plan to use cedar cigar wrappers for the inserts as the grain is fine enough to look good in scale, but we'll see what happens.

[Fletch]

Believe it or not I haven't totally forgotten this project. Spent some time this afternoon getting the detail painting done on the chassis.

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The engine for the build is not going to be the flathead as originally planned . I'm going to use the 454 from the AMT '68 El Camino, the one with the under the hood Super-Charger.

Even though it's suppose to be raining tomorrow I'm hoping to get the main body color applied tomorrow.

Stay Tuned.

[CB]

Nice detail painting there Brother Dave It's all lookin', and soundin', good.

Can't wait to see how the cedar cigar wrappers look on it

[Fletch]

Got started on the "Wood" for the build. I initially used a Minwax Stain Marker (#210B Golden Oak) on the raised areas. With them primed it went on ok, but not the results I was hoping for, I went back over the Stain once it was dry with some Wally World FolkArt brand Acrylic Paint (#419 Teddy Bear Tan) and it actually looks presentable.

The next step was to start cutting the dried Cigar wrapper to the size needed for each of the panel areas.

The Cigar wrapper is Cedar shaved extremely thin. The lower piece is what was used for the drivers side it's aprox .0105 thick. The biggest thing when working with the wrapper is remembering which side of the piece you're using as the grain is different on each side.

The individual pieces are glued to the panel areas using Pacer Formula '560 Canopy Glue.

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Once the passenger side is completed, I'll dry-brush a darker color over the raised areas to give them some additional depth. The last step planned for the "Wood" areas is to seal it with clear urethane.

Stay tuned.

[charlie8575]

Very interesting; I'll be watching with interest as you do the wood applique', Dave.

Usually I'm not a big rod fan, but this build, for technical and execution, has my attention.

Charlie Larkin

[Custom Hearse]

Got started on the "Wood" for the build. I initially used a Minwax Stain Marker (#210B Golden Oak) on the raised areas. With them primed it went on ok, but not the results I was hoping for, I went back over the Stain once it was dry with some Wally World FolkArt brand Acrylic Paint (#419 Teddy Bear Tan) and it actually looks presentable.

What color did you prime it with? When I use the stain pens, I either prime it flat white, or if the body is molded in white, I just put it straight on...

You did a really cool job on the front suspension. It looks awesome!

[Jeepster25]

The wood looks great!! I'll be watching this one.

[Fletch]

What color did you prime it with? When I use the stain pens, I either prime it flat white, or if the body is molded in white, I just put it straight on...

You did a really cool job on the front suspension. It looks awesome!

Marshal, the body was primed with Dupli-Color White primer. It provides a pretty good base for the Stain Marker to work with. It takes it a couple of days to dry as it's not anywhere close to being as porous as actual wood. But overall it works nicely.

Edited December 18, 2009 by Fletch

[CB]

....went back over the Stain once it was dry with some Wally World FolkArt brand Acrylic Paint (#419 Teddy Bear Tan) and it actually looks presentable.

"Teddy Bear Tan" -- You certainly find the oddest named paints Brother Dave! But they always look really good! That teddy bear and them cigar wrappers look so good--and real together! Fanastic!

You's gotta find you a li'l teddy bear for in the interior now

[Fletch]

The Exterior Wood work is not completed. Now on to the interior wood work, then to shoot both with a couple of coats of Urethane Clear.

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I'm hoping to get the body color applied in the next couple of days, the forecast is calling for clearing weather Wednesday through Friday.

The Woody may never win any contests but it's been a learning experience in making plastic look like wood. The box the Woody is sitting on is and old Cigar box that I've had floating around for a couple of years now. Not only will it be it's display but also it's storage box as well.

[David@MinidreamsInc.]

Man wood detail looks really good !