Another Model 'A' Coupe

[Fletch]

I have no idea where I found this photo, but like so many it struck a cord with me. As CB, "They all look so alike but at the same time so different." It's another Model 'A' Coupe based off the Monogram '30 Model 'A'. Couldn't find any around town so got this one off eBay. It wasn't even in the house 36 hours before the roof got dropped.This will be a bit different than a couple of the other Model 'A' Coupe build that I currently have underway as this has the normal transverse mounted front spring. However, the spring is attached to split wishbones with the axle set out in front of the cross-member and radiator.

The frame will need to be heavily reworked in order to use the kit chassis. It will need a serious 'Z' and stretch in the rear. I am not 100% what engine is in the Coupe. At first I thought it was a Chevy, but it appears that the starter is on the drivers side, just above the frame rail forward of the firewall. Any help with the engine identification would be greatly appreciated.

Here's the inspiration:

Here's the start of the build:

The chop was aprox. .270 after the cuts and file work, in scale somewhere in the area of aprox. 6.5 inches.

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The chop is a little deeper then the 1:1 car but, we're not necessarily going for a 100% replica.

Stay Tuned.

[Terror]

Thats a nice shade of green.Are ya gonna go that color?I think if a car sits that low,it should be able to park for free!The chop looks cool too.

[Fletch]

Thats a nice shade of green.Are ya gonna go that color?I think if a car sits that low,it should be able to park for free!The chop looks cool too.

You know I have no idea what color the 1:1 actually is, it could be black for all I know. I think I may want to give it some POP. It may very well end up with a House of Kolor Silver or Gold base with Transparent Tangerine top coat. I would venture a guess that I've got somewhere in the neighborhood of a 1000 different colors of fingernail polish that could be used on this build. Another option I'm kinking around is a color called Blood Red over black primer. It would be outstanding.

We've got a couple of days before the need to start worrying about color. The kit plastic color would be great if the body were in better shape. The mold is starting to show it's age. Under the beltline at the rear of the top there are very noticeable sink-marks which need to be filled. So, the green unless it's repainted isn't usable.

Edited January 3, 2010 by Fletch

[CB]

I agree about that green Dave, it is sweet. Maybe you could call those sink marks 'dents' ?

The blood red ove black primer sounds very nice

Not in the house 36 hours before getting the chop, eh?

Maybe you should have a drive thru choppin' window for your feller modelers?

Carry on Bro

[vizio93]

Lookin' good so far Fletch !!! Please include alot of frame shots 'cause I was thinking of slamming a couple of my builds to the "point of no return" like this one is

[Zoom Zoom]

I think one reason these subjects look so good is that when you combine a roof chop with a much longer wheelbase (that's all shifted forward), you end up with "classic proportions" that made all the really high-end cars of the era look so good. That proportion is roughly half the car's length forward of the windshield, and the roof height looks almost chopped because the cars are so big. Old Fords etc. were economy cars & their proportions, by comparison, were more like the small cars today. Original 3 & 5 window coupe bodies look like top hats to me since the roofs are so short, tall, narrow, & the hoods are also rather short.

[Foxer]

I Really like the proportions resulting from that chop.

[Fletch]

I agree about that green Dave, it is sweet. Maybe you could call those sink marks 'dents' ?

The blood red ove black primer sounds very nice

Not in the house 36 hours before getting the chop, eh?

Maybe you should have a drive thru choppin' window for your feller modelers?

Carry on Bro

The other problem with using the plastic and color just buffing it out is that Monogram in an effort to use the lower body on as many '30 Model 'A' subjects as possible, eliminated the body line molding where the roof and lower body sections come together. While the color works the body work that is required to make a fairly accurate '30 Coupe would require repainting.

As for a "drive thru choppin' window", I've had a few requests, but so far no one has sent the bodies to get a little taken off the top.

[Fletch]

Got some more of the basic body work out of the way today. Having a new puppy in the house sure does take away from your building time.

One of the major problems with the Monogram '30 Model 'A' Coupe is that the lower portion of the body has been used for several different kits. In order to make this possible Monogram compromised the body molding. In order to build a relatively accurate '30 Coupe the molding needs to be replaced. The width of the molding is aprox .080. With that in mind a piece of Evergreen .080 1/2 round was used. Obviously, this is going to be to thick so a bit of thinning and reshaping was required.

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The other piece of molding that got left out in the compromise it the molding that goes around the back of the roof, this is represented by a piece of .020 Evergreen round stock. Also, the holes used to mount the cowl lights were filled with .047 Evergreen round stock.

A little more work with some A/B epoxy putty and the body will be ready for paint.

Thanks for looking.

[vizio93]

So what color did you decide on ?

[MikeMc]

love the attitude!!!

Bright...make this sucker scream!!!!

[Fletch]

So what color did you decide on ?

Here are the choices that I have narrowed it down to. They are Tamiya TS9 British Green, TS33 Dull Red and TS70 Olive Drab which is about the closest to the color of the kit plastic. The choices are listed as my choices from most to least favorite.

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The engine for the build will be the 440 Magnum from the Revell '69 Dodge Charger R/T kit with the 426 dual-quad manifold adapted to fit the 440.

Progress is slow as I've been down with one of the worst colds I've had in years, but things are moving ahead. Stay Tuned.

Edited January 17, 2010 by Fletch

[vizio93]

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Progress is slow as I've been down with one of the worst colds I've had in years, but things are moving ahead. Stay Tuned.

I like the British Green too. It otta look really good on there.

Hope you feel better man

[69_charger]

if it doesent come with rims like that let me know, i can send you some

[Towmaster Dave]

Hope you feel better Dave, The build is coming along great, I think the British Green would look great on it.

Dave

[diymirage]

looking nice

if you are going for british racing green you should drop in a powerplant to back it up

find yerself a nice little jagiwire (read jaguar) mill

(or a HEMI, cant go wrong with a hemi)

[mademan]

looking nice

if you are going for british racing green you should drop in a powerplant to back it up

find yerself a nice little jagiwire (read jaguar) mill

(or a HEMI, cant go wrong with a hemi)

pfffff...... cadillac. get a 331 or 365!

Im doin a chopped 28 ford with a caddy 365 with a caddy batwing air cleaner. I should have build pics up within the week..... as soon as my body gets here..... and my MA`s resin cheater slicks...

[Fletch]

Well, the trip to the LHS for paint turned out to be a waste of time, effort and money. The Tamiya TS-9 British Green is no where as dark as the color chip and cap would indicate. Olive Drab is darker then the British Green. It is off by enough that the body went straight into the purple pond for a couple of days. So, we're now back in primer and ready for round #2 of paint.

Round #2 is going to be using House of Kolor Shimrin Glamor Metallics BC03 Galaxy Gray.

The other part of the visit that was a bust was paint for the engine, not sure why I grabbed Model Master Hemi Orange instead of Chrysler Engine Red but I did. The Hemi Orange is a great color but it wasn't what I had planned for the build, of course I realized this after I had shot the color.

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So, I'll go back and modify the valve covers for the addition of the MCG Breather caps. I'm hoping to have this to mock up stage by the end of the weekend as we're doing a 3 day demo this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

More to come soon, your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Edited February 3, 2010 by Fletch

[Bernard Kron]

The chop and bodywork look real sharp, Fletch. Can't wait to see it up on those long rails! The engine choice seems odd given the old school funk of the inspiration car but I'm sure you have a picture in your mind's eye that will make sense once we see it.

[Fletch]

The chop and bodywork look real sharp, Fletch. Can't wait to see it up on those long rails! The engine choice seems odd given the old school funk of the inspiration car but I'm sure you have a picture in your mind's eye that will make sense once we see it.

Bernard, at first I couldn't figure out what the engine was in the Coupe. I looked all over trying to find what is was, even though the Coupe has a Traditional feel to it the engine is more modern. The best I can figure is that it is a big block Chrysler product, so I figured why not go with something that would reasonably represent that engine thus the 440. The nice thing is that it's representative of most Chrysler big block non-hemi engines from the mid '60s. So, it is something of a break from the Traditional SBC, Flathead, Olds or Nailheads that we all expect to see in a coupe like this.

It's kinda nice to be color outside the lines from time to time.

[Redrobin313]

Since you painted the engine orange, how about painting the car dark flat blue?

[Fuel Coupe]

Fletch,

This is turning out to be a really nice build...

[LO51 MERC]

Dave, keep workin' on this! I wanna steal as many of your ideas as I can to use on mine.............or not! Gary

[Fletch]

I have been trying to figure our what to use for the front and rear axles for the coupe, so I went on a scavenger hunt today to see what I could find. I opened up the box of the Revell Good Guys edition of the '40 Ford Coupe and there was my answer. The front dropped axle is perfect, the spring and wishbone assembly will require some reworking, there is a very good chance the wishbones won't even be used but replaced by some carved from Evergreen strip.

The rear axle is a version of a Ford 9" rearend. The frame cross member and coilover mount should work fine in the Model 'A' frame. The track of the rear axle will need to have about 3/16th" added to allow the tires clear the body work. The ladder bars may need to be modified in order to work properly for the Coupe.

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I checked with my local HoK dealer and they will have the Galaxy Gray paint in on Friday. I'm going to hold off repainting the engine block a different color until I get a chance to see how it looks with the Galaxy Gray. As for the tires and wheels the Coupe will most likely end up with those from a Revell '29 Pickup or '31 Sedan.

[Speedster]

Good looking project. Can't wait to see more