Alyn Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Replacing the wood panels with carbon fiber sounds like a great idea!!! Looking forward to seeing how that turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 Replacing the wood panels with carbon fiber sounds like a great idea!!! Looking forward to seeing how that turns out. Yeah...I think that it'll go well with the dark, Heavy Metal theme. The grille will either be body color or carbon fiber, too. That'll help resolve the problem of the misalignment of chrome color between the top of the grille and the side molding. To carry the carbon fiber look to the interior, the inserts on the door panels will be carbon fiber. I'll also see where I can add pieces of carbon fiber to the dash and under the hood. Later, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 So much for being an out of the box build, but I never could see you do one of those Raul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camaroman Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 I LIKEE! I LIKEE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMc Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 So much for being an out of the box build, but I never could see you do one of those Raul. Clay....Raul built the box first!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Clay....Raul built the box first!!!!! Well I guess the original plans were box stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 So much for being an out of the box build, but I never could see you do one of those Raul. Well I guess the original plans were box stock. Yeah...it was going to be mostly box-stock until I started reading some of the comments from other who also thought that this is a butt-ugly kit that's just dying for a bit of help. So...I decided to make a few changes, but not too many. I've still got my '50 Chevy Z06 pickup to finish... Later, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Kern Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Raul, I think you should deck out the sides with carbon fiber FLAMES!! Creative as usual, and lookin' good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James W Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 I really wanted to build this one right from the box, but I don't like the way the headlights look like two limp, (...well, you know...), sticking out lethargically from the fenders. As I remember, this kit was based on a drawing that Jairus made for the 'Slammers' series. He submitted multiple illustrations and they chose the ones they would use. Additionally, AMT chose one illustration for a full on kit. Funny thing, interpreting a 3-D kit from a 2-D illustration. The headlights on the model don't match Jairus work. Seems like they based this one on a rear veiw or something like that. He may have more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jairus Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 James is correct, but even before submitting to AMT that illustration ran in an issue of "Car Modeler", Sept. 1995. Note that the headlight buckets are slightly sunk into the fenders - a standard pre-war customizing trick. Short story was that AMT wanted me to submit 30 or more illustrations so they could pick 8 designs. I got paid a set rate for each illustration (most designs were new but some were previously published in SAE, CM and Plastic Fanatic) submitted and they kept the originals. In addition, for each design that they went ahead and chose for production I received an additional fee. Also requested was for me to produce a second view so the entire car could be seen from all angles for the mold makers. Original box art for "Rod Ragious" for instance has printed on it both illustrations as I submitted. Later on AMT only printed the front view... "Black Force" is an example were the rear view illustration was replaced with photos of the actual model. However, the model is exactly like my illustration other than the greater size... but that is another story. The "Wagon Rod" I did not know about until a master had already been made and the molds being cut. This information was provided to me by Mike Oden, Graphic Supervisor for Ertiltoys.com. I was told off hand that they had picked another design and that a check would be mailed... but they never asked for a front view. Furthermore, I was told it would be a fully detailed model kit and not a snap kit! I was very happy to hear this until someone sent me some photos of the mock-up or test shots. I told them I hated the headlights and that this was a bad idea. But the molds by then could/would not be modified and the kit was produced with little of my influence other than the one illustration you see above. All in all it is not bad kit and has a lot of great parts. I like the direction you are going Raul. Keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Zimmerman Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 About the wood grain on this kit (1) am I the only one that likes it? and(2) it sits flush with the body so it's VERY easy to'make go away'Although the headlights do look HORRIBLE(wife calls it the 'squashed frog') I think this was a ground breaking kit for AMT.....I have about 10 in my stash,and have one in primer ( no woodgrain)with 37 Ford headlights in the fenders; and one in primer(also no woodgrain) with no headlights in the fenders at all,and am thinking about Prowler headlights in the hood sides.Although I don't care for the rims,AMT finally 'got wid da program' by FINALLY going to big n littles,albeit they were from the Prowler(wise choice of multi-use parts)and used them in a few other kits as well...My two cents worth, the'Z'man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Vandergriff Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Looking great. I like what you did with the front fenders and hood. Ive built 2 neither out of the box and both had opening doors. The lastest of which is my avatar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 ...Note that the headlight buckets are slightly sunk into the fenders - a standard pre-war customizing trick... ...The "Wagon Rod" I did not know about until a master had already been made and the molds being cut. ...I told them I hated the headlights and that this was a bad idea. But the molds by then could/would not be modified and the kit was produced with little of my influence other than the one illustration you see above. All in all it is not bad kit and has a lot of great parts. I like the direction you are going Raul. Keep it up! Thanks for the info, (and the artwork), Jarius! I can see even from your rear 3/4 view that the headlight housing don't droop like they do in the kit. I noticed where you put the taillights, (which are not in the kit). I haven't decided how I'll do mine yet, but I do like how you have them in the illustration. I like the wheels you drew better than the ones in the kit. Too bad they didn't go with your design there, too... I also plan on opening the side windows; versus leaving them in the panel delivery style that they are in the kit. About the wood grain on this kit (1) am I the only one that likes it? and(2) it sits flush with the body so it's VERY easy to'make go away'Although the headlights do look HORRIBLE(wife calls it the 'squashed frog') ... The woodgrain looks fine to me, but I'm going to use carbon fiber decals on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jairus Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Raul, my illustration was never intended to be a Panel van... rather a "Sport Woodie" wagon with glass windows. As for the carbon fiber.... that was something Gregg dreamed up about 10 years ago. He also wanted to do the framing in aluminum or some such thing. Me... I believe a woodie should be made out of WOOD or else just sand it smooth and paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whale392 Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Too bad the kit didn't come out like the illustration! I think the kit is looking good Raul...........you are giving me ideas for it. I have dug it out, but I just can't quite bring myself to break the seal on it yet! (too much else on my plate at the moment) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 Raul, my illustration was never intended to be a Panel van... rather a "Sport Woodie" wagon with glass windows. As for the carbon fiber.... that was something Gregg dreamed up about 10 years ago. He also wanted to do the framing in aluminum or some such thing. Me... I believe a woodie should be made out of WOOD or else just sand it smooth and paint. My original intention was to build it as a woodie, only fixing the headlight housings. The idea of using carbon fiber came into play when I decided to make a few mods, (to the grille and the hood sides), and build it with a Heavy Metal theme, similar to what you described Gregg's idea was. This would also include adding about 0.06" of styrene to the tops of the runnibg boards, or deleting them completely. Now that I've seen your artwork, I may revert back to making it a woodie. If so, It' will be a dark burgundy color with the light and dark wood trim. The only thing I'm struggling with right now is how I want to resolve the horizontal misalignment between the top of the grille and the side moldings. My current plan is to paint the grille to match the body. I think that will keep the misalignment from being as obvious as it would if both parts were chrome. Your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Now that I've seen your artwork, I may revert back to making it a woodie. If so, It' will be a dark burgundy color with the light and dark wood trim. Your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jairus Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 The only thing I'm struggling with right now is how I want to resolve the horizontal misalignment between the top of the grille and the side moldings. My current plan is to paint the grille to match the body. I think that will keep the misalignment from being as obvious as it would if both parts were chrome. Your thoughts? Sorry Raul, I have been very busy this past week and missed your question. I don't think the misalignment is that bad. Here is a pic I swiped from Wiki and it shows that the molding is located above the horizontal line of the stock grill. My thoughts are to simply shorten the molding/spear about a scale foot or more. This still provides the chrome tie-in between the steel and the wood while making the misalignment less obvious. Painting the grill shell is definately an option and could look cool provided you paint the car a light color so the black between the bars can show. If you paint the car and grill black.... the whole nose will look too massive. Maybe break it up with some chrome spears like a 1938 Ford? Or the nose of the Black Force? For styling tricks look at some of the stream-lined passenger trains of the 30's. Seems automobile designers moonlighted putting down some lines for the Railroad industry. Or was it the automotive industry copying.... well, check out a couple. The tall nose's on automobiles of that era were simply a styling excercise. A tall proud grill demonstrated strength and prowess. Ship designers sometimes placed a false funnel on the top deck of Passenger ships for the same reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted March 13, 2010 Author Share Posted March 13, 2010 ...My thoughts are to simply shorten the molding/spear about a scale foot or more. This still provides the chrome tie-in between the steel and the wood while making the misalignment less obvious. Painting the grill shell is definitely an option and could look cool provided you paint the car a light color so the black between the bars can show. If you paint the car and grill black.... the whole nose will look too massive. Maybe break it up with some chrome spears like a 1938 Ford? Or the nose of the Black Force? ... Thanks for the input and inspiration, Jarius. Maybe it's because I was a professional body repairman for 10+ years, but alignment and symmetry of key features is critical to me. I was thinking of the same approach to fix the side trim by shortening the spear. I really like the stylized trains from the 30s!! They are just too cool!! The GM Aerotrain from the 50s is a bit odd, but cool in its own way, too. Later, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted April 17, 2010 Author Share Posted April 17, 2010 It has been a while, but I finally got around to working on this one again. To better see the really nice interior panels and parts that come in this kit, I opened up the rear side windows. Then it was time to figure out what to do about the wheels. I was a bit surprised to find that the tires for the WagonRod are exactly the same one that come with AMT's Prowler. Though I really liked Jarius' artwork with the 3 spoke wheels from the Pontiac Banshee, I want to build my Banshee some day. With that, I decided to use the 5 spoke wheels from the Prowler. Though the tires are the same between the WagonRod and the Prowler, it took a bit a work to get the wheels from the Prowler mounted onto the axles from the WagonRod. For the rear, I also added larger, drilled rotors from Pegasus. The stock rotors from the kit looked way too small behind those big 5 spoke wheels. I was a bit disappointed to find that the Pegasus rotors were too big for the front wheels, so I stayed with the stock ones from the kit in the front. Here you can see the pieces of aluminum tubing that were added to the front and rear axles and front wheels that were needed to mount the Prowler wheels to the WagonRod axles. Tomorrow I'll figure out the tail lights (there are non in the kit) and start getting this one primed. From there the paint and assembly work should go pretty quick... Later, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMc Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 This is really lookin killer...keep it coming!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 Lovin it so far Raul, keep it up!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted April 17, 2010 Author Share Posted April 17, 2010 This is really lookin killer...keep it coming!!! Lovin it so far Raul, keep it up!! Thanks, guys!! I painted all of the engine and chassis components today. I'll get some pics posted tomorrow of the assembled chassis. Later, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Vandergriff Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 Looking great Rual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustybill1960 Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 Sweet, simply, sweet !!! Thank You for sharing Man! Later Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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