'32 Ford Tudor - Chopped & Channeled, Final Update 10-03

[Model Junkyard]

Great work!!

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx Iggy!

Back at the workbench at last after returning from a two week road trip. I've been at it off and on for the past week or so and have made some decent progress. I got the interior parts fabricated. The headliner, side panels and a small panel at the rear will all be glued directly to the interior of the body. The panel that covers the rear half of the frame will be glued to the chassis rails. It's made in two pieces to fit around the gas tank. The bottom surfaces of these pieces are finished in Testors Metalizer Buffable Aluminum Plate to contrast with the chassis. The quilted material is Plastruct No. 91539 1/8 inch square tile cut at a 45 degree angle. Plastruct No. 91511 HO scale Corrugated Rib Roof cut into strips was used to make the contrasting trim. The door handles and window winders are from Replicas & Miniatures of Maryland. The '40 Ford style dashboard and steering wheel and the shifter are all from the Revell '32 Ford 5-window. The seats are of unknown origin, from a box of early 60's era custom car seats and interior bits I bought at a model car show. Colors are Duplicolor Ivory White for the interior surfaces and floor, Duplicolor Wimbledon White for the quilted trim and seating surfaces, and Duplicolor Dark Toreador Red over Gold (same as the chassis) for the trim pieces and seat backs.

The body is also finished out and fully painted now. Starting with PastiKote White Primer, I shot 2 coats of Duplicolor Wimbledon White followed by 2 coast of Tamiya TS-45 Pear White and 3 coats of Krylon Clear. I polished each layer of color before proceeding to the next to assure maximum gloss. The final clear was also polished. Despite this the pearlescence of the Tamiya TS-45 is fairly subtle, much finer than Testors pearls I have used and more subdued than I would have liked. Perhaps it's a result of the Wimbledon White base. Here are a couple of pictures:

I'm almost ready for final assembly with only some detailing of the motor left to do.

Thanx for lookin',

B.

Edited September 27, 2010 by gbk1

[davyou5]

Well I am not a Ford fan, but I think you are doing an excellent job on this build, Take your time, I do think that It will come out great.

[Jim0205]

Nice rod, should finish up nicely.

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx guys! I'm glad you are diggin' it. This is a really fun build for me. I guess fenderless rods are my personal sweet spot…

I've got the motor completed and the chassis and suspension fully assembled. The kit four-barrels on the hemi from the Revell 5-window Deuce have always looked too small and flat to me. I used the Carters from the AMT Competition Parts Pack. They look much better! Now all that's left is assembling the body and interior and dropping it on these rails. Here are some pics.

Thanx for lookin'

B.

Edited October 1, 2010 by gbk1

[MikeMc]

Bernard...you don't need the body...the chassis is sweet all on its own..shame to cover it up!!

[Raul_Perez]

Bernard,

Every build gets better and better!!

Keep up the GREAT work!!

Later,

[Alfa]

You got to love a Old school 32 Ford sedan chop top. Great job !

[Alyn]

Bernard,

Every build gets better and better!!

Keep up the GREAT work!!

Later,

X 2

I've been thinking the same thing to myself on your last several builds. They are just getting cooler and cooler. This one has that nice "show rod" look about it.

[VW Dave]

I'm really diggin' this build, as I'm a big fan of hammered '32 Tudors.....and it's made me dig my unfinished Flintstone deuce out for another 'shot at the title.'

With Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop less than an hour's drive, I'm drawing heavily on their stuff for inspiration...mainly the blown flatty Tudor they built for fellow upstater Mike Manno:

And here's a link to a short video I shot of it 'entertaining' the attendees of the 2008 winter garage party.

[Bernard Kron]

Bernard...you don't need the body...the chassis is sweet all on its own..shame to cover it up!! B)

Thanx Mike! That's always the problem (...or the solution...) with a model. A lot of the detail work you put into it seems to disappear. I just got the interior panels, dashboard and steering wheel glued into the body, and almost all of it will vanish behind the tiny slit windows! So here are a coupla shots before they go under tomorrow during final assembly:

...This one has that nice "show rod" look about it.

Thanx Alyn! Officially, according to Jimmy Flinstone, this is a "rat rod" body, but as soon as I shot some paint on the frame rails I knew I would go for the shiny chrome and paint look!

Edited October 2, 2010 by gbk1

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx to everyone for the extremely kind words!

With Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop less than an hour's drive, I'm drawing heavily on their stuff for inspiration...mainly the blown flatty Tudor they built for fellow upstater Mike Manno:

Lucky you! I;d be going over there a bunch if they were in my neck of the woods.

[jbwelda]

that is a super build and ive always loved the orange crate chopped top body so its really appealing to me! excellent chassis detail too, something im currently working on as well.

about your pearl...did you polish the pearl white? because if so that kills the pearlescent effect quite a bit in my experience. i polish the underlying color, and then shoot pearl (usually i use pearl clear instead of finding a real pearl color i like) and then bury that in a couple of coats of pure clear. then you can polish down the top pure clear without disturbing the pearl particles in the underlying pearl.

you probably already know that so pardon me if so, just thought it was an off chance possibility. great build and its gonna look killer all together!

[Bernard Kron]

...about your pearl...did you polish the pearl white? because if so that kills the pearlescent effect quite a bit in my experience. ...

Thanx Bill! No, I didn't know that and I did polish the pearl layer before applying the clear. Makes sense that rubbing down the particles might mute the effect. I'll have to experiment a bit to see what it will tolerate (if anything...).

[David G.]

Awesome. There's just nothing more to say than... Awesome.

[jbwelda]

glad i could help gbk, thats a problem i had for a long time, my pearl paint jobs just didnt have much "grab". then a painter friend of mine told me that, and i tried it and was really surprised what a difference it made. seems polishing directly on the pearl dulls the effect and makes it look sort of metallic instead of pearlescent.

the problem with white is that a pearl clear may tend to yellow it some. in my couple experiences with tamiya pearl white, it seemed like it was more of a pearl clear without much in the way of white pigment, but its probably perfect to shoot over a white base coat and my one experience over a white didnt seem to yellow much if at all.

[Bernard Kron]

...the problem with white is that a pearl clear may tend to yellow it some. in my couple experiences with tamiya pearl white, it seemed like it was more of a pearl clear without much in the way of white pigment, but its probably perfect to shoot over a white base coat and my one experience over a white didnt seem to yellow much if at all. ...

Yeah the Tamiya pearl white is pretty translucent and really shows the undercoat. It really pops over pure white. I also tried it over poilshed Testors Metalizer Buffing Aluminum Plate. The effect is a really irridescent metallic grey pearl. Very cool!

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx everyone. The kind words are very much appreciated.

The chassis seemed to become an end in itself. But now it's gonna get buried under the body. The interior, too, will soon vanish behind tiny slit windows. So here is a picture of the interior floor area before it disappears:

I've begun final assembly, and, as usual for me, it's a bit of a battle. The usual failed glue joints, parts that need to be clearanced, etc. Nothing life threatening but I did break one of the wishbones. Fortunately I have a spare...

Hopefully things will start to smooth out. Next time I post it'll probably be Under Glass!

Thanx for lookin',

B.

Edited October 2, 2010 by gbk1

[rustybill1960]

WHOOSH!!!

Dude that is one sweet build!

I agree with the others here in that it has been our pleasure to have been witness to this build!

Thank You for sharing it with us!

Later

Russ

[Bernard Kron]

All done! I have to say this has been one of the most satisfying and enjoyable builds yet for me. In no small part due to the encouragement and comments you have all given me along the way. For which, Thanx!

So here's one last picture, the first time the car has been shown complete with it's Model Car Garage 4" chop p/e grill and low mounted headlights.

All the "beauty shots" of the whole car from a multitude of angles can be found Under Glass here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36156

Thanx for following along,

B.

Edited October 3, 2010 by gbk1

[Alyn]

... I've begun final assembly, and, as usual for me, it's a bit of a battle. The usual failed glue joints, parts that need to be clearanced, etc. Nothing life threatening but I did break one of the wishbones. Fortunately I have a spare...

Hopefully things will start to smooth out. Next time I post it'll probably be Under Glass!

Thanx for lookin',

B.

Ain't that the truth. Final assembly is scary!

part that use to fit somehow don't fit anymore. Paint gets chipped, scratched and fowled up with glue joints that didn't quite go right. I avoid final assembly like the plague, but it's a necessary evil.

Your deuce turned out awesome. I think it's one of your best. Just the right amount of chrome, and the Hemi was the perfect choice for a power plant.

Bring on the next one!