Clutch Posted May 20, 2011 Posted May 20, 2011 G'day all, In late March, a well known Australian custom car builder, John 'Chopper' Katsanis, passed away. As apart of my Australian model car club, we're having a tribute build off in his honor. Rules are build anything pre '67, must be customized from mild to wild. I'm using this Monogram '39 Chevy coupe that I previously built, 20 years ago! I don't completely understand the ins and outs of the Hot Rodding world but I'm eager to learn and I'm enjoying trying out some body modifications. To start it off, after stripping the body, I gave it a forward facing 4mm pie-chop, sectioned the roof to lean it forward, removed the floor so I can channel it later and I removed the running boards. Widened the rear fenders by 3mm and extended the rear section to the ground. Drilled out and molded in the tailight openings and the third hole will be for the tailpipes. Also sunk and boxed the number plate. I had to redo the roof as it sat too high. The front has had a 3mm chop and the rear section of the roof is from a '57 Chevy funny car. Before and after, I'm still working on the roof, needs a rear window etc. I've just started working on the front, sunk the headlights and gave them eyebrows. It looks very messy now but it won't forever! All comments, suggestions welcome!
Ryan S. Posted May 20, 2011 Posted May 20, 2011 You've got this going in the right direction. I love all the custom work so far. Keep it up!
DiscoSpud Posted May 20, 2011 Posted May 20, 2011 Mate I am in absolute awe! I have bought this kit twice and have only once made it look kinda cool. I thought it was damned near impossible to make a 39 chev look good but you've proved me wrong. Good on ya mte, I will definately be watching this build with eager eyes!
Olskoolrodder Posted May 20, 2011 Posted May 20, 2011 Alls I can say is WOW!!! NICE bodywork,and direction too
Erik Smith Posted May 20, 2011 Posted May 20, 2011 I agree - not my favorite body but you turned it into something I like. Nice work.
Terror Posted May 20, 2011 Posted May 20, 2011 Thats some sweet cuttin man.Gonna have her on the ground?That would look cool too.Nice work.
Steven Zimmerman Posted May 20, 2011 Posted May 20, 2011 I like the way you think ! Race Motor Replicas casts and sells a 39 Chevy with similar body mods,onla a 3 window style with a 41 Willys rear window,no running boards,and 'Mini Cooper' headlights and comes with a pie cut hood and 'massaged' grille, interior,floorboard and frame....'Z'
LAone Posted May 20, 2011 Posted May 20, 2011 hey man, you have some creativity going on here. looks good so far, im sure it'll look awesome when done. keep up the great work.
hOLMS Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 Your body mods are looking great...what a transformation so far, keep it up!!!
Clutch Posted June 21, 2011 Author Posted June 21, 2011 Well I should apologise for not repliying sooner, no other reason than too busy building! Thanks for the comments guys, glad you like the direction. Definitely not one of the better kits and the 37-39 Chevy coupe isn't that desirable either (imo). That's why I thought it would be a good kit to build, as Foxer said, "from frog to princess". Yes, she'll be on the ground, as close as I can get it. Cheers Steven, I looked up the '39 at RMR, I like it! Didnt know there was a custom 39 on the market. Progress; I've made side windows, with pillars and front quarter glass. I used packaging plastic for the windows, coverd both sides in tape and glued 0.5mm rod directly to the tape. Once dried, I carefully cut out the tape. modified a pair of 55 Chevy skirts and added some body trim and roof trim using 0.5mm rod and 1.0mm half rod. Made new side steps from mahogeny veener and some chrome bars for the skirts. The front end has been extended to the ground, lights sunken, trim piece added and cut down grille.
Clutch Posted June 21, 2011 Author Posted June 21, 2011 The interior is almost finished, need arm reats and window/door handles. -I first made cardboard temples using the cardboard from Evergreen packaging, then traced the shape on to 0.5mm styrene. -Used 1.0mm half rod for the rolled pannel and 0.5mm rod for some trim. -The chrome strip along the back is styrene covered in bmf and the decal is from Revell's '41 Chevy Pickup kit. - Painted flat black and black flocking. Now working on channeling the floor. I added 4mm blocks to lift the body.
tim08 Posted June 22, 2011 Posted June 22, 2011 Good to see you here Joe. The Chevy's coming along very well. Your work always amazes me!
seeker589 Posted June 23, 2011 Posted June 23, 2011 Wow! That's some fantastic building! You've done a very nice job creating a very original design. Thank You for sharing.
Clutch Posted June 25, 2011 Author Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) Thanks guys! Glad you like it so far. Hey Tim thanks man, good to see you over here too. Small update, Just completed my first RHD dash convertion. Well almost finished, still need to figure out a steering wheel and clean it up a bit but I'm very happy with how it turned out. Edited June 25, 2011 by Clutch
Scalper Posted June 25, 2011 Posted June 25, 2011 That is a great looking build... I really like the back end.
Foxer Posted June 25, 2011 Posted June 25, 2011 Good job on the dash. I'm amazed how symmetrical many dashes are when you really look.
Lunajammer Posted June 25, 2011 Posted June 25, 2011 I'm Thrilled that you're showing the underside. My custom 39 project came to a halt years ago because I didn't know how I wanted to deal with the one piece floor/chassis. You've given me some ideas. Plus this is a pretty cool build to follow.
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