jaymcminn Posted December 27, 2011 Posted December 27, 2011 A few years back, I got into a bit of a slump where I would start doing initial bodywork on projects and get bored with them. One of those projects was this '49 Ford. I did the chop on the top and opened the rear wheelwells before filing it back into the box. Fast forward a few years- I'm out of my slump and starting to reopen a few of those boxes. Starting back to work on this Ford, I was a little disappointed with the look- I had gone a little too far in smoothing the body out and it looked a little... blah. I added the drip rails back on with styrene stock and added a thin trim strip to break up the slab-like body sides. Then I molded the front and rear pans and trimmed the stock front grille to work with the roll pan. It's looking better... I then attacked the engine bay. The basic idea of this car is to be "clean and mean". The paint will be gloss black with flames (my first painted flame job, should be fun!) and the motor will be the Hemi from the Revell '32 Ford, which will be sporting RMCM's 8-carb log. The engine bay will be sanitary- no battery, no clutter, just engine. The goal with this one is to look as good (or better!) with the hood off as with it on. To that end, I sanded off all the molded-in engine bay detail and filled the areas that needed to be cut out. Wheels will probably be Revell '40 Ford wide whites and steelies with beauty rings and bullet caps, painted red or orange. For the interior, I'm thinking of trying the Ken Hamilton Mexican blanket technique using different colored thread over masking tape. This would be used as inserts on the factory bench seats and door panels. I'm trying out a few new things on this build (the flames, the interior treatment) and am pretty excited to see where it winds up going. As always, any questions or comments are welcome!
62rebel Posted December 27, 2011 Posted December 27, 2011 looking fantastic so far... but, then again, that is, without doubt, my favorite kit.... i have around twenty five of those in various configurations. not ONE has a chopped top.... haven't mastered that yet. sectioning, i have down to a science.
VW Dave Posted December 27, 2011 Posted December 27, 2011 (edited) Looking good! I love rediscovering old projects and attacking them with new enthusiasm. Edited December 27, 2011 by VW Dave
Darren B Posted December 28, 2011 Posted December 28, 2011 Man im the same way lately, digging out old builds and i have this same one but didnt chop the top too scared to ruin it keep up the awesome work.
rmvw guy Posted December 28, 2011 Posted December 28, 2011 Jason, I had the same thing going on without the chop, in the box probably 10 to 15 years. I sectioned the body, tubed it, smoothed it among other things only to give up on it. After trashing it I could never get over it, after all, it is a great kit. Since then I have built one in stock form and one as a Gasser. With two more on the shelf I have plans to build one as a 50s Custom and one as a Moonshine Hauler. A Dirt Tracker would also be nice. As I said it's a great kit please don't give up on it. Or a Rust Bucket would be good, the list goes on and on. More pictures later I hope, I'll be watching.
Guest Posted December 28, 2011 Posted December 28, 2011 I'll be tuned in to this one! I love '49 Fords! I've always wanted to give one the Crestliner trim treatment.
62rebel Posted December 28, 2011 Posted December 28, 2011 to correctly portray a Crestliner you need to use two coupe kits or a coupe and a convertible, as the CL was built on the longer roofed two door sedan body (shorter tulip panel on trunk). the CL also has a unique steering wheel unlike the stock '49. several issues of the '49 had a decal included that mimicked a CL, and could be used to fabricate the sweep trim you need. doing a '50 would be fairly easy; doing a '51 requires more specialized trim. they're striking looking cars and no shoebox collection is complete without one... having said that... i need to start whittling...
jaymcminn Posted January 3, 2012 Author Posted January 3, 2012 A little change of plan... I finessed out the remaining minor bodywork issues using Duplicolor red oxide primer and decided I really liked the color. It's still going to get painted flames in white and light blue or turquoise- in fact, I might get a little more ambitious on the flames than I had originally planned. Motor and wheels will be painted light blue or turquoise to match the flames. I've started mocking up the frame-to-engine fit and the ride height- pics on that later. In the meantime, here are some pics of the primered body. This was the first time I used the technique of brushing liquid cement over shaved moldings to prevent "ghosting"- I was amazed by how well it worked!
Dave Darby Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 (edited) That's a nice chop. Looking good! Edited January 3, 2012 by Dave Darby
Dr. Cranky Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 You can never go wrong with this kit. Looking forward to more of this build.
Gluhead Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 Great call on putting the drip rails back on. I know it's a traditional custom thing and goes all the way back to the stone ages, but I don't like 'em shaved. I've done the over-smoothing thing myself far too many times. It took me a while to catch on to why they didn't look quite right to me, but I did finally get it. Hardtops can get away with it a lot easier but anything with a quarter window needs them to counter the flow issues between the door line and top of the quarter window. Lookin' good though...I'll be watchin' for more.
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