'39 Sports Wagon

[wisdonm]

I am going to use the '39 Wagon Rod kit. Although I have never built this kit before, I think it will become my #1 donor kit, in the future, replacing the Dodge Sidewinder, which has become pricy and hard to find. This kit has a rare Chevy LT5 DOHC engine, B-W 5-speed trans, separate Art Morrison frame, four-link rear suspension, Ford 9" rear end, air bag suspension including pump and tank, nice wheels and tires, and brake rotors and calipers. All neat parts and they are labeled on the instruction sheet, which is sorely lacking on so many kits, including Tamiyas.

To me, this kit has everything going for it except it's not very pretty. It seriously needs to be sectioned. I'm going to try.

I started out by setting the body on the piece with the fenders. What is going on here? There is a 2+ mm gap between the body and the running board. I colored it with a pink high-lighter in the pix.

Next I mocked up the engine and trans in order to check clearances. The engine was assembled with white glue, so that I can disassemble it by soaking it in water. The frame has a slight twist behind the rear axle. Otherwise, it looks like I can do what I envision.

[Dirty Gringo]

so I have looked at buying this kit couple times at $8 and guess I should have looked inside just for the parts.

Edited May 2, 2012 by Dirty Gringo

[Brendan30]

I see what your saying, but if you look at the model art you can see that gap. I would just fill with compound and even fill that back window in also so its just one flat surface. AMT always has issues with fit and finish, made in China I think?

[Gluhead]

Huh? That "gap" is the apron between the bottom of the body and the running board. It's supposed to be there.

I've wondered a couple times if amt will ever see fit to toss a coupe body at it and update the rolling stock (sorry, but I think the ones that come with it are horrid). All I did to mine was fill in the "wood" and change the wheels/tires but if I did another I'd also make the rear door pillar nearly vertical...as the angle it's at does absolutely nothing but conflict with the rest of the cars lines.

That said, though, it is a great parts kit if you're into street rods. The fit and finish is actually quite decent.

[scale trucker]

i bought a few of these just for the frames

[TooOld]

I got one of these a few months ago as a glue bomb . With a little detailing the engine and Art Morrison suspension could look great ! But that body is just plain UGLY ! I played around on the computer trying different ideas and came up with a couple body mods that look pretty good . They include sectioning the body at a slight angle to give the illusion of a lowered front without messing with the suspension . I'll post the drawings if you are interested .

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with as it has a lot of potential .

[Raul_Perez]

I, too, tried to make a silk purse from this sow's ear. In the end I was never really satisfied with the body mods I made, but I bought several more as parts cars.

Here's the "Work Bench" link to the one I built: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=28488

Here's the link tot he finished build: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=34926

Good luck with your build!!

[Jon Cole]

It is kind of a barking dog, isn't it? If you want to section, me'es thinks a wedge or pie cut should be removed, more out of the front than the back.

I also remember those headlights as "controversial", interesting how you will do this one up.

[wisdonm]

I did some more work on this one. First I want to close up that 2mm gap between the body and the running board. All I'm going to have to do is raise the arches for the fenders.

I did this by making patterns of the openings. Make sure that the patterns are raised perfectly vertically. It is very helpful to have vertical reference lines. In this case the door panel lines are perfect for this. Just raise the highest point of the pattern arc the amount you want to lower the body.

The original height from the bottom of the running board to the highest point of the roof was 57mm. After this simple 2mm drop the height is now 55mm. I'm sure I can find at least another mm somewhere. Notice how the hood now sits 2mm too high now. It's always something.

[Mike Kucaba]

Somehow I sense a bidding/buying frenzy of this kit after all the chat about the parts

[Bartster]

Somehow I sense a bidding/buying frenzy of this kit after all the chat about the parts

......Haha, l've never seen it before, & l want a few!

[surfjunke]

Nice work so far.

I also have an issue withe the proportions of the chop top & the stock hight body. I tried an angle section for the fun of it.

The kit has a lot of great parts for other projects. I do have a few in the collection.

Edited May 3, 2012 by surfjunke

[1930fordpickup]

Don looking good so far . Just remember it is called Wagon Rod not Wagon Stock .Also do not forget it is A Chevy so ugly comes with it from the start. LOL

[bryan_m]

nice sectioning work!!

cheers

bryan

[wisdonm]

I did some more cutting. I think I am done with the exterior sectioning part of this build. I have reduced the original body height from 57mm to 47mm. I'm now at a standstill. I discovered that because of additional modifications that I want to do, I won't be able to assemble the interior until I do some major surgery on the floor pan.

This is what I've got.

A lot of people dislike the kit headlights. Right from the start, I was planning on using VW Beetle headlights, however, after major sectioning, the originals are kind of growing on me.

[bryan_m]

thats coool! i like the way the hoodline flows down into the grille area, very nice! sectioning is tough, ive only done it once, i sectioned an old amt 49 merc 4 scale inches, it came out pretty good, and i chopped the top 3 scale inches, and pancaked the hood as well......it took me forever to make it look right.

nice work so far, keep er goin!

bryan

Edited May 4, 2012 by bryan_m

[Bartster]

Definitely different. I like it so far. lt almost reminds me of a Jag XK120 in the front. I gotta see it finished now.

[David G.]

Huge improvement!

That kit has always seemed oddly proportioned, your mods really balance the whole thing out.

David G.

[Lunajammer]

Right from the start, I was planning on using VW Beetle headlights, however, after major sectioning, the originals are kind of growing on me.

Agreed. It's still bug-eyed but I don't find it as troubling with the radical section than when it's trying to conform to the original.

[Casey]

I think some more "flowing" headlight surrounds ('37 Ford for example) would work better with the nose of the car, but the side window shape and B-pillar angle are still visually jarring.

The design of this kit's body is perplexing to say the least. Some areas are sympathetic to others, while others match nothing else and leave you wondering "why'd they do that?".

[wisdonm]

I did a 2 1/2" gentleman's top chop to the rear. Two small cuts on each side of the roof let the top droop.

This is the original floor pan. It has to be cut open so that the interior can be worked on after future modifications.

You can see in the above pix, that I thinned the headlight nacelles.

Edited May 5, 2012 by wisdonm

[Bartster]

This gets better every time l see it. Great stuff going on here! Please keep it up.

[Brizio]

Beautiful job!

[Bugace]

Interesting mods. It will be interesting to see how it all flow together, when done.

[wisdonm]

Hauled out some clay and got to work. Finally got to see what I had envisioned from the beginning. Not sure how I'm going to pull it off, but at least I'm motivated again.

I'm terrible at sanding and putty work, so I'm trying a different approach. I've finished sculpting this thing.

I'm going to try to cast this thing. If it works out I can make as many as I want.

Then again, just because you can, doesn't mean you should. This will be my first try at casting something with fenders and a roof.