'34 Ford Traditional Rod -- Dare We Say Ratrod?

[Tom Geiger]

This model is over five years old, back when I decided to see what would happen if I sectioned 6 scale inches out of the body. Then I decided it would be neat to use an unexpected engine, so the Plymouth flathead six from the '41 Plymouth kit was built up. Wheels and tires were picked out, then the project died. The model sat way too high and I couldn't figure out how to get it down. I picked it up this past December, when I usually finish an old project over the holiday season. I immediately saw my issue. I had taken the height out of the body, but not the interior. So I spliced it up and got it where it should be. Then the height was just where I wanted it and I was excited to finish it. I didn't make my January 1 deadline, but kept at it, especially as I added more detail and got things right (at least for me!). She's been finished about two weeks now.

Headlights came out of the old Barris Ice Cream Truck. The directionals on top are little self adhesive jewels from Michaels. Horns are from the 1950 Ford pickup. Front wheels and tires are from the kit.

The six inch section was taken out right at that body line above the door handle. That left the side and rear windows full size, but reduced the windshield down like a chop. The rear wheels and tires are from the old MPC '28 LIncoln Gangbusters kit. I had an old glue bomb. Tail lights were roof lights from a big rig. I added '59 Caddy tail lights to it. I pinned the tail lights in place.

The rear carrier came from the parts box but I think it was an old Johan item. The rim of it was chrome. It is sitting on the kit provided spare mount and has the actual spare tire inside it. It can be seen from behind. I had to whittle the tire down to fit it in there. The decal on the back was made on my printer. It's a bit fuzzy here but it says "For All You Know, I Might Be Dead". The graphic is an old 1920s comic postcard in my collection that I reduced. It's actually very sharp in person. And since I can't go to GSL in Salt Lake this year, I added a Utah plate.

The paint job is one of my typical old and worn ones that is expected of me. It started out with Duplicolor red primer. Then I did gray primer on top, another coat of the red and then Cardinal Red paint. It was then wet sanded to reveal the layers and then a Testors Dullcote was applied. Then I did my strategic rust with my technique of Dullcote and chalk dust.

I added strategic rust holes on the body and a body patch right before the back wheel. The single exhaust with a brass horn end comes out on the right side only. The cowl vent was opened and glued in place. People had told me that the kit body roof was too square so I tried to round it off a bit. Probably still not perfect, but good enuf!

Edited March 20, 2013 by Tom Geiger

[Tom Geiger]

Some more details...

Here's a shot of the engine before it was installed. The coil wire juts off into space here!

Interiors get lost after you assemble a sedan so here's a shot of the detail. The seats are covered with Taco Bell napkins. I did a tutorial on this site showing the steps. I wanted the carpet to be different so I printed out a Victorian style carpet from a doll house miniatures site in 1/24 scale and glued it in place. Seat belts are just ribbon with the buckles cut off a pair of those awful plastic kit ones. I needed to thin them down a bit more than I did. Door handles are resin from Norman Veber. Stick shift is a pin painted as a 6 ball instead of an 8 ball because it's got a six!

The dashboard was cut down from the AMT '53 Studebaker kit. I added paper gauges and put clear on top of them. You can see the 6 Ball in this photo. The steering wheel came from the parts box, I needed a small one to fit!

So that's the build. I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out. Hope you enjoyed looking at it.

Edited March 20, 2013 by Tom Geiger

[Ramfins59]

Tom that is really cool. I definitely have to pick up some Taco Bell napkins to try doing some seats like that. Great job buddy.