Deuce Lo-Boy Roadster

[Bernard Kron]

’32 Ford Roadster Lo-Boy
(More pictures below)

 

This is based on the old Revell Highboy ’32 Ford Roadster. Obviously, it’s been radically lowered in the style of the late 50’s and early 60’s hot rod show cars. The inspiration was the stance on the ’60 AMBR winner, the Barris Emperor. However, I kept the details conservative rather than going whole hog as Barris did fabricating molded nose and tailpieces.

 

Below are the details. (Unless otherwise noted everything is from the Revell kit.):

 

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

 

Chassis: Z’d 3” in the rear, rails wedge cut just forward of the firewall to raise the front cross member about 1½”. Front cross member and front spring shaved. Rails notched at front cross member to allow axle clearance.
Motor: Chrysler Hemi from the Monogram Li’l Coffin mated to Revell Deuce kit transmission to assure proper chassis fit. “Limefire” style headers from AMT Phantom Vicky kit.
Bodywork: Stock Deuce roadster body channeled the depth of the frame rails. Rolled pan added at rear. Taillights from new Revell Stacey David Rat Roaster kit. Resin 2” chopped grill shell with photo-etch grill courtesy of Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland.
Interior: Sectioned kit side panels. Rear panel fabricated from kit seat. Bucket seats from Revell ’30 Ford “Rat Rod” sedan kit. AMT ’58 Chevrolet Impala steering wheel.
Wheels and tires: From Monogram Super Modified Dirt Track Racer kit.
Paints and finishes: Duplicolor Maroon Metallic over Duplicolor Platinum base coat. Interior finished in Testors Pearl White lacquer.

 

Edited July 28, 2017 by Bernard Kron

[jeffs396]

Waay cool old school!

[exesivefire]

Cool build as usual

[slusher]

Man thats an awsume build, The whole build screams cool.

[codie27]

Awesome build!You've definitely nailed the period. look with it.

[trogdor]

Gorgeous model. It takes me back to my childhood.

[351 cleve]

Really looks good. I especially like the side shot, it has a perfect stance. I built a 5 window using the same idea. Its posted here in the archives. Great job and great color!

[LAone]

Great looking lo-boy Bernard.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Bernard, I love everything about it. When I went through the beauty shots, I just started smiling. Now THAT's a hot-rod!!

[mr moto]

Great job! It really has the right "period" look.

[Silver Foxx]

Nice build - looks real cool.

[Sixties Sam]

Very nice! It does have an early 1960's look. Reminds me of a couple of AMT 32's I built back then, except that mine didn't look nearly as good as this one! Good work!

Sam

[Albie D]

Great job on the front frame mods. It looks super channeled from the front with the frame horns flanking the grill. 'Nother great deuce build!

[bondo bill]

very sharp

[Ira]

Looks Great Bernard!

[Bill Edman]

sweet model

[crazyrichard]

nice result , love the stance !!

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx to all of you for the kind words. As always it's great when the "look & feel" of a model makes a connection!

Special thanx to Richard Gelens (crazyrichard) whose recent low, low, low, super-low Deuces reminded me it was time to do another one and to Bill Engwer (Ace-Garageguy) whose superb how-to on The Z got the ball rolling and whose un-erring professional eye for line and form is a constant inspiration.

Now for some build notes I hope you all may find of interest.

First off, the tough, close-coupled stance is at least partially due to mixing 1/24th and 1/25th scale parts. The basic car is 1/25th but both the wheels/tires and the motor are 1/24th which serves to fill those key areas a bit more and to slightly shrink the look of the chassis and body. I had those wheels and tires in my stash for years waiting for just this sort of build. And the Li'l Coffin motor both in 1:1 and in model form has always struck me as the ideal show motor for this sort of car.

Secondly, a general thought about building Old School and keeping it real. In a sense my "insurance policy" was the vintage of the kits I used for parts. IMHO nobody did Old School Hot Rods better than Monogram in the early 60's. AMT hot rod kits of the period have plenty of soul but can be crude and are riddled with flaws. Customizing was more their thing. Revell did drag cars superbly but during the era was largely missing from the rod and custom scene. It's only later that they really get going in this area. And Aurora? What can I say? Their cover art is an inspiration but the scale and execution of the actual models? Well... Monogram, on the other hand, produced classic kits full of crisp detail that were impeccable documents of a golden period. So using parts from these kits is a virtual guarantee of authenticity and the appropriate vibe. I'm somewhat of a 1/25th purist but I can be tempted into 1/24th when the parts look this good!

Thanx again for the good vibes and interest,
B.

[Dyno Davo]

Bernard, you nailed this one perfectly, looks period perfect mate, awesome build and eye for old school detail, well done mate.

[Alyn]

You're building up quite the stable of cool 32's.

Love the stance and squat down look on this one.

[dino246gt]

Really cool, just saved that side shot to my screensaver!

[High octane]

That is one sweet lookin' rod Bernard, great job!

[Raul_Perez]

Very cool, Bernard!! Looks like you're already off to a good start for next year's NNL!!

Later,

Raul

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx again everyone. I'm glad you all appreciate it!

 

I finally have gotten myself one of those mini-tripods for my camera. I've been experimenting with some black background shots. Camera shake has always been a problem shooting in such a light absorbent environment. Now, using my camera's timer, the blurries are gone forever. Framing is a little tougher and, of course, my modeling skills are even more under the microscope, but overall it is a big positive. Here's a couple of pics of this car I took:

Edited July 28, 2017 by Bernard Kron

[crazyrichard]

haha thnx bernard