Ace-Garageguy Posted September 2, 2013 Posted September 2, 2013 The AMT '32 Fords have some proportion problems, most notably being too short thru the cowl area. I had a couple of '32 gluebombs languishing in the parts bins and decided to see what I could do as far as correcting an AMT Victoria body, chopping it, and building it up on Revell underpinnings. The Victoria is an unusual body style you don't see that often in 1/25, and to me, the AMT proportions spoil it. The AMT chassis leaves a lot to be desired too, and as this is to be a more contemporary build with a Ford 9", the Revell chassis is the natural choice. The difference in cowl-height is pretty obvious when you compare the Revell (on left) and the AMT body shells. I've started to correct the AMT shell by adding material at the bottom. First mockup, several angles. Chop is 1/8", or about 3 scale inches.
Pat Minarick Posted September 2, 2013 Posted September 2, 2013 Nice work ,adding to the bottom of the body sure makes a difference .
Jim Whalen Posted September 2, 2013 Posted September 2, 2013 Hi, When I saw it was you doing this build I knew it'd be worth looking at! I have also been thinking about putting an AMT Vicky body on the Revell underpinnings (I also have a Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland '32 Vicky body). I would never have thought of the proportions so will watch your build closely - I can see a big improvement in what you've done already. Keep us posted!
b_lever1 Posted September 2, 2013 Posted September 2, 2013 That's what's wrong never could see that nice one Bill I think a Vicky is calling nope the Wife Going to have to dig mine out
cobraman Posted September 2, 2013 Posted September 2, 2013 You did make it look better. I would like to this one finished. : )
rmvw guy Posted September 2, 2013 Posted September 2, 2013 Great start on another classic AMT '32 Ford. I'm a huge fan of your work.
ChrisBcritter Posted September 2, 2013 Posted September 2, 2013 You mean all AMT '32 Fords are off by that much? Rats. I bet the phaeton would be the hardest one to fix. If you didn't have the Revell kit to provide the rest, how would you correct the hood and grille of an AMT kit to match? I have a Tudor, a Vicky, and a B-400 conversion all in the project pipeline...
MachinistMark Posted September 2, 2013 Posted September 2, 2013 Love this so far bill, and I'm NOT a fan of the Vicky body, at all. So that's saying quite a bit
Ace-Garageguy Posted September 4, 2013 Author Posted September 4, 2013 (edited) Thanks for all the interest and comments. I've been wanting to do a Victoria for a long time, but just couldn't get around the proportion issue to make it happen until I actually started doing some measuring. You mean all AMT '32 Fords are off by that much? Rats. I bet the phaeton would be the hardest one to fix. If you didn't have the Revell kit to provide the rest, how would you correct the hood and grille of an AMT kit to match? I have a Tudor, a Vicky, and a B-400 conversion all in the project pipeline... Yes and there are other minor issues too. Correcting the hood side panels would require adding material to the bottoms, similar to what I've done to the body shell here, and it would be on a somewhat cut-to-fit, model-to-model basis. The heights of the AMT grille shell and the Revell grille shell are very close to each other, so there would be considerable work needed to be done to get the lines to work together if the cowl was raised on an AMT body shell installed on AMT fenders. I haven't yet looked in depth as far as what would be necessary to correct the proportions on the AMT body shells for use on the AMT fenders, which I love in spite of their shortcomings, but I'll be getting into it in the not-too-distant future. One thing I HAVE looked at is the fit of the Revell body shell on the AMT fenders, and it's remarkably good. SOME of the dimensions on both models were transcribed accurately enough to allow some mix-n-matching, with a little effort. This is the Revell 3W shell on AMT fenders. The AMT kits' 'faces' reflect the stock appearance of a '32 Ford... with high headlight placement, while the Revell kit looks more like the street-rod style with lowered lamps. Just another thing to keep in mind. Edited September 5, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy
ChrisBcritter Posted September 4, 2013 Posted September 4, 2013 That's interesting - the box-art car does seem to have the grille a bit lower than the real car. Maybe I can fix what I have... Definitely watching this build. Thanks!
rustybill1960 Posted September 5, 2013 Posted September 5, 2013 A most interesting build! The body tips are greatly apperciated too! I will be watching with the others for sure! Thank You for sharing with Us Later Russ
James2 Posted September 5, 2013 Posted September 5, 2013 I like your work here Bill. I must confess, in all the years of modeling I have never built one of these with fenders!
bob29579 Posted September 28, 2013 Posted September 28, 2013 Wow. What a great difference that makes...
Shardik Posted September 28, 2013 Posted September 28, 2013 I'm obviously not alone when I say we are lucky to have you around as a resource for this kind of esoteric information. That, and you give great eye-candy!
alan barton Posted October 1, 2013 Posted October 1, 2013 Congratulations on a great job correcting the ungainly AMT proportions of what is in real life a very well proportioned car. I must confess to having planned to correct it also but in a far more complicated manner and I wasn't convinced it was going to work. What you have done seems simple by comparison but the impact is obvious. Sorry I have no photos to post but a few years ago, for those that are interested, I did combine a Revell 32 roadster with an AMT phaeton. The phaeton has far more inaccuracies than the Vicky The cowl is ugly and the windscreen frame and posts bear little resemblance to the real thing so I used all the cowl, the front doors and the lower three millimeters of the roadster quarter panel. I then cut and trimmed the phaeton body to mate up (hope that makes sense). I remember I cut the Revell roadster body a few mm behind the door line so that I didnt have to rescribe it. It was a relatively simple job and the effect was striking. Just a bit of useless information, the AMT phaeton was measured up from Dick Scritchfield's ( L.A. Roadster's member) real car, a body that was imported from Australia back in the sixties (we had far more open cars than closed cars) As a result, the back of the AMT phaeton lacks the seams that an American bodied car would have because Aussie cars had a one- piece tub. Just thought you might be interested to know! Cheers Alan
bobthehobbyguy Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 Any more progress on this one? bobthehobbyguy
Greg Myers Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 You know , this can only mean one thing. Revell will announce the release of their New '32 "Vicky" Kit this week. Just saying.
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 5, 2014 Author Posted February 5, 2014 Thanks for the interest, guys. I'm still moving the house, studio, shop and office. No progress on anything else, but should be clear in maybe 2 more weeks. Man, this has been a nightmare.
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