32 Ford

[FullTimeHobbiest]

Very nice chop!

[mikevillena]

Thank you all for the very kind words I haven't had much time on the bench as I've been busy sharpening my Creo skills for my new job on Monday. In the meanwhile, I finished mating the chopped top to the rest of the shell. It's fill, sand, prime, sand, rinse and repeat time:

The contours around the top perimeter will ultimately be restored as well as the rain gutters. After I'm satisfied with the chop, I will build out the door jambs and start the door surgery.

Edited June 7, 2014 by mikevillena

[DynoMight]

Good job!

[mikevillena]

Thanks Glenn. Your " 9 Second Grocery Getter" project is looking great!

[DynoMight]

Thanks Glenn. Your " 9 Second Grocery Getter" project is looking great!

Thanks!

Edited June 7, 2014 by DynoMight

[bobthehobbyguy]

Great project the top looks great. Interested is seeing how you do the engine.

[fitforbattle]

Mike, you never cease to amaze me.

[hjracing]

Great job, I like your chop top tecniques. I'll keep an eye on this one!

[mikevillena]

Thank you for all of the kind words of encouragement. This is the first time that I've done major "hot rod" style modifications so I'm somewhat shaky with the techniques. Although I'm very happy with how the chop turned out.

I thought about sacrificing my very expensive Italian painting knives to make specialized sanding pads but I went to Michaels and got a cheapo one to experiment with. I give the blade a shot of 3M adhesive and stuck on some 600 grit wet and dry sandpaper and trimmed off the excess:

This shape allows me to sand small surfaces absolutely flat.

While working on the shell I forgot to use my grippy pad of kitchen drawer liner and (you guessed it) the shell slipped off the glass surface and fell off the workbench. I grabbed it out of reflex but cracked the glue joints on the "A" and "B" pillars. I had to re-glue the joints and blend everything again.

I decided to tack on the rest of the panels to plan what I was going to do with the project. I tried various set ups and I think I might stick with this stance and track width:

The front of the grill shell will almost be dragging on the ground. I will also do a full length fully contoured belly pan very similar to this:

There are other forum members that have done belly pans too so I'm not exactly breaking new ground here.

My plan is to build up and shape the belly pan's external contours while it is glued onto the shell and then sawing it off so that I can shape and finish the inside contours. This also allows me to build the space frame.

Meanwhile more blending on the windows to hide the chop:

[mikevillena]

[Jim Whalen]

Hi,

Nice start to this project, I really like your idea of using the painting knife with sandpaper cut to fit to keep the areas flat when you blend in the chopped top. Will have to remember that one!

[mikevillena]

Hi,

Nice start to this project, I really like your idea of using the painting knife with sandpaper cut to fit to keep the areas flat when you blend in the chopped top. Will have to remember that one!

Thanks Jim. I'm sure someone has already thought of it before.

[mikevillena]

I was really eager to try and tackle the challenge of building the slick belly pan so I give it a go. I was inspired by the way boat modellers construct the hull on wooden sailing ships so I adapted the technique. Plank on plank to build up the rough shape.

After some quick and rough sanding (proof of concept)

I'm pretty confident that the technique will work. I now need to build up the other side and joint the middle with several sheets. Then it's a lot of shaping, sanding and blending. Once the entire belly pan has been shaped externally, I will saw it off just like the lower hull of a scale warship waterline model. Then I will shape the internals.

Edited June 8, 2014 by mikevillena

[mikevillena]

A lot of shaving and sanding. I had to constantly fire up the vacuum cleaner to keep the bench clean.

Pre-curved a piece of .040 thk sheet roughly cut to cover the bottom opening and glued it on. Started roughing out the passenger side:

Whittling and shaping by dragging the knife blade perpendicular to the surface gave me a little more control and less plastic dust. I also switch to a single edge blade for the larger areas.

"Boat hull" starting to take shape:

This reminds of the Testors Boyd's Alumacoupe model I built many years ago.

The slightly curved bottom almost begs for some louvers around the engine compartment. I might try to scratchbuild them using quarter round styrene. I also used the non-louvered hood panels as sacrificial components so as to leave the louvered panels intact for the finished product.

BTW, here's just one example of Bernard Kron's beautiful work:

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/?showtopic=66573

I hope he doesn't mind my linking to it.

Edited June 9, 2014 by mikevillena

[bobthehobbyguy]

Great idea for doingvthe belly pan. This project is coming along nicely.

[Bobdude]

Hi Mike, In addition to your modeling skills,your pictures of the progress you are making are great.Putting what you are working as the main focus of the pic.

[mikevillena]

Great idea for doingvthe belly pan. This project is coming along nicely.

Hi Mike, In addition to your modeling skills,your pictures of the progress you are making are great.Putting what you are working as the main focus of the pic.

Thanks guys. Still feeling my way through the project.

[mikevillena]

Got a little bit of bench time tonight after work. I was somewhat undecided regarding the wheel well. Some of the traditional rods had them filled in while others did not. I opted to use them unfilled and incorporate their shape into the belly pan. I also shaped the tail section to get a true "rolled" pan.

I really like the front end view. It is reminiscent of the bow on a boat or a Bugatti.

I will have to engineer the front suspension so as to maintain a clean appearance.

[1 bad55 stan]

Truly amazing skills,I am blown away!!!Awesome just awesome!

[Agent G]

Looking super!

G

[slusher]

Looking super!

G

I agree

[Bernard Kron]

Very, very nice work. Properly done a bellypan Deuce can be very dramatic! The work required, however is definitely non-trivial, so, just as in the 1:1 world, it's relatively rare.

I've done three '32 Fords with bellypans over the years, progressing my technique on each one. The approach you're taking is similar to what I evolved. None of my bellypan Deuces have had a full chassis since it is entirely hidden by bodywork. I suspect you are taking the same route. A couple of hedz-upz to consider:

The biggest challenge for me has been getting enough visual impact out of the bellypan - fashioning a bellypan that's deep enough to get the dramatic effect Only on my 3rd build have I begun to approach what's needed aesthetically. Even then this was primarily because the sides of the fairing were relatively straight sided, since it was a lakes car. On my 2nd attempt I was aware of the issue but, because I had made more of a roll along the bottom edge of the sides, the depth became more muted and less dramatic than I would have wished. On my next attempt I'm certain that the sides of the bellypan fairing will be at least the depth of the frame rails on a highboy to "sell" the full-pan effect.

Beware of the fact that if you include a motor you'll have to account for the oil pan. On 2 of mine I had to cut a relief in the bellypan for it and fashion a fairing. This is often done in the 1:1 world as well. Another approach is to do a dry-sump system with a shallow pan. On my second bellypan Deuce, which ran a flat head, I avoided this issue by dropping the bellypan somewhat forward of the firewall to clear the sump. Similarly at the rear, depending on the type of differential you are using, you may have to do the same. I did it on my first bellypan build but have omitted any rear axle detail on subsequent ones to allow for a smooth pan. In the 1:1 world the famous Khougaz channeled Deuce roadster which had a full bellypan had a small fairing to clear the rear quickchange.

The most evolved of my three attempts was (naturally) the 3rd and most recent. You might want to check out the w.i.p. for any pitfalls to avoid, here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=64354&hl. The result is seen here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=66573 .

Pan on Bellypan Deuce #1 (a roadster):

Totally smooth pan on Bellypan Deuce #2:

Pan on Bellypan Deuce #3 (a 5-window coupe):

[mikevillena]

Truly amazing skills,I am blown away!!!Awesome just awesome!

Thank you for the overly generous compliment Stan. I think it's more problem solving than skill as my building techniques are still rather crude at this point.

Looking super!

G

Thanks G!

[mikevillena]

I agree

Thank you Carl.

Very, very nice work. Properly done a bellypan Deuce can be very dramatic! The work required, however is definitely non-trivial, so, just as in the 1:1 world, it's relatively rare.

I've done three '32 Fords with bellypans over the years, progressing my technique on each one. The approach you're taking is similar to what I evolved. None of my bellypan Deuces have had a full chassis since it is entirely hidden by bodywork. I suspect you are taking the same route. A couple of hedz-upz to consider:

The biggest challenge for me has been getting enough visual impact out of the bellypan - fashioning a bellypan that's deep enough to get the dramatic effect Only on my 3rd build have I begun to approach what's needed aesthetically. Even then this was primarily because the sides of the fairing were relatively straight sided, since it was a lakes car. On my 2nd attempt I was aware of the issue but, because I had made more of a roll along the bottom edge of the sides, the depth became more muted and less dramatic than I would have wished. On my next attempt I'm certain that the sides of the bellypan fairing will be at least the depth of the frame rails on a highboy to "sell" the full-pan effect.

Beware of the fact that if you include a motor you'll have to account for the oil pan. On 2 of mine I had to cut a relief in the bellypan for it and fashion a fairing. This is often done in the 1:1 world as well. Another approach is to do a dry-sump system with a shallow pan. On my second bellypan Deuce, which ran a flat head, I avoided this issue by dropping the bellypan somewhat forward of the firewall to clear the sump. Similarly at the rear, depending on the type of differential you are using, you may have to do the same. I did it on my first bellypan build but have omitted any rear axle detail on subsequent ones to allow for a smooth pan. In the 1:1 world the famous Khougaz channeled Deuce roadster which had a full bellypan had a small fairing to clear the rear quickchange.

The most evolved of my three attempts was (naturally) the 3rd and most recent. You might want to check out the w.i.p. for any pitfalls to avoid, here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=64354&hl. The result is seen here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=66573 .

Pan on Bellypan Deuce #1 (a roadster):

Totally smooth pan on Bellypan Deuce #2:

Pan on Bellypan Deuce #3 (a 5-window coupe):

Hi Bernard. And thank you very much for sharing that magnificent project. Absolutely beautiful work. As to the approach, I simply adapted an old technique that I had previously used on a larger project from 2005/2006. It was my 1/10th scale Super Seven R/C car:

http://www.scale4x4rc.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4443

I ended up building two complete noses, the first one having a lot of compound curves:

[mikevillena]

Not satisfied with it, I built another one that was closer to the original shape using the same technique:

Additionally, thank you for sharing your project insight. You have shown some nice solutions. I had originally planned on scratchbuilding a Ford Cosworth DFV that has a dry sump. I also planned to saw off the belly pan as a complete assembly so that I can shape and blend the inside surfaces and build a complete space frame. I will also incorporate removable access panels for the engine and transaxle on the belly pan. Ultimately, the belly pan will be re-attached using tiny screws in the final assembly.

Carl, thank you so much for sharing your superb projects.