Steve_L Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 (edited) This project started with two questions: 1. "What if Ford had built a race car like the Chevy Black Widow?" 2. "What would it look like?" These are pictures of my 1957 Ford "Black Widow" that was built for the 2007 ACME Southern Nationals NNL. I combined a 1957 Ford resin kit from ModelHaus and the AMT/Ertl 1957 Ford Plastic kit. In most respects, I patterened this model after the GM 1957 Chevrolet Stock Car Competition Guide. The engine and transmission are from the AMT/Ertl plastic kit, but I revised the supercharger case for better realism. I fabricated the carburetor "bonnet," the air cleaner and the air hoses. I used a distributor from Arrowhead Aluminum and fabricated all of the fuel system. The model has most of the Chevy Black Widow "extras" including two shock absorbers per wheel, added chassis crossmembers and reinforced chassis parts. The interior required a lot of additional work to make it resemble that of the Chevy Black Widow. I used Duplicolor Black and White spray paint for the base coats and Kilz Casual Colors for the clear coat. Chrome trim was handled with Bare Metal Foil. This was a fun project with few obstacles. Enjoy! Edited January 8, 2008 by Steve_L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Cool "concept" car, Steve!! I'm sure that it looks great sitting next to your '57 Chevy Black Widow!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripp Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Im sorry to say i dont have pix yet,but i have 2 57 Fords i'll post later.Yours is BEAUTIFUL really nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatRod Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Ok, I gotta ask......Have you raced it against the Chevy Black Widow, and which was the faster? lol!!! No, this is a really cool idea, and you did an excellent job building it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Cool idea now is there a Hemi powered "Black Widow" Plymouth in the works to join the fleet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobss396 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Simply astounding. You HAVE to do the Mopar to cover all of the big-3 offerings. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom Zoom Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 LOL Steve, everyone's on the same wavelength when they see this model...looks awesome, great with your "real" Black Widow buildups, and...where's that Plymouth to go with it?! Steve heard the same thing when he showed the car the first time, I'm pretty sure he's got the Plymouth project coming sometime. Big plus is availability of the Modelhaus Savoy and plenty of cheap '57 Chrysler 300 kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Gotta agree with the crowd...that's a great idea, and a beautiful model. Now bring on the Plymouth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Thank you all very much for your kind and positive comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr moto Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Cool idea now is there a Hemi powered "Black Widow" Plymouth in the works to join the fleet Actually, Plymouth never got a hemi until the new hemi in '64. The appropriate MoPar would be a Dodge. They had a small block version of the hemi and had some racing success with it in '56. They would've been more successful except for the Chrysler 300's with a bigger hemi! (Hint: Modelhaus offers a '56 Dodge!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outsider Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 the Ford looks sweet! the 1957 Hemi cars would be a Chrysler 300C with its 375hp 392ci Hemi or the 1957 Dodge D500 with its 325ci Hemi or even a 57 Desoto Fireflyte with its 325 Hemi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikelo Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Great idea. Very nice job. I like how you did the air clearner cover. I can see the Chrysler 300C black and white with......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelmartin Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Cool ifea and well done model! I would like to see a Black Widow Rambler! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Actually, Plymouth never got a hemi until the new hemi in '64. The appropriate MoPar would be a Dodge. They had a small block version of the hemi and had some racing success with it in '56. They would've been more successful except for the Chrysler 300's with a bigger hemi! (Hint: Modelhaus offers a '56 Dodge!) the Ford looks sweet! the 1957 Hemi cars would be a Chrysler 300C with its 375hp 392ci Hemi or the 1957 Dodge D500 with its 325ci Hemi or even a 57 Desoto Fireflyte with its 325 Hemi. Since this would be a "what if" model, lets say that Plymouth got their hands on a handfull of Chrysler, Dodge, or DeSoto Hemi's for this short production run of factory racers and produced just enought to make them legal;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr moto Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Cool ifea and well done model! I would like to see a Black Widow Rambler! I like a guy who can think outside the box! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I love it...the Black Widow theme for the 57 Ford really works where did you get the supercharger goodies for the engine? I built a model of the 57 Ford Fireball Roberts ran in NASCAR and had to scrathbuilt all that stuff here are a couple of pix of model i built... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Well, it looks like its time to start building a bunch of late 50's stock cars!!! Let's see...for the 50 year anniversary of the ’58, who raced what? Or we could all just do a bunch of "what if's" Sounds like a plan to me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramonesblues Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Actually, the polysphere engines in Plymouths were hemi block based motors so a hemi conversion wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisher61 Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Neat idea and a great looking Ford! Very accurate looking F-code 312 engine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 where did you get the supercharger goodies for the engine? Those are included with the AMT '57 Ford kit so you can build the 312CuIn/312hp version (yea, it was a 1 horsepower per cubic inch engine just like the Fuelie Chevy!) of the Y-Block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted January 12, 2008 Author Share Posted January 12, 2008 I love it...the Black Widow theme for the 57 Ford really works where did you get the supercharger goodies for the engine? I built a model of the 57 Ford Fireball Roberts ran in NASCAR and had to scrathbuilt all that stuff here are a couple of pix of model i built... Curt, I added a rib to the supercharger from the kit -- the rest of the setup is scratch built. All of it is from styrene plastic -- I used a candle flame to bend the styrene rods that I used for the hoses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Curt, I added a rib to the supercharger from the kit -- the rest of the setup is scratch built. All of it is from styrene plastic -- I used a candle flame to bend the styrene rods that I used for the hoses. Steve, Great idea, I never would have thought about heating and bending styrene to replicate rubber hoses. I wrestled with the rubber hoses on this model and was not real pleased with the result will definitly try this the next time I have to put some major bends in a rubber hose thanx curt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 (edited) Cool ifea and well done model! I would like to see a Black Widow Rambler! Andy, These projects are taking on a life of their own... I have already ordered a resin 1957 Plymouth Savoy kit from ModelHaus and have also acquired a 1957 Pontiac 2-Door resin kit on EBay. I think it would be a kick to also build Rambler and Studebaker "Black Widows," too. So far, I have been able to acquire a few reference pictures, but I have no clue where to find 1/25 scale 1957 Rambler and Studebaker kits. Any ideas? Steve Edited January 26, 2008 by Steve_L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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