AMT '49 Ford Customized Coupe the hard way - Update 10-1

[Bernard Kron]

I was given an AMT ’49 Ford Coupe by a friend who had started it and then decided he didn’t like where it was going. Using the most conservative custom body parts he had painted it a dark metallic blue, a color that neither he nor I cared for. So I stripped off the paint and then discovered that the A pillar on the passenger side was missing. In addition I was unable to find the original custom hood. But the rest of the bodywork was perfect and it was a shame not to use it. What to do?

I started by putting out an internet request for a junk body so I could use an A pillar. As it turned out Mike Kucaba had an entire roof assembly that had been immaculately cut from an unmolested first release body. Mike offered it to me (Thanx Mike!!!), and when I received it I immediately was taken by the perfectly crisp molding and all the original window details. Right then and there I decided to replace the entire roof.

Well, of course that meant I had to do something about the hood. As it turned out the box of ’49 Ford parts my friend had given me included a couple of stock hoods, one of which I’ve adapted to the custom grille surround.

The sequence of pictures below shows the work so far. The top is glued in place using .010” styrene strips along the inside of the roof. The joints below the rear window and along the quarter panels where the roof meets the deck and fenders are being worked on to feather them in. And the stock hood has had the “C” cut along the leading edge filled, along with the slot for the hood ornament. I’m planning on doing a fairly classic AMT ’49 Ford Custom coupe, but, as you can see, this is definitely the hard way to go about it. It would have been much easier to simply buy a new kit!

Fingers crossed that the bodywork comes out clean. I must admit I’m enjoying the challenge. I still have to decide the final direction it takes, custom or hot rod. I think shooting some primer to gain a solid color, and perhaps trying on some wheels and tires will help me decide.

More to come…

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Bernard Kron

[Mike Kucaba]

I guess if you were going to name this car how about "Survivor" Good show so far!

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx Mike! Couldn't/wouldn't have done it without you! That roof is a beautiful piece. Hopefully it will survive...

[curt raitz]

Looks like fun, I was wondering what your next project would be.

Isn't a '49 Ford a little to "modern" for you to be workin' on?

[Bernard Kron]

...Isn't a '49 Ford a little too "modern" for you to be workin' on?

Thanks Curt. Yeah, it's got fenders!

This is one of Raul's old hand-me-downs. This old-skool AMT stuff just didn't push his buttons... He tried valiantly to stay close to the original kit but failed miserably and finally gave up! Needless to say the basic bodywork is flawless. It may look like one now, but it's no glue-bomb. I am clearly benefiting from his skills. Hopefully I won't screw it up.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Bernard Kron

[crazyrichard]

awsome

[JTalmage]

I'd love to get my hands on a couple 2dr shoeboxes! Looks great!

[chunkypeanutbutter]

I have one I need to get goin....

[1930fordpickup]

Nice work saving this.

[Tarkmucker]

Looking good. I've been waiting to see some work on this. Glad you got a roof too

[Ace-Garageguy]

Good to see someone as crazy as I am, putting a lot of careful work into saving a body that many folks would ashcan. Nice challenge, looking good.

[jwrass]

Looking great!!! I too like to save some of the old glue bombs and kits that were never finished that I have found a yard sales. Can be frustrating but so fulfilling when done!

Thanks for sharing Bernard! Looking forward to more!

[misterNNL]

No one has said this so far so I will...great photos ,crisp and sharp.You also have the ability to add those litte circles to highight exactly where you are working.Looking very nice everall.

[Bernard Kron]

Thank you, everyone!

The basics are now done, which is to say stance, wheels and tires and basic paint. The chassis is lowered about 2 ½ scale inches all around, the front with the kit supplied lowered position and the rear with lowering ,blocks. Tires are from Modelhaus with kit wheels and chrome trim rings and dimpled dog dish ‘caps from the Revell Beatnik Bandit kit.

The paint gave me a little trouble. The Duplicolor Universal Black lacquer went down with no issues. Then I masked the main body and painted the roof a red metalflake consisting of silver Duplicolor Specks for the underlayer and Tamiya TS-74 Transparent Red for color. When I removed the masking a piece of black laquer came up on the trunk lid. It’s a bit of a mystery because it was covered loosely with paper, not stick-on masking tape. So I masked around the trunk lid and re-shot it. It came out OK. Here’s a picture showing the repair.

Below are mockups showing the basic car. The paint is color sanded and I’m waiting for decent weather to shoot the clear coats. The grille is the tubular piece from the AMT kit. It will get chrome headlight rims and Lucas beams, the kit chrome bumperettes, spots and most likely lakes pipes. The interior is next on my list to design and execute, as well as determining the motor (I’m thinking a small block Ford).

Thanx for lookin',
B.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Bernard Kron

[Mike Kucaba]

Excellent work and pleased that the top went some where instead of my parts box.

I also see you use my favorite brand of sandpaper.

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks Mike. I'm really enjoying working with such crisp detail in the greenhouse. I'm hoping to capture the basic look that I'm imagining the original AMT designers had in mind when they offered these relatively conservative customizing parts. Couldn't have attempted it without you...

[Bernard Kron]

A quick update after getting the clear coats on. I’ve been experimenting with candies and metalflakes this past year. I don’t use an airbrush so I am limited to aerosol ‘flakes and transparents, which are fairly rare. I have discovered a Dupli-Color product, Dupli-Color Metal Specks, which looks promising as a properly scaled metalflake base. I used it recently on a Ford ’27 T Highboy roadster, but the color coat was not a true transparent but one of Dupli-Color’s metallics. These are fairly transparent but, once you apply enough coats they begin to hide the flake on the undercoat. This time I shot Tamiya TS-74 Clear Red, a true transparent paint, over Dupli-Color Metal Specks Sparkle Silver. An earlier picture I posted showed the raw color coats without the clear, but while applying the Clear Red I could tell that without the final gloss coats I couldn’t really tell if I would get the depth and contrast that you can achieve with a metalfllake paint job. As the paint sets up it loses much of its initial gloss. In addition, in order to get a maximum flake effect I didn’t color sand the ‘flake coat which contributes some slight roughness to the color coat as well.

The clear is Krylon Crystal Clear Gloss which goes down with a high build and deep shine. Unfortunately it takes several days to get hard enough to polish out properly, and the underlying texture of the ‘flake will require some final sanding and polishing of the clear. The photo below shows 3 coats of clear over two coats of color and two coats of ‘flake. As you can see, the depth is definitely there and I think this approach shows great promise. I think a final polish will only enhance the richness. Additionally, Dupli-Color Metal Specks paint is also available in tinted ‘flakes, specifically Burnt Copper, Retro Red, Ocean Blue and Shimmering Green. I plan to experiment with these on future projects.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

[Bernard Kron]

It’s been a while since I posted an update on this project. I’ve been going through a “flat spot”, kind of my version of builder’s block. There’s no lack of possible projects to engage in, my backlog would keep me occupied for a long time, but occasionally I just sort of slow down with seemingly straightforward things suddenly taking on more importance than they really deserve. So it was with the ’49 Ford. It was quite likely triggered by a paint problem. The clear coat I shot over the colors from my last post was from a bad can of Krylon, one I neglected to throw out. This particular can takes forever to dry completely. The result is that every time I tried to polish it I would leave thumbprints or smudges in the final coat. So I fiddled endlessly with it and just sort of ground to a halt. I started on the chassis but stalled on the motor. So I moved on to the interior and (probably) made a mountain out of a molehill. After all it’s not a convertible so how hard should I try? Pretty hard as it turned out…

I landed up cutting apart the AMT kit interior bucket and creating a full tuck and roll interior from .080” half-round styrene and various flavors of styrene sheet. The color is Duplicolor Oxford white with black piping using .010” insulated wire. The dashboard is finished to match the top. I’m waiting on some door handles and cracks to finish it up and still have to detail the gauge faces. Then I’ll glue it together.

The chassis is completed. Nothing special, just some lowering blocks at the rear and the kit supplied front end lowering, as described earlier. The chassis used is from the AMT ’50 Ford convertible which comes with a single molded-in exhaust, so I had to add a matching exhaust on the other side using some AMT ’49 Ford parts/. The sheet metal of the underside is finished in Duplicolor Oxford White with a black chassis. I’ve started the motor, a small=-block Ford from my endless supply of these things from various Revell Deuce kits. Dimensionally it matches the kit motors so it’s fairly straightforward. I’ll post pictures of the chassis and motor in the next few days.

I’m probably not far from final assembly and things seem to have picked up again. I hope to show more action over the coming days..

Below are some pictures of the interior.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

[Skip]

Beautiful work, Bernard, sorry to hear about the bump in the road on the paint. More like a Seattle Pothole! That interior should be something to see once finished.

[JTalmage]

Love the work going into this! I too know about "flat spots" I've had no time to even touch a plastic kit let alone think about em.

By the way if you havent figured it out yet I've solved the mystery of the strange tab that was hanging down on the roof section that you were sent!

I bought a '49 on ebay, and that tab that sticks down is also on that kit. It is used with a strangely shaped little metal clip that also attaches to a tab off the back of the hood. It allows the hood to "snap" shut after opening it, and to stay shut when you turn the model upside down. I'll have to get a pic of that when I get some time.

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks guys. This project has been temporarily crowded out by another one but I should be updating this one soon.