Revell '40 Ford Coupe 60's style - 11-19 Update
Nov 4, 2011 0:30:32 GMT -4
Post by BERNARD "HOT ROD" KRON on Nov 4, 2011 0:30:32 GMT -4
I’ve always felt that AMT and Revell models were philosophically different, each with it’s advantages and disadvantages depending on what you wanted to do with them. Personally, I’m a kit basher and customizer by nature and have almost never built a kit out-of-the-box. I find AMT kits generally are simpler and less detailed than Revell kits. They often lack the kind of fine detail at the subassembly level (engines, suspension chassis, interior) that characterize their Revell counterparts, There are plenty of exceptions but generally speaking I think this is true. On the other hand, AMT kits often have more “soul” than Revell kits. By this I mean that they do a better job of capturing the essence of their subject. Revell kits sometimes seem more fiddly and busy than AMT kits. To my eye they often lack something in their proportions and approach to the subject when compared to an AMT kit. And quite often all that fine detail has a profound effect on the sequence of assembly and can be quite limiting with respect to body and chassis modifications.
A perfect example is my current project, a Revell ’40 Ford Standard Coupe. It’s been in my stash for a while and I had already used the flathead from it in another project. The other day I was looking at it and comparing it to the classic AMT ’40 Ford Coupe 3-in-1 kit that’s been around since the dawn of styrene auto modeling. First off the Revell version is a replica kit, meant to be built as a showroom stock ’40 Ford Standard Coupe with a stock engine, interior, wheels and tires. Oddly, it comes with a Columbia 2 speed rear axle which was rare and expensive and not a factory item, but we'll let that pass. The point is that it can only be built one way. It comes with absolutely no parts to hot rod or customize it
Having already stolen the motor out of the kit, I began to think about building a hot rod. So the first thing I did was drop the front axle 3 ¾ inches by cutting it behind the kingpins and adding vertical extensions. By shaping the extensions I was able to make it look like a regular dropped axle. With the stock height rear end this gave the car a radical early sixties rake. That made me decide to reserve the very nice period correct steelies and whitewalls from the kit for a 40‘s or 50’s era build. Instead I grabbed the mags out of an AMT ’40 Ford Tudor kit along with the pinner style fronts and slicks from the recent Round 2 re-issue of the Double Dragster kit. This made me think about running the car without the hood and I decided it would need a motor with lots of bling. The blown Oldsmobile from the Revell Roth Beatnik Bandit kit seemed perfect.
So here are pictures of the initial mockup after I had dropped the axle and partially assembled the chassis and motor. I’ve selected the color, Duplicolor Bahama Blue Metallic over red oxide primer and Duplicolor Silver base coat for a Kandy Kolor effect. The fender liners, firewall and engine compartment sides will be white. Still to be determined is the style and color of the interior and whether I’ll be running black or white running boards. Also, it’s still up in the air if the car will really be hoodless. If I run a hood then it will most likely need a small scoop to clear the carbs.
Since these pictures were taken I cut the firewall and floorboards to gain engine clearance, and radiused the rear wheel openings to clear the slicks. I also have applied and polished out the primer and silver base coat and applied the color coat to one of the rear fenders as a test to make sure I have the color I want (I do). In the next few days I’m hoping to get color and clear down and move on to the interior.
Thanx for lookin’,
B.
A perfect example is my current project, a Revell ’40 Ford Standard Coupe. It’s been in my stash for a while and I had already used the flathead from it in another project. The other day I was looking at it and comparing it to the classic AMT ’40 Ford Coupe 3-in-1 kit that’s been around since the dawn of styrene auto modeling. First off the Revell version is a replica kit, meant to be built as a showroom stock ’40 Ford Standard Coupe with a stock engine, interior, wheels and tires. Oddly, it comes with a Columbia 2 speed rear axle which was rare and expensive and not a factory item, but we'll let that pass. The point is that it can only be built one way. It comes with absolutely no parts to hot rod or customize it
Having already stolen the motor out of the kit, I began to think about building a hot rod. So the first thing I did was drop the front axle 3 ¾ inches by cutting it behind the kingpins and adding vertical extensions. By shaping the extensions I was able to make it look like a regular dropped axle. With the stock height rear end this gave the car a radical early sixties rake. That made me decide to reserve the very nice period correct steelies and whitewalls from the kit for a 40‘s or 50’s era build. Instead I grabbed the mags out of an AMT ’40 Ford Tudor kit along with the pinner style fronts and slicks from the recent Round 2 re-issue of the Double Dragster kit. This made me think about running the car without the hood and I decided it would need a motor with lots of bling. The blown Oldsmobile from the Revell Roth Beatnik Bandit kit seemed perfect.
So here are pictures of the initial mockup after I had dropped the axle and partially assembled the chassis and motor. I’ve selected the color, Duplicolor Bahama Blue Metallic over red oxide primer and Duplicolor Silver base coat for a Kandy Kolor effect. The fender liners, firewall and engine compartment sides will be white. Still to be determined is the style and color of the interior and whether I’ll be running black or white running boards. Also, it’s still up in the air if the car will really be hoodless. If I run a hood then it will most likely need a small scoop to clear the carbs.
Since these pictures were taken I cut the firewall and floorboards to gain engine clearance, and radiused the rear wheel openings to clear the slicks. I also have applied and polished out the primer and silver base coat and applied the color coat to one of the rear fenders as a test to make sure I have the color I want (I do). In the next few days I’m hoping to get color and clear down and move on to the interior.
Thanx for lookin’,
B.
I find that paint preferences among modelers sometimes has an irrational, almost quasi-religious, aspect to it. This is especially true of clears. In the case of Krylon Crystal Clear, I use it because it's cheap, widely available, dries quickly, doesn't yellow, and is relatively drip resistant at close range. But it does resist immediately presenting a high gloss, particularly in cooler weather. I suspect other, harder, clears probably shoot directly to a high gloss better. However, it polishes out to a high gloss beautifully. 
