Slammed '49 Ford Coupe - Updated 5-5

[BERNARD "HOT ROD" KRON]

AMT Shoeboxes are my curse. I've started 6 over the years and only ever finished one. I recently had one come close to getting done but it's still sitting on the bench after I abandoned it in January to get some projects done for the NNL West. So here I go starting another one! The original motivation was to build a simple traditional mild custom for the Primer CPB on the TRaK board. I had seen a '51 Ford customized grill listed at Modelhaus and thought it would be a straight fit and give my model just enough originality so that I could keep it simple and build a basic primered custom. I got the grill and it looks great, but I suspect it came from a promo and has required extensive grinding and fitting to work. But I've got it on and, inspired by some cars I saw on the web, I've decided to build a radically lowered tail dragger. Below are the initial mockup pictures. The bodywork is already shaved with the stock side trim, although I removed the logo by the front wheel opening. I'll be running Appleton spots and had hoped to include side pipes but the car is simply too low. At the front I used offset axles to lower the car an additional 2 scale inches over the lowered position in the kit for a total of about 6 scale inches. At the rear the tail is slammed more like 7 1/2 scale inches. I might raise it a tiny bit before I'm done. I also made a visor out of styrene sheet and rod. I'm ,going to attempt to keep the interior and bodywork simple so I actually get this one done!

Thanx for lookin',
B.

[KRAZY RICK]

Interesting, I would raise the rear slightly though

[41CHEVY]

Nice start. The grill looks well worth the work to fit it. I agree, raise the rear about 1.5mm Paul
Run the lake pipes, ain't to low.

click pic!

[BERNARD "HOT ROD" KRON]

Thanks guys!

Progress is being made. I thought I’d take the time to show some of the details as I go along. Here’s how I slammed it. The photos show the offset spindles at the front. In addition I shaved the front crossmember to raise the lower A-arm bracket for adequate ground clearance. Not shown, but I also cut the posts on the kit’s A-arm bracket which stand in for the coil springs, effectively “cutting the coils”. At the rear I used simple lowering blocks, trimmed the rear spring shackles, C’d the frame rails and relieved the undercarriage to provide clearance for the differential. Since my last post I removed about .04 inches from the lowering blocks, raising the rear about 1 scale inch. Also, the chassis tends to slip up into the trunk area at the rear so I glued in a locating block to firmly locate it in the proper position. Still too low for lakes pipes - I tried...



I’ve begun some basic customizing bodywork. I smoothed and filled any seems, frenched the headlights and have begun final finishing work. The windshield visor needs more cleanup work and the edge trim, brackets and center ribs will be foiled. I also selected a set of ’53 Caddy bullet Sombreros from the Revell ’48 Ford Custom. Next up are the motor and interior.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

[JOE66]

Low enough to drag bottom on a grasshopper ! Looking good Bernard.

[BERT "THE CRUSHER"]

Bernard you are a machine! Cool project!

[DON]

That's really looking great ! A suggestion on the side pipes - why not run the pipes inboard and come out of the rear quarters ahead of the rear skirts ?

[BERNARD "HOT ROD" KRON]

Thanx!

This is turning into a somewhat “experimental” project even though the basic build is pretty straightforward with a minimum of bodywork and paint issues. I guess the simplicity of the whole thing has tempted me into trying out a few ideas I had on the back burner.

On the simple and basic side of things the chassis is painted out and ready for the suspension and exhaust systems. The undercarriage and floorpan are painted in Testors Metalizer Gunmetal with black frame rails and suspension. The engine has been built and detailed. Nothing special to report here, just the kit Cadillac motor with tri-power and a scratch built coil.




One thing I was concerned about was mounting the Modelhaus customized ’51 Ford grill. During the mockup phase I used a water-soluble temporary adhesive to glue it directly to the bodywork. I had shaved the grill pan to get a nice snug fit but I was concerned about gluing the grill to the paintwork when it came to final assembly. The paint will be matte gray primer and any glue residue would permanently mark the paint. So I came up with a pair of mounting tabs that positively locate the grill shell. I’m hoping I can mount the grill with only glue applied to the tabs and still get a an accurate alignment.



I took another swing at the visor. I epoxied a piece of flower wire to the underside. This is a flexible wire used in flower displays that provides rigidity but is easily formed, which allowed me to shape the visor into a curve to match the roof contour. Since the picture below was taken I has a swing at foiling it but the BMF I had was starting to crinkle on me and I didn’t like the result. So I’ve stripped it and will take another crack at it using a fresh sheet.



Perhaps the most “experimental” thing about this build is turning out to be the interior. I had originally intended to buy some Scale Motorpsorts upholstery decals. Then I began thinking about it and realized I could make my own and gain more control over the scale and pattern of it. I use Photoshop a lot and it has a feature where you can fill an area with a repeating pattern (called, oddly enough, Pattern Overlay…). There are literally thousands of patterns available as freeware on the internet so I downloaded a set of animal furs and skins, everything from bears and mouse fur to tigers, snakes and lizards. I thought a nice garish leopard skin pattern would go nicely on my primered, slammed, skirted and visored Shoebox.

The first step was to create a basic pattern and scale it to the size of the interior. Then I cut patterns for the areas I would “upholster” and scanned them into my computer as transparent Photoshop layers which I gave white outlines. These I laid over my pattern. The result was a graphic that I would print over white decal paper.



Then I cut and shaped some styrene strips to form bolsters for the seats. Here is a photo of the basic yellow interior with the leopard skin decals applied before I glued the black styrene strip bolster shapes into place. One thing that shows all too clearly is the harsh, hard look of the glossy decal stock.



And finally the completed interior. Besides the strong black accents of the bolsters, a coating of Testors Dullcote really tied together the surfaces and made the whole thing look far more natural. Not shown here was a test install in the light grey primered body. The yellow and black against the primer looks pretty sharp. I’m excited to see what the final effect, with chrome trim and glass, will be.




So that’s it so far. Next up is completing the chassis and then the BMF. At which poin I can get to the relatively simple task of final assembly. It’ll be a relief to get past all these subassemblies and see this funky Shoebox up on its wheels and down in the weeds where it belongs!

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

[JOE66]

This is cool Bernard (IMHO). I think " funky" is a perfect description.

[BERNARD "HOT ROD" KRON]

Thanx Joe. I wasn't sure how the interior would go over but most responses have been positive. A friend of mine says it screams "Peg Bundy"!

I think I'm on the home stretch, after some more fabrication and a long period of foiling, including the visor. I made some exhaust tips by flattening and filing some aluminum tubing. The chassis and motor are completed, the grill and skirts are glued into place and I began work on the hood. Shouldn't be too long now...

Thanx for lookin',
B.

[41CHEVY]

The interior is perfect! Overall the body mods and "look" are spot on. Paul

[BERNARD "HOT ROD" KRON]

Thanx Paul!

I'm solidly in the throes of final assembly, now, so here are some final detail pics as I start to button things up. The hood took quite a bit of fettling with the curvature of the grill requiring some detail sanding of the underside of the molding at the front of the hood. The custom bumper setup from the AMT kit is now installed. It should look pretty good once the license plate is installed and the exhaust tip positioned. And an overhead shot showing the leopard skin package tray peaking through the rear window. I hope to have this done by the weekend.

Thanx for lookin',
B.