Heavily Chopped & Channeled '32 Ford 3-window - 7-28 update
Jul 15, 2021 12:03:34 GMT -4
Post by BERNARD "HOT ROD" KRON on Jul 15, 2021 12:03:34 GMT -4
A couple of months ago I sold a bunch of my models on eBay to make room on my overcrowded shelves. They were all early builds that no longer held my interest the way they once had. But on several of them there were details, such as motors and wheels and tires that I was reluctant to part with. In those cases, while cleaning up and repairing the models for sale, I substituted more common parts from my stash so I could re-use the salvaged bits in future builds. Among them was a set of wide-white Big ‘n’ Little hot rod tires from ThePartsBox.com mounted on some chrome steelies from a Monogram ’32 Ford Roadster kit. This rolling stock inspired me to begin this project, a deeply channeled and heavily chopped ’32 Ford 3-window coupe.
While reviewing my collection I noticed certain early builds that reminded me of strategies and tactics I had particularly enjoyed and that I needed to revisit today. Among them was a deeply chopped and channeled Deuce sedan based on a Jimmy Flintstone resin body that I had mounted to a scratch built chassis which featured curved copies of proper ’32 Ford frame horns. In the case of that early project I had built the frame out of necessity because I had simply run out of Deuce frames. But when I built it I realized that deeply channeled hot rods didn’t need all the detail in their frame sets that highboys did because so much of the frame is buried under the body.
Details of the wheels saved from an early Deuce roadster project and the Jimmy Flintstone resin Deuce sedan that inspired this project – both from 2009-2010.
Which brings us to this project. The chopped and channeled Flintstone deuce sedan reminded me that I had wanted to do a radically chopped and dropped Deuce 3 window for quite some time. Meanwhile, with the pandemic driving model kit prices rapidly upward I have become less motivated to raid and butcher existing kits in my stash. In the case of Revell ’32 Fords prices have nearly doubled and I’m inclined to reserve my Revell Deuce frames for highboy builds, where the frame detail is visible. Thus I decided to scratch together another set of Deuce frame rails, again cut from thick styrene sheet stock using a pattern traced from a set of Revell 1/25th rails. This time however I took a more direct approach to the rear z’d portion, omitting the 45 degree z of the earlier effort and focusing on how the frame would look from below once completed. The result, built from styrene strip for the k-member and the various cross members is what you see below. Since only the portion forward of the firewall will be at all visible the critical thing is to get the upward curve and the horns looking right and the frame width correct to take the grill shell and sit properly under the body. With the very deep channel (some 4 scale inches) the entire rear portion will be invisible except if the model is turned over on its roof. So I’m using a simple version of the stock kit coil-over rear end. The front suspension uses the terrific re-pops that ThePartsBox.com make of the Revell ’40 Ford Street Rod dropped front axle. I can’t recommend these highly enough, not only for their deep drop, but most especially because they are wire reinforced which prevents them from sagging over time the way most resin front axles do. Massive thumbs up!
The Revell ’32 Ford 3-window body has been chopped approximately 3 scale inches as has the grill shell. Like the old Flintstone sedan I’m again using a Revell Hemi from their 5-window kit. Shown below are the initial mockups. The stance is where I want it, the motor looks right and the chop is finished out with the body in primer for final paint prep. With most of the hard stuff out of the way this should be a pretty fun project.
Thanx for lookin’,
B.
While reviewing my collection I noticed certain early builds that reminded me of strategies and tactics I had particularly enjoyed and that I needed to revisit today. Among them was a deeply chopped and channeled Deuce sedan based on a Jimmy Flintstone resin body that I had mounted to a scratch built chassis which featured curved copies of proper ’32 Ford frame horns. In the case of that early project I had built the frame out of necessity because I had simply run out of Deuce frames. But when I built it I realized that deeply channeled hot rods didn’t need all the detail in their frame sets that highboys did because so much of the frame is buried under the body.
Details of the wheels saved from an early Deuce roadster project and the Jimmy Flintstone resin Deuce sedan that inspired this project – both from 2009-2010.
Which brings us to this project. The chopped and channeled Flintstone deuce sedan reminded me that I had wanted to do a radically chopped and dropped Deuce 3 window for quite some time. Meanwhile, with the pandemic driving model kit prices rapidly upward I have become less motivated to raid and butcher existing kits in my stash. In the case of Revell ’32 Fords prices have nearly doubled and I’m inclined to reserve my Revell Deuce frames for highboy builds, where the frame detail is visible. Thus I decided to scratch together another set of Deuce frame rails, again cut from thick styrene sheet stock using a pattern traced from a set of Revell 1/25th rails. This time however I took a more direct approach to the rear z’d portion, omitting the 45 degree z of the earlier effort and focusing on how the frame would look from below once completed. The result, built from styrene strip for the k-member and the various cross members is what you see below. Since only the portion forward of the firewall will be at all visible the critical thing is to get the upward curve and the horns looking right and the frame width correct to take the grill shell and sit properly under the body. With the very deep channel (some 4 scale inches) the entire rear portion will be invisible except if the model is turned over on its roof. So I’m using a simple version of the stock kit coil-over rear end. The front suspension uses the terrific re-pops that ThePartsBox.com make of the Revell ’40 Ford Street Rod dropped front axle. I can’t recommend these highly enough, not only for their deep drop, but most especially because they are wire reinforced which prevents them from sagging over time the way most resin front axles do. Massive thumbs up!
The Revell ’32 Ford 3-window body has been chopped approximately 3 scale inches as has the grill shell. Like the old Flintstone sedan I’m again using a Revell Hemi from their 5-window kit. Shown below are the initial mockups. The stance is where I want it, the motor looks right and the chop is finished out with the body in primer for final paint prep. With most of the hard stuff out of the way this should be a pretty fun project.
Thanx for lookin’,
B.
