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Post by Mr. Metallic on Jun 1, 2019 8:35:15 GMT -5
Just got my first copies of the new 32 Ford roadster pickup bodies from Drag City Casting. I promised Ed I would have my bench cleaned off and ready so I can start thrashing on this immediately. My thought is to use a bunch of Drag City Castings items on this build so Ed can use it to promote his parts, especially the new body. I've been collecting ideas for this body style for a few years. I've been building this in my head since Ed confirmed he was going to cast it, but it feels good to finally start mocking things up for real. I went about lowering the rear in an unconventional way. i have a ton of Revell 32 Ford frames floating around, so I cut a couple up to get the desired rear stance. I marked up what I wanted to remove in order to lay one rear frame section on top of the other. It essentially provides a Z'd rear, but the road to get there is not what you would normally see. I cut the main frame a little long, and then overlapped the upper section i left long as well. The red triangle was left for strength, but will probably end up being removed later for bed clearance. I wanted to use one of Ed's improved Olds rear ends, but I needed a low arched spring to minimize the frame intrusion into the bed area. I grabbed an AMT/Lindberg 34 Ford pickup rear end and removed the banjo. I left a portion of the rear end half to act as a mounting bracket for the Olds. I pinned the parts together, and it sits just right. While I was rummaging around that 34 kit, I stole the bed. I shortened it(probably not enough yet) and integrated the head panel from a Revell 37 Ford pickup. The width provided by the 37 parts allows the bed to slide over the frame rather than sit on top of it. I'll be cutting away the other end and integrating the tailgate from the 37 as well. I will be trimming the frame down as much as possible but the bed is still going to be pretty shallow. I may forgo the bed floor altogether to "save weight" And here's the stance, 95% of the way there. On the advice of Dennis from one of his builds, I purchased a AMT 41 Woody for its stock whitewall tires, which are slightly smaller than the fronts pictured here(which are from the Revell 40 Ford) They are supposed to arrive today, so I'll decide if I should use them or keep these. I ordered a set of the 37 style wheels and big Lincoln tires from Ed, and I also ordered a set of the steelies for the same tires, so I need to decide which to use. I'm inclined to use the artillery style, but we'll see. Front end is the axle from the Revell 29/30 a kits, with the spring relocated to lower it more and place the axle a couple scale inches in front of the crossmember.
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Post by krassandbernie on Jun 1, 2019 9:24:55 GMT -5
Very cool Craig! I love your clear layout of all you've done so far! One thing you could do for the bed floor is to glue four little locating tabs on the lower are of the bed sides for a bed floor to drop down and rest on. I think a bed floor would give the build a more complete/finished look in the end.
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Post by falconwagon on Jun 1, 2019 10:22:16 GMT -5
Looking good
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Post by Mr. Metallic on Jun 1, 2019 11:39:56 GMT -5
Very cool Craig! I love your clear layout of all you've done so far! One thing you could do for the bed floor is to glue four little locating tabs on the lower are of the bed sides for a bed floor to drop down and rest on. I think a bed floor would give the build a more complete/finished look in the end. Good suggestion. I plan to run a tonneau if I don’t put a floor in. I’ll also add support bracing where to floor would be so the bedsides aren’t just floating
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Post by Mr. Metallic on Jun 2, 2019 7:51:19 GMT -5
Updates... I got the AMT 41 woody in the mail yesterday and immediately dug out the whitewalls. I couldn't find much difference in height between them and the Revell 40 tires. So I decided to just stick with the Revell tires rather than break up a virgin kit(I'm sure it will be broken up before too long, it's got some great parts, but not on this day, ) I'm almost 100% sure I'm going to go with the 37 ford wheels, so I went ahead and started making mods to them. Opening up the holes is fairly straightforward on these, you just have to remove the raised rib on the back side to expose the holes.Just beware, if you sand to far you make the wheels very week. I also wanted to integrate the Drag City Buick style brakes. The wheel backs provided are nice, and do include a 40 ford style brake backing plate, but i want my front and rear sets to match. So, I took the wheel back from the Drag City steelie set, and removed the center section so the Buick brake could slide right in. Left- Buick brake middle- steelie wheel back right- finished assembly below- 37 ford wheelback Here's the mod I performed to the Revell 29 A axle. I carefully removed the spring, then drilled two holes through upper bracket, then inserted a pin. Then I drilled corresponding holes through the axle to mount the spring. Low, low low. The new position does alter the wheelbase, but in this case it's a good thing because it moved the axle centerline forward a couple scale inches. I inserted brass rod into the revell axle ends and drilled holes in the buick brakes to mate everything together securely. And, here is the stance dialed in. Pretty happy with how it sits, may try to lower it a tick more in the front, should just take a c notch in the frame, or i may leave it alone. Now I need to figure out rear arms and steering setup. I did shorten the bed about 5 scale inches, just enough to expose the very tips of the rear frame horns. I dig it now. I need to remove the gas tank, I'll do that while I'm figuring out the rear suspension. and bed mounts. Still a long list of mods to perform. Onward!
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Post by krassandbernie on Jun 2, 2019 11:16:49 GMT -5
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! I am loving it now! I knew the bed needed to be shortened up more when I first saw it; but did not want to nudge you in any direction since it's your build and not mine. I dig your brake drum mods a lot! The laid back chopped windshield was a 'must'....and a perfect choice; as are the rest of the mods you laid out for us all! I'm stealing a couple of your pics for advertisement purposes! LOL!
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Post by spex84 on Jun 2, 2019 13:38:35 GMT -5
The shortened bed is just what it need Loving the laid-back windshield too! What's the plan for capping the new pin holes that will be visible on the front of the axle (because I see the spring-mount pins go all the way through)?
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Post by Mr. Metallic on Jun 2, 2019 18:23:13 GMT -5
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! I am loving it now! I knew the bed needed to be shortened up more when I first saw it; but did not want to nudge you in any direction since it's your build and not mine. I dig your brake drum mods a lot! The laid back chopped windshield was a 'must'....and a perfect choice; as are the rest of the mods you laid out for us all! I'm stealing a couple of your pics for advertisement purposes! LOL! Steal away! You know I’m building this for you to use as advertising. I knew I needed to shorten the bed, just didn’t know how much. The bed was originally shortened for a different project, which I abandoned a long time ago. It was sitting in the first 34 Ford kit I came across, so I pilfered it.
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Post by krassandbernie on Jun 2, 2019 18:28:59 GMT -5
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! I am loving it now! I knew the bed needed to be shortened up more when I first saw it; but did not want to nudge you in any direction since it's your build and not mine. I dig your brake drum mods a lot! The laid back chopped windshield was a 'must'....and a perfect choice; as are the rest of the mods you laid out for us all! I'm stealing a couple of your pics for advertisement purposes! LOL! Steal away! You know I’m building this for you to use as advertising. I knew I needed to shorten the bed, just didn’t know how much. The bed was originally shortened for a different project, which I abandoned a long time ago. It was sitting in the first 34 Ford kit I came across, so I pilfered it. I would have done the same rather than start hacking on another untouched bed. I can't wait to see this one further along! Americans would be cool to see; but that's just my wheel of choice on everything I (attempt) to build! LOL!
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Post by Mr. Metallic on Jun 2, 2019 18:51:44 GMT -5
I can't wait to see this one further along! It’s proving to be a good distraction from real life right now, so look for progress to continue. Thank you guys for the positive comments.
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Post by Bernard Kron on Jun 2, 2019 20:01:27 GMT -5
Super nice work on this, Craig. A fitting promo for this handsome resin piece. Nice to see the rear tire/wheel combo. Personally I have no problem with either hard resin or non-black resin tires as it is a simple matter to finish them in a convincing black. Mainly it's all about a separate whitewall and a good no-dramas fit to the approriate wheel. If they are formally offered even in this prototypic form I'm in for some.
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Post by Dennis on Jun 2, 2019 20:59:07 GMT -5
You're off to a really good start! It looks great with the wide-5's and nice work on the brakes.
If it were mine... I'd move the bed bulkhead rearward a bit and get the bed sides tucked up to the cab and angle the leading edges to match the angle of the back of the cab. That will get rid of the gap and get the tire just behind the leading edge of the bed a bit more. Most of the full scale ones I've seen are done this way.
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Post by krassandbernie on Jun 2, 2019 22:14:52 GMT -5
Super nice work on this, Craig. A fitting promo for this handsome resin piece. Nice to see the rear tire/wheel combo. Personally I have no problem with either hard resin or non-black resin tires as it is a simple matter to finish them in a convincing black. Mainly it's all about a separate whitewall and a good no-dramas fit to the approriate wheel. If they are formally offered even in this prototypic form I'm in for some. I've had a 'small' handful of orders for the Lincoln wheel and tire sets over the past month or two........I say 'small' because there were only 4-5 orders; but for anywhere between 1 and 4 sets of each wheel/tire combo. I have dropped the Dunlop tire since the mold for the tire insert has proven to be a p.i.a.; and not worth messing around with at this time (being so busy).......for chump change. I do not know how much longer I will offer the Lincoln wheels and tires; but if you'd like to get an order in now you may Bernard. I currently have two or three orders pending for them; and only one mold for each piece that makes up each set.......so it's time consuming. btw, the wheels and tires fit exceptionally well I must say.......due to how I made the molds. Each part comes out of the molds with little to no flash; and there is little room for casting dimensions to change like they can with an open pour mold or a simplistic 2 part mold. Send me a pm for more information (or better yet, and e-mail). I can send you photos to more clearly explain what's what. lowcab36@epix.net Ed
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Post by Mr. Metallic on Jun 3, 2019 8:51:47 GMT -5
Dennis brought up a valid point, confirming something I had already thought. The gap between the bed and cab need to be filled. Rather than destroy the bed, which is essentially welded together, I added strips of .060x.125 Evergreen to bridge the gap. I also added back the stake pocket details from .060x.060. evergreen. I also trimmed down the tonneau and contoured it to fit up close to the cab. I also unboxed the front frame horns, started fitting an x member, and sorting out the rear suspension
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Post by krassandbernie on Jun 3, 2019 9:45:26 GMT -5
All perfect 'essential' mods for a fenderless rod Craig! Don't forget the sunglasses! LOL!
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