Post by lo51merc on Jul 21, 2023 12:36:19 GMT -5
After I finished the "Red Sled" I mentioned perhaps building another Chopped Merc. On this one I'm doing some things I've never done before, or just liked so much I wanted to do them again. Sam Barris's 49 Merc was the inspiration for the full fadeaways on the body sides. I used .040 X .125 for the inserts, and shaped them to fit before I glued them in place. No putty in there yet though. The body sides have been dechromed, and this is where I found one of the problems with the more recent version of this kit. This version is the "Rides Magazine" one that has some modified suspension parts which I used on an already built chassis that
I didn't use on the "Red Sled". The body sides are somewhat recessed above and below the trim, and there's a pretty major mold shift on the front of the body below the headlights and around the front of the front fender. I'm pretty sure I'll be using the stock grile on this one and the headlights will be frenched in. The rounded corners on the front and rear of the hood are done. The forward trunk corners are next, but I have yet to decide If I'll do the lower ones. I did the chop using the old "Scale Auto" article as a guide for the vertical posts. I found more difficulties there in that the top plastic is now very thin at the rear and I'm pretty sure that the roof shape isn't what it was years ago.
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Getting the hood mods drawn in. 2 hoods were used for this change.
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Getting going on the chop. I used 3 layers of masking tape as my guide for the razor saw.
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I made the skirts out of .030 sheet and used the skirts in the AMT 49 Ford kit as my guide but added .125 to the height.
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You can see the mold shift under the headlight in this view. The skirts are bubbled out slightly for possible tire clearance.
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And finally where it'll sit under the already finished chassis using the "rides" lowering parts.
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I didn't use on the "Red Sled". The body sides are somewhat recessed above and below the trim, and there's a pretty major mold shift on the front of the body below the headlights and around the front of the front fender. I'm pretty sure I'll be using the stock grile on this one and the headlights will be frenched in. The rounded corners on the front and rear of the hood are done. The forward trunk corners are next, but I have yet to decide If I'll do the lower ones. I did the chop using the old "Scale Auto" article as a guide for the vertical posts. I found more difficulties there in that the top plastic is now very thin at the rear and I'm pretty sure that the roof shape isn't what it was years ago.
Hosted on Fotki
Hosted on Fotki
Hosted on Fotki
Getting the hood mods drawn in. 2 hoods were used for this change.
Hosted on Fotki
Getting going on the chop. I used 3 layers of masking tape as my guide for the razor saw.
Hosted on Fotki
I made the skirts out of .030 sheet and used the skirts in the AMT 49 Ford kit as my guide but added .125 to the height.
Hosted on Fotki
You can see the mold shift under the headlight in this view. The skirts are bubbled out slightly for possible tire clearance.
Hosted on Fotki
And finally where it'll sit under the already finished chassis using the "rides" lowering parts.
Hosted on Fotki