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Post by chepp on Mar 24, 2019 18:01:46 GMT -5
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Post by chepp on Mar 31, 2019 23:59:16 GMT -5
This one is to be a "fun" build of a venerable Trophy Series model using mostly kit parts (and maybe a few others from the period). I was a model-building kid when the '36 was released but I don't recall seeing, let alone building, one. I and most of my buddies were building the AMT and MPC annuals or the Revell classics like the '57 Chevy. I don't want to build it exactly like the kit instructions say to. In fact, mine will depict a "no no" among hot rodders: a fenderless '36 Ford. I don't know why it's shunned, but I can guess that it's because the rear has an inner wheel well that doesn't lend itself to looking very good without fenders. Well, I'll figure something out to make it OK.
Don Garlits had a fenderless '36 so if it was good enough for him it will be good enough for me. His was a coupe but mine will be a roadster.
Isn't that molded-in single exhaust lovely? That's gotta go!
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Post by Plowboy on Apr 1, 2019 7:44:31 GMT -5
This will be interesting to watch! I've done a '37 and a '40 coupe without fenders. The look can work if done right IMO.
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Post by Dennis on Apr 1, 2019 9:54:29 GMT -5
Cool idea! I saw a '36 Roadster done fender-less very similar to this by a guy I follow on Instagram recently.
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Post by spex84 on Apr 1, 2019 11:39:09 GMT -5
Watching avidly! As you pointed out, the "failure point" on fenderless '36-37 Fords is the back end and the way the tires sit in the wheel wells. It can be similar for '34 Ford sedans--the tires tuck into the wheel arches and things tend to seem unfinished. I'd suggest A: super tall tires and/or B: large slicks to get the requisite visual mass to balance out the body. The other trick I saw once (I think it was an unfinished build here on TRAK) was to keep the '36 roof and nose, and swap the body out for a narrower '34 or something.
Somewhere there's a line of die-cast r*t rods that features a '30-something Chevy (?) with this treatment, and their version has bobbed fenders in back, but fenderless out front. It's a weird look, but masks the tire/wheel arch problem effectively.
Cycle fenders could be an option...
Looking forward to seeing more!
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Post by Plowboy on Apr 1, 2019 12:58:10 GMT -5
Looking at my '37 and '40, I think if I ever attempt another one, I'll take out a 6-8 (maybe more) scale inches section out of the back end like across the trunk maybe midline with the wheel. In the case of the '36, it would be the rumble seat. But, I would keep the lid/seat the same size as original. Maybe even scoot the rearend back 2-3 scale inches. It would have to help out with the ass heavy look.
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Post by Ranchwagon on Apr 1, 2019 18:57:19 GMT -5
Very interesting, looking forward to this one!
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Post by chepp on Apr 8, 2019 0:05:19 GMT -5
Thanks for the suggestions. As always, feel free to post comments whether good, bad or otherwise.
Here's my story. It's about 1960 and a teen with some skills/tools/shop/family rodders gets a free '36 roadster. By this time it's almost 25 years old. Although it was kept in pretty good shape and had the flathead rebuilt about 5,000 miles ago it's given to the kid after a crash. A low-speed collision smooshed it between a truck and a guard rail. The bumpers, fenders and running boards were mangled beyond repair.
So, it's a natural to become a fenderless rod. Sure, the guy realizes that a '36 isn't the best starting point for a fenderless rod but the price is right. Let's see what happens.
Cleanup and glueing of some of the parts has started.
Most of the prep time has gone into removing the molded-in exhaust. That resulted in a hole where the muffler used to be so I cut and fitted a filler piece from one of the stock hood side panels.
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Post by spex84 on Apr 8, 2019 0:21:22 GMT -5
Cool! I can really see this with a set-back engine, nasty snaggle-tooth zoomies and a big car-club name emblazoned on the back in house paint But however you build it I'm stoked to see where it goes!
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Post by constructionbob on Apr 8, 2019 6:19:36 GMT -5
.. I'd like to hear/see the rest of story.
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Post by Plowboy on Apr 8, 2019 8:52:20 GMT -5
I think the fender aprons need to be deleted also. It would give the front end a more streamlined look. Of course, you'll need a nicer front axle to stick under it too. The headlights could mount to the grille surround.
When I built my '40 years ago, I felt that it had an ex-dirt track look. I thought about trying to paint "Gone Straight" on the doors. But, decided against it.
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Post by chepp on Apr 8, 2019 14:25:30 GMT -5
I think the fender aprons need to be deleted also. It would give the front end a more streamlined look. Of course, you'll need a nicer front axle to stick under it too. The headlights could mount to the grille surround. When I built my '40 years ago, I felt that it had an ex-dirt track look. I thought about trying to paint "Gone Straight" on the doors. But, decided against it. I think that you're right. I left the vestige of the aprons on as an easy way to include the headlight mounts and to partly cover up the crude front axle in the kit. In case others aren't familiar with it, that front axle is really clunky AND it was designed to have an exposed steel wire axle. Check back next Sunday. Thanks, Plowboy.
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Post by Plowboy on Apr 8, 2019 15:09:42 GMT -5
Yeah, the axles and pretty much everything under it are pretty crude. But, back when this kit came out, kids built them and played with them. So, they had to be pretty tough. Scale fidelity be damned!
When I built my roadster, I cut away the entire floor pan so that I had a bare frame. Can't remember if I filled any of it back in. I did the same with my '36 pickup. But, now I'm planning on using a different chassis under it.
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Post by chepp on Apr 15, 2019 0:13:48 GMT -5
The front fender aprons are gone now. Things wouldn't hold together easily for a mock-up photo, so disregard the ill-fitting parts fit in the photo above. The shell around/behind the grille needs to have some excess stuff cut away — I had to add a little height to it so the stock grille would fit. You can barely see it but I filled in the two holes in the firewall where AMT intended to have the tabs on the interior bucket locate to it.
The kit's lump of a flathead engine was assembled with some extra plastic filling in where AMT intended the steel front axle to be. Although hard to see, it was sprayed Tamiya British Green TS-9. I'm using on-hand paint for this project and it is a rod, after all, so it will be fine to represent the car of a 1960 teen using what he could find. I don't know why AMT chose to chrome the stock intake manifold so I sprayed it with a couple of coats of DullCote from about a 10" away to make it look like it was painted aluminum.
This is a "quick" build so I'm taking a few liberties but otherwise using the kit parts. The kit's front axle was too bulky so I substituted the stock one from the AMT '34 Ford pickup while still using the too-heavy wishbone from the '36 kit. Purists might note that the '34 has the spring over the axle while the '36 would have a larger spring in front of the axle. Rivet-counters might also notice that the pivot of the wishbone was moved forward and its original hole filled in.
In keeping with the kid building a rod from a free car, I figured that he wouldn't refinish the under side apart from brushing gloss black on the things that showed such as the suspensions and only the outer edges of the frame. The rest is grungy with some glop to disguise the areas where the molded-in muffler and exhaust pipe used to be.
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Post by spex84 on Apr 15, 2019 1:54:30 GMT -5
"grungy with some glop" could describe the undersides and engine bays of even magazine-featured kustoms of the time, so no problems there! Nice trick with the "aluminum" intake. I dig the stock-flavored engine.
Have you thought of a color for the body yet?
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