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Post by ChrisV on Apr 26, 2019 17:13:32 GMT -5
Well... It's been ages since I've actually had the time or the energy to work on any of my models. However, during the last week I was sorting through my "collection" of vintage Monogram glue bombs (Most of which were acquired with the sole purpose of getting the tires), when an idea started to form in my head... The basis for this build is a poorly built original issue '34 Coupé/Roadster kit, I got in a lot of early issue Monogram wrecks: As you may already have noticed, not all of the parts pictured above are from the '34. It includes parts from original issues of the "Black Widow","Green Hornet", and '30 Ford Touring. I generally save my "mint" vintage custom acessories for "high end" builds (which I usually never get around to actually finish, but that's a completely different story...). The parts in this particular lot are all salvaged from built-up glue bombs, that were too far gone to save on their own. However they may be combined to form a pretty damn cool late-fifties' altered - Built solely from vintage parts. The first difficult decision was whether to build a Coupé: ...or a Roadster (obviously with a chopped windshield frame): After careful thought my decision fell on a fenderless Coupé with rear wheels from the '30 Model A, and a blown Oldsmobile mill from the Green Hornet Model T Rail (The engine is currently out to have numerous blobs of old plastic cement sanded away): Oh, the fenders and wheel/tire combo from the previous pictures will be used on another '34 3W Coupé, but more on that later... Stay tuned for updates as this simple "Blast from the past" evolves from stuff I find in my junk boxes.
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Post by Dennis on Apr 26, 2019 18:39:19 GMT -5
Hell yes. Great combo of old Monogram parts. That Green Hornet motor looks killer in it!
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Post by spex84 on Apr 27, 2019 0:46:44 GMT -5
Love this idea! I almost bought a parts lot that had a couple of these '34s in pieces recently, but passed because I knew I wouldn't get to them for a long time, and they'd just sit in a box. So now I get to watch one come together, awesome.
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Post by afx on Apr 27, 2019 5:43:56 GMT -5
Looks like a great project.
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Post by Mr. Metallic on Apr 29, 2019 9:16:20 GMT -5
Love this project. Please stick with it.
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Post by ChrisV on May 12, 2019 12:40:18 GMT -5
Minor update: I've spent some time removing globs of glue from the engine and transmission assemblies, and now they actually look quite presentable. Now I don't want this build to look like it's just been pieced together from various Monogram kit sub-assemblies, so the ugly boxy injectors from the Green Hornet had to go. I briefly considered fitting a trio of carburettors directly on the blower intake manifold, but quickly figured it would look too tame that way. Instead I found the carburettor/intake unit from a vintage Monogram Black Widow, and cut off the carburettors to fit two of them atop the Green Hornet's blower assembly: I've also spent some time adjusting the suspension and engine mounts to achieve the right stance: Next up is a ton of bodywork to correct the tooling alignment issue (the passenger side beltline is severly misaligned on early issues), and I have to splice together two bodies in order to fix a bunch of glue damage on the rear wheel arches and cowl.
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Post by Mr. Metallic on May 13, 2019 6:45:19 GMT -5
That thing is looking tough! Keep it rolling
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Post by Dennis on May 13, 2019 11:56:11 GMT -5
Tough indeed!
For shits & giggles could you set a chopped ZZ Top roof piece on it and take a profile picture?
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Post by Plowboy on May 14, 2019 15:32:07 GMT -5
This is gonna kick ass!! For me, these types of builds are the most enjoyable to build or watch. Sometimes the simplicity of a model can produce the most impact. Keep it going!!
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Post by ChrisV on May 15, 2019 15:02:06 GMT -5
Thanks for your encouragement guys! This oldschool modeling project is honestly the most fun I've had building in years! Today I made some serious progress on the bodyshell. The original kit had severe glue rash in some critical areas. Luckily I had another junk body from a parts lot, I bought from our own Bob Black aeons ago. After a little measuring it became clear, that the damage on the second body (top) could be patched up with panels sourced from the original model (bottom): The damaged panels were removed by carefully outlining the cuts with masking tape, using the straigth belt line as a reference point. The filler pieces were deliberately made slightly larger to allow for fine adjustment during installation: The careful planning paid off big time! The cuts were quickly cleaned up with a sanding stick, before the panels were grafted together: In some days, when the cement has had ample time to set, I'll tackle the tasks of realigning the passenger side quarter panel and trim and narrowing the rear body to fit the roof section properly... Stay tuned!
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Post by spex84 on May 15, 2019 19:30:14 GMT -5
Surgical! The careful measuring and cutting has indeed paid off. Can't wait to see more!
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Post by froghawk on May 16, 2019 18:04:38 GMT -5
Cool project and great craftsmanship!
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Post by Mr409 on May 17, 2019 3:11:04 GMT -5
I like seeing this kind of builds were an old kit is being built pretty much the way it could have been done way back. Excellent work on fixing the body, and the overall look on the latest mock up is just right. This will be a very good looking '34 once finished.
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Post by ChrisV on May 19, 2019 15:10:53 GMT -5
Time for an update: As previously mentioned, the old Monogram '34 Ford has some tooling alignment issues, which makes the lower part of the body too wide for the roof section. As you can see in the following picture, the area below the belt line is approximately 1 mm (or about a full scale inch) too wide: The quick fix for this problem is to narrow the body by cutting it into three pieces, using the edges of the trunk as a guide and carefully sanding the edges, until an apporpriate width is achieved: Much better:
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Post by ChrisV on May 31, 2019 14:34:59 GMT -5
Time for another update: Today I started the tedious task of correcting the belt line molding. As you can see below, the passenger side molding is virtually non-existent due to mold alignment issues: First order o business was to scribe and cut along the lower edge of the molding using a Gyros jeweler's saw (I can not recommend this piece of equipment often enough. It's virtually like a serrated razor blade for cutting styrene). The rounded parts of the cut were made using sewing thread as a band saw: once the upper edge of the cut had been cleaned up with sand paper, the quarter panel was gently bent/twisted into place and glued in place with a narrow strip of styrene to bridge the gap between the panels (The gap looks wider in the pictures due to the lighting and angle): With the body set aside for the glue to set, I turned my attention to the chassis. The wheelbase looked a little too short to my eyes, so I cut off the front part of the frame, and extended it by 2,5 mm using another scrap '34 chassis from my parts bin (Top: stock 34 chassis. Middle: Modified chassis. Bottom: the scrap chassis and left-over tip from the model - I have yet to decide, if I want to add the original spreader bar and Moon tank mount to this model or keep it for another...):
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