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Post by Dave from Pleasanton on Jan 2, 2023 13:50:47 GMT -5
I like the thinned grille idea with the lights behind it, but would worry that by the time you thin the grille it falls apart. I say if you have another grille handy then give it a go. If you don't then...
How about putting the air intake under the car and having it exhaust out the top somehow. A cutout on the rear with some mesh could look pretty cool. I like your idea of the 3/4 round windscreens and the fairing/headrest for the driver.
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chepp
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Post by chepp on Feb 24, 2023 19:25:43 GMT -5
I like the thinned grille idea with the lights behind it, but would worry that by the time you thin the grille it falls apart. I say if you have another grille handy then give it a go. If you don't then... How about putting the air intake under the car and having it exhaust out the top somehow. A cutout on the rear with some mesh could look pretty cool. I like your idea of the 3/4 round windscreens and the fairing/headrest for the driver.
I have two '39 grilles but haven't tried thinning one of them, yet. I'll probably make an angled duct to direct air up to the radiator as you mentioned.  Most of the dull, boring work is done: building the rear suspension, cleaning up the frame a little, making a mount to lower the radiator and adding guides to the underside of the body to positively locate the frame to it yet keep it removable for further work. I stripped the plating off of the Latham blower/manifolds from the AMT '65 Buick custom version. Purists might notice that the ports on the Olds Toronado engine are different from the Buick Nailhead. However, nearly all of the Toronado block/drivetrain won't be visible, anyway. I intended to use the Jo-Han Toro kit's drive axles and parts but used a steel wire and brass tubing instead for ease of building and to increase strength. With a bellypan it shouldn't be visible.
Next up will be figuring out how to build the intake system to fit AND be removable then enlarge the opening in the body for clearance. Someday I'll design something to accomodate the driver and passenger!
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Post by Dave from Pleasanton on Feb 25, 2023 15:22:00 GMT -5
Great to see more progress Charley.
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Post by sharp on Feb 25, 2023 23:04:37 GMT -5
WOW!!! this is really wild lookin'! Great scratch building! Nice work!
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chepp
Some Glue required
Posts: 140
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Post by chepp on Mar 2, 2023 15:07:13 GMT -5
Thanks for showing interest in this. As always, comments pro and con are fine with me. This is a goofy custom. A 1:1 could have been built in 1966 or later if somebody was willing to spend the time and money on it.
The interior bucket has been started with .020" and .030" sheet styrene. The middle part of the floor is sunk down between the frame rails to maximize legroom. This view is "looking" over the shoulder of the driver toward the toeboard that will be mostly hidden under the dashboard later.
An outline of half of the interior opening was pencilled onto the body and "eyeballed" to avoid interference with stuff under the body. When it looked OK the shape on half of the body was transferred to a piece of paper and cut out then erased from the body. Then, the paper was taped to the centerline and pencilled on one side then flipped and outlined on the other side. The front closely matches the curve of the AMT Silhouette windshield which was then cut. Sawing crystal (clear styrene) needs to be done carefully because it is much more brittle than regular styrene. Taping it in place to prevent flexing during sawing is essential.
 The rough-cut stuff is mocked up and custom seats from the AMT '65 Riviera are placed, too. The seats are as far to the rear as they could be because of the Toronado radiator and a small plenum ahead of it with an angled duct coming up from underneath. The engine cut-out will be made larger to accomodate the belts and pulleys. The front fenders in the AMT Silhouette (not on the actual car) might be used to make a tapering headrest fairing behind each seat. Each fairing would be different because the engine is offset to the right.
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Post by jimrichards on Mar 4, 2023 11:37:54 GMT -5
Coming along great, Charley.
Some good tips also.
Jim
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Post by patw on Mar 24, 2023 5:35:21 GMT -5
This is going to great looking when it's finished!
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chepp
Some Glue required
Posts: 140
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Post by chepp on Mar 25, 2023 22:04:51 GMT -5
I like the thinned grille idea with the lights behind it, but would worry that by the time you thin the grille it falls apart. I say if you have another grille handy then give it a go. If you don't then... It was tricky but I figured that I'd do what the car manufacturers do: only core through the places where it is needed then paint the rest of the recessed areas black. On the backside I used an egg-shaped bit in a motor tool to grind away the plastic down to nearly just the plating/lacquer. Then I used a scalpel to cut away the plating and the last remaining plastic.
The headlight fits into a panel that I fabbed from styrene sheet to fit into the body. Multiple coats of Tamiya Black Panel Line Accent Color was painted into the grille recesses.
Bodywork continued with adding material to the stock '49 dashboard to conform to the half-bubble windshield shape. Underneath I started on a belly pan for the front 2/3 of the car. I'll leave the rear 1/3 of the Toro engine/drive visible even though I cheated on the mechanism.
 The body color will probably be yellow pearl. I found this craft paint at Michaels and figured that I could just dilute it and spray it. Unfortunately my tests with various reducers weren't good. The paint clumped instead of getting thinner. Finally, I added an excessive amount of 91% isopropyl alcohol to my acrylic thinner and sprayed it over a spoon that was half Tamiya pearl white and half Model Master silver. The yellow went on blobby but amazingly it quickly self-leveled. It dried this pale yellow because it is over diluted. It also dried flat so I put on four heavy coats of Tamiya clear gloss to give it a decent surface. The pearl manufacturer doesn't offer any info on thinning it for airbrushing so I sent them an email asking for their recommendation.
 This is my first attempt at spray-on "chrome." Various brands seemed to require a gloss black undercoat so I used a variety of blacks on spoons. As I was about to paint I watched a video from a guy who just sprayed it directly on a painted die-cast body and also on unpainted plastic. So I snipped part of a runner of that awful AMT yellow plastic that my engine details are molded in. All of them came out fine. Of course, it doesn't really pass for chrome but it's fine to represent polished aluminum and that's good enough for me.
Well, enough testing for now. I actually painted something that will be used on the model. Not much of it will be visible so I didn't try to fill the gaps between the transfer case and the backs of the torque converter and trans.
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Post by mack2856 on Mar 26, 2023 12:19:35 GMT -5
I enjoy your work very methodical and clean,kudos.
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chepp
Some Glue required
Posts: 140
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Post by chepp on Apr 7, 2023 12:11:49 GMT -5
It's inching along toward completion. It turned out that I was overthinking diluting the pearl yellow craft paint. It sprayed smoothly (but flat) when I diluted it about 1 part paint to 1-1/2 parts distilled water. A couple of coats of Tamiya X-22 clear gloss on top brought the shine back.
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Post by Dave from Pleasanton on Apr 11, 2023 13:25:14 GMT -5
So much progress Charlie. Life’s got in the way so I haven’t been following. Brilliant work on the headlight. Love the cutouts at the rear wheels. Greatly improves the lines. The polished aluminum work on the engine (Molotow?) looks perfect. Much better than the Model Master Metalizer. The 49 dash looks amazingly right for the car. Maybe a little filler for the radio speaker on the top, but it has an Ed Roth kind of vibe with the big eye mimicking the cyclops headlight. Even the big exhausts look great. Much prefer the pearl yellow over the white base than the silver base. I remember seeing pastel primered cars driving around in SoCal in the late 60’s waiting for the clear pearl top coat.
Still not sold on the bubble windshield. Seems too vertical. The car is long and low. Perhaps if the windshield was laid back by angling the bottom? My 2 cents.
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chepp
Some Glue required
Posts: 140
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Post by chepp on May 2, 2023 16:27:26 GMT -5
Thanks, Dave, for your comments. The windshield could be a better shape — and scale thickness, too — maybe someday!
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