That Penfolds St. Henri sure looks tasty.

Love the layout, of the dio. More and more 1/24-25 scale dio stuff coming on the market, these days. Doozy and Maim make some very nice stuff, for "our" scale dio's.

A little work on the small parts on my '36. Detail painted the tub and added in the levers and pedals, painted the dashboard and fitted the gauges, detail painted the engine and installed the manifold and carb assemblies, and painted the steering wheel and column and fire extinguisher.

I have also assembled the rims and tyres and will follow up with detail painting the manufacturers logos with white acrylic.

These items all need a little touching up and a pin wash to pop the details.



I have been looking at the front end panel fit (to avoid the problems I had with the stock '36) and how I want it to look finish wise. The reference image I am using shows the silver finish of the lower half continuing around the front, including the grille. I'm thinking of going down a slightly different path and painting the grille itself in the Wine Red to give the upper body a real "wedge" shape running from the bottom of the front grille to the lower rear end. Either way, I had to strip off the kit chrome on the grille, fit the upper grille mount, and then sand off the primer on the mating area of the lower body part to cement it in place.



Another small progress report, a case of 3 steps forward, 2 steps back here.

Steps forward:
The lessons learned from the stock '36 build and the extra time spent on the front end seem to have paid off. The engine cover assembly fits neatly and lines up very well, so a few more little tweaks and I'm ready for paint here.



Steps back:
I managed to spill a drop of TET on one of the rims before I clamped them for curing, and didn't notice until now. It has crazed the kit chrome.aa. I love the look of these rims, so there's nothing for it but to pull them all apart and strip the kit chrome then work on refinishing them all. It is the top right wheel in this image, hard to pick up in the image but it's very dull and the chrome has lifted in a couple of small spots.


Maybe I can turn this into a cloud/silver lining scenario and paint the rims in matching body silver and the centre cap wine red.

I found some time to fire up the airbrush, got some primer down on the grille and touched up a couple of spots, then gave it a couple of coats of silver. Everything here is dry fitted.






There are a couple of spots to touch up and then masking and putting down the Wine Red on the bonnet and grille and rumble seat cover.

Cheers, D

While I have been tinkering with the builds, I have also kept my thoughts ticking over with respect to the overall display, and I am not happy with the layout and balance of the base that I have put together so far. I am leaning towards each car having an identical and symmetrical area, which I cannot achieve on the current base.

Version 2.0 will propose 3 separate small bases which will be then arranged on a single large base (approximately 800x450mm total).




I can envisage a sheet of 3/4" MDF with a recess of 1/4" routed for each base to provide stability but also allow them to be removed for transport and storage. A 20mm gap between each base and painted gloss black. My next-door neighbour has a joinery with the right equipment, so a 6-pack of beers should see it done.

Cheers, D

D,
Now that's a novel idea of 3 separate bases one a single master base. Just one thought, have you tried to give the two side models a angled presentation towards the middle one?

Joel

I got the Wine Red down on the bonnet and grille, and I'm very happy with the way it looks. The usual tidying up, touching up and polishing to do, but it is great to see how the whole scheme looks now. Once again, everything here is a loose dry fit, so hopefully the gaps will close up once I get things firmly in place.





And another positive note, a fellow local modeler close to home has offered a set of matching rims from the same kit to me free of charge, so I don't need to do any major work there. Thinking now to paint the centre caps Wine Rd but leave the chrome on the rest of the rim. I will shoot it on one of the spare rims to see how it looks on the body. It turns out that the rim that was damaged was also short-shot. There was actually no plastic under the chrome in one section of the outer rim and when I was working on getting it off the tyre it disintegrated.

Cheers, D

D,
Both the Bonnet and the grill really look quite outstanding in their Wine paint.

Talk about luck, congrats on your buddy offering for free the exact hubs you need. I'd still go with the hubs in the Wine color.

Joel

As i was looking again at the wheels picture, I had another thought on the wheels. Instead of the center in wine, the recesses might look more natural in wine.

Got the idea when I noticed the recesses looked shaded in the picture above.

I see what you mean. Now that would test my masking skills! Once I pick up the spare sets I will set them up dry fit on the car and have a think further on the options.

Thanks for checking in.

Cheers, D

Really coming along nicely D!

Too bad about those wheels, although painting them 2 tone sounds like a top workaround

Time to bring this thread up to speed:

Gloss coat (SMS Super Clear) is down on the '36. Two tack coats followed by two good wet coats. The Wine Red obviously wasn't perfectly smooth because the clear has magnified the "orange peel." It came up beautifully over the SMS Super Silver, so I'm not inclined to strip it back and start again at this stage of the build. Loose dry fit once again.







I have finished the assembly and painting of the engine and radiator and test dry fitted them to the chassis, as well as dry fitting the shell and bonnet assemblies to make sure everything still goes together.




I also finished and fitted the front end leaf spring/axle assembly, torque arm assembly (radius rods) and the 4 wheel backing plates.



I have cleaned up the clear parts, given them a swim in Future and installed them.




I also picked up the replacement rims from a helpful fellow modeler nearby, so I can get back on to the wheels now.

I've also been working on the Henry Ford & Co figure set, and tried out a new product.

The figures all got a coat of Mr Surfacer 1500 Black once they were assembled, then I used Mr Hobby Color H27 Tan for the salesman's suit. I used a new Molotow masking pen to mask off the shoes which I want to stay black. It was very easy to use, basically the same as a texta with a pump action to get it flowing. The tube says to remove after 2 hours, but I left it on for several weeks and it still peeled off very easily with no residue visible after removal.








Next up is a shot of Dullcote, then I will be trying out another new product (for me anyway) for the flesh tones.

Cheers, D

Another small progress report on the '36. The interior tub is in place. It took some coaxing, some trimming and some sanding, and a good strong clamp during the cure overnight, but it's in there! As always, not much can be seen.



I've also set the engine and radiator assemblies in place now, after confirming that the engine cover assembly has clearance (a fraction of a mm, but it's enough!). The steering column is just sitting in place, a test fit shows that I need to drill a slightly larger clearance hole in the firewall to get the column into the right position for the steering wheel to sit correctly.



Interestingly, the instructions for this version of the custom engine have no water hoses installed between the engine and the radiator. I will do some adjustments to get the supplied hoses to fit in an approximate location so there is some more detail there.

The spare chrome rim parts have been assembled and the tyres fitted, I just need to dry-brush some white detail onto the manufacturers logo and details. I have decided not to paint any of the chrome rim Wine Red, I did a test fit and they look very good all chrome to match the bumpers and headlight surrounds.

Cheers, D

D,
You couldn't ask for a better and more convincing looking interior as one peers in through the open window. And that big Bloc Ford V8 really looks the part. With the addition of some water hoses, you should be able to finally fire her up.

Joel

Looks great Damian. Kudos for trying figure painting.

That Molotow masking pen, I just have to try. Used a little Micromask, the other day. Easy to apply, with a brush, but a paint o remove again.

great to see the interior go in, D!

And that V8!

Once again, time to bring the thread up to speed.

More assembly on the Restored Rod. The chassis/drivetrain was fitted and clamped to the floor pan and left overnight.


Apologies for the poor photo, but just beneath the V8 emblem is the "Ford" badge that qualifies this build. This will be dry-brushed chrome to get it to stand out better. The only other Ford badge in this kit is on the spare wheel hub, which I'm not using here.


Wheels are assembled and I've started the process of highlighting the manufacturers details but dry-brushing white. I will give it a wash of black to tidy it up once I'm happy with the density of the white.

EDIT: Looking at this photo I see I have two of the same front rims. I will swap one out as they are directional.

As always, I couldn't help but dry fit the shell and rumble seat to see how it is coming together.



And a progress shot on the "Life Cycle of a '36" trio.


Well, when you're on a roll, just keep rolling!

A major step forward tonight, I got the shell fixed down to the floor pan! It took a bit of twisting and turning, and a few drops of BSI Medium CA, but we are there. The steering column was a challenge and required some surgery, but the steering wheel looks great in place now to complete the interior.


Unfortunately, with the alignment adjustments required to get the shell to fit properly, the rumble seat cover will no longer hinge straight and sit neatly in the closed position, so I had to shorten the locating pins and it will sit loosely in the open position. I'm not too worried about this, as the original stock version will be sitting open as well.



And a couple of shots with the engine covers in place.



Cheers, D

The '36 landed on its wheels tonight, another significant step forward! I just need to add the headlights and the front and rear bumper assemblies, tidy up a few little touch-up spots, and it will be done!



Cheers, D

Very nice Damian. That color combination looks even better now that it is assembled.

D,

A really impressive build that has certainly fought you nearly every step of way. But you're almost at the finish. Looking forward to your finished post in a big way.

Joel

When I'm 64? I am 64.

Nice.

Marc,
At this stage of my life I'd kill to be 64 again. Believe me, being 72 is no joy as there are now more things I want to do, that I can't do.

Joel

Well the '36 was 64 back in 2000, so it's 83 now. All of these numbers are making my head spin, or maybe that's the MLT

Cheers, D

Edging closer to the finish line on the '36 Restored Rod, tonight saw the mounting brackets and front/rear bumpers installed, as well as the headlights and door handles.








So here's where it sits now. I still need to find some clear red sprue and fabricate some tail lights, and then it's just a couple of tiny paint touch-ups where it has been knocked during handling.





Cheers, D

D,
Almost ready to cross the finish line with one sweet build. You've really brought this build to a whole new level.

Joel

D, I really like how the colour combination has turned out on this one

Almost there and looking goooood.