Damian,
Agreed, now there's a change I never really expected.

Joel

Time to bring this thread up to speed with the start of build #3, the restored rod.

Starting shot for the build, taken at the start of the Blue Oval Group Build.


I hit the kit and started on the cleanup and test fitting of the major parts to see what depth of trouble I've got myself into, and I wasn't wrong. I'm about neck deep

First up was the fender/floor section. Check out those attachment points! The sprue wasn't letting this part escape easily.


Next up was the body parts. The fit of the top and bottom halves here is a challenge for anybody building this kit.
The LHS doesn't look too bad. The small section between the vertical join and the door line will need a little bit of sanding to bring it in to line.

The upper body is nicely recessed in relation to the lower body.


The RHS is another story altogether. It looks like the moulds weren't lined up when they cast this one! The upper body contour actually sits OUTSIDE the lower body along the length all the way back to the mould line beyond the high point of the rear wheel arch. This is going to be a whole bunch of fun to fix




I will need to remove almost 1mm of material to whip this into shape, might be Dremel o'clock

In between extreme panel-work sessions I'm going to start putting these guys together and have a go at proper figure painting for the first time. If I do a good enough job, a few figures will add a lot to the display.


About an hour of carefully grinding and carving and sanding and I think I've got it to a point where I can fit the top and blend the joins. The main trouble spot (circled) lines up nicely now and I have managed to keep the contour to match the RHS.


I need to get this right, I've got Henry himself looking over my shoulder !


Well Henry is not too happy with my tailoring skills (sprue-goo), and definitely angry that the other two turned up back at work legless after a long lunch, but he is happy with the progress on the panel work. The two halves of the main body are together now, and as Gabriel said, a bit more sanding and filling will pull it into shape nicely.


First application of sprue goo to the body joins, this will be left for a day or so to cure and then a second and possible third application as required. I prefer to use the sprue goo for this type of fix as it is TET based and will actually bond and strengthen the join as well as filling.


Benefit of close digital photos, I didn't see that little round recess under the join line in the second image until now! I will fill that with the next round of goo.

Another very handy use for the goo is to fill the nasty little ejector pin holes. A small drop off the thin brush into the hole will self-level and fill the hole, then I use the AK Fibre Pen to spot sand and tidy them up.


Cheers, D

Great attention to detail, D..!


Yes, I always find more defects than I knew of after taking pictures. These cameras nowadays are amazing!
You may want to consider passing a scriber along the panel lines as well, as they look to me too wide and shallow.

KUTGW!
Gabriel

Thanks for checking in Gabriel, I appreciate the feedback. I have gone over the door lines already with both the blade and back edges of an Xacto for exactly that reason. They will probably get one more treatment and a good clean out prior to primer.

Well it looks like my cunning plan is working ok, primer coat of MS1500 Black will tell the honest truth!




Masking tape on the floor pan to maintain the bare styrene to cement the chassis in place after painting.


And getting organised for "Prime Time" once a few more little sanding and clean-up tasks are completed.


I have also settled on a colour combo.

The only thing different will be the flat black running board mats and roof panel.

Cheers, D

Really good start D!

Great colours too!

D,
The mold repair looks like you really nailed it. I'm looking forward to seeing how the body looks in it's primer coat. And your paint scheme is going to be a knock out for sure.

Joel

Primer down on the main parts. Still some work to fine-tune the body contour join lines, but I can move forward with some other sub assemblies while I tinker there.





Meanwhile, Henry is reprimanding his mechanic and salesman for lack of productivity.



This is going to take some work to iron out the join while keeping the contour curves intact. I started and put almost an hour into it so far.



The chassis and exhaust are integral with the floor pan on this kit, so another hour was spent chopping up scraps of masking tape to prep the floor pan for some bling!


I also threw some colour on the engine block and started on the clean-up of the bits that make it go bang!


A couple of coats of SMS Super Silver directly over the primer, 20 minutes to cure, then off with the masking!


Some bleeding along the edges and a couple of tight corners the mask didn't quite get in to, but a quick touch up and some pin wash will take care of that. I will also highlight the exhaust with some burnt metal tones.

A quick test dry-fit of the drive train and suspension to see how it fits together.



I'm happy with how this looks, so I can move along with working from the bottom up while I continue the rectification works up top.

Cheers, D

D,
You're still making great progress on those two nasty body joints. Sure seems that back in those days, just about any tolerance was ok as long as the parts kind of touched. I guess that the kids (including me) who built these models back then, really didn't care all that much about tolerances, as getting the finished model done and looking good was the main thing.

Nice job masking the chassis pan from the frame. As you said, some touch up and it's about as perfect as you can get.

Love the 6 carb setup. Must have been a tuners nightmare for sure. My MGB had just two single barrel SU carbs, and they always needed tuning to keep them in sync as the engine vibrations just made the jet needle and springs constantly move one way or the other.

Joel

D., great resolutions on all sub-assemblies so far.
I wonder what your plastic Henry says while watching a blue and not black engine, doubled by chromed carburetors!

Very instructive build so far! Keep at it!

Gabriel

Overheard in the workshop:



Salesman - "What is this?"
Mechanic - "This is a Pontiac 421 ci with a 6-pack carb set-up. I'm going to put it in that '36, then it will seriously ROCK! I painted it blue and hoped you wouldn't notice."
Henry - "You're fired!"

Some mighty fine work there D. Frame paint job looks very sharp.

Kudos, for bringing figures into the game. Did you glue the hats or are they just dry fitted?

We could make a "What did Henry say" campaign.

Thanks Jesper, I appreciate the feedback!

The pieces are all glued on now, apart from Henry’s legs. Henry will be sticking his head in and checking my build along the way, I’m sure he will have plenty to say.

Cheers, D

Hats on, hats off.
It's just easier to paint the faces, detached, from the rest.

I've got it! So this is a diorama tutorial about how to fire a thick skull mechanic.

:)
Gabriel

D,
Just gotta love that 6 Pack. She's going to be a real street screamer for sure.

The figures are all shaping up nicely. looking forward to how you handle those faces.

Joel

Pretty much there with the body work now. I gave it a light coat of primer over the trouble areas to check my work and it I'm happy with it so far. I will give it a light fine sand and another shot of primer, then if nothing else shows up requiring attention, a good final primer coat. After that it is wet sanding to get a glassy finish ready for the top coat colours.




Cheers, D

D,
great progress on the body fix. I'd say you've got it well covered at this point.

Joel

Nice work on the body D!

The engine looks "fully sic, mate!"

Thanks Joel. Given the silver bottom half of the two-tone scheme, I need to be extra-certain of the surface finish here.




Russ, the 6-pack carby set-up is a wild looking unit, that's for sure. I'm looking at reference images to see if I can add some more detail like a fuel line network, it's a bit scary!

Many thanks for checking in guys.

Cheers, D

Top job, on the body work.

Well my marathon sand/putty/prime/rinse/repeat session is over and I've put some colour on the body shell.

Silver first for the bottom half of the two-tone scheme.


Masked up for the red upper colour.


Nothing like a nice drop of red!


The scary part, unmasking!


And a bit of playing around with images for a different way to show the progress.





There are a few small touch-ups to do where the red bled under the mask, but nothing major.

I'm happy with this colour combination, so now I can move on with painting the other parts and starting on the clear gloss for the body.

Cheers, D

As an aside, and with relevance to the "Wine Red" top colour, I have this guy sitting on the shelf near my desk, serenading me while I work, and watching over a couple of bottles of the nectar of the gods.



Time for a quick update with progress on all 3 kits in my "When I'm 64" display. Sometimes I need to stop what I'm doing and take a breath, pull everything together to remind myself of where I'm heading so I can stay on track.




Cheers, D

D,
The diorama really is starting to take on a life of it's own. I'm sure that Mr. Nectar O. Gods will be watching over it with much care.

As I said before, the new two tone paint scheme is just 1st class. Well done my friend, very well done.

Joel

D, I was familiar with the idea and with the lay-out of the diorama, but seeing all cars together still gave me a jolt. Nice looking so far!

Gabriel

D! Really great seeing all 3 side by side at last!

Love the colour combo on the hot rod!