TonyW Posted October 13, 2022 Share Posted October 13, 2022 Breaking a bit of a post famine from me, I made a start on a Monogram Ford Pickup truck today. A dose of that Covid thing, along with a bit of domestic upheaval, has seen my modelling badly neglected. A fresh build should get things back in the groove. I took a look at the other builds I have running, but none really jumped out at me and demanded finishing. There's still a month to go though, they might get a look in yet. Working on the principle that a change is as good as a rest, a new build was called for. The kit itself was first issued in 1978 although my one is a bit later than that. Here's the issue I'm doing... I'm building from a pre built model, first completed by @Pete in Lincs. I bought a job lot of models from him a while back. His build was a bit more up to date than I prefer, so the model got stripped back to component parts and a bit of backdating started. The late model wheels and the independant rear end, along with the modern interior were the first to go. Chrome steels and a period custom interior will replace that lot. I'm taking the build back to around 1963 or so. An AMT '63 Galaxie will provide most of the custom parts needed, that kit box is stuffed full of period accesory parts and a few are certain to get used on the truck. There's going to be a fair bit of bodywork attempted as well. I got stuck in today and things have flowed quite well. The cab has been channeled over the frame to loose the ugly bit under the doors. Running boards are history. Front fenders have been cut out and raised and the roof panel cut off, thinned right down and refitted. The grill area is going full custom. The first part of the proccess is to flip the stock grill insert and fit it to the bottom of the opening. The hood is a bit lumpy looking in stock form, so it's getting pancaked. This will probably be the most difficult part of the build. The reshaping needed is a bit severe. The rear fenders have been raised a scale couple of inches around the wheel arches. The fenders will get raised on the bed sides as well. The front arches will get the same treatment. I'm aiming at getting the truck a lot closer to the ground but don't want the wheels and tires buried under the arches. All that lot needs to dry off properly before more cutting about can happen. Overnight should do the trick, so another instalment should appear here tomorrow. Here's a custom truck from an August 1962 copy of Hot Rod. I won't be slavishly copying this one, but the look isn't a million miles from how I see the build progressing. 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted October 13, 2022 Share Posted October 13, 2022 Welcome along with a complete scratch-built hot rod. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 13, 2022 Share Posted October 13, 2022 Tony. Good to see you back at it, and building a custom to boot. I probably built that kit over twenty years ago, and in Saudi too. I'll be watching from the garage where I'm building my custom Gran Prix. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 Nice work Tony, plastic shavings everywhere, perfect. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 14, 2022 Author Share Posted October 14, 2022 1 hour ago, JeroenS said: Nice work Tony, plastic shavings everywhere, perfect. I'll be knee deep in the things before I'm done! The hood got a bit of attention this morning. After removing about a scale six inches from the hight of the hood, things didn't exactly line up anymore, in any direction. I'm fitting the hood as best as it can at the front edge. The rest needs modifying to follow along. Fitting the front edge in place means the back edge is way out of whack. A couple of slits were cut into the hood top and sanded back a bit. That closed the rear edge gap at the cowl area. The bottom edge of the hood, where it meets the fenders, got cut back almost flush, leaving quite a bit of bodywork to get that area looking as it should. A fair bit of cutting, scrapping and sanding got things as lined up as best as I can get them for now. The hood top and bottom are now reinforced underneath and glued into place with a whole load of tube cement. That lot needs a day or so to dry, then more bodywork. This one's going to be yet another kerbside build. A bit of mission creep is on the horizon. I'll be needing a stock hight truck to sit alongside this one. More as it happens... 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 That hood looks lots better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 Great deal of shaving's there Tony,all in a good cause! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 16, 2022 Share Posted October 16, 2022 You shouldn’t encourage him Pete! Looks like a radical transformation. I keep scrolling back to the picture of the 1962 custom truck though. It’s so wrong it’s right! Glad things seem to be straightening out for you Tony. Looking forward to more cutting and shutting. Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 16, 2022 Author Share Posted October 16, 2022 It's nice to be back in the groove Adrian, thanks. The early sixties were a strange time in the custom world. The earlier style of smoothing things out and simplifying shapes was pretty much history by then. The new cars and trucks looked like full customs straight from the factory, the '58 Chevrolet being a perfect example. Many customisers tried to follow the factorys lead and added quad lights and all kinds of scoops and OTT grills etc to earlier cars. Sometimes it worked. Many times it didn't. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 20, 2022 Author Share Posted October 20, 2022 More cutting and shutting has been going on since the last instalment and things are slowly taking shape. A bit of a balancing act helped with visualising the final sit and shape of the truck. Raising the fender arches has helped a lot with the look of the wheels and tires. The whole wheel is now on show, even with the truck lowered right down The truck can take a bit more lowering yet but the sit of the rear fenders against the pickup bed needs changing. The fender could do with being raised against the bed, with the bed simultaniously getting lowered a bit over the chassis. Before I got stuck in there, the front lower grill opening area got glued and clamped into a curve. Once each side had dried I added a bit of plastic to the lower lip of the grill. This lot will need a bit of filler to get things nice and smooth. The pickup bed is now lowered over the chassis a scale couple of inches and the fenders raised a bit. It seems to balance things up a bit but the roof is still a bit high to my eyes. Leaving the roof as it is would bug me, so off with its head! ... and a small slice got removed all round, with the front pillars leaned back a tad to get them to line up. It's a subtle chop, maybe 2 1/2 inches or so, but the overall proportions now look right to me. The cab rear and one front pillar have been glued and rubber banded for an overnight dryout. The other pillar will get fixed in the morning and a bit of re-inforcement of the whole chopped area will be added for peace of mind. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimJ Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 Great work so far. 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 21, 2022 Author Share Posted October 21, 2022 Here's the truck, complete with its new roofline. The difference from the old one is slight, but makes a big difference to the way I see it. I'm now looking at the grill opening with new eyes. I might lift the bottom edge up a few inches and add a rolled pan underneath. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Excellent job Tony! That looks really good, you did the right thing with the roof, in my opinion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 That looks ready for business to my eye - a definite improvement. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 I'll third the above comments. I've seen real roof chops carried out by cutting through the middle of the rear window. Maybe next time, eh? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 21, 2022 Author Share Posted October 21, 2022 1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said: I'll third the above comments. I've seen real roof chops carried out by cutting through the middle of the rear window. Maybe next time, eh? The rear window on this one is a bit like a letter box slot from the factory. I've kept it stock by removing material above the window. If anything, it would look a bit better if I added a couple of inches more glass! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 I agree in this case. The one I saw was on TV. A later model I think. They did it that way to keep the rounded corners. The past few years there have been some great custom programmes on, but they seem to have petered out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 On 10/13/2022 at 8:58 AM, TonyW said: Here's a custom truck from an August 1962 copy of Hot Rod. I won't be slavishly copying this one, but the look isn't a million miles from how I see the build progressing. That's one helluva skirt for '62, Tony.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now