40 ford wagon resto

[quadzero]

hey there people, well I took Klutz's suggestion and started to work on a new kit while my challenger sits idle. I have had this kit on my shelf for about 20 years. I dont know who built it or where it came from.


I always liked it and it represented the way I used to build them when I was much younger. buy it, open it, glue it all together and have it painted all in about 3 hours. but I wanted to do a custom paint job and this was the only kit I had that had room for what I wanted.


I took it all apart and figured out what was staying and what was going. I didnt want to get carried away with the frame since I wanted to concentrate on the body.


I cut away the floor, re-did the front and rear suspensions and made some disc brakes.


almost done here and I will dig thru my parts for an engine and get cracking on the body. the rear shock mounts are pretty low as I had planned on using bigger tires but chose these instead.
thanks for looking everyone,
cheers.
Les

[sportracer02]

Wow, Les,

looks like a "little" work, especially the roof section. I´m sure you´ll manage it.

[willimo]

Neat project. Really nice work on the frame - especially for not getting carried away! The roof is going to be a challenge, good luck but I'm sure you can get it done just fine. I always wonder though, why restore an old kit instead of getting a new one? Is it the sentiment? Looking forward to seeing it progress.

[tigeraid]

It'll be interesting to see how you deal with the roof. Did you actually build it that way, weathered and all, or is that just from sitting in a box for 10 years?

[quadzero]

Originally Posted by willimo

I always wonder though, why restore an old kit instead of getting a new one? Is it the sentiment?

thanks all. Willimo, I think it was just to do something different and a challenge. sentimental reasons apply too I think. I dont know if I would have bought this kit new, mind you.
actually, Tigeraid, I found this model sitting in my mom's garage years ago and felt sorry for it, lol. I think my brother was using it for target practice with his pellet gun, as there is damage in the interior also.


there was no door with this so I scrounged around and found this '53 chevy panel door.


I glued scrap plastic on to the panel door here and there and shaped it with some sand paper and it fits pretty well.


here it is with most of the body modifications and repairs. I had no headlight bezels and I wanted to some body work too so I filled in the holes for the lights and tail lights. I sanded off all the body detail and re-scribed the panel lines and a new gas cap. I airbrushed on some scrap paint to show up defects and quite a few are showing. the roof repair went quite easily but the window strut in the middle took me over 2 hours to get to look right.
to fix the roof, I glued stretched spruce on the outside of the body matching the body contours. from the inside, I superglued small bits of plastic onto the spruce until no daylite was showing. then I sanded off the spruce and shaped with a small file and wetsanded until I had the shape I was looking for. like I said, it was easy and took about 20 minutes. scribing the windshield trim took a little longer but still was an easy procedure.
thanks again for looking,
Les

[sportracer02]

Hi,

looks very good so far. Did you widen the rear fenders (just an idea when I see that seam of beige putty/old colour?)

[klutz_100]

Les, so THIS is your little project?! Cool. Seems we are both on a retro-rod bender at the moment

I'm dying to know what this custom paint job is going to be...but I've learned to be patient with your builds

Already some streached sprue in the picture, huh?

[white97ex]

really nice work. That frame looks great, as do the body mods

[quadzero]

thanks everyone,
Sportracer- no, the fenders are stock. that is just some paint that I used as a guide to get the contours more even.
Klutz- you bet there is stretched sprue in this project!
well, I spent alot of time dremeling, chipping and glueing and sanding of the interior to smooth out the cracks and heaps of old glue in there. althou from past experience I learned most of it wont be seen when it's all together, I still had visions of the topless trio interiors.


there are still a lot of battle wounds here but I had alot of fun with this. I cut out the almost useless door panels and grafted in the ones from my 53 chevy donor. I extended the pattern from the panels to the tub section, just to add a bit more life. the seats are from the parts box. this is the first model where I painted the handles instead of making them from scratch.


well, it's a simple interior but my secret weapon is this die shifter knob. thats gotta be at least a few points on the cool meter . this is far from perfect, there is dust in the paint, the foil is ragged and some of the basecoat lifted here and there from the foil but it was the most enjoyable modelling I had in a long time. the dash is supposed to be there too but I had a little accident with some nail polish,
cheers,
Les

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by quadzero

my secret weapon is this die shifter knob. thats gotta be at least a few points on the cool meter

It's off the scale, dude!! I love it!!!!

[COZMO6476]

talk about bringing something back to life! awesome work!

[freakray]

This is interesting! Definitely keep us updated, I can't wait to see the final outcome

[JTRACING]

wow! what a great build! looking awesome now!

[quadzero]

thank you everyone. it's a fun project, I'm trying not to get over my head like I usually do. I looked at tons of mags and pics on the net for headlight and taillight ideas but finally decided just to leave it for a few days and let it all sink in. I'm still not sure about an engine, but I would like something in there soon. thanks for looking everyone.
Les

[klutz_100]

As a worst case scenario, you can always kidnap one of your 406.60mph engines