53 Chevy Bonneville Bruiser

[Mark E.]

Heres one my son Ian, 13 at the time, conceived of. I drew up a sketch and
went out and bought 3 models and started hacking away.
The 3 kits are AMTs Wagon Rod, The 1950 Chevy (street version) glue kit
and a Snap Tight version of the same kit as a back up.

With the exception of the exhaust dumps, this is what we're after...



Here's where I'm at so far; sorry about the picture quality - - -
It's nearly ready for paint:

[Mark E.]

more:

[Twowheelsrule]

Cool build! It looks like you have put a lot of thought into it. Is that a Revell 37 Ford chassis?

Mark

[blubaja]

Originally Posted by Twowheelsrule

Cool build! It looks like you have put a lot of thought into it. Is that a Revell 37 Ford chassis?

Mark

The wagonrod, which was about a late 30s chevy designed by Jairus from that other place.

Wow man!!! Is that all chopped and channend? I see there are off color lines, but it looks so perfect, can't even tell for sure! Excellent!

[bigbertha]

Your sketch is cool. In the first photo you can see how close you have managed to get to that sketch. You've obviously put a lot of time and effort in to it. I look forwaerd to seeing it finished. Do you aim to paint the red pinstriping?

[Mark E.]

Originally Posted by bigbertha

Your sketch is cool. In the first photo you can see how close you have managed to get to that sketch. You've obviously put a lot of time and effort in to it. I look forwaerd to seeing it finished. Do you aim to paint the red pinstriping?

In short, yes. I didn't know Jairus designed the Wagon Rod. Makes sense now.
And I was giving him tips for build materials... No wonder he hasn't gotten back to me , that boy knows his stuff.

Now, in long hand, here's the breakdown on the mods:

My goal was to have to use as little body filler as possible so I used the glue and styrene along with tight
tolerances as much as possible to accomplish the following:

1.) I chopped roof (appx. 3 scale inches.) and was able to spread the A and C pillars
in which used off-set cuts on each for strength. The rear window was cut out and
kept the stock size and "welded" back in with cuts made to the roof for fit.
I added 1/16" evergreen sheet styrene cut to the shape of the roof to fill the
for/aft gap in the roof and doors; sanding the roof to shape and carefully
carved the door reliefs and drip moldin with #11 blade and hobby files.

2.) After finding the straightest, most even area on the doors, I sectioned out
appx. 4 scale inches from he body. It is relative to the height of the relief lines on the lower fenders.
I cut the same amount of material out of the cowl at an angle using the straightest part of the
hood as my guide. This was to insure proper fit as well as give me a guide for how much material
I'd be sectioning out of the hood.

3.) The hood was sectioned/pie cut and sheet styrene added as needed to line things back up. You can just see
the material I added between the top section and bottom used to reform and
smooth the sides out.

4.) The fenders, front and rear, were simply cut and shaped, sheet styrene is
used to replicate the reliefs.

5.) I used the front roll pan that comes in the street version of the glue kit but I filed and reshaped it
for a smoother fit and finish. I used the lowermost grille bar to, in part, fill the gap left by the narrowed
grille. Each bar was separated to narrow the spacing between each. It helps make the truck look even lower, I think.

6.) The bed is pretty much stock dimensions with the 'wells' cut out for tire
clearance and brake cooling (Ha Ha!).
Ian wanted the rear frame and suspension exposed as is common on severely lowered mini trucks so I
used styrene sheet to mimic steel for the bed decks. The angled square tubes are stabilizers as there would
be some serious rockin' and rollin' trying to rip the side rails free, otherwise. When racing, the gate would be lowered for
better streamlining so I made it functional. I made roll pans for the rear and on the sides, in back, to hide the frame and gas tank.

7.) The frame was lengthened under the cab and mounting points adjusted to fit the cab. (Three times. Grrrr!)
I altered the front cross bar, bringing it forward for proper wheel alignment
with the wheel openings.
The same is true of the engine and it's mounting points which I fabricated anew along with a longer
drive shaft using styrene tube. I also moved the radiator unit forward.

8.) The interior was channeled over the frame and I fabricated a smooth firewall and transmission tunnel.
With the exception of sheet styrene to fill the gaps, the rest of the interior tub remains stock.

9.) The moon discs were cut from the bottom center of aluminum soda cans and will be spun eventually.
They cover a set of crappy old centerline rims that came with an old MPC Toyota Supra kit.
The slicks are from The Lindberg Dodge 330 "Color Me Gone" kit I converted into a 4 door. (Police car with pictures to come.)
The front tires are from AMT's Snap Fast Plus 'Cuda.

10.) The engine follows Ian's direction and will have a nicely detailed GMC blower with dual quads
topped by short, throaty stacks I'll cut from 3/16" aluminum tubing.
1/8th inch tubes are bent
into a set of lake pipes which dump off from the street legal exhaust system which Jairus so beautifully executed.

11.) The headlights are straight from the Wagon Rod and fit perfectly into the Chevy's stock openings tho I've frenched them a bit. (The easiest step of them all.)

[Mark E.]

Originally Posted by bigbertha

Your sketch is cool. In the first photo you can see how close you have managed to get to that sketch. You've obviously put a lot of time and effort in to it. I look forwaerd to seeing it finished. Do you aim to paint the red pinstriping?

A bit of a cheat. This image is a photoshopped picture.

This was the original photo as it had been photoshopped by another artist:



Here's what I did to his picture:



And then I went further to what you see at the top of the thread.

[blubaja]

I found this on the other forum. Here is in Jairus own words, about the WgonRod kit:

Originally Posted by Jairus

Short answer was I designed the exterior, not the interior. Of the many illustrations that I sent to AMT for the Slammer series someone picked the Chevy woody design for a full kit. The interior and chassis were designed by someone at AMT, as was the name. When I get back home I'll tell you all issue and page where you can find the original illustration published in Car Modeler sometime back in the early 90's.

I just noticed, is that a second supercharger? Terrific hah!

[Mark E.]

That's cool. I didn't mean to be wrong about his involvement on the chassis design. It is well done tho. The interior, with all the 80's Corvette elements and the thouroughly
unthought out seats and door panels are the week spots for me. The cargo area is great tho. I started to build one I was given as a gift, which is why I chose it for the chassis.
I made two alterations to the car by moving the headlights up about 1/4 inch and back a little bit. They're closer to where the stock pods would be. More stuff to take pictures of I guess.


There's a single supercharger on a raised manifold. It's kinda cheesy right now
but the boy wants it raise up out of the hood. I can't remember what kit that thing out of. It works well for getting things where they need to be for now.
Thanks for the comments.

[spideyman]

This will be a very cool truck! I look forward to seeing more

[Mark E.]

Originally Posted by spideyman

This will be a very cool truck! I look forward to seeing more

Thanks man, I like what I've seen of yours as well. I'll be checking in on other projects you've posted.

[willimo]

This is stunning. Your clean fitting cutting and reworking is just... jaw dropping. I am very excited that you're sharing this!

[Mark E.]

Originally Posted by willimo

This is stunning. Your clean fitting cutting and reworking is just... jaw dropping. I am very excited that you're sharing this!

Thanks, I'll be sure to ruin all that come paint time...
That, or I'll get glue all over the windows, Ha!

[blubaja]

Originally Posted by Mark E.

Thanks, I'll be sure to ruin all that come paint time...
That, or I'll get glue all over the windows, Ha!

As our ways would go, it wouldn't seem right, to not paint it. However, I see your mods as something like a perfectly welded, seamed, hotrod in bare metal. Sometimes you just don't need the paint. But, bare styrene just isn't as flattering as bare steel. So good luck with the dam paint!

[quadzero]

Excellent project. I love the old school aspects like the moon caps,(thanks for the great tip in making them). This will be a beautiful model when its done.