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Boyd’s Kitbash Projects

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Need a change of pace? Try a just-for-fun project

HOW MANY model car articles emphasize the importance of detailed planning before the first

part is snipped from the tree? Ever won-der what would happen if you start your next project without a plan, and then see where it takes you?

That’s the premise behind what I affectionately call a Mindless Model: Maximizing the limited time one can spend on our hobby by building instead of tedious planning, and enjoying the hobby without a guilty conscience.

The inspiration for this Mindless Model came from the idea of recreating a simple weekend drag-racer that might have been owned by a builder/driver back in the 1960s, before drag-racing became a full-time professional occupa-tion; Gray Baskerville’s 1929 Model A B/Altered (see Hot Rod, May 1988 and July 2003); an already-built, fuel-injected Chevy small-block model engine based

on the old AMT Parts Packs, including a really cool set of drag-racing exhaust headers; and an Internet posting about the Fuel Altered chassis in IMC’s (and later Testor’s) 1966 VW Beetle kit.

As the project took shape, those styl-ish small-block headers interfered with the cowl of the Revell-Monogram 1929 Model A Rat Rod body. I switched to the original Ala-Kart body found among the extra parts in AMT-Ertl’s 2002 reissue of its 1929 Model A Roadster kit.

I also had to relocate the roll-bar sup-ports, from the kit position behind the roll bar to a location in front of the roll bars, so the body would rest properly on the chassis. With some additional accuracy in the form of some rear radius rods from the parts box, the project developed nearly unstopppable momentum.

Follow the photos for the remaining steps, and a look at how this Mindlesss Model took its final form.

Mindless Model

If you’re ready for a simple and fun car-model project, try an unplanned build of your own. You never know where it will take you - and that’s all

the fun of this carefree modeling approach!

by TIM BOYD

I used an engine from an early-1990s AMT/Ertl Blueprinter Parts Pack (No. 8158), a chassis from the mid-1960s IMC VW Beetle kit (No. 114), and the body from the original AMT Ala-Kart kit, which was included among the parts in the recent reissue of AMT-Ertl’s 1929 Ford Roadster (No. 31757).

44 Scale Auto • OCTOBER 2005© 2008 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. www.ScaleAutoMag.com

This 283 Chevy engine from AMT’s short-lived engine parts pack series of 1963-65, was the inspiration for this project. It was found unplated in a 1993 Ertl Blueprinter mail-order kit offer (No. 8158). The Chevy was built straight from the box, aside from the Hilborn injection from an AMT/Ertl 1955 Nomad kit. Dig those cool headers!

A more-accessible alternative for period-correct drag-racing engines is the series of Revell-Monogram engine parts packs from a few years ago. They can often be found at hobby stores or from mail-order kit suppliers. There are Cadillac, Buick, Chevy, and 427 wedge Ford engines in this series. The 283 Chevy (No. 85-7251) is close to the AMT/Ertl engine I used.

OCTOBER 2005 • scaleautomag.com 45

The early tube-frame gasser chassis contained in the ancient IMC VW Beetle kit of the mid-1960s is crude, and unrealistic design in certain areas, but is loaded with character. I built one for the first time for this project. The roll bar supports are shown in the kit position, but were modified later to better suit the project.

One inaccuracy of the IMC kit is the lack of radius rods, or any other method of locating the rear axle aside from the kit’s coil springs. A quick trip to the parts box showed all these options; I used the optional traction bars from the AMT/Ertl 1951 Chevy Bel Air, but other kits (AMT/Ertl’s 1955 Nomad and Revell-Monogram’s Anglia and Thames) offer equally useful choices.

This close-up of the driver’s compartment shows the simplified kit construction and the opportunity for plenty of additional detailing opportunities. Note the repositioned roll-bar supports.

That retooled Ala-Kart body can be found in this AMT/Ertl kit reis-sue from 2002. It represents the cowl and doors of a Model A Ford, combined with the rear cowl area (behind the doors) from a Model T Ford ¬ exactly the combination of parts a weekend racer might have assembled for a drag-racing project in the early 1960s.

46 Scale Auto • OCTOBER 2005

Up on wheels for the first time, the project is beginning to show the desired results. Note the lack of chromed parts; weekend racers seldom wasted their money on such an extravagance. Various shades of metallic aluminum and steel paints make the project look realistic.

Front and rear body views (stock body on the right in both images): The body required minor modifications to clear the tube frame. In the front firewall area, two notches were just cut into the lower front edge of the body front. In the rear, I cut two notches for the tube frame members and shaved the body area between the two notches. Do these modifications before painting, and be careful not to cut away too much at first. Carefully test-fit the body to the frame each time before trimming away any more material.

An alternative but equally realistic body choice would be the Model A Roadster pickup. You can use the one-piece casting from the AMT-Ertl release of a few years ago (No. 31220) or the Revell-Monogram Rat Rod kit (No. 85-2348). If you use the latter, glue the doors shut to add rigidity and to simulate a one-piece fiberglass racing body shell. Test-fit bodies to see if they clear the exhaust headers.

The body paint scheme was relatively simple, using Testor’s spray-can paints. A few light coats of Base Copper were followed by several coats of Colors by Boyd Roadstar Florida Orange Pearl, topped with Gloss Clear. Use this simple project as a way to improve your painting skills and perhaps avoid the time and effort of using a polishing kit.

Drag-racing projects of this era carried simple, tasteful body lettering. Revell-Mono-gram’s reissue of the 1950 Austin Gasser (No. 85-7698) has a set of several period-correct decal schemes. I used one of the designs with only slight alterations. The lettering sets off the paint scheme nicely.

I decided to use the shortened Model T pickup bed from AMT-Ertl’s 1925 Ford Roadster (No. 31233) rather than an equally correct Turtledeck. I thought it needed a little more visual interest, and molded louvers from early-1960s annual kits offered a quick-and-easy alternative. Two sets of louvers (one per side) were cut down slightly and mounted.

Next up was a cover for the pickup bed. I wrapped and glued leather from a pair of old women’s gloves over an old business card that was cut to fit the opening. The dark-brown leather complemented the paint scheme.

From left: plated 1925 Model T, 1927 Model T, and 1929 Model A grilles are all correct for this type of project. I used the 1927 component, but separated the bottom skirt area. A 1932 Ford grille shell would also be correct.

The drag link in the IMC kit was big and crude. I bent a piece of K&S brass rod, then painted it silver, for a far-more-realistic appearance. I also reduced the size of the pitman arm and drilled several lightening holes in it before it was painted and mounted.

The Mindless Model is now complete. Built as I went along, instead of being meticulously planned in advance, yielded a fun-to-build racing car with tons of character. I wouldn’t advocate this carefree building approach for every project, but as an occasional relief from more-intense efforts, it fills the bill every time!

OCTOBER 2005 • scaleautomag.com 47

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DECEMBER 2005 • scaleautomag.com  27

DeuceTen simple steps for kitbashing a 1960s-era

’32 Ford hotrod

In the early days of model-car building, some of the most enjoyable yet easy-to-build projects were based on AMT’s

series of 1932-1940 Ford kits. The simple kit construction and interchangability of major components between the kit offer-ings provided the basis for many interest-ing and eye-catching projects.   

Surprisingly enough, it is still pretty easy to build projects today that are based on the same basic kit approach from more than 40 years ago.

Recently I decided at the last minute to complete a 1960s-style hotrod for the special “Mercs and Deuces” subtheme for the 25th NNL Nationals. There was just enough time to snap a few pictures of the key steps as I completed assembly; we thought you might like to follow along and ponder a similar project of your own.

Kitbash aSome simple kitbashing and swapping of 1960s-era parts resulted in this chopped-and-channeled 1932 Ford Five Window project. The color is from the 1961 Studebaker paint palette and is called “Flamingo.”

I used the Replicas & Miniatures of Maryland 1932 Ford Five Window resin body. The body fea-tures a two-inch chop and is ready for paint right out of the shipping box. (AMT/ertl is due to reissue its original unchopped 1932 Five Window soon). The chassis, hood, and firewall are from the AMT/ertl 1932 Phaeton, and the grille shell is an out-of-production component from Accu-Pro (although the counterpart AMT/ertl Phaeton part will also work). The paint is a special-order color from McW Automotive Finishes.

by TIM BOYD

© 2008 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. www.ScaleAutoMag.com

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The chassis was modified with both crossmembers hogged out to allow the springs to fit deeper, which lowers the body height when the vehi-cle is assembled. I then painted the floorboards between the frame rails with Tamiya Flat Beige brush paint.

AMT/ertl’s 1932 Ford Vicky kit was revamped in the late 1970s with updated suspension components that are more accurate, but still result in a high ride height (I actually used the parts from the recently-reissued companion 1932 Ford Phaeton kit). I radically low-ered the front suspension by using the retooled axle, combined with the stock front axle spring, as shown painted and assembled here. The discarded parts are shown below the assembly.

The rear suspension is also based on the retooled parts, but the depth of the tab on top of the leaf spring was cut down, again allowing the spring to tuck up into the crossmember, thereby lowering the ride height. The mid-1960s Rader rear wheels and M&H slicks are from Revell’s 1964 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt kit.

The engine is the early chrysler Hemi from the AMT/ertl 1932 Ford Roadster kit, augmented with different valve covers, air cleaners, and minimal engine wiring. Any of the engines from AMT’s early hot rod Ford kits (1932, 1936, and 1940) can swap in without modification; they use common engine mount and transmission mount locations.

The Rader front wheels are also from Revell’s 1964 Thunderbolt, and the tires are from Polar Lights’ Funny car kits. The headers

shown here are the only obscure parts used for this project: they are from the AMT/ertl

Blueprinter reissue of the old Double Dragster kit. A similar part could be sourced from the leftovers of two of Revell-Monogram’s 1929

and/or 1931 Ford Rat Rod kits.

28  Scale Auto • DECEMBER 2005

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DECEMBER 2005 • scaleautomag.com  29

Tinted Plexiglas was just starting to be used on drag-racing cars during the mid-1960s, so I took some unexposed-but-developed 35mm slide film and cut it to fit the front, rear, and rear windows of the kit. Five-minute epoxy was the medium for attaching the transparent gray film to the body.

The simple interior comprises the front bench seat, floorboard, and instrument cluster from AMT/ertl’s Phaeton kit. The early sprint-style steering wheel comes from the Monogram 1929 Model A Street Rod pickup kit.

For a different look, I omitted the typical 1932 Ford grille, and ran just the grille shell with the radiator front fully visible. Thinned flat-black paint over body-color radiator fins gives a realistic look; the license plate was cut from a decal sheet intact with the backing paper, then glued in place with five-minute epoxy.

The body is channeled over (rather than sitting on top of) the frame. The frame design allows this change with no alterations, other than removing about 1⁄8 inch of the bottom of the front firewall, then sliding the body over the frame rails. The 1950 Pontiac taillights are from AMT/ertl’s 1934 Ford Five Window Street Rod kit.

COMpleTeD MODel

Big V-8s were part-and-parcel of mid-1960s hotrods. I used the 392 Hemi, but AMT’s early Ford hotrod kits also included 283 chevy, 389 Pontiac, 394 Olds, 401 Buick, and 427 Ford engines that fit this appli-cation without alterations. I added spark plug wiring and carb fuel lines (the latter complete with a firewall-mounted fuel-distribution block).

AMT’s early hot rod kits featured simple construction, but with thoughtful painting and assembly, they can still look surprisingly lifelike. The front and rear radius rods were from the late-1970s revamp of the Vicky/Phaeton kit, and were cut down at the frame mounting points to provide a more-realistic appearance.

Roundtable Extra

24  Scale Auto • JUNE 2006

Chop That TopIt only takes two hours – we show you how – on AMT/Ertl’s ‘65 Buick Rivieraby TIM BOYD

Within hours of the opening of Scale Auto’s “Roundtable” (August 2005 issue), in poured the

questions – and the subject of chopping tops kept coming up: Is there an easy way to reduce the height of roofs for street rods, customs, and ’50s/’60s street warriors? Can chopping be done by the less-experienced modeler? How long does it take to chop a top? Are certain types of cars easier to chop than others?

I’ve done articles on this subject (see References box), and the short word is that chopping anything – aside from a

1920s to early-1930s body, with com-pletely upright roof posts – is a fairly involved procedure.

When windshield pillars (A-pillars) and rear window pillars (C-pillars) began to slant with car designs starting in the mid-1930s, chopping became far more complex. Add in the “tumblehome” that became more popular in car design as the century progressed, and chopping a top became similar to taking a section out of an upside-down ice cream cone: When you put the pieces back together, the top part is too short in length and

width to bridge the gap of the lower part of the cone.

This means that after removing the two- to five-scale-inch top section, you typically must cut the remaining roof apart in both directions so that you can extend its length and width to bridge the larger gap.

(When viewed from behind the car, tumblehome is the amount that the “greenhouse” of the car tapers to a nar-rower form from the top of the fenders to the roof.)

In a desire to show enough of the

How To

Top-CH

oppin

g basi

Cs

Tim uses AMT/Ertl’s 1965 Buick Riviera to demon-strate a relatively simple chopping technique that applies to certain mid-20th-century body styles. For those who have never chopped a top, this technique is a good way to begin to build your skills.

© 2008 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. www.ScaleAutoMag.com

JUNE 2006 • scaleautomag.com  25

chopping technique to allow our first-time top-choppers to get their feet wet but not to overwhelm them, I wondered if there was a simpler technique I could demonstrate for this article – one that would definitely reduce time and com-plexity, but would be a bit restricted in its application. In our own version of “Reality TV” our studio cameras would record just how it all worked out.

This simplified technique is best suited to cars of the late 1950s to early 1970s that have narrow and straight A-pillars, wide C-pillars, and relatively little tum-blehome.

The 1964-71 Thunderbirds, Rivieras, Toronados, El Dorados, mid-to-late-1960s Ford Galaxies, and 1969-73 Chevy Impalas are good candidates for this technique; the 1949-51 Mercurys (thick A-pillars and relatively narrow C-pillars) and the 1968-70 Chargers (severe degree

of tumblehome) would not work for this top-chopping approach.

This technique works only for mild top chops – less than three-scale-inch reduction in vertical height (less than 1/8 inch in 1/25 scale). This is OK, as when building 1960s cars, car-design experts view radical chops as being outré; a two-scale-inch chop yields a far better result than a four- or five-inch chop.

So although it’s a bit narrow in its application, in theory our simpler approach will still apply to many of the bodies that fit the currently popular genres of lowriders, mild street customs, and “real street/g-force style” 1960s-vin-tage street machines.

Did our theories work? Follow the next 19 steps and decide for yourself.

In less than two hours (including the time to set up the photography and deal with some superglue that wasn’t bonding

particularly well), I completed an effec-tive 2½-scale-inch top chop on AMT/Ertl’s 1965 Buick Riviera.

The finished body will require mini-mal use of body putty/surfacer, and no molding or reestablishment of character lines will be needed.

I don’t want to oversimplify here; if this is your first top chop, you may want to practice on an extra body rather than your in-process contest-winner.

As with any technique of this type, practice makes perfect. But I rate your chances of success as very good if you’ve followed the guidelines above.

We hope that if you’ve been consider-ing top-chopping for the first time, you’ll accept our challenge, follow along with the photo steps, and add top-chopping to your repertoire of model-building skills. Drop us a line and let us know how it works out!

3 Turn the car over and “score” along the inside joint where the A-pillar meets the roof. Cut to about 1/3 of the depth of

the styrene to preserve strength, while enabling the styrene to bend at the joint later in the chopping process.

1 We’re using AMT/Ertl’s evergreen 1965 Buick Riviera to demonstrate how to per-form a 21⁄2-scale-inch chop to the “green-

house” area of the body. Begin by removing the vent-window pillar (marked in red).

2 Instead of chopping the A-pillars, we’ll bend them to a more-horizontal position than the relatively upright configuration

of the stock body. To help the bending process, “score” a horizontal cut at the bottom of the A-pillars. The trick is to make the cut deep enough so the pillar will bend, but not so deep that the pillar joint breaks during handling.

4 Place some masking tape on a hard sur-face (glass or a mirror works fine), then cut a strip to uniform width. In 1/25

scale, a 1⁄8-inch width equates to a three-scale-inch chop. For this 21⁄2-scale-inch chop, I cut the tape to a width of 7⁄64 inch – “sec-tioning tape” in the following steps.

5 Apply the sectioning tape to the C-pillar area, with the top of the tape serving as an extension of the top of the side win-

dow opening (also known as “DLO” for “day-light opening”). I’ve added red marks at the top and bottom of the sectioning tape as a visual guide for the razor-saw cuts to come.

6 Apply some tape across the top of the roof, just forward of the joint of the roof top with the backlight. We’ll only cut

along the back edge of the tape (signified by the small arrows), so the width of this tape is not important.

26  Scale Auto • JUNE 2006

7 Begin by cutting across the top. Note that the razor-saw blade is angled to be parallel with the backlight. I cut deeply

enough to reach the bottom of the sectioning tape on each side, but as you’ll see, I later extended this cut all the way to the bottom of the C-pillar.

8 Turn the body on its side and complete one cut along the top of the sectioning tape, then make a parallel cut along the

lower edge of the sectioning tape. Cut all the way through to the angular cut made in the previous step, so the piece of the body attached to the sectioning tape is cut free. Repeat these steps for the other side.

9 After the cuts are complete, the project should look like this. The roof section is standing free at the C-pillar area, held in

place only by the forward A-pillars. The amount removed doesn’t look like much here, but trust me: the end result will be striking.

10 Carefully push the roof section to the rear, enabling the A-pillars to bend at the intersection with the

roof and the beltline of the body. This is best done as a series of bending maneuvers so the styrene will accept the new rearward and downward position of the roof panel. This approach probably will not work with more-brittle resin aftermarket bodies.

11 After matching the roof section to the C-pillars, it became obvious that I would have to bend the C-pillars inward

where they intersected the roof. I extended the cut shown in Step 7, again cutting parallel with the angle of the rear window. I cut all the way to the bottoms of the C-pillars.

12 Bend the C-pillars inward with your thumbs, again using a series of bend-ing maneuvers. To help the styrene

bend, run hot (but not boiling) tap water over the intersection of the C-pillar and the fender for 20-30 seconds, then repeat the bending maneuvers. The tops of the C-pillars should mate with the slightly narrower roof panel without having to be held in place.

13 Continue to test-fit the roof in its new location by pushing it rearward and slightly downward. As shown

here, you are striving for an alignment where the top of the DLO is parallel to the bottom of the DLO/beltline. When all is set, use super glue to attach the roof at the rear C-pillars.

14 With the roof in place, the rear win-dow is now too tall. Apply some sec-tioning tape just below the top of the

rear window opening. Remove the styrene beneath the tape by cutting along the top and bottom surfaces of the sectioning tape.

15 After the last step is completed, you’ll have a separate piece of sty-rene representing the top of the rear

window. Test-fit it back in place, filing down the mating surfaces if necessary to be sure that the top of this piece mates with the top of the remaining roof panel.

JUNE 2006 • scaleautomag.com  27

RefeRenceS

“Building a Late Model Custom,” Scale Auto Enthusiast #13, May/June 1981 (Chopping a 1970 Impala)

“Chopping the Mercury Top – Getting it Right the First Time,” Scale Auto Enthusiast #14, March/April 1983 (Two methods for chopping a 1949-50 Mercury)

“Retro Rod,” Car Modeler 1999 (Chopping a 1932-34 Ford pickup)

16 Here’s the new rear-window treat-ment. In addition to gluing the top of the rear window frame in place, apply

gap-filling super glue along the remaining cuts from Step 11. Reinforce earlier joints if neces-sary, so the body will stand up to the filing steps to come.

17 Before additional bodywork, I rein-forced the A-pillar joints from the inside of the body with narrow strips

of K&S sheet brass, glued into place with five-minute epoxy.

18 Use a flat file to “work” the mating surfaces of the roof, C-pillar, and backlight. If you did the previous

steps correctly, it shouldn’t take too much work to file achieve a consistent surface, requiring only minor filling along the seams to make the body ready for paint.

19 Clean up the A-pillar surfaces with the file too, in case there is any irregularity from the earlier bending

maneuvers. Use the bodywork techniques in the upcoming “Body Building Basics” article (August issue) to prepare the body for the color paint coats. During final assembly, you’ll need to cut the windshield apart from the rest of the clear styrene casting in this kit, but after this step it appears to fit perfectly. In some cases, you may need to cut a new wind-shield from clear sheet styrene to fit the new angle of the windshield pillars.

24  Scale Auto • FEBRUARY 2007

Build a 1932 Ford Roadster

Revell-Monogram’s Highboy is bad to the bone by TIM BOYD

Just about ten years ago, I began to assemble the prototype of the all-new Revell-Monogram 1932 Ford

Three Window Coupe. Packaged in a plain cardboard box of

trees representing three versions of the kit, and molded in three different colors (bright green, terracotta, and white), it became quickly evident that the kits would be the benchmark for 1932 Ford street rod kits that we had wanted for many years.

What I did not grasp then was the overwhelming popularity in store for this trio of kits (the aforementioned three-window, a mostly accurate replica of Dan Wood’s Speedwagon Phantom, and a contemporary Highboy Roadster pat-terned loosely after a car in Bruce Meyer’s hot rod collection). Scale Auto readers picked the kit series as Kit of the

Millennium. Many modelers have built multiple versions of the kit, and the kits remain popular.

Revell-Monogram recently repack-aged the Three Window and Roadster kits, with updated decals and “Good guys” nomenclature, and they are inves-tigating additional body styles and build-ing versions.

We thought you might enjoy a look at the “Bad to the Bone” Highboy Roadster – a recent buildup of one version of that 1932 Ford kit I speculated about more than a decade ago.

It clearly owes its parts of its lineage to the historic Doane Spencer roadster that many experts now cite as the defini-tive 1:1 scale Deuce Highboy, but with a more contemporary flavor.

It’s finished in sinister black primer, runs on unpolished Halibrands, is

slammed about as low as a street-driven rod can be, and further cheats the wind with a stealthy two-inch body channel and a Duvall windshield.

The Highboy gets its power from a 514 Ford Motorsports engine, and it lib-erally uses parts from the model-car aftermarket, which has embraced this series of kits with hundreds of scale parts and accessories.

Revell-Monogram’s mid-1990s series of newly tooled 1932 Ford kits is the most-significant event in street rod mod-eling in many years.

With the 75th anniversary of the orig-inal 1932 Ford in 2007, now’s a good time to pick up one of these kits, a fresh set of hobby-knife blades, some paint and glue, and follow along as I show you how I built the Bad to the Bone 1932 Highboy Roadster.

This bad-to-the-bone 1932 Ford Roadster is a kitbash of Revell-Monogram’s 1932

Ford Highboy Roadster, which was introduced in the mid-1990s.

© 2009 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. www.ScaleAutoMag.com

FEBRUARY 2007 • scaleautomag.com  25

I built this Ford 385 Series V-8 from Revell-Monogram’s Pro-Modeler 1970 Torino GT (kit 85-5958), which has the first accurate 429 Cobra Jet in 1/25 scale. I used Ford Racing accessory parts, and refer to the engine as having 514 cubic inches, because the outward appearance of the engines is essentially the same. I cut down the fan belt by removing the power-steering pump.

I wanted to use the block-hugger headers from Revell-Monogram’s recent 1941 Willys Street Rod kit (85-2371, reissued as 85-2023). I had to remove some material on the underside of the headers so they would match the Cobra Jet cylinder heads and tuck up inside the frame rails.

To extend the new headers to the 1932 Ford kit exhausts, I cut off the front parts of the exhaust system from the Revell-Monogram 1941 Willys Street Rod kit, and painted them Testor’s Chrome to match the plating on the headers. The finished parts are in the center, with the original parts on the outside.

I had to move the front engine mounts forward (the white area on the left frame rail is the original location). The front axle, tie rods, and disc brakes are from the Revell-Monogram 1934 Ford Cabriolet (85-7647), which places the front end closer to the ground than the stock Revell-Monogram 1932 Ford kit parts.

The R-M 1932 Ford kit has a standard Ford rear axle, but I like to cut the differential from the axle ends and insert a new center section. The Quick Change rear end (upper left) is in many 1/25 scale Dirt Track, Modified, and Craftsman Truck kits; a reinforced center section (upper right) is in AMT/Ertl’s 1970 Coronet Super Bee pro street kit (6140). Drill the axle ends to accept a 1/25 scale annual kit metal axle, and use it to align the parts.

The steering box is from Revell-Monogram’s Tweedy Pie 2 kit (85-7675). The chromed hair-pin radius rods are from the recent reissue of the original Revell Orange Crate kit (85-4162). Note the accurate detailing around the cross-member area, which is all part of the Revell-Monogram 1932 Ford kits.

The engine and rear axle are airbrushed in MCW 1972 Mustang Bright Lime paint. The Halibrand wheels come from a reissue of the R-M Mickey Thompson Attempt One kit (7119) and are finished in Testor’s Model Masters Metalizer 1453 Magnesium spray paint.

The body is slightly channeled over the frame, accomplished by remov-ing a section of the bottom and front edges of the interior components (indicated in blue). These interior parts are a tuck-and-roll conversion (RH-503) of the stock R-M kit parts, manufactured by Replicas & Miniatures Company of Maryland.

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26  Scale Auto • FEBRUARY 2007

The instrument panel is patterned after the 1935 Auburn (RH-508 from R&M); the Sprint-style steering wheel is in R-M’s 1929 Ford Model A Pickup (85-7555). Ken’s Fuzzi-Fur is used on the floorboard and the bottom of the door panels. White and Mustang Bright Lime paint is overcoated with Testor’s Semigloss Clear to replicate upholstery.

As you fit the body to the chassis, check the fit around the new engine; added clearance is needed. I notched the firewall to clear the driver’s-side valve cover, signified by the blue area of the firewall.

I used a resin conversion from R&M that includes a Duvall windshield and the corresponding recess in the body to allow mounting of the win-dow. I sent the Duvall windshield to Chrome-Tech USA for plating. The body parts were attached with Devcon 5-minute epoxy, held in align-ment with pieces of masking tape.

I used Model Car Garage’s Revell-Monogram 1932 Ford Detailing Set (MCG-2091) for the radiator grille insert. To provide a plated appear-ance, Simichrome polish was applied to the grille before installation.

I used the “big” headlamps option from R-M’s 1932 Ford Three Window (85-7605 or 85-2024), and fog lamps from Revell-Monogram’s 1939 Chevy Coupe (2719) or Sedan Delivery (85-2592). The rear taillamps were from the Highboy Roadster kit, but were thinned so that they would look more in scale.

I used a strip of adhesive foil to make sure that the taillamps were cor-rectly aligned as the epoxy cured. Those aluminum megaphone exhaust tips come from Parts by Parks (5001). The rear tires are from the '32 Highboy Roadster kit, and wear scuffed treads for a more-accurate appearance, courtesy 240-grit sandpaper.

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The Model Car Garage2908 SE Bella Rd. Port St. Lucie FL 34984www.modelcargarage.com

MCW Automotive FinishesBox 518 Burlington NC 27216-0518www.ourworld.cs.com/mcwautofinishes

Replicas & Miniatures Co.of Maryland 317 Roosevelt Ave. SW Glen Burnie MD 21061E-mail: replmincomd@aol.com

Parts by Parks501 N. 2nd Ave.Marshalltown IA 50518 E-mail: prtsbprk@mchisi.com

Ken’s Kustom Kar SupplyBox 85Fremont OH 43420-0085E-mail: SmitAtoGrp@aol.com

Chrome-Tech USA 2314 Ravenswood Rd. Madison WI 53711www.chrometechusa.com

Underneath we see the completed detailed suspension and drive train. Although I chose to swap some parts, the stock Revell-Monogram chas-sis builds up to an accurate result.

Sparkplug wiring and a line from the fuel pump to the carburetor add realism. The air cleaner can be found in the AMT/Ertl Pro Shop 1932 Ford Roadster (8351), and is also available in resin from R&M.

The “on the ground” stance is a function of the suspension alterations and the subtle body channeling, further emphasized by the large headlamps and auxiliary driving lamps. Note the accurate appearance of the photoetched grille.

SOurceS

With help from the aftermarket, and inspira-tion from the 1:1 scale Duane Spencer car, this 1/25 scale project car captures the excite-ment of the 1932 Ford Highboy Roadster.

26  Scale Auto • APRIL 2007

kitbashingCombine several kits to build a hot rod – the easy way

by TIM BOYD

how does one define kitbashing? And how would extreme kitbashing differ? For me, it means building a miniature automobile from a model manufacturer’s kit, but with

individual personalized features, resulting from substitution of parts from other model kits during the building process.

This might include different wheels and tires; perhaps a dif-ferent engine (or, at least, different induction and exhaust com-ponents); and detail changes for the exterior (such as adding 1937 Ford taillamps to a street rod project).

Moving on several levels to extreme kitbashing, this means combining assemblies from several different kits in a way that results in a completed model that looks much different than any of the kits that contributed parts to the project.

As Exhibit A, we submit the T-bucket-style Oldsmobile hot rod shown in this article. Looking at the completed model, it would be hard to identify a single model car kit that provided the basis for this project.

Extreme kitbashing can, by definition, lead to a very

involved, many-year project, with the inevitable setbacks along the way that conspire to prevent the project from reaching completion.

But that doesn’t always have to be the case. For this project, I combined a body from one kit, an engine

based on a second kit, and a frame from a third kit. Together with additional kitbashing of the traditional type (wheels and tires, engine induction, etc), I came up with a visually distinc-tive model that can be put together over a couple of months instead of a couple of years – or decades, in some cases!

The inspiration for this model is the car-show hot rods of the 1960s. Unlike today, where only the Model T body forms the basis of what we call “Fad Ts”, in the 1960s, any early roadster body style by any manufacturer could be lowered over a frame of steel channel rails, combined with a period engine, skinny front tires with slicks out back, fancy paint, and plenty of chrome – and the result would be a showstopper, worthy of a featured spot at any car show. If the car builder was lucky, the

Extreme

this mid-1960s-style “Olds-bucket” hot rod is an example of Extreme kitbashing, done in a way that

involves a relatively short and easy building period.

bash a V-8hot rod!

© 2008 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. www.ScaleAutoMag.com

APRIL 2007 • scaleautomag.com  27

car’s “career” could even include a color feature in Car Craft, Rod & Custom, or Hot Rod magazines.

Accordingly, our model replicates a circa 1967 or 1968 “bucket” rod that could have been a magazine-feature car –based on, of all things, an ancient Oldsmobile body!

Looking through the various reissued 1970s MPC show car kits from AMT/Ertl, I settled on the Vending Machine as hav-ing a frame that would work. Featuring a fully-chromed Corvette IRS and the overall correct ride height, the frame came together quickly, with the only change being the terrific period-style wheels and front tires from Revell-Monogram’s Ed Roth Mysterion reissue.

That dual Judson Olds V-8 dropped right in the frame. The roadster body casting, the floorboard (cut away from the fender unit), and the fuel tank (cut away from the frame) -- all from the Beverly Hillbillies kit – completed the project.

Extreme kitbashing – the easy way – is a surefire recipe for an entertaining building project that isn’t traceable to a single kit, but also doesn’t require an investment of many months or years to compete. Take a look at your hot-rod-era kit inven-tory; perhaps peruse the accompanying “Hot Rod Engines” article series for inspiration on a period engine choice; then embark on your own extreme kitbashing project!

taking the body casting from the aMt/Ertl 2004 reissue of the beverly hillbillies kit (31753), i removed a portion of the rear bulkhead to clear the new frame. as it turned out, i removed about 1⁄8 inch more material than needed, so make your horizontal cut about 1⁄8 inch lower on the body than shown here, then trial-fit to the final dimension.

i used the entire frame from the aMt/Ertl 2003 reissue of the Vending Machine kit (no. 31920), with the only modification being to remove the header support extensions from the rear crossmember before installation.

Most of the suspension components from the Vending Machine kit are plated, which quickens assembly by omission of the painting process. i applied spray chrome paint to the rear differential/leaf spring unit to tie-in with the remaining plated parts.

the completed frame and suspension assembly goes together easily, and doesn’t require modifications to get the correct ride height. the frame unit was painted the same color as the body.

the next major step is to fit the engine and the body unit to the frame. note the rear body area, where i cut away a portion to clear the frame kickup in the rear. note that the bottom of the body lines up with the bottom of the frame (called “channeling” in the hot rod world), rather than sitting on top of the frame.

28  Scale Auto • APRIL 2007

For a time, i was stumped about completing the interior, but then the thought occurred to just use the kit floorboard. the floorboard had to be separated from the fender unit – it is the component in the bottom center of this photo – but when it was done, it fit perfectly.

i could have used a wide range of components for the interior, such as the seats and door panels from aMt/Ertl’s 1932 Ford Phantom Phaeton Vicky (left), or any set of bucket seats from my parts box. but in the spirit of completing the model the easy way, i used the Beverly Hillbillies seat, shortened to fit the new application (remove the red-hatched area in the seat, shown at bottom center).

i finished the model with the wheels and front tires from a 1994 reissue of Revell’s Ed Roth Mysterion (1:1277:200), along with the rear slicks from the Polar Lights late-1960s Funny Car series. the paint is sev-eral coats of tamiya ts-50 Mica blue Metallic, with a gloss Clear overcoat.

When MPC’s Beverly Hillbillies kit came out around 1970, I figured it was just another of the company’s typical show-car kits, and so I pretty much ignored it. When I actually pur-chased the kit a decade later, as part of a buyout of a hobby store’s outdated merchandise, I was stunned to find a sec-ond building version that replicated the “stock” TV-show vehicle – even down to a well-done antique four-cylinder engine and chassis.

By this time, the street rod world was starting to show a fascination with non-Ford antique cars, so I set about trying to identify if this “stock” version replicated a 1:1 car.

At first, I thought it was a 1915 Dodge, but after continued looking at several other old-car books, I concluded it was a late-teens Oldsmobile. (We now know that the original Beverly

Hillbillies truck was, indeed, an Oldsmobile).I put together an engine that would complement a street

rod that was intended to be based directly on the Beverly Hillbillies model. The engine was based on the Oldsmobile V-8 in the AMT 1940 Willys Gasser kit, but topped with the unusual dual Judson supercharger setup in AMT’s 1964 Olds Cutlass Convertible annual kit. And that’s when the project stopped, until early last year when AMT/Ertl reissued the Beverly Hillbillies kit in its complete, original form.

With the fascination in today’s 1:1 hot rod world with 1950s and 1960s hot rods, and some inspiration from similar suc-cessful builds by other model builders, I gave the project renewed interest.

– Tim Boyd

The ClAMpeTTS DrOve An OlDSMOBIle

APRIL 2007 • scaleautomag.com  29

i used the Oldsmobile radiator and chrome surround from the Beverly Hillbillies kit, but located it behind the front crossmember and in a low-ered position to tie to the cowl height of the body. those headlamps and stands came from Revell-Monogram’s street t (aka Little t) kit, but similar units are available in the easier-to-find aMt/Ertl 1925 Model t kit.

i cut away the stock fuel tank from the Beverly Hillbillies frame, finished it in testor’s Model Master aluminum paint, then applied bare-Metal foil to the mounting brackets. the taillamps are cut down from the Revell-Monogram 1932 Ford street Rod series. the Rat Rod license plate stretches the definition of rat rod a bit, but i’d guess that this type of hot rod would likely be welcomed at any rat-rod event, despite its show-car level of finish.

the windshield frame is from the Beverly Hillbillies kit, but i had to cut the “glass” from sheet acetate; there is no window in the kit. the inte-rior features a relatively low level of fit-out for a show car (upgrade your project as you see fit), but i did employ a new instrument panel from Model Car garage’s MCg-2045 photo etch kit.

the engine is a centerpiece for this type of car, so i chose the 394 Early Olds V-8 from aMt/Ertl’s 2001 reissue of its 1940 Willys kit (no. 31021). it’s topped with a dual Judson supercharger setup, sourced from aMt’s original 1964 Oldsmobile Cutlass Convertible annual kit (no. 5014).

the floorboard is finished in flat black, to showcase the frame and suspension components. that neat ribbed-and-plated oil pan is part of the 394 Olds engine from the aMt/Ertl 1940 Ford Willys kit.