"Faded Glory" - As-found '48 Ford Coupe Hot Rod - Completed
Jul 4, 2019 17:51:20 GMT -8
Chris K. Hale likes this
Post by Bernard Kron on Jul 4, 2019 17:51:20 GMT -8
A while back I picked up a Revell ’48 Ford Coupe Police Car kit on sale for $10.00, strictly as a parts kit f" r the flathead, the wheels and tires, and the stock rear axle. As it happened this gave me a complete set of Revell ‘48’s, the convertible, the chopped coupe and the stock height coupe (although now I would need to get the Greased Lightning convertible). My longer term plan is to graft the convertible cowl, upper door section and rear deck to the chopped coupe main body and build a high-style early 50’s full custom with a Carson top, taking advantage of the large assortment of period custom parts that come with the chopped coupe. But for now I was looking for a simple project that I could do during the month of July before going on vacation in August which will get me away from modeling for a while. I decided to do a weathered stock height coupe using the parts in the kit I wasn’t saving for other projects.
The idea I have is to do an early 60’s street rod in a contemporary “as-found” condition. Restored hot rods with their original unmolested patina are quite the style right now so I decided to do one with a faded paint job, but not a rust bucket. This would be a nice street machine that’s been stored in a garage for the past 40 years or so, so that the paint oxidized but, other than some dirt and minor surface corrosion, it’s quite sound. I wanted to achieve a believable, realistic patina without a lot of heavy handed rust. The result is shown in the photo below. Capturing it photographically was really quite difficult, but I think the pictures will give you an idea. The original color would have been a deep candy or metallic red-violet. Over the years the paint had worn through and faded in various areas, sometimes down to the red primer and even to the metal in spots. There’s also some accumulated dirt showing.
I started with a base coat of dark grey primer. The next coat was a color coat of silver metallic to represent the bare metal layer. This was followed by a layer of red oxide primer and then a layer of Dark Toreador Red Metallic which would represent the original color in its current as-found condition. All the paints used were Duplicolor rattle cans.
By lightly and carefully wet sanding with 400 grit sandpaper I was able to reveal the red primer and bare metal layers in the appropriate places. This was followed by a very light application of Kosutte Gin San metalizing powder. This gave the paint surfaces a faded, oxidized look and added some sheen to the bare metal spots. I then sparingly applied some black acrylic wash and wiped most of it away by lightly brushing it with tissue paper. This added dirt and grime.
The louvered hood is from the chopped coupe kit, a part I won’t be using in the Carson topped kustom I’ll be building. It’s just what’s needed for this old street rod. The chopped coupe kit will also provide the tuck and roll interior.
The car will be lowered all around. I dropped the stock height front axle by raising the spindles. The motor will be a Revell Parts Pak Pontiac 421. Most likely with the Tri-Power carburetor setup. With the extra power I’ll be using a nicely detailed resin Pontiac Catalina rear axle I got from Ed Fluck at Drag City Casting. The stance of the car will determine wheel and tire choice and whether it leans to Show or Performance. The chassis will be weathered to go with the body patina.
This shouldn’t be a very complex project now that the paint is done. I should be able to update with chassis and motor pics next week.
Thanx, for lookin’
B.
The idea I have is to do an early 60’s street rod in a contemporary “as-found” condition. Restored hot rods with their original unmolested patina are quite the style right now so I decided to do one with a faded paint job, but not a rust bucket. This would be a nice street machine that’s been stored in a garage for the past 40 years or so, so that the paint oxidized but, other than some dirt and minor surface corrosion, it’s quite sound. I wanted to achieve a believable, realistic patina without a lot of heavy handed rust. The result is shown in the photo below. Capturing it photographically was really quite difficult, but I think the pictures will give you an idea. The original color would have been a deep candy or metallic red-violet. Over the years the paint had worn through and faded in various areas, sometimes down to the red primer and even to the metal in spots. There’s also some accumulated dirt showing.
I started with a base coat of dark grey primer. The next coat was a color coat of silver metallic to represent the bare metal layer. This was followed by a layer of red oxide primer and then a layer of Dark Toreador Red Metallic which would represent the original color in its current as-found condition. All the paints used were Duplicolor rattle cans.
By lightly and carefully wet sanding with 400 grit sandpaper I was able to reveal the red primer and bare metal layers in the appropriate places. This was followed by a very light application of Kosutte Gin San metalizing powder. This gave the paint surfaces a faded, oxidized look and added some sheen to the bare metal spots. I then sparingly applied some black acrylic wash and wiped most of it away by lightly brushing it with tissue paper. This added dirt and grime.
The louvered hood is from the chopped coupe kit, a part I won’t be using in the Carson topped kustom I’ll be building. It’s just what’s needed for this old street rod. The chopped coupe kit will also provide the tuck and roll interior.
The car will be lowered all around. I dropped the stock height front axle by raising the spindles. The motor will be a Revell Parts Pak Pontiac 421. Most likely with the Tri-Power carburetor setup. With the extra power I’ll be using a nicely detailed resin Pontiac Catalina rear axle I got from Ed Fluck at Drag City Casting. The stance of the car will determine wheel and tire choice and whether it leans to Show or Performance. The chassis will be weathered to go with the body patina.
This shouldn’t be a very complex project now that the paint is done. I should be able to update with chassis and motor pics next week.
Thanx, for lookin’
B.
