Earl Marischal Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 ...to turn the new Revell/Monogram '29 into this?http://silodrome.com/1929-ford-dick-flint-roadster/stevePS Straight Yes or No acceptable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 51 Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 (edited) Feasible?absolutely, if you have the skills to do it... it's a "Straight YES"! You'll have to make the nose/grille,hood,belly pans,hairpins,nerf bars etc and source the engine/trans and running gear to build a replica of that car. Edited September 19, 2015 by mike 51 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 (edited) Yes, of course. Just as mike 51 says. "You'll have to make the nose/grille,hood,belly pans,hairpins,nerf bars etc and source the engine/trans and running gear to build a replica of that car. " I'm doing the Eddie Dye car on a WIP thread already. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/105602-eddie-dye-roadster-new-revell-29-scratchbash-sept-15-scaling-and-scratching/ The Dick Flint, Eddie Dye and Bill Niekamp cars are the best known and most perfectly built of all of the post-war track-nose '29 hot-rods. The Dick Flint car... Eddie Dye roadster... Bill Niekamp's car was the very first AMBR winner in 1950, and is now fully restored. Edited September 21, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 51 Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 If you have the skills and desire to build it, please share it here as you proceed with the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rel14 Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 sure it is,, I have a couple nose cones like the baby blue one,, think they came from a old monogram midget model, the chrome front bumper would come from the same kit, a midget, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 51 Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 (edited) Except that's not the car he was asking about....it would be much harder to duplicate the red car Edited September 20, 2015 by mike 51 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent G Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 I am not normally a fan of track nosed rods, but these three are simply beautiful automobiles.G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim boyd Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 I've had my model car eyes on the Niekamp Roadster ever since the original restoration articles in Rod and Custom in 1971.In recent years, it has come to light that the body was shortened (lengthwise) through the center/door area, adding to the complexity of making a model replica. On the other hand, the Revell Edelbrock Midget nose cone could serve as the basis for a front end conversion. And yes, I have my MCW Automotive Finishes '50 Chrysler Code 05 Haze Blue paint in hand, along with a file nearly 1" thick with reference material. Some day....TIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Marischal Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share Posted September 20, 2015 If you have the skills and desire to build it, please share it here as you proceed with the project.Sadly, I don't think I have. I was just curious.All three of those cars are extremely beautiful and it is possibly a surprise no-one does either kits or resin bodies of them. Especially given the fame of the prototypes.steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 (edited) Hi guys,I have had plans on doing the Dick Flint roadster for years but I HAVE built not one but two versions of the Niekamp roadster.The first one I built has a windshield and lives permanently in the Oakland Roadster Show diorama in Salt Lake City. Some of you may have seen it before because it is in the front row of the display and often shows up in photos of the diorama.The second version is done sans windshield and with a tonneau cover as in the photo above. One twist - I put the steering wheel on the right as I do with most of my collection - it's an Aussie thing!I have my own vacforming machine and I carved wooden moulds for the nose, hood, bellypan floor and spring covers and then vacformed the parts with 1mm high impact styrene plastic. I used the photoetched grille that comes in Model Car Garage's Model T track nose part. This is a perfect size but has slightly squared off lower corners - at least they tend to be hidden behind the nerf bar. And yes, both my models are shortened 4mm to match the four inch shortening that Bill did to the real car. Remember, the real car had the left hand door welded shut so shortening it isn't that hard, especially if you hinge the shortened right hand door like I did.(By the way, I'm thinking that MCG's Model A track nose might be a good start on the Eddie Dye car.)I hand mixed the colour for my first version and airbrushed it but cheated on my second one using a Tamiya spay can but cant remember the name of the blue just now - maybe Leighton House blue? It was surprisingly close. I soldered up a half chassis from K&S brass and then slid it in to the front of the car - there is no point building a full frame as it is totally hidden by the bellypan. Instead, I inserted a length of aluminium tubing through the centre of the spring covers and then used the next size down tubing as a rear axle.The motor I used was the 49 merc flathead with 50 Ford chromed heads. There may be better stuff available now but I built both these in the early nineties so that's what I used. I made the unique taillights by doing some very careful cutting and filing on a set of 49 Merc taillights - you have to work with ridiculously small pieces of plastic here but they look convincing when done.Unfortunately I have been frustrated beyond belief trying to use Photobucket this year so I don't have photos to post - Tim, maybe you might have some somewhere that you could pop up here?CheersAlan Edited September 21, 2015 by alan barton Wrong name Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 How's this Alan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Thanks Tom, that's my baby! Colour is a little deeper in the flesh. This version is based on Jim Jacob's restoration in the seventies.CheersAlan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 It's safe there Alan. And I visit it every two years just to be sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim boyd Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 More pix of Alan's Niekamp Roadster replica from my International Model Car Builder's Museum photo album..http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/model-car-events-co/international-model/ .. Alan's outstanding replica is the first one I know of....anyone else done one to date? TIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exotics_Builder Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Well, a good start of a track can come from these: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Bartrop Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 (edited) I've been working on a Neikamp replica on and off, and this is where it is so far. It uses the Amt roadster body and upper hood, with the nose and wheels from Revell's '29 pickup. THe frame and front suspension are scratchbuilt. I'm trying to replicate it as in appeared in the March 1950 issue of Hot Rod, so no windshield, and no tonneau. Of course I found out about the vertical section after I got to this point. Mind you, it was a one inch section in the original, so I guess it comes down to how important that 1/25th of an inch is to you. Edited September 21, 2015 by Richard Bartrop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Richard, your work on the Niekamp car looks to have captured the particular curve of the nose and overall proportions very well. Alan, your version looks great too. I wish I'd known about this last time I was in Salt Lake City. Sure would have made time to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Thank you Tom, Tim, and Bill,I started with the Revell track nose and massaged it quite a lot before casting a solid one out of Bondo to use as a plug for my vacforms. What I love about vacforming is that you end up with a rigid piece that is about .5mm thick and you can make as many copies as you like - I still have all the molds after 23 years and unlike RTV they don't deteriorate with age or use. I think I have sold 12- 20 sets of these parts over the years but have never seen another one built up.The new Revell kit would be nice for a Niekamp as I struggled to find suitable tyres, especially for my second, 1950, version and the separate molding on top of the cowl would be far more accurate for a lakes version. The front nerf was modified from an Edmunds Supermod kit and the rear is bent from a paperclip - a pig of a job as I remember!Richard, I used the Rod and Custom article in the seventies when Jim Jacobs found and started restoring the car and it included a reprint of the Hot Rod article. I was sure they said a four inch section and thinking about it as a hot rodder with a real '29 roadster, I can't imagine whay you would only shorten a car by 1 inch. I'm not saying that isnt what you read, it just seems such an awful amount of work for a teeny weenie change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Bartrop Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Alan, I was going by memories of something I read online 5 years ago, so entirely possible you're right. However much it was, I can't see the difference, and apparently, not a lot of people can if they don't know about it.Your are right that it would be an awful lot of work to cut up an intact Model A body for so little effect. However, in the course of trying to find where I red about the section, I came across the scan of the March 1950 Hot Rod article I was using for reference, and it turns out four model A bodies, including a coupe, were used to make the Niekamp roadster body. Maybe this is simply what was left after Bill cut out all the usable bits, and put them all together so they would fit on an Essex frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 No worries Richard. When i read your post this morning the photo didnt come up so I couldn't comment on your work. This afternoon it is up and it looks terriific. It would be great to see yours side by side with mine and see how much difference the 4 mm makes. From your photo, as you said, not much at all!Great to see you have the correct radius rods, the silver frame and the correct shape on the bottom edge of the hood side panels. Like you, I studied this thing to death before I built it - I reckon I could build a real one with what I know now.That surprises me actually - in all my magazines and all my travels I have never seen a clone of this car detail for detail. I believe an Englishman hand formed a beautiful polished aluminium 4 banger powered rod in slightly reduced scale back in the nineties and I saw a blue 27 T with very similar proportions on the front of Street Rodder a few years ago but no-one has done a true replica. Considering what a simple car it is compared to say, the Matador 40 coupe or the Hirohata Merc, it seems like a lost opportunity. With the availability of glass or tin Model A roadsters and the lack of extensive chroming or exotic parts, this could be a real budget build in 1:1!CheersAlan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Bartrop Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Thanks, Alan! You did a great job on yours, so it's high praise indeed. The weird thing is, I took most of my references for proportion from the front and side views int he 1950 Hot Rod article. I scaled the photos in Photoshop so the front wheel was the some diameter as the front wheel from the 29 pickup kit, and used the measuring tool over everything. All the body measurements were pretty close to the AMT body, except for the distance between the back of the seat and the base of the windshield, which was slightly off. At the time I put it down to either an inaccuracy on AMT's part, or an error on mine. Why don't was see more Niekamp clones? That's a very good question. When Rod & Custom did its track Roadster issue in 1973, there was a waves of track style rods throughout the 70s and 80s, so maybe it's just fashion. It might be a matter of practicality. There's not a lot of room in those old roadsters to begin with, and when you channel the body, there's even less. You look at the Hot Rod cover photo of the Flint roadster, thos guys are practically sitting on it, rather than in it. With no provision for a top, it's very much a fair weather vehicle. Maybe its signature look with no headlights or windshield would make it hard to register as street legal is most places. Maybe Essex frames are just too hard to come by.Anyway, getting back to the new Revell kit. There are so many possibilities with that kit, and I have a few ideas of my own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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