W300 Dodge Project

[Chariots of Fire]

Not sure if this is the right part of the forum for this but I have been asked about the Dodge W300 and W500.  I am not doing them but you will find a reference to someone who is further down the list under resin.  I am posting some in progress pix of the W300 that I first made from a Ford cab back in 2004.  I will explain the conversion process and how to produce a windshield for it.  So here goes.

This is the beginning of the W300 build using what I think was a'71 Ford p/u cab.  It was not new when I got it but it had the basic lines of the Dodge along the sides of the front end and doors.  In this photo you can see several changes that were made.  The changes were made according to drawings that I found in a Dodge Body Builder's Guide so I think they are reasonably accurate.

First the hood and cab were cut longitudinally in half and a 1/4" wide strip of evergreen was glued in.  The two halves were then glued back together.  You can see that in the photos.

Next was to re configure the front fenders.  In this photo you can see a diagonal line just back of the fender well.  That is where the Ford fenders were cut away and new plastic sheet stock was glued in.  Fender flaires were made by first cutting out the opening and glueing in sections of plastic strip stock.  The stock was then built up to get the final opening by sanding and using some Squadron putty as a filler at the top of the flair where it meets the fender.  The outer lip of the fender opening was made by glueing another piece of strip stock over the first one and then grinding away and sanding the inner wheel opening line to the shape found in the Builder's Guide.

The hood of the Ford was changed also by slicing it in two places parallel to the outer edges and forcing the inner portion down.  The inner portion was then glued back to the outer sections to form the depression found in the Dodge hood.  It was also sanded flatter in front.  It really should have been sanded more than I did after studying the final result and comparing it to photos of the real trucks.  Alas, it is what it is today!

The windshield and door lines were changed also.  The Dodge windshield is quite short vertically and it begins with a raised lip at the base that turns the corners and becomes a portion of the side vent windows.  You can see that in the photo above with the strip of plastic that curved around at the cowl and continued into the first part of the doors.  The photo also shows some pieces of strip stock at the top of the windshield.  This was the initial stage of extending the cab roof forward a bit and also dropping the top of the windshield.  The Ford windshield is way too high.  I have seen other Dodge castings that omit this and it really shows up as not consistent with a Dodge look.

On to the doors.  The Ford doors were the wrong shape as well but the basic contouring was ok.  I filled in the concave portion of the door with plastic as you can see in this and the next photo.You can also see that the original door outline has been filled in and a piece of plastic has been added to the top of the window opening.  Dodge doors had a slight taper downward at the top rear.  Once that was sanded smooth, the outside of the door was re-scribed.

In the photo above the amount of work necessary for the back of the cab is visible.  First it was completely cut away from the Ford and reshaped by pieces of plastic sheet and strip stock.  Much sanding and filling was necessary to achieve the final result.  The pencil lines are indications of where some scribing will be done with a Dremel cutter for the final look.

 In the next photo you can see the hood and the beginning of the windshield work.  The latter is not complete yet but the transformation from Ford to Dodge is apparent.

Below is the first pop of the W300 after all of the work was done on the cab.  This is a Tom Coolidge product based on the master built up from the Ford.  In this photo you will note a strip around the upper portion of the windshield that lines up with the line of the windows in the doors.  Now the windshield shape is about as it should be; much less height than the Ford windshield.  The pickup body is also a resin pop that Tom did.

In order to made a windshield of clear material I first made a template of paper the just fits behind the trim around the windshield opening.  After the template was completed it was traced flat onto a piece of clear acetate.  At this point it has no final shape but that it easily taken care of with a little hot water and some patience.  Running the acetate under hot water will soften it just enough so it can be bent by hand.  This was done to both ends to follow the general curvature of the windshield.  After a lot of trimming and final bending, the acetate fit into its opening behind the trim pieces without any glue.  Because of the way that Tom cast the cab there was a small groove at both top and bottom of the windshield that the acetate seemed to just pop into.  It could be pushed into the corners with very little effort.  One note about the acetate.  Some material tend to craze when they are bent.  I wear oxford shirts as a rule, the kind with the button down collars.  (Guess that dates me).  But when you get them from the store they have clear acetate to hold the collars in shape that you have to pull out and discard.  I don't do that.  I use it for windshields.  It seems to bend easily without crazing.   If any of you happen to have purchased one of Tom Coolidge's resin castings of the W300 but don't have the windshield template you can contact me.  I still have it and would be glad to mail you out one so you can make up a windshield for your Dodge.

Here's a look at the finished cab with the windshield in place.  In this photo you can see the many changes that were done to the Ford to made the W300.  Incidentally the headlight surrounds are the same as those in the L700 kit.

 

[Chariots of Fire]

For some reason this got posted twice.  Not sure why.  Anyway, here is another shot of the W500 cab that was done from the W300.  In this one, the fender flairs were made wider, the rear window was made full width and the grill was changed.  I also made the inner fender wells separate as Tom said the first castings with the inner wells intact made it difficult to cast.  You can also see the windshield much better and it stayed the same as on the original master.  I didn't mention it in the earlier post but there is also a drip edge that is above the windshield and that wraps all the way around to be hind the doors.  It was made with 030" x 020" strip stock glued in place and then scribed next to the cab.  

[gatorincebu]

 

   Charles ,

            Your body work an these alterations is incredible ! Nice work .

 

 

   Be Well

    Gator

[Len Woodruff]

Nice.

[Fat Brian]

Just for informational purposes the original donor cab was about a '62 model Ford cab.

[Chariots of Fire]

It very well could have been Brian.  I never did pay much attention to other than the lines of the cab being a close representation that I could work with!  Thanks for the info!

[GLMFAA1]

Charlie's finished trucks are spectacular and appreciate his sharing his skills, I believe that the Ford cab is from 1962 as I believe that was the last Ford pick up model until AMT's release of the  Ford pick up in the mid 70's. I had the privilege of obtaining one of the castings and ended making a newer 1970 model where I had to make my own grill. Had a little problem with an interior but ended up with this:

greg

[Tesla]

Excellent transformation!

[mackd]

A magnificent achievement.