'41 Plymouth Special Deluxe G/Gas

[W-409]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the kind words.

Now I've been doing bodywork in order to get this thing painted soon. The most work was on the front end, after I had glued the nose panel to the body and added some putty and sanded it a couple of times, the seams between front fenders and the rest of the body had pretty much disappeared from the front. So, those were redone using pieces of stretched mold sprue glued to place. I think they came out quite well. Then I sanded the rest of the body. It didn't have too many mold lines, but a couple of them were at really tricky spots... I also glued the rear bumper filler panel on place.

Today it was time to spray some primer on the body. As I predicted, a couple of spots need to be fixed before the final primer coat, but it's not too bad.

Front seat required some putty for the seam between the seat halves.

 

[Karl LaFong]

Nice job!  Glad to see a drag car that doesn't have an OHV V8.  Dare to be different!!

[David G.]

It's shaping up quite nicely Niko.

David G.

[W-409]

Thanks Keith and David! I appreciate the kind words!

After the first primer coat I needed to correct a few things here and there. Not too bad though, so a little putty and some sanding...

Then I sprayed a second coat of primer on the body. When that dried everything looked good, so no more sanding was required. And as this is representing a budget racer, I wanted to leave this thing in grey primer. I also wanted to add a couple of decals between the doors and rear fenders. While the finish is a matt grey, I had to trim decals very carefully around the edges to avoid them silvering. I didn't want to go crazy with decals so I just added Isky Cams, Hilborn Injection and Mooneyes decals on the body. After that I sprayed a coat of flat clear to protect the paint and decals.

Then I had to build a cooling system for the engine. Radiator is also from Revell's '40 Ford as is the engine. I wanted to use the radiator hoses from that kit as well, so I had to be really careful to get the radiator on the correct place so that all four water hoses fit. Finally I was able to figure out the right position so everything was glued on place.

Then I had to paint the class designations to the body. I randomly chose a racing number and the class is G/G. I didn't want these to be perfect, because someone just painted them with white shoe polish at the Drag Strip. So I brush painted them on, and I think I managed to get the look I was after.

 

 

[David G.]

Looking good Niko!

I like the work you've done with the engine.

David G.

[Mike Williams]

I like especially the attention to panel lines. This will be a huge plus, later on.

[W-409]

Thanx David and Mike, much appreciated!

I think the chassis is pretty much done so once I get the body finished I can glue them together and then work on the last details. For the engine bay I installed a Mooneyes gas tank in front of the radiator and built a fuel line from the tank to the fuel pump. The tank was glued together from two halves so it required a bit of filling and sanding before it could be painted, but it turned out ok. Fuel line fittings were done, as usual, from hex-shaped plastic rod and for the fuel cap I used the original '41 Plymouth unit.

Interior was also finished. I added lap-style seat belts for the driver and a helmet that was painted with red metal flake. Shifter and tachometer are also my own additions, everything else came from the Plymouth kit. Dashboard was just detailed with paint and a little BMF.

 

[David G.]

A nice looking interior. You gave it more love and attention than it deserves, well done Niko.

David G.

[W-409]

Thanks David! The interior is a little simple at some areas, but I think it came out pretty good. Especially as it's not seen that well in finished model anyway.

I mocked up the grilles that came with the kit and found out that both of them had an issue with the mold, a piece of the grill was missing from both of them. I have one '41 Plymouth glue bomb on my stash so I checked that one, but it had the same problem.

I carefully added a bit putty in there, sanded to correct shape and covered that with BMF. A bit tricky, but I think it came out decent. Then I painted the areas between the grille tubes with flat black.

Body trim was also done with BMF. That was not easy either because many of the chrome trim were not that well visible after a couple of primer coats. But in the end I made it and while it's not my best BMF work I think I've also done worse... So I guess I'll live with it. Underside of the body was painted flat black and headliner area with flat brown like the interior. Then I glued windows on place. The fitment of the windshield is pretty bad, but there's nothing to do about it at this point unfortunately.

Here the body and chassis are ready to go together...

...And body mounted on place. Now I'm pretty close to finishing so I guess this is the last update before I'm done.

 

[TarheelRick]

Looking like a pretty healthy Gasser to me. Especially like that decal in the rear window. You have done some excellent work with this build.

[Tony Coomer]

Looks great, digging the lettering…

[David G.]

Great work on this Niko!

The foil work came out quite well, especially on the beak where there's not much relief to work with. I remember that being a challenge when I built mine.

I also like the decal on the rear window. A little salt for the wound as it blows past you on the track... or an apology depending where one's loyalties lie.  

David G.

[W-409]

Thanks guys for the kind words!

David, I'm not really a Mopar guy but I do have one 1:1 scale Ford so I guess they're a little closer to my heart even though I'm more like GM and AMC guy.

 

 

Well, this thing is finally finished and posted in Under Glass! Thanks for everyone who has followed and/or posted comments on this thread.

See here: https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/190358-41-plymouth-special-deluxe-gg/