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Radical Bonneville Salt Flats Coupe


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This model is one of only a very few "curbside" (no engine or underbody detail, and interior view blanked off with heavily tinted windows) projects in my collection.

The front hood is a '40 Ford, the bodyside and trunk area is from the otherwise discredited AMT 1934 Ford Three Window Coupe kit of the mid 1970's, and the roof and window openings are from the chopped top option in AMT's original 1960's 1936 Ford kit.  Mucho bodywork and refinement ensued in mating these disparate components into a single whole. 

The front suspension is from the Revell 1932 Ford Street Rod kits while the headers are from the Revell Orange Crate. The Moon discs and tires are parts box refugees.

The paint is old Pactra Flats red and beige with an overcoat of ancient (dating from the early 1960's) Pactra Pearlustre Gold, with Testors Gloss Enamel clear.

The "Woodruff, Helppie, and Boyd" decals honor two lifelong buddies,  Chuck Helppie and Tom Woodruff (who also frequently posts on this forum as "misterNNL").  

The original body work dates from 1979-80; most of the rest of the work took place during the early to mid 2000's.

Thanks for checking it out....TIM 

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Edited by tim boyd
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I don't think I have seen this one before, Tim.  I do like the way you grafted all the disparate pieces together. Those ram tubes hint at a front blown Hemi!

Recently you mentioned how you like when other builders join in a thread when they have a similar build - well, I absolutely had to join in on this one!!!

Similar but different to yours, mine started as an AMT 36 coupe but has leftover pieces from a ruined Monogram 34 coupe chop top for a roof.  This made for a nice fit with a ZZTop hood.  Like yours, it was started long ago, 1981 if my memory holds up but did not get finished until around 2010.  It went through at least three different fronts and two different rears along the way.  Like yours it is curbside but unlike yours, I didn't summon up the courage to scribe in door lines.  Door lines have defeated me many times just on bare plastic and I knew tackling multiple layers of plastic, putty and glues would end sadly.  My hat is off to you in how well you designed and executed your door cuts. That is a skill I still need to master!

I think the two would look great sitting in line at Bonneville.

My photo was taken at the LIARS show in 2013.

Cheers

Alan

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Edited by alan barton
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On 12/16/2020 at 9:17 AM, alan barton said:

I don't think I have seen this one before, Tim.  I do like the way you grafted all the disparate pieces together. Those ram tubes hint at a front blown Hemi!

Recently you mentioned how you like when other builders join in a thread when they have a similar build - well, I absolutely had to join in on this one!!!

Similar but different to yours, mine started as an AMT 36 coupe but has leftover pieces from a ruined Monogram 34 coupe chop top for a roof.  This made for a nice fit with a ZZTop hood.  Like yours, it was started long ago, 1981 if my memory holds up but did not get finished until around 2010.  It went through at least three different fronts and two different rears along the way.  Like yours it is curbside but unlike yours, I didn't summon up the courage to scribe in door lines.  Door lines have defeated me many times just on bare plastic and I knew tackling multiple layers of plastic, putty and glues would end sadly.  My hat is off to you in how well you designed and executed your door cuts. That is a skill I still need to master!

I think the two would look great sitting in line at Bonneville.

My photo was taken at the LIARS show in 2013.

Cheers

Alan

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Heh Alan...that dude is ready for some serious land speed action.....between yours and mine, we now have both bookends of how mid 1930's Ford Three Window Coupes can be used as Bonneville-style competition machines...and thanks for adding your images to this thread, for sure!  Take care, mate.   TIM 

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20 hours ago, Claude Thibodeau said:

Hi Sir!

I was browsing trough clippings from old issues of SAE (kept for reference), and I saw a picture of your car atop a painting stand. You were using the car as a "demo" for a painting feature article, and described the source of the parts. I was impressed, and still am!

CT

Claude....right you are!  As I recall, the incomplete body was used as the demo subject for a one-page sidebar showing how to do two-tone paint on models.....Best....TIM 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nicely done.  The completed car looks great. It's a nice feeling to complete a project that has been sitting around for years. It's an inspiration to finish some of those lingering projects that we all have sitting in boxes.

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  • 1 year later...

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