AMT 1932 Ford Phaeton

[Zippi]

Great start on a good looking 32 Ford Phaeton.  The business end is looking mighty full.  I'm liking this build a lot.

[Chris B]

Thanks for your comments guys

[alan barton]

I am really enjoying your build here, Chris.  Would I be correct in guessing that you are a fellow Aussie?  I see three clues in your post - steering wheel on the right side ( we all know that the right hand side is the RIGHT side LOL), you're using SMS paints and I think the diamond tufted insert on your doors came from a cake container in the bakery department of Coles supermarkets, because I have used it myself before! OR I could be completely wrong.  Either way this is a great looking build. Welcome to the forum.

The idea of converting the kit's Ford engine to a Hemi was genius!  The engine detailing is some of the finest I have ever seen and looks just right for a tough street rod.

Last year I built a similar styled model but based on the somewhat clunky MPC Switchers 32 phaeton. Hope you don't mind me popping it on here for inspiration, not that you seem to need it!

Cheers

Alan

[Chris B]

Thanks for your comments Alan

You are close with your guess. I am from New Zealand, very top of the south island. Love your build it looks awesome 

[CabDriver]

On 1/31/2024 at 2:26 AM, Chris B said:

Ethylene-Propylene O rings

I don’t believe I’ve heard of these before…are they rubbery, like rubber o-rings, or stiffer where you can glue to them?  Any particular size that you like?  I’m always looking for decent hoops for steering wheels!  

Great looking build so far!

[alan barton]

Aha!  Let the Kiwi-Aussie sledging begin!!  

All jokes aside, I am really impressed with the fabrication work you have displayed so far - this is going to be a very special model!

Cheers

Alan

[Chris B]

1 hour ago, CabDriver said:

I don’t believe I’ve heard of these before…are they rubbery, like rubber o-rings, or stiffer where you can glue to them?  Any particular size that you like?  I’m always looking for decent hoops for steering wheels!  

Great looking build so far!

They are very similar to your average o-ring. o-rings are available in made many different materials dependent on there application. I chose to use EPDM o-rings as they have excellent resistance to ozone, sunlight, and weathering so I felt that in many years to come hopefully the steering wheel will not have deteriorated as it may if just using rubber.

i don't have any particular preference to size, in this case I did not have a lot of room for a larger sized steering wheel so I choose to make my own. After cutting the wheel spokes down to the size that fitted I took it to a local bearing supply store that I knew stocked a large range of o-rings I bought two different sizes of the correct diameter, the difference being the profile size  ie how fat the o-ring section was and made two wheels then fitted them and chose the one that looked more visually appealing

[Chris B]

1 hour ago, alan barton said:

Aha!  Let the Kiwi-Aussie sledging begin!!  

All jokes aside, I am really impressed with the fabrication work you have displayed so far - this is going to be a very special model!

Cheers

Alan

Thanks for your comments Alan and as I said I love your model and as it is really similar to my build in some aspects it goes to show that Aussies and New Zealanders do think alike. Love the dice shifter knob

Cheerrs

Chris

[Chris B]

Another quick update. Work has been a bit slow over the last couple of weeks. I decided as I have modified pretty much everything on this kit so far why stop there.
Initially I planed on using the kit rear axle for this build and I extended the axle tubes to allow me room to cut to length to suit the skinny wheel choice and finned brake drums.

But then I decided that it would be better with a quick change diff . I started to look around for aftermarket resin items with no luck, so then I asked around for anyone that may have one in there parts box with no result
So i guess that means I will just have to make one myself.
I looked through my parts stash for a suitable axle to modify but could not find anything that I liked the look of. Then by chance I saw a Vintage Monogram 32 Ford roadster kit come up for sale. I already have this model that I built 36ish years ago but couldn't resist turning down the opportunity to own an un-built kit to add to the stash, my bid was successful and I now own this kit.
While looking through the opened box I noted that this diff looked like a good donor. Not wanting to open the bags I removed the diff from the built model. 

This model was a little run down and stored away in a box in the top of my wardrobe and when fishing it out I noted a sprue from an equally as old Revell 3 n 1 Hot Rod kit.
On this sprue was a center for a quick change diff

My plan is to remove the paint from the diff and the chrome from the quick change diff center, make silicon molds of both parts them modify the new castings to resemble the Quick change diff I want.

Progress updates to come ?

 

[Chris B]

Work has been slow on the model of late with multiple Birthdays including my own and one of my daughters getting married in another city. I have spent a lot of time traveling out of town.

First off I soaked the diff from the 32 roadster in Simple Green to remove the paint and as the top of the diff is hollow I filled the space with epoxy putty and shaped to the desired shape.

 

I also soaked the chrome quick change center section in bleach to remove the chrome. I then made a silicon mold of the center section

The part closest to the mold is the cast part

This is my first attempt at making a mold and casting my own part and I am pretty happy with how it came out.

Next will be to make a mold of the diff and cast a resin part so that I can reshape and adapt the quick change to the diff

[Chris B]

Another quick update on progress with making my own quick change diff.

First up I prepared the plug by attaching some runners to aid in pouring the resin into the mold and made a dam out of Lego bricks. I filled the bottom of the bricks with modeling clay and mounted the diff into the clay.

 

After poring silicon into this half of the mold I turned the mold over removed the clay and brushed with mold release the poured the second half of the mold.

My first attempted at poring the part in resin resulted in a large air bubble on the top of the diff nugget Apart from that it came out pretty good taking into consideration that this is only the second attempt ever of casting my own parts.

 

Once I figured out how to solve the air bubble issue I poured a second part and this time it came out with no bubble.

 

 

Next up is to cut up the backing plate casting and graft the two parts into one. The flash on the if is not as bad as it looks in this photo and will clean up nicely. All in all I am pretty happy with the result.

 

Edited April 25, 2024 by Chris B

[CabDriver]

17 hours ago, Chris B said:

Once I figured out how to solve the air bubble issue I poured a second part and this time it came out with no bubble.

How DID you solve the air bubble issue, out of curiosity? 

Great build so far!

[Chris B]

1 hour ago, CabDriver said:

How DID you solve the air bubble issue, out of curiosity? 

Great build so far!

Instead of laying the mold down on a flat surface, I carefully clamped the two halves of the mold together and stood the mold on its side with 1 & 2 parallel to the ground at the top and injected the resin into 3 with a syringe until resin came out of both 1 & 2 the air that was being trapped would have been forced out of 1.

Hopefully you understand my explanation.

I think that it is likely that I will be casting more parts in the future so I have started collecting parts to make a vacuum chamber and a pressure pot. nothing flash just a hand operated automotive vacuum pump and an old pot with an acrylic lid and the pressure pot made out of 100mm PVC pipe with screw on ends and a bike foot pump.

Edited April 26, 2024 by Chris B

[CabDriver]

That’s even simpler than I suspected the answer would be - I figured you might have added a vent hole somewhere, but I couldn’t spot where it would’ve been…

Nice work - and thanks for the detailed explaination! 

[Chris B]

What with traveling around the country to spend time with the kids and the grandees, spending a couple of weekends putting a new gearbox in a son in laws Ute and spending time putting together a model aircraft,

my other hobby and playing webmaster for the model aircraft club I belong to, progress on this build has been slow/non existent.
I have managed to join the diff and quick change center together roughly and need to spend some time perfecting the union to get the required look

I

I really wanted to add a hilborn style bug catcher scoop to the engine but have struggled to find one with the correct spacing for the carbs. I played around with a couple of resin printed scoops but was not happy with the result so I started to look for an alternative.
I purchased several different styles of air cleaners for Off The Sprue an am still undecided which to use

I also purchased some other goodies from Off The Sprue and Model Car Garage

And my kit stash as also grown a little since my last post

I'm off to visit Family in another town again this weekend and then I hope that time will free up a little for me so that I can get to spend some time modeling again

[stavanzer]

This is really looking great. Your Detail work on the engine is awesome.

Can't wait to see this finished.

[Chris B]

Thanks for your comments stavanzer

[Chris B]

Continuing on with the rear axle I fashioned some spring mounts on the axle to accommodate the original Phaeton rear transverse spring. I'm not that happy with the look the spring is way too narrow for my liking

I hunted through my parts box and found a rear spring from the Monogram 29 Ford roaster pickup that I think will fit the build much better and should be a much cleaner install

I've Just got to remove the existing mounts I built and make some new spring and shock mounts and also remove the large tabs from the spring to get the desired result.
I also need to lengthen the driveshaft tube.

Edited July 10, 2024 by Chris B

[David G.]

This is quite an impressive project so far Chris!

I'm enjoying all the details you're adding.

David G.

[mrm]

I love seeing this progressing. Great job so far. Your engine is definitely the main attraction so far. 

I can not even begin to describe how many times I have started an attempt at a '32 Phaeton, which is my favorite Deuce body style after the Tudor. Still have not finished one to this day. 

[NOBLNG]

Great work Chris! If you plan on doing more casting, the pressure pot and vacuum chamber make a huge improvement on the quality of the molds and casts. I like all the changes and upgrades you’re doing to this one.

Edit: FYI, I like the dual aluminum air cleaners.?

Edited July 11, 2024 by NOBLNG

[Chris B]

Thankyou all for you comments. I am by no means a quick builder your following along really gives me some drive to carry on.

[espo]

Great detailing like this can't be rushed. 

[jasoncamaro]

Awesome stuff Chris !

[rv1963]

Chris you have put a lot into this kit, nice engine detail and you are casting your own parts well done. I will be following your build all the way to finish very interesting.