CLIFF INMAN-INSPIRED KUSTOM.......

[Jay Whittaker]

Those that know me know that I love nothing more than cutting up a perfectly good car to make it something (I feel) it should've been. One of my Brothers of the Sprue, Tony Matthews, got hold of a '57 Chrysler 300 kit and reached out for some guidance on how I do custom work on these little styrene wonders we love so much, which I was happy to do.

As luck would have it, I also had one of these (albeit a different issue) sitting in the cabinet above my work bench and figured what better thing to use as the example. So we unofficially happened into an unintentional dual build, and I wanted to share it with y'all...

Plans for mine are eliminating that time-honored aircraft intake opening grille, adding ‘57 DeSoto side trim, ‘56 Packard taillights ordered from R&M of MD, a beautiful long ram 413 gotten from Texas 3D, along with the Kelsey Hayes wires copped from a '56 300 kit replicating the Inman car.
This is not a build of that car, but rather a build inspired by it, as the title implies….

Edited Tuesday at 01:29 PM by Jay Whittaker

[Jay Whittaker]

After filling-in the rear medallion relief and license plate recess with acrylic filler, I set my sights on eliminating the aircraft air intake grill that, in my opinion, greatly detracts from the overall beauty of this car.

Experience has taught me to cut-away only what is absolutely necessary and to “test set” possible replacement donor pieces beforehand to make blending as seamless as possible.

In doing this, I discovered that an AMT ‘57 Chevy hood fit the bill perfectly (no pun intended) and I proceeded to make the transition. You’ll notice that I built-up filler on the back side of the hood as well, as I discovered while contouring the front side that the styrene was getting thin. I can never thank Mike Sarris enough for introducing me to this acrylic nail filler because this stuff is SO versatile!!…. You’ll also notice that the lower grille opening has been ground down and the inner grill plate eliminated as was necessary.
 

Edited Tuesday at 01:31 PM by Jay Whittaker

[FrancoZanella]

nice

[NOBLNG]

Nice work blending in that Chevy hood.👍😎

[TopherMcGinnis]

You are correct about the grille in these cars. Bleh! At best. I'm interested to see how this one goes 😁

Is the acrylic resin black light cured?

[Jay Whittaker]

2 hours ago, TopherMcGinnis said:

You are correct about the grille in these cars. Bleh! At best. I'm interested to see how this one goes 😁

Is the acrylic resin black light cured?

The acrylic filler is a 2-part liquid/powder that when combined harden through a chemical reaction. It can be gotten at any Walmart or my favorite place is Sally Beauty Supply, as you can get larger quantities. The only catch is you must use a real animal hair brush, not a synthetic. Use lacquer thinner to clean the brush after each dip. 
😁👍🏻

[JollySipper]

This is so very much right up my alley! Love the early kustoms........

[NOBLNG]

2 hours ago, Jay Whittaker said:

The acrylic filler is a 2-part liquid/powder that when combined harden through a chemical reaction.
😁👍🏻

Do you have a brand name? How well does it sand? 
Thanks, Greg.

[Jay Whittaker]

11 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

Do you have a brand name? How well does it sand? 
Thanks, Greg.

There’s no particular brand name I’m loyal to, I’ll get the names of what I’ve got when I get home from work later as I cannot remember off the top of my head (Geritol Deficiency Syndrome, don’t ya kno)….

As far as sanding goes, you want to get it very close to the end shape if you must sand it by hand, as it is harder than the styrene (which makes it great for reinforcement applications).I use a Dremel with the sanding drum bit initially then finish off with a sanding stick or sandpaper. 

[stitchdup]

36 minutes ago, Jay Whittaker said:

There’s no particular brand name I’m loyal to, I’ll get the names of what I’ve got when I get home from work later as I cannot remember off the top of my head (Geritol Deficiency Syndrome, don’t ya kno)….

As far as sanding goes, you want to get it very close to the end shape if you must sand it by hand, as it is harder than the styrene (which makes it great for reinforcement applications).I use a Dremel with the sanding drum bit initially then finish off with a sanding stick or sandpaper. 

you can get slower setting liquid for it. I have 2, 5 and 10 minute setting times for the ones i use. the ten minute stuff can be worked while still soft using stainless tools and as luck would have it they are on amazon for not much money

[espo]

I like how the hood modifications change the personality of the frontend. The most interesting, to me anyway, changes that Inman did on the inspiration car is the way he chopped the top and changed the shape of the rear window area. 

[Jay Whittaker]

20 hours ago, stitchdup said:

you can get slower setting liquid for it. I have 2, 5 and 10 minute setting times for the ones i use. the ten minute stuff can be worked while still soft using stainless tools and as luck would have it they are on amazon for not much money

Hey thats good to know! I had no idea that there were different setting rate liquids out there. I’ll have to that a try.  Thanks for sharing that tidbit. 😁👍🏻

 

Here is a pic of what I’m currently using. 

[Jay Whittaker]

The top needed to be chopped, but ever-so-slightly, so a-hackin’ we went….