The Box Stock Deuce Build- Installment #1

[hot ford coupe]

This is the start of my tutorial for building a high quality box stock deuce. It will be done in sections as I go along so it can be easily followed and will not seen extensively long. Also, I won't be doing any scratch building here, just some monor extra details to enhance the kit parts. I must state first that the purpose of the tutorial is not to show off my work or what I personally can do, but to leave some of the advanced stuff behind for a while and get back to real basic fundamentals. It's also not there for the intermediate or advanced builders or even for the casual builder that wants a quick and good representative of a favorite model. There's nothing at all wrong with that. It's here to help the less experienced builders who want to sharpen their skills, expand their knowledge and technical skills with new and alternative materials and tools, help them identify some bad working habits and correct them; and hopefully to get more of their participation in posting questions and their work onto the forum. In short, my aim is strictly to promote better models for whoever wants to participate and finally give back to the hobby that has given so much to me. Don't forget. None of us were born with this knowledge, so don't be afraid to show your work and ask loads of questions.

I also want to mention that there will be a lot of basics you may already be familiar with. I feel that somewhere, sometime someone will need those basics. At least read it over and use what you need.

The first thing I think about when I approach a model kit after the research is done is to think about parts preparation. The whole purpose of good parts preparation is simply to turn every difficulty, every negative factor the model brings to your work table into positive factors making your job easier and thus adding quality to your work. Here's the tool set up I start with.



At this point, we can take the parts off the sprue usually with either a pair of sharp wire cutters or if I can get it into the area, the razor saw.




I'm sure you all know not to tear the parts off the aprue since it just makes it more difficult later when you've pulled out a big chunk of plastic from a critical area especially the small parts. Next test fit the parts together. This is what you'll usually get.




The flathead engine goes together much better maybe because the dies for the Pontiac are so old (if they're the originals). Also, don't forget that setting up all these parts is like the domino effect. A set of ill fitting parts early on affects the fit of just about everything later on down the line. The first thing I do is remove the locator pegs of the engine block halves. I find that too many times they are the main obstacle to a good fit. Then if you use magnification (which I highly recommend if you want truly sterling work), you'll see a lot of defects like this one along your join line.



Place a full piece of sandpaper about 220 or 320 grit wet or dry onto a completely flat surface and draw the part back and forth on the join line to eliminate the defects. Then do any minor adjustment with a sand stick until you get a good solid close fit. You'll need almost no filler when the parts are permanently joined and you've cleaned up the join line. Don't worry if it's not absolutely perfect. You'll drive yourself nuts doing that and you'll become discouraged. Practice makes perfect



Next glue your halves together

[hot ford coupe]

continued-
For long joints, I like to use a relatively narrow brush with liquid glue.



Either cement is good. Hold the parts together fairly lightly at first and apply a drop of the glue in the space between the joints. The cement will move up the joint by capillary action. Wait a secondor two and press the pieces together with firm pressure. You should see a puff of plastic coming up out of the joint. Continue along the joint adding glue and squeezing until you have one piece. Hopefully you have excess plastic all along the joint. You can put on more parts but don't final sand yet. Leave the joint alone for at least 24 hours before you sand . Even though it says the bond is complete in 2 hours, the plastic filler area stays sticky for a lot longer. If you do need any filler the defects should be so small you can glue small shavings into the defect. Let set overnight and finish the joint.



Now like I said before, we can continue to add parts while or halves are setting. Continue parts prep and then glue where you can. If you like to remove the chrome and paint or re chrome your parts like I do, do that first in some of the many solutions described on the forum, but please be careful. Next, fit paint and cement. At this point you don't want a puff of plastic at the joints between some of the parts so you get a bolted on look, not seamless. For the rest of the parts, use your own judgement. Next installment, I'll show some further engine building and some of the simple detailing that you can do that will help make your engine stand out and still be able to keep it simple.

[robjos32]

Thanks for a simple yet effective tutorial HFC. I can't wait for the next installment.

[Deuces-wild]

Me too! l:

[Rick]

HFC. you're the greatest! But.........keep an hour or two per day to keep working on that 49 Cadillac. Seriously, your current tutorial is just what we all need. I've learned something already, use shavings to fill holes.

Don....perhaps we should start an "Out Of The Box" thread.

Rick

[hot ford coupe]

Thanks guys. Hey Rick, that's not a bad idea for a new section. Don't worry, that Caddy still is on the work table and active. I found a bunch of new engine dimensions for the Caddy engine and the Olds as well as figuring out how to make more accurate blue prints for the body and frame. I can thank Gerald Wingrove for that.

[hot ford coupe]

NO problem Garey. This will be short and sweet. I use Photoshop CS2. You could also do it with the "paint" program that comes with many computers.

[sydeem]

When using a brush for bottle glue not kept in the bottle, doesn't it dry hard? Do you use a solvent to clean the brush or will the glue in the bottle desolve the old glue on the brush next time? Often wondered about this when I see ads for glue applicators.

[sydeem]

When using a brush for bottle glue not kept in the bottle, doesn't it dry hard? Do you use a solvent to clean the brush or will the glue in the bottle desolve the old glue on the brush next time? Often wondered about this when I see ads for glue applicators.

[rjm7404]

Hope you figured out that acetone is the first solvent to try when using brushes for glue. I use Testor's filler thinned with liquid cement and they come off with acetone. Super glue also comes off with acetone.

So when is the next part going to be posted or is it somewhere else? I saw a pic of a finished box stock engine on Scale Auto forum so I figured the tutorial would be here. I haven't been making much progress because of eye problems off and on (2 hemorrhages in left eye about 8 months apart). But I am still lurking.
Ron

[hot ford coupe]

Hey Ron, good to see you here. I did put a part of the tutorial in the tutorial section since I was deviating from the box stock theme. I'm in the middle of doing a scratch built engine for the Deuce. You can find it in the tutorial section. Later on this week, I'll be adding the cylinder banks to the mix. It'll keep going there until I get to the chassis which hopefully will be right after my surgery next week. Keep tuned to the channel as the build continues.