'39 Ford "China Girl" gasser by popeye the sailor - FINISHED - AMT - PLASTIC

[popeye the sailor]

.......and get back to it I did.   first thing was to cement the headers on the engine.

I should have filled in the depressions on the headers.......if the model is flipped over to see the undercarriage,  they can be seen.  the rear differential is the same way,  although that open area can't be seen.   again,  thanks to J for clearing up the bumper question.   the kit includes some neat looking custom bumpers,  and I really wanted to use them.   they were added to the chassis and then touched up,  along with the bumper frames.   the suspension was added next......the front,  along with the stabilizer bar...

......and the rear suspension / differential.

the tires were assembled onto the chassis after everything set for a bit.   the holes for the metal axles were drilled out to accept them better.  the lower part of the body was then placed on the chassis for a dry fit....still thinking of the body color.  

.....then the first major snag.   with the stabilizer bar in place,  the engine will not fit    oh bother!   the only option was to remove the stabilizer bar,  with the hopes that it can still be put back in place.   if not,  I will need to modify it somehow.   the engine was cemented in place,  and again,  I'm happy with the looks.

I was looking at the center grille I'm using.........I think it needs a really cool image...........back on the net I went,  looking for that perfect image  

[jct]

You got red and blue on your engine...throw in a little white and do a patriotic theme 

 

 

Here's a shot of a grill insert I did for a friend of my oldest son...mounted in a JK Wrangler

[popeye the sailor]

  thanks J.........but I'm trying to cover over all this white    my........this transfer of color is trickier than I thought?!?!  the grill screen looks great.....but this one isn't finned at all,  so a screen like that won't work out well.  I have something of a mural in mind  

[popeye the sailor]

hi all.......a small update on the dilemma I ran into.   no matter how I tried......the engine would not fit with the stabilizer bar in place.   I removed it and installed the engine.   as before.......putting the stabilizer back in place wasn't going to happen either.   so,  I guess it's modification time    I wish I had snapped a few pictures of the dilemma as it unfolded.....

    anyway........what the bar part consists of,  is the bars {left and right},  and the tie rod assembly ....this is all molded together.   right where the bars pass over the tie rod bar,  I scored the plastic on the inside,  and bent them outward,  equally to meet the frame.

cement was applied at the cuts so arrest this new design.  in my small meager spare parts box,  I still have two of the caps from the revellution funny car,  which will make very nice "attachment" pints for each of the bars.   I did a little more cleaning up to the part.....missed some tell tale mold lines.....

...and cemented it back to the axle.   the caps were added afterwards.   all was touched up later,  to get rid of the glue marks

I'm still thinking of what color to paint her in........but I assembled the front seat and gave it a coat of tan,  as well as the rest of the interior.

now to assemble the rest of the interior and paint the overhead interior inside the body shell.........part will be tan,  and the rest will be flat black.

     more to come..........I took tomorrow off!   forecast is rain  

[CaptainSteve]

4 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

 more to come..........I took tomorrow off! 

Ahh ... modelling BEFORE work. I am pleased to note that you have your priorities correct, Denis.

 

[popeye the sailor]

yepper Steve........it's too bad I'm not knowledgeable enough to make money doing it    

[src]

Enjoy a well earned day off! I am Not jealous. No, I am not....

Sam

[popeye the sailor]

thanks  Sam......Sam I am

[popeye the sailor]

did some mess'in 'round with the decal program today.........has me in fits so far.   this is something that I don't get to do enough of.......I seem to have forgotten how I changed the background color from white.  here I am click'in my life away,  an' nothing's happening......little did I realize that I need to click in the image field......not in the open space of the field.  I got it to happen.......the other images have a white block around them {because they have their own image field},  but the image of the dragon is now black....drained of color!  I had overlaid the China Girl logo over the dragon image......that stayed in color,  because it is not part of the original image.   changing the field color before adding the images won't happen......it has to be the image.

    for this,  I'm using white decal paper...which I have an over abundance of.   the white paper is going to give me a backing for the image that will remedy the transparency issue that the program has.  by changing the background color,  it will narrow down the color for the car.......the decal will blend in to the car finish,  leaving a decent image.   more trial and error........when I figure this out again.......I think I'm going to write it down  

[src]

I feel your pain, Dennis. Those kind of issues are so frustrating. I do that with illustrator all the time. I’ll get comfortable with a technique then won’t need to do it for months, it takes just as long to relearn as it did the first time. 

[popeye the sailor]

yea.....like I make 'em every day    I messed around with it a bit more.......I even went into the color spectrum.  I tried blue tint........green tint.......etc.

     I did settle on a color....it will be close,  but not a perfect match.  what has to be kept in mind.......you can import an image,  but to change the background is impossible.  this is because your scanning an image..........it will be a single layer from this point on.   if I had the original image,  it would be different,  because I could then change it's individual layers........printed in any way,  and it's fused into a single layer.   the same goes here with the Testor's {decal it} images........in it's original form,  it has many layers.....but once imported into the program,  it becomes a single layer.  I can change the background color,  but it will change the entire image too.   as a test,  I took the China Girl decal and laid it over the dragon.  changing the background color,  it also changed the dragon image,  but not the text overlay.   photo shop would have probably been better to use....but one would have to hunt up all the images and create the text needed.  font can be changed to the desired effect and then sized.  the decal program simplifies all this.   I can't use what I wanted to use......they too would be affected by this problem.  this gives me an idea though.......I can use some

 

OK......I had wiped the sheet clean of all the images..........I have a copy in the folder,  so I may not have gotten rid of them totally.   I put a couple of the dragon images back up and resized them.  I changed the background of most of them.........here is how this is done.  first,  the full color mode must be deactivated,  to allow you to change either field.

pardon the rippled screen........flat screens tend to do that more than analog.  the image in the parameter box is the one I'll be changing.  now I'll change the background to light blue.

clicking OK will do the dirty work.  having images drained of color is kinda bland........don't know why I didn't think of this before.  lets change the foreground color........let's say red,  since the China Girl text is in red.

....and there ya go........the dragon is now red.  note that the areas around the images is still white.  I can't change that,  it's not part of the image.  I can change the others at will..........

is is just a small part of what can be done with images.  text can be manipulated in many ways......angled upwards and downwards........half circles.......full circles........changed fonts.....and even color.   great for decaling life buoys and signage....but care must be taken to not lose the image due to the transparency issue.

 

of course,  I had to pick a color that would prove to be hard to match up with the decal maker.....duck egg blue.  as mentioned,  it won't be perfect,  but I will try and trim them enough,  so it won't be too much of an issue.   I have been painting.....at the moment,  fine tuning things.

I'm not pleased with the roll cage part of it........it seems incomplete.  then I thought I'd show you how easy it is to chop it down to a modified....just me being silly   

amazing....the stuff one can think up while tinkering   

[jct]

On 4/22/2019 at 8:19 PM, popeye the sailor said:

I'm still thinking of what color to paint her in

the light blue looks good...

[popeye the sailor]

thanks J.........I made up the decals.  I tried one.......I'll show you very soon.

[popeye the sailor]

just a brief update........pretty much the same   between getting the car inspected.........which that pesky check engine light came on at the last possible moment and spoiled it.........that is on going.   I just need to change the OX sensor in bank 2.  I have 60 days to do it.......I have a garage that I can't really work in comfortably......so I need to do this outside,  since I need to jack the car up.   rain at the moment.......but I heard that nicer weather is on the way.      then we have the landlord,  who decided that this would be a good time to rip out our bathroom     I can sit down today,  so I should have something to report later on.  thanks for look'in in and following along   

[CDW]

Sometimes, when it rains, it pours...as the old saying goes. Hang in there Denis. You'll get it all worked out. I hate those check engine lights.

[popeye the sailor]

it was good to see my younger brother David.......I hardly ever get to travel out there,  in and around the home town of Weare.   he has a shop in Henniker.  a small college town.   darn place is growing at a fairly fast rate     I sometimes wish we could move out there..........back out in the country.

   it's funny.........the pace is faster in the city.........but go out there,  and everything slows down.........even the speed limits   

[CDW]

Is that in New Hampshire, too? Our oldest daughter and her husband from New Hampshire will be visiting us in another week. 

[popeye the sailor]

yep.........Rt 114 takes you through town.   I almost took a side trip out to Clough State Park..........back in the day we used to go there and give pony rides to the visitors.   that is.......until the park folks would {politely} ask us to leave     got to the point,   they got to know us quite well......if it wasn't for safety reasons,  they wouldn't care.  I used to climb the cliff face near the Army Corp of Engineer's building {the dam},  and look over the lake....you could see everything from up there  

Edited May 2, 2019 by popeye the sailor

[popeye the sailor]

OK........update time      I was a bit impatient.   I knew that I was off the mark,  in getting an exact paint color match.   I will have to live with it I guess.   

     I wish I could have matched it.......would have been even cooler,  if these were full color decals.   But,  as mentioned,  I would have needed to have the original image,  so I could differentiate the layers.   imported images will only be a single layer.......altering them in any way will affect the entire image.  I could have tried them on clear paper,  but I sorta spent my budget,  and the budget director would have killed me {that's how she cuts the budget         I sprayed the decals with bonder.  and tried one........I should have made the name overlay larger

the body still isn't cemented in place {obvious due to lack of interior},  so I had to cut the tail and lay it on the rear fender.

[popeye the sailor]

that was an earlier photo..........I had done some work on her yesterday,  and into the evening.   I started this session bu cementing the roll bar into the interior and painting the dash.   the seats have already been cemented in place when I painted it.   detail like the pedals and window cranks were also painted.

still not totally happy with the roll bar.........it really should have a brace.   there is a floor shifter that will be added,  but this means that the "three on the tree" has to go.   I caught this after I had glued the instrument panel in place.   I turned it into a directional lever     the shifter is from the 283 small block accessory kit that I had bought when I built the Coke mobile.

I added the dragon decal on the passenger side of the car........made sure that both sides matched.

the blending between the body and fender is a bit better on this side.......I didn't bother to fix the driver's side {it's only slight and not worth ruining the decal over}.    working with the interior,  I kept tapping the roll bar..........I couldn't take it any longer.   I got some smaller size sprue from the small collection I have and made a brace for it.

 the glass leads a lot to be desired....poorly molded in my view.   I didn't glue it in any way....the interior will trap it in place.  I added the license plates and made up a couple of Arizona tags.........they started to curl soon after,  so I took them off.  I'll make some at a later date.

I also started to play with the decals at this point.   the interior was cemented in place......

areas on the underside of the interior was painted flat black.....touch ups made along these lines.   I had to let it set at this time.

[popeye the sailor]

the evening yielded a technically finished model..........only three bits to add to it actually.  again..........no side view mirrors!   what the hell's up with these companies anyway?!?!?!   I haven't added one {two if this was modern times} yet........I can make one easily enough.   I spoke of a mural of sorts for the front grille,  which is the drag version,  according to the instructions.   I printed an image of geisha women in full dress........they look really good,  but I chose not to use them.  I also found a drawn image........looks kinda sexy,  but at the size I needed to use,  it would have lost some detail.   

headlight glass is one of the additions I need to make.   the center column in the middle of the windshield is another.   I didn't get an interior shot........too dark in there    here's the driver's side view.

I didn't add the vent windows either....should have trimmed the tabs off.   taken from the driver's rear,  I added the same mural to the trunk lid,  accented by the handle {if it was a picture of Jimmy Durante,  it would have looked great} .

I had flames that I wanted to add.......but in all the milling around with the program,  I think I erased them in the program itself!  hopefully not  

    the ones that did survive,  I was at odds where to put them........so they decorate the bottoms of the rear fenders.   the tail light are not in place yet either.....they need to be painted and installed.   that's basically it,  for the parts left to add.    the passenger rear.........

the passenger front.........

in the beginning,  the hood would stay in the raised position.   but since I trimmed the hood tabs,  it won't now.   I'll have to do the hum drum engine view by removing it.

the undercarriage.........I had covered the outer interior bucket.   no white shows anywhere.

and that about covers it.........I'll post additional pictures,  once I add the rest of the parts.   I'm glad that I was able to pull off most of my ideas,  but it misses the mark here and there.   made no sense to change what I wanted to do.   thanks for following along.......it must have been somewhat interesting.........I haven't had to wake anyone,  now that I'm pretty much finished     

 

 

I didn't care for the official video........a tad offensive in my view     this one's nicer.

[CDW]

Came out great!

It's Friday, and Friday night is race night. Ready to race?

[popeye the sailor]

she's ready now!   after I finished posting,  I added the headlights,  the center windshield column,  and the tail lights.

I also painted the wiper arms and door handles.  I even trimmed the tabs for the vent windows.....not gonna add them.

I tried to get some shots of the interior.   I added the gauges at the last minute.......they were supposed to be under the dash.   wher I have them seemed like good a place as any  

painted the tail lights with some engine red

so.......she really is finished.   thanks for the good word     

[Canute]

She's turned out well Denis. Congratulations. 

 

Would dunking the clear parts in Future/Clear/Pledge have helped the build, Denis? I know the model airplane guys swear by dipping the clear parts.

[mtaylor]

Sweet work and triggering memories, Denis.  BTW, mirror and windshield wipers weren't required on gassers back then.  If you had them, the mirror glass has to be taped and the wipers either pulled off or taped down.  I can smell the tire smoke from here.....

[popeye the sailor]

thanks for the good word gents!     glad to hear Mark......I won't add the mirrors then  {saves me the work}.  my thing about the glass Ken,  was that it had multiple injection pin marks......thicker than most clear parts,  and worst of all,  the other clear parts were on sprues that were connected to the middle of the windshield / rear windows {in the center which left a big empty rectangle at the roof}  it would have been better,  if all the parts were separate,  like the vent windows........looking into the car,  the molded roof area can be seen and it looks ugly.  usually,  I will paint these areas,  in an effort to hide them somewhat.  

    no matter now........she's off the table.........the General is sitting on my desk now    I'm starting to work on the loco........touching up my mistake and will have more on that build soon.   again,  thanks for following along......it's not a bad kit......it just seems like there was something missing {parts wise, ie the extra parts}.  when I get far enough along with the train,  I may pull out the Sox & Martin kit........from what I've seen so far,  it is really a nice kit. 

   thanks also for the likes    it didn't come out as I had planned,  but it still was a fun build   

[src]

Well Done Dennis!  I see you are a fan of the Paint Can Clamp also. At work we keep various 1, 2, and 5 gallon cans filled with left over sand from the sand blaster as well as left over cement. Works great for some things.

Regarding your decal color, do you have a photo editing software that works in layers like Photoshop? It should be fairly easy to separate that blue onto its own layer and either match it or remove it completely.

Sam

[popeye the sailor]

hey there Sam.........you must mean my using the paint bottles to weigh down the interior,  while it was drying.   I was wracking my head thinking 'bout what you were referring to.......it's the only thing I can think of.    just me being resourceful  

 

I don't believe I've ever tried that with photo shop.   when I import something into the decal maker,  it's just the image......a single layer.  the background is the paper,  whether I'm using clear or white.  for some decals,  I like to use white paper,  because the white acts as a backing for the image,  and I change the background to match the color I'm painting the model.  it's hard to match colors that are in between the normal color spectrum.   though I can change the color values,  I haven't done it too much,  since I don't use it enough.   I should take a day and fiddle around with it......use regular printer paper for tests.  I do have a photo shop program.......I'm not sure what I have in my computer......I only use it to size down my pictures.  but that's what your referring to........the background {and I changed it to that color}.  the one big problem I have with this decal program,  is that it has a transparency issue.  printers only max out at 600 dpi.......a good decal image needs to be more than that.   if I were to lay a decal,  printed on clear paper,  on a darker color,  it would disappear or hardly be seen.  

[mtaylor]

How are you importing, Denis?  If using a scanner, spray a sample color onto a piece of scrap plastic or aluminum foil. When you scan, you have the color you need.  Many paint programs let you pick a color from the image and use it for "touch up" or even area "fill".

[popeye the sailor]

I copy and save the image from where I got it,  although I have scanned stencils and stuff.  I do believe though that photo shop has a much better color spectrum to work with.  if I knew better how to adjust the values on colors,  I'd likely have a better time with this.  the everyday colors aren't much of a problem.....it's the in between colors,  like pastels,  that are hard to deal with.