Madness in 1:48

[WP Rayner]

Been working lately on a 1:48 derelict 1925 Ford Fordor, as a background model for a small roadhouse diorama. Plan is to have the car completely rusted out and derelict, abandoned in weeds, undergrowth, and trees behind the roadhouse. I started this project a little over ten years ago... after all, you don't want to rush into these things! At the time I posted some pictures here. Car began life as an Ertl 1:45 cast metal piece which I disassembled and blasted off all the paint. Since the finished piece is essentially going to be largely buried in the weeds, undergrowth, and trees, I figure the slight scale difference is not going to be noticeable. First photo below shows basically what I'm working toward, though I will have some higher undergrowth to help blend the slightly oversize car into the scene. Second photo from ten years ago shows the cowl and body in original condition after blasting off the paint. The first piece I tackled was the cowl, removing all the gross cast exterior detail and thinning the casting, accomplished with a lot of flex shaft work with dental burrs, filing, and riffler work. I cut the cowl into three pieces and reassembled it in open position so that the remains of the engine could be seen. I added some half-round brass pieces to represent the louvres. Third photo shows the completed cowl assembly. Now I'm working on the fenders, thinning them out, adding dents, and a bullet hole or two.

[1-32]

Hi Paul
Great to see some of your modellings.
cheers Kim

[Ray Dunakin]

Excellent project! Hopefully it won't take another ten years to complete.    :-)

[finescalerr]

I'm counting on its looking excellent ... if you finish it. -- Russ

[Hydrostat]

That looks delicious. I'm looking forward to see more!

[Barney]

Very - very Nice looking forward to seeing more of this very neat little diorama
Barney

[TRAINS1941]

Looking forward to this.  That's a neat little car!

Jerry

[WP Rayner]

Thanks gents... thinning the castings is a slow, tedious process, but I'm certainly not going to spend ten years on it! For one thing I have too many other projects waiting in the wings and Mrs. R is cracking the whip to get some of these things finished. Nothing like self-preservation as a motivator...  

Took a break from the grinding and filing work to do a test piece for the damp, rotting, dirty wood floorboards for the car. Used an air eraser with 240 grit media to wear away the wood, then followed that with Silverwood and some Aquarelle pencil work. I'm reasonably happy with the result, certainly acceptable I think for what is in reality a background model.

[Les Tindall]

That just "oozes" rotteness, lovely.
Les

[Barney]

Another word for the Forum Dictionary  " rottenness" along with Grot /fester/gunge /crud and not forgetting Rust it ads to the atmosphere of things
lovely stuff just keep coming - I cannot wait another 10 years !!
Barney

[Les Tindall]

Perhaps yu should market cans of grot/fester, etc

Les

[WP Rayner]

Perhaps yu should market cans of grot/fester, etc

Les

It's already marketed here in Canada... it's called Bud Lite. 

[Lawton Maner]

Bud Lite is simply called swill in my book.  Only useful if you love to urinate.

[WP Rayner]

Bud Lite is simply called swill in my book.  Only useful if you love to urinate.

Very true, but then everyone needs a hobby...

[WP Rayner]

Decided to re-photograph the wood test. The previous shot was taken on an overcast day and the wood appeared darker overall than it actually is due to the lower light conditions. Sun came out today so I shot it again with the result being much closer to the actual piece. Shows the importance of having enough light when trying to accurately replicate colour.