1932 Ford - Appreciation Build
This appreciation build was started by Kim's Kustom Garage

This is the box art for the 32-Ford 3-Window Coup I'm building. It is the Revell 85-7605, 1:25 scale. It can be viewed on Scalemates.

Most of the parts have been removed from the sprues and cleaned. There wasn't much to clean up on this kit. The parts were very crisp and clean.

While dry fitting the body parts, I discovered the gap between the body and the running boards. I thought, oh no! Was I going to have to cut the fender wells so that the body fits properly? I couldn't believe this was such a bad fit, so I did some research and found that this is how the body actually sets on the chassis. I'm so glad I don't have to do some major modifications.

This photo is another view of the dry fitted body.

After watching a video on BG Model Workshop YouTube Channel and the problems that Bryan was having with the trunk on his '32 and then the problem he was having with the windshield, I took more time dry fitting. The windshield on my Revell '32 will be Okay. There is a slightly larger gap on the right side then there is on the left, but that can easily be fixed.

The small parts have been placed on some tape and getting ready for primer.

Some small parts and some larger parts are held with alligator clips and are ready for primer

I primed the body, fenders, hood shroud, etc. with white primer. It's the first time I've ever used white primer on white styrene - not fun! As usual, now that the primer is on, I can see a few small areas that need a-bit of work, but nothing major.

More small parts are primed with white and gray primer.

I'm going to attempt using the custom wheels that came with an AMT 1934 Ford Pickup and the tires that came with the '32 Ford 3-window. I really like these wheels, but I'm not sure I can make it work. I ordered some wheels from eBay today, May 2, 2022, just in case.

I'm getting the distributor ready to wire. I'm using an aluminum distributor from Detail Master, D#M-3201 distributor kit. This is the black distributor kit; however, I want to use yellow wire. I'm using 30AWG (American Wire Gauge) wire-wrap wire. It's actually cheaper to buy it by the spool through an electronics supplier. The wire-wrap wire comes in: Red, Black, White, Blue, Yellow and Green. The boots for the distributor are made with the insulation off of 22AWG hookup wire and 24AWG hookup wire for the spark plugs.

If you're interested in this alternative, here is a link to Amazon, where it can be purchased: 30AWG Wire Wrap Wire being used for spark plug wiring

Clicking this link will show a picture of the wire spools: Photo of wire spools

I'm planning to paint the coupe a tri-color as follows:

• Fenders - Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black
  
  
• Body - Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue
  
  
• Roof - Some shade of white or off white. Maybe, cream or an off-white or even a very light gray.

I've started painting the engine. I decided to use Testors Model Master GP00473 Ford/GM Blue for the block and heads, Testors Model Master 4679 Steel for the transmission. The oil filter is Tamiya X-6 Orange (I guess it's a Fram filter). Before painting I stripped the chrome from many of these parts. For stripping chrome I use Dettol Antiseptic Liquid.

Dettol is available on eBay at: Dettol Antiseptic Disinfectant Liquid 750ml Pack of 1

Using Dettol is none toxic and smells nice. It strips the chrome from parts, depending on size, in approximately 24-hours. I then use warm water and a toothbrush to clean the parts.

The transmission fluid Cover, Steering pump and alternator is painted with Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver. The starter is Testors Model Master 4679 Steel and the water pump (not on this picture) is in Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum. I decided to do the carburetor in Tamiya X-12 Gold Leaf.

The spark plug wires and boots have been glued to the distributor top plate of the Detail Master DM-3201 distributor kit.

The next several photos are of the almost finished engine. The starter, the steering pump, the valve covers and the carburetor is glued in place.

The fan belt and pulleys have been installed.

The alternator and the oil filter are glued in place. As mentioned before, I did the oil filter in orange, only to add some color to the engine. Since Fram Filters are orange, and I believe the current Fram filters have a black top where the filter wrench knurls are; however, I'm leaving this one totally orange. I need to find a decal from Fram to put on the filter. (It may surprise you, but I'm not a fan of Fram filters. I prefer Bosch with a backflow valve). But that's another story.

The body is masked for painting the bottom portion.

The rear of the body is masked except for a strip along the bottom edge.

The other side (left side) of the body is masked.

The bottom half of the body is airbrushed with Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue.

The bottom half of the body is airbrushed with Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue.

The bottom side of the fenders is airbrushed with Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black. The top of the fenders will be Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black, and the running boards will be Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black.

The exhaust pipes and mufflers are airbrushed with Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum.

The frame is airbrushed with Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black.

The hood edges received a 2nd coat of Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue.

The body received a 2nd coat of Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue. Before applying the 2nd coat, a small run that occurred during the 1st coat was sanded and smoothed.

The masking on the top half of the body is removed. There is a small amount of bleeding under the tape, but nothing concerning.

The masking on the top half of the body is removed. There is a small amount of bleeding under the tape, but nothing concerning.

The masking is removed from the rear of the body.

The fenders received a 1st coat of Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black. It looks fairly good on the photo; however, there will need to be a-bit of wet sanding and then a 2nd coat.

I started installing the spark plug wires and boots.

While the glue was drying on the spark plugs, I masked the blue portion of the body getting the roof and trunk ready for paint. I decided to paint the top of the body gloss black.

The other side of the body was also taped, getting the roof and trunk lid ready to paint. Not shown here, the edges of the hood were also masked so that the top of the hood can be painted gloss black.

The spark plug wiring is installed, but need to be adjusted.

I did the floor pan in Tamiya X-19 Sky Grey. I'm still not sure what color the seat will be; however, I'm fairly sure the door panels, not shown, will be two tone with one of the colors being Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue and not sure what the other color will be.

The top half of the body has been airbrushed with Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black. It's a first coat and still wet in this photo.

The roof of the body, after the first coat of Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black. I can see some orange peel, but the paint is still wet in this photo, and it is only the first coat.

Difficult to see in this photo, I did the wheel backs in Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black.

The inner fender wells, the gas tank bottom, rear bumper supports, front dress panel and radiator shroud are painted with Tamiya X-1 Gloss black; first coat.

The hood top is painted with Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black. This is a first coat and in this photo I can see some orange peel, but as before, the paint is still wet.

The radiator and firewall have been painted with Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black.

Did you ever have one of those days? Today, Saturday, May 21, 2022, was one of those days. My head told me not to work in the shop today, but I did anyway. Everything I touched turned to do-do. The next three photos are proof.

What you're not going to see is that when I checked the gloss black paint on the body there was a small spot where a particle of dust must have settled. when I tried to remove it, I placed a large scratch on the roof. I tried to polish it out; however, all it did was dull the surface. I surrender. I have to repaint the gloss black. 😲 😢

I decided to install the exhaust pipes and mufflers. They went in quite well; however, there is a cross member that has the brake master cylinder mounted to it that is supposed to be installed where you can see the paint has been scrapped. I had it in and out at least three times trying to get it to properly sit on the cross member. Then the master cylinder fell off. So...it is setting off to the side off camera waiting for the glue to dry.

I mounted the disc brakes and rotors to the front and rear axle. They look Okay, but what a hassle to get them and keep them straight.

Finally, I thought I'd mount the wheels in the tires. The wheels were extremely tight, and the rubber was very stiff. My head told me to boil some water and place the tires in the hot water to soften them, but I didn't listen to myself and forced the wheels into the hard rubber tires. While forcing the last wheel back, in the last rear tire, I broke the inner wheel! I think I'll be able to fix it, but that will be on another day.

I SURRENDER!!! I called it quits for the day.

After breaking the wheel back shown in the previous photo and unable to fix it in a way to keep the hub centered, and the fact that I marked up the chrome with a wooden dow attempting to mount them into the tires, (the marks are better seen in the Part 04 Video that you can watch by clicking here.) I decided to use the wheels shown in this photo. I purchased these wheels on eBay awhile back, not for any reason other then I kinda liked them and thought I might have a use for them on some future build. I had to make a minor modification to them by drilling the center hub of the wheel backs a bit larger to fit the '32 Ford axle, and I had to drill out the alignment holes on the wheel backs to allow the wheel fronts to align and fit properly. I have not mounted the wheels on the tires as of this post (May 24, 2022) because I painted the wheel backs Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black and I'm waiting for that paint to dry.

After my day of disasters, I had a good day today, Wednesday, May 26, 2022. I had bought these wheels from Ebay for future project. Since I damaged the other set of wheels, I decided to use these. Actually, I think they're going to look really good.

The next two photos are test fitting the front and rear axles. Everything looks good so far.

Test fitting the front and rear axle.

I've had a bad time with the body. It's the first time I ever used masking to separate two colors. One of my YouTube subscribers gave me some very helpful tips about masking and painting. My thanks to that subscriber. One of the tips is to remove the tape as soon as possible. This photo shows that tip to be absolutely correct. The tape had been masking the metallic blue for about 2-weeks. When the tape was finally removed, it left a hazy coating on the metallic blue paint. I attempted to buff it off; however, I burned through to the primer in a few small area. Lesson learned.

After respraying the gloss black I had major orange peeling. The worst is on the trunk. It's actually the worst I've ever experienced. Everything was the same...same paint, same airbrush, same air pressure, same spray booth, same airbrush to surface distance. The only variable I can determine is that the paint was not thin enough this time.

The left side of the body also shows orange peeling and tape residue. I had some bleed under the tape on this side; however, that is something easily fixed.

I'm not planning to fix any of these problems. I plan on either giving the body a bath in the purple pond and starting over...or...I find that 91% Isopropyl Alcohol also strips the Tamiya Acrylic paints and then repainting the entire body.

I did some detailing on one of the interior door panels. The other door panel had to be stripped and I'm waiting for the primer to dry on it. I used Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth on the arm rest and the pull handle strap. The window crank, door handle and pull handle mounts are painted in Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver. The window crank handle is Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black.

The bench seat is painted with Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth. The paint in this photo is still a-bit wet.

The steering linkage is painted with Tamiya X-10 Gun Metal.

The steering column is painted in Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue to match the side panels of the body. The dash board (not shown here) is also done in X-13 Metallic Blue. The column levers are Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver and the lever handles are Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black.

The steering wheel has been detailed with a wooden look wheel, chrome spokes and black horn button.

Bottom view of the frame. The front and rear axle, the front and rear shocks, the rear stabilizer bars and the steering box are installed.

Another view of the frame with the stabilizer bars installed.

Rear view of the frame bottom showing the rear shocks.

Front view of the frame bottom showing the front shocks.

Bottom view of the chassis with the radius rods and steering linkage installed. This shot also shows the chrome front frame bar installed.

Another view of the bottom back of the chassis. This shot also shows the chrome frame rear bar installed.

Another view of the radius rods, steering linkage, steering box, front shocks and front bar installed.

This photo is a preview of the interior. It is not glued yet because the driver side door is not detailed as of this post.

I started detailing the dash and gauge cluster. There isn't much detailing on the dash. The air vents were black washed and the glove compartment door handle is black. The background of the gauge cluster has the first coat of a red/brown wash applied. I'm not sure what to do with the gauges themselves. I don't want to leave them chrome.

The frame/chassis is almost finished. The wire sticking up in the air will eventually connect to the ignition coil.

Another view of the almost finished frame/chassis. The air cleaner is not installed, but is ready to go.

Bottom view of the frame/chassis. Everything is mounted and installed.

This photo and the next two photos are of the body after the paint was stripped. I attempted to fix the major orange peel, and I was almost successful. Wet sanding with 3000 grit sandpaper and then polishing with Novus #2 and #3 scratch remover made most of the surface smooth and shiny; however, there were some areas that were still bad and the metallic blue would not polish out from the tape residue.

So...I gave the body a bath in 91% Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA). Within 15-minutes, all three layers of the Tamiya paint was stripped. I did a light brushing with a toothbrush and an acid brush, then washed the body with Dawn dish soap, rinsed it in clear water and it is now setting off to the side drying. I'll attempt painting again this week (week of May 30, 2022).

Back of the body after the paint has been stripped off.

Right side of the body after the paint has been stripped off.

I put a coat of white primer on the stripped body and it did not go well. I guess we'll see...

While be primer on the body was drying, the fenders were mounted to the frame. This is a top view.

Another view of the fenders mounted to the frame.

I tested the tires and the way the car will sit (stance), and I'm happy with the stance. I love the look of these wheels!

The interior tub is assembled. I have a-bit of cleanup to take care of a few shiny spots on the seat back and the arm rests. I don't know Where the shine came from? The dashboard is painted with Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue to match the body.

Another view of the interior tub. There is some shiny spots on the seat and arm rest that need to be cleaned up. It almost looks like glue; however, I wasn't anywhere near those spots with glue? The dashboard is painted with Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue to match the bottom half of the body.

I did another test fit of the interior tub to the frame and fenders.

Learning my lesson from the last painting disaster, I masked the area of the body that will be gloss black and sprayed the bottom half of the body with Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue. I then cleaned my airbrush and removed a load of wash from the washing machine. After those tasked I pulled off all the masking tape. The paint job is not perfect; however, this is a learning process for me.

While the Metallic Blue was drying I glued the bumper supports on the car.

Several day later (Sunday, June 05, 2022) I dry fitted the interior to the body, the body to the chassis and then with the hood in place adjusted and glued the radiator in place. My plan is that while the gloss black on the top of the body is drying and with the radiator glued in place, I can get the radiator hoses installed and the ignition coil located and wired.

While I was gluing the radiator in place, two of the bumper mounts fell off, 😢 one in the front and one in the back. They didn't break, they simply fell off. I guess Gorilla Glue isn't strong enough? I'll put them back on later.

Just another view of the radiator installed. The Metallic Blue strip on the hood does not line up with the body because the hood is not properly setting in place. It can also be seen that the right bumper mount has fallen off. I don't like the way the front bumper mounts mount to the cars frame. I might end up drilling some small holes and pinning them in place?

I had another painting disaster on the body! I'm starting to think that I'm not supposed to use the color scheme that I selected. The rest of the car is 98% done, but the body!!!

I masked the Metallic Blue to paint the Gloss Black top of the body. This time the Black came out fine; however, I don't understand the massive amount of seepage on the Metallic Blue. The tape was firmly pressed in place with no wrinkles. I used the same Tamiya masking tape as before. My airbrush pressure was 15psi. The Tamiya paint was thinned with Tamiya thinner using a 50:50 ratio. I really don't get it? I understand bleed along the edge between the Gloss Black and Metallic Blue. That can be easily repaired and touched-up. But now what to do?

So...

• Do I lightly sand to Metallic Blue and spray the Metallic Blue with low pressure and the smallest needle without taping the Gloss Black?
  
  
• Do I attempt to hand brush the Metallic Blue?
  
  
• Do I mask the Gloss Black and respray the Metallic Blue? I really don't want to do this.
  
  
• Do I give the body another 91% IPA bath, and start over for the third time?

Wednesday, June 08, 2022. I was able to repair the painting disaster I had on the '32 Ford body yesterday (June 07, 2022). Alleluia!!! The next couple of photos show the results. There is a very small amount of touch-up to do along the paint line; however, that's nothing.

The way I fixed it was by accident. I started by thinking I would try brushing on a coat of Metallic Blue. I wet a 5mm wide broad brush with Tamiya Acrylic thinner and removed enough from the brush so that it was just damp. I than dipped the brush in the Metallic Blue and did a test pass on a spot near the bottom of the body where there was a large amount of black. When I moved the brush, the black paint lifted off. I continued wetting the brush with thinner and adding a bit of Metallic Blue and brushed over the rest of the black seepage. There was some black being blended in with the Metallic Blue and some of the Metallic Blue was coming off down to the primer. I removed the worse of the black seepage using this method. I then wet sanded the Metallic Blue sides with 3,000 grit sandpaper.

After wet sanding, I washed the body and thoroughly dried it. I then masked off all of the Gloss Black with Tamiya masking tape. After I was absolutely sure the tape was pressed firmly against the body I airbrushed two light coats of the Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue. After cleaning my Airbrush and doing a-bit of work on the chassis, I removed the tape and wa-la...

This is the result!

There is a minor amount of touch-up to do on the body after recovering from the painting disaster.

Repaired painting disaster.

The upper and lower radiator hoses have been installed. I did not use the hoses that came with the kit. I went through all the wire I have in my shop and could not find a wire gauge that had the right outside diameter. I then went to my box of scrap wire and found a length of what we in the electrical field call spaghetti. spaghetti is flexible tubing used to slide over bare wire to become the insulation for that wire. The outside diameter was perfect. The spaghetti was green, so I used Tamiya Rubber Black and painted it. I then placed a piece of solid bus wire into the tubing to make it more rigid, formed it to the correct length and bends and glued it in place. I still have a-bit of clean up to do at the hose joints as of these photos.

The upper and lower radiator hoses have been installed. I did not use the hoses that came with the kit. I went through all the wire I have in my shop and could not find a wire gauge that had the right outside diameter. I then went to my box of scrap wire and found a length of what we in the electrical field call spaghetti. spaghetti is flexible tubing used to slide over bare wire to become the insulation for that wire. The outside diameter was perfect. The spaghetti was green, so I used Tamiya Rubber Black and painted it. I then placed a piece of solid bus wire into the tubing to make it more rigid, formed it to the correct length and bends and glued it in place. I still have a-bit of clean up to do at the hose joints as of these photos.

Sorry for this photo being a-bit blurry. The rear window (no picture), the windshield frame and the windshield was installed. I was wondering why there was no rear view mirror shown on the instruction sheet? However, I found one on the chrome tree. I installed the rear-view mirror as you might be able to see in this picture.

I tried to get a shot of the rear-view mirror and the white ceiling; however, the lighting is horrible and the white looks dirty. It's really not. Also, on this photo it can be seen that I mounted the inside wheel backs in the back fender opening. The next day I had to remove them. The instruction sheet showed them installed for both versions of the build, with and without fenders. Well...they only need to be installed for the without fenders version.

The radiator cap is installed.

This and the next photo are of the installed interior. I apologize for my horrible lighting.

The interior is installed in the body. I'm not sure why the windshield looks so distorted; it's really not. As before, I apologize for the poor lighting.

I finally finished this build. Although I had build and paint disasters with this build, I think it turned out fairly well.

I finally finished this build. Although I had build and paint disasters with this build, I think it turned out fairly well.

I finally finished this build. Although I had build and paint disasters with this build, I think it turned out fairly well.

I finally finished this build. Although I had build and paint disasters with this build, I think it turned out fairly well.

I finally finished this build. Although I had build and paint disasters with this build, I think it turned out fairly well.

I finally finished this build. Although I had build and paint disasters with this build, I think it turned out fairly well.

I finally finished this build. Although I had build and paint disasters with this build, I think it turned out fairly well.

The distributor and the ignition coil are from Detail Master. The distributor was not pre-wired, therefore, all the wiring had to be added. I wanted to keep the firewall clean. Therefore, I mounted the ignition coil behind the intake manifolds. The radiator hoses are wire insulation from wire that has the correct outside diameter (OD) for the hoses. I placed a solid wire core in the insulation, bent the house according to an actual '32 Ford engine and then painted the wire insulation with Tamiya Rubber Black XF-85.

The distributor and the ignition coil are from Detail Master. The distributor was not pre-wired, therefore, all the wiring had to be added. I wanted to keep the firewall clean. Therefore, I mounted the ignition coil behind the intake manifolds. The radiator hoses are wire insulation from wire that has the correct outside diameter (OD) for the hoses. I placed a solid wire core in the insulation, bent the house according to an actual '32 Ford engine and then painted the wire insulation with Tamiya Rubber Black XF-85.

The distributor and the ignition coil are from Detail Master. The distributor was not pre-wired, therefore, all the wiring had to be added. I wanted to keep the firewall clean. Therefore, I mounted the ignition coil behind the intake manifolds. The radiator hoses are wire insulation from wire that has the correct outside diameter (OD) for the hoses. I placed a solid wire core in the insulation, bent the house according to an actual '32 Ford engine and then painted the wire insulation with Tamiya Rubber Black XF-85.

The distributor and the ignition coil are from Detail Master. The distributor was not pre-wired, therefore, all the wiring had to be added. I wanted to keep the firewall clean. Therefore, I mounted the ignition coil behind the intake manifolds. The radiator hoses are wire insulation from wire that has the correct outside diameter (OD) for the hoses. I placed a solid wire core in the insulation, bent the house according to an actual '32 Ford engine and then painted the wire insulation with Tamiya Rubber Black XF-85.

Time for a fill-up.

Displayed outside a classic car garage.

Displayed outside a classic car garage.