This was a great casting I’d purchased from Volvo 1:1. I’ve had it forever and was down to the wire when my shoulder went bum on me. So here it is, finally finished-
Neal started with an Aurora 41’ Lincoln, and blended a rear wagon section from die-cast woody, then recast it all—
Excellent, and a true custom!
He’s showed his own finished style of this as a Surf-Woody here, many months’ back- and that’s what hooked me. I knew it was just the thing I was looking for--with the right modifications.
I’ve wanted a (non-Caddy) T-jet hearse for some time. When this arrived, my prayers(?) were answered! My hearse could be built-
With the interest in start-to-finish build ups, I kept this (kind of) in the same vein.
This is pretty much how I did it:
Step 1 BODY
Neal cast it in black, which was very smooth, but I had to section-paint it anyway after the major hacking/grinding/puttying, and breaking of multiple parts and such that commenced.
The chassis fit well enough when I got it, but I still was able to remove a lot of excess material that took up much needed interior space. The whole inside of the body had to be ground out.
I opened up all the cast-in glass, and ground out the inside as thin as I could (this is where the breaking started). I’d cut the rear door and its “glass” from the body (more breakage)- plus, I’d also removed the “C” pillars to give the side a full panel look.
The windshield header and roofline seemed slightly out of proportion from research I’d done, so, I raised the windshield at the roofline considerably to blend better with the flow on the side windows. The roof was re-contoured and smoothed out.
PIC “C pillars removed”
Step 2 INTERIOR
I used clear stock for the windscreen and the long side windows. For the front side glass- they’re made short for a “rolled down” look. I set these aside.
PIC “Parts prep 2”
I followed with cutting up a rear seat cushion from a die-cast interior and formed some interior fender wells for a partial inside padded look--and trimmed, detailed and painted them, also putting those aside.
I didn’t realize until the assembly stage that the rolled and pleated interior is all but covered by the chassis height. Somewhat of a waste of time…
I started gathering other parts for the build.
PIC “Interior and ice cream guy”
Next, I started on the rear floor.
I used an old Afx trailer floor piece- cut and fit for the “wood grain” look. I thinned it about as thick as a file card and painted it. After it dried, I foiled the chrome “runners”, measured the length/width, and left that for the time being.
I wanted the driver and his area to be more realistic, so I used the driver/interior from a damaged Good humor ice cream truck.
Hard to see and impossible to photograph--the driver has a gray uniform, with double-breasted coat buttons, white gloves, and badge on his cap. He also received a “dead wash” to his facial features, and I gave him a patch over his right eye.
The platform was thinned in front to fit in the dashboard area.
Behind him, I carved an oval hole (so he could keep an eye on things-), and foiled the divider to give it an aluminum look.
PIC “Parts prep”
PIC “Driver buttons"
Cont...
Neal started with an Aurora 41’ Lincoln, and blended a rear wagon section from die-cast woody, then recast it all—
Excellent, and a true custom!
He’s showed his own finished style of this as a Surf-Woody here, many months’ back- and that’s what hooked me. I knew it was just the thing I was looking for--with the right modifications.
I’ve wanted a (non-Caddy) T-jet hearse for some time. When this arrived, my prayers(?) were answered! My hearse could be built-
With the interest in start-to-finish build ups, I kept this (kind of) in the same vein.
This is pretty much how I did it:
Step 1 BODY
Neal cast it in black, which was very smooth, but I had to section-paint it anyway after the major hacking/grinding/puttying, and breaking of multiple parts and such that commenced.
The chassis fit well enough when I got it, but I still was able to remove a lot of excess material that took up much needed interior space. The whole inside of the body had to be ground out.
I opened up all the cast-in glass, and ground out the inside as thin as I could (this is where the breaking started). I’d cut the rear door and its “glass” from the body (more breakage)- plus, I’d also removed the “C” pillars to give the side a full panel look.
The windshield header and roofline seemed slightly out of proportion from research I’d done, so, I raised the windshield at the roofline considerably to blend better with the flow on the side windows. The roof was re-contoured and smoothed out.
PIC “C pillars removed”
Step 2 INTERIOR
I used clear stock for the windscreen and the long side windows. For the front side glass- they’re made short for a “rolled down” look. I set these aside.
PIC “Parts prep 2”
I followed with cutting up a rear seat cushion from a die-cast interior and formed some interior fender wells for a partial inside padded look--and trimmed, detailed and painted them, also putting those aside.
I didn’t realize until the assembly stage that the rolled and pleated interior is all but covered by the chassis height. Somewhat of a waste of time…
I started gathering other parts for the build.
PIC “Interior and ice cream guy”
Next, I started on the rear floor.
I used an old Afx trailer floor piece- cut and fit for the “wood grain” look. I thinned it about as thick as a file card and painted it. After it dried, I foiled the chrome “runners”, measured the length/width, and left that for the time being.
I wanted the driver and his area to be more realistic, so I used the driver/interior from a damaged Good humor ice cream truck.
Hard to see and impossible to photograph--the driver has a gray uniform, with double-breasted coat buttons, white gloves, and badge on his cap. He also received a “dead wash” to his facial features, and I gave him a patch over his right eye.
The platform was thinned in front to fit in the dashboard area.
Behind him, I carved an oval hole (so he could keep an eye on things-), and foiled the divider to give it an aluminum look.
PIC “Parts prep”
PIC “Driver buttons"
Cont...
