Ford Popular
The personal connection - my grandad and me with the family 'Pop' in around 1964.
The US gasser style of the kit is not really typical of UK 'Pop's. I don't want the nose in the air and I have to lose the sticking out rear tyres somehow. Exposed rubber was simply not allowed in 70s Britain. I'll bodge the suspension with coilovers in place of the leaf springs. It won't be pretty from below, but it is the stance I'm going for.
The options are to drastically narrow the rear axle and move the inner wings...
Or extend the rear arches. Maybe a combination of both. The wheels and tyres in the kit are not exactly ideal but I dont have any nice slot mags. As my filling and sanding skills are severely lacking, this project could quickly crash and burn. I've bought some polystyrene strips as I prefer this look but we'll have to see.
I've made a start. I later noticed a 'Pop' headlight is missing. Maybe I can use one of the many variations from the Model T kit. The Anglia kit has horrible chrome parts for lenses anyway...I'll also ditch the drag racer steering grips for the custom wheel of the Model T kit.
Engine is easy.
Engine complete.
Engine complete. Chicken out and finish the T before I have to leave my comfort zone.
More diversion: what colour should it be? Many of my planes are missing wingtip lamps because I didn't have green or red clear paint. Now that I have remedied this I wondered how they would look over a metallic base.
Using the standard Model T floorplan I sprayed Vallejo chrome, aluminium and gold with dark aluminium between each colour. One side with clear green, the other with clear red and then a gloss varnish. I quite like the green over gold. With maybe dark aluminium to outline panels. If I ever get anything good enough to paint.
So time to see what I can do with the suspension. First mock up the OOB gasser stance. I used Contacta Clear to hold the parts in place temporarily.
Note for later: both brake discs/semi elliptic leaf and red spacer disc increase track at rear.
Note for later: both brake discs/semi elliptic leaf and red spacer disc increase track at rear.
Pure gasser, just like the box, but not what I want.
Not just high but the front wheels sit outside the wings widthways too. I wasn't expecting that.
Removing the front leafspring is a step in the right direction.
The bottom of the front wings are now level with the wheel centreline instead of the top.
Still too wide obviously.
Time for more decisive action. Drop axle cut in half and each section shortened. The pieces that are designed to allow the wheels to rotate and steer were removed. The socket for the stub axle on the back side of each wheel was removed to allow the brake drums to be cemented directly behind the wheels. Held with a clamp due to impatience.
That's more like it!
Front wheel position is good now. Will need coilovers to be made and the standard leading arms to be fitted to complete.
I tried removing spacers, leaf springs and shock at rear. Seated ladder bar on undertray and clamped.
Rake looks good but maybe just a tad too extreme.
The outer half of the tyre would fit into the standard wheel well. Half tempted to cheat and 'lose' the top half of the inner tyre half...
The white tape on the arches marks where the saw cuts would be made and the idea is to insert the 0.5mm x 6.3mm strip into the cut to flare the arch. At this scale 1mm is approx. 1". Flares around 4" are/were considered common while 7 to 8" would be extreme. The proposed 6" should be just about OK. If it all goes wrong I can always change my mind and make a rat rod 'Pop'.
Modification of kit damper to coilover. This will have to be shorter than shown at the front.
One side done. I actually attacked both sides at the same time and started at each end to give some variety of sawing angle. The cut was of necessity close to the curved edge of the wing so I cut carefully by hand. I still slipped a couple of times.
Both sides cut.
I cut three lengths of the 6.3mm strip and cut one lengthwise to be used as fixing guides for the actual wing extension strips.
I pre-formed all three strips roughly to shape so they wouldn't fight the cement and need clamping.
I fixed the extension strips in place first. Starting at the centre and holding the strip in place while I applied extra thin cement approx. 15mm at a time. This was actually quite a quick process and I moved straight on to attaching the outer wing sections to get as good a match as possible.
The full width rear tyres are now a snug fit in the widened arches. I don't think I will need to modify the inner wings after all. I should have enough options to set the back axle width to suit the rear wheels in this position.
The overall stance is now much more to my taste.
Perhaps the rear could do with being raised a smidge. This would also provide a tiny bit of clearance and would stop the rear tyres rubbing on the inside of the arches.
The view from the rear is looking good. Lets hope the blending and sanding don't go horribly wrong.
Trimmed and sanded and ready for priming.
Bulkhead and interior assembled while parts are still paint-free.
1st primer coat shows quite neat seams at the back.
I'm not sure whether I'm making it better or worse. I'm using medium CA glue as a filler as it dosn't shrink. I also added some typically 'Frenched' rear lights. An original Anglia only had one central rear/brake light, the minimum demanded by UK law in 1951. Indicators were originally 'trafficator' lamps on short pivoted arms mounted in the B pillars. These rotated out of the relevant side and illuminated orange. You can see on my Dad's car in the first picture that these had been replaced with flashing orange lights on his car, mounted at the top of the B pillar and visible from front and rear of the car.
The earliest Populars also left the factory with only one rear lamp but the law changed in the early 50s and most owners added aftermarket lamps to the rear wings. Customisers later 'Frenched' the lights, recessing them at the end of short tubes mounted inside the wings, for a cleaner look.
The missing front lamp will be replaced by leftover items from the model T kit. These were chromed with chrome lenses. The holes in the front wings have been modified and I drilled out the fronts. The T kit also has clear lenses left over.
I took a thin poly rod and sanded down one side to make a D cross-section. This was added to the bottom edge of the extended wings at the rear only, to tie in with the front wings.
Kit dampers converted to coilovers. Wire for springs was taken from the centre of some twist ties I had lying around. The original chrome pistons now fit inside poly tubes and although their overall length should be adjustable they are a tight fit and the ends carried over and reused are very weak.
Rear suspension fitted and all four coilovers mounted. The ladder arms were modified to allow them to sit higher. All the coilovers are set shorter than the original shocks. I replaced the metal axle with poly rod, also shortened slightly.
Chassis has seats and ridiculous throttle pedal added.
Body fully primed and ready for masking and proper painting.
First a coat of gloss varnish. Doors, bonnet and bootlid attached with masking tape. Also applied to door cards and interior panels after some gold details added with metallic pen.
Roof panel and windows masked..
.. and Vallejo chrome silver applied.
Gold applied. Dark aluminium to outline panels.
Dark aluminium covers better and my aim is not always good.
More gold applied to tame the darker colour.
Mister Hobby transparent green applied.
The twist in the body is only partly tamed when the chassis is in place. I think special attention will be required to get the bonnet to sit properly.
I decided a second coat was in order to even out the green a bit more. I finished with a very thinned layer which gave a smooth finish to the most curved areas but some of the flatter surfaces dried quite 'gritty'.
Fitting the body over the chassis was quite tight. It was awkward to make sure the bootlid hinges were properly positioned. The body had to be
spread at the door openings and actually broke at the sill below the B pillar on this side.
spread at the door openings and actually broke at the sill below the B pillar on this side.
I made rear lights from clear sprue.
I should probably have tried polishing the body before fitting, but I was too impatient to wait for the paint to harden before seeing how it looked.
I'll try polishing the gritty areas when the paint has had more time to harden. I'll hold off on fitting the lights and handles until then. I'll have to be careful as I like the colouring as it is and only want to improve the surface and not remove any of the green layer.
OK, my attempt to polish did not accomplish much apart from taking green colour from some hotspots so I'm calling the finish finished! I've added headlights and handles and a pair of magnets to hold the bonnet in the correct position.
Side elevation showing finished rake. (Incidentally I found the 'missing' headlight hiding in the corner of the box at this stage - despite having looked for it several times at the start of the build. I like the Model T ones better though, so they're staying)
The steering wheel was taken from the custom option of the Model T I built together with this 'Pop'.
I‘m really pleased how this turned out. This is the first time I have set out to make a model that differred significantly from the version the kit parts were designed to produce. Its also the first time that I have used polystyrene stock to make/modify parts. Its not perfect and the surface finish is not the best but from a normal viewing distance it looks exactly the way I intended.
Rear view showing extended arches with Frenched rear lamps and modified suspension.
I think the transparent green over gold metallic worked well. Even the darker shading works to break up the panels and show that this is a subtle custom paint job.
The bonnet fits really well now thanks to a pair of tins 2mm dia. x 2mm thick magnets installed where the bonnet meets the scuttle.
Front view showing (Model T) headlights and grill mesh (left over from a Peugeot 206 WRC model).
Interior looks like this.
Last 'photo I promise. View from below. I left off the steering components of the original kit as they would have needed a lot of modification and just looked messy. My build, my choice 😉
Komentarzy
10 14 February 2023, 14:24
BozzerAs a slightly younger Brit, I don't remember these, over here? However, I'm hopping on for the ride. I might learn something? Interesting work, so far 👍
14 February 2023, 20:42
BozzerLooking good mate. The sanding is always a labour intensive job. However, it'll be worth it.
18 February 2023, 13:20
BozzerWell done buddy. I've enjoyed seeing this come together. Those door panels look awesome!
26 February 2023, 18:27
David SmithThanks Bozzer, thanks to Kyle and JV too. I really enjoyed doing this and documenting it in real time kept me honest. I should also say that the kit itself, despite how long ago it was originally released, was excellent to work with. The chrome parts are a bit crude but the main body components are accurate and with a very thin, realistic panel thickness.
26 February 2023, 19:54
BozzerI bought some special paints, in a set, that enable you to recreate realistic leather. The process is fairly easy, but in actual fact, it's down to technique. I tried it on my Freightliner and I suck at it! However, like everything, practice makes perfect. If you check out Scalecolor paint sets, I'm sure you'll see some examples? Alternatively www.scale75.com is the website on the bottle. Enjoy, my friend, and congratulations on a superb build 👍
26 February 2023, 20:12
David SmithI really can't claim any credit for the 'Pop' interior - its basically Vallejo black primer with a single coat of gloss varnish. The buttons were added with a gold felt tip before the varnish. The T bucket ended up the same - I was toying with a tan interior but with so much brass and the wooden barrel I thought a bit more contrast wozld be welcome. The interior of the '32 Hiboy was more interesting, but only because I was unsure how bright a red to use and ended up toning it down. Again a single light coat of gloss varnish left a nice satin finish that I think looks just right.
26 February 2023, 21:38
Album info
Known as the sit-up-and-beg 'Pop' to differentiate it from the later three box designs these Popular/Anglias were the basis of many UK street rods in the 1970s. The chassis dated back to the 1932 Model Y and the first rebody to be christened Anglia were launched in 1939 and didn't go on sale until 1940. These cars had a vertical grille with a single opening and although not replaced until 1949 WW II and its aftermath meant that only 55000 of this design were produced. The more rounded, sloping nose with two vertical openings restyle followed on and sold 108000. In 1953 the same basic car was rechristened Popular and luxuries such as chromed bumpers and a bakelite dash were replaced with painted steel items to allow Ford to offer the cheapest new car on the road in the UK. This version sold another 150000 times and a second hand version became my dad's first car and the one we had when I was born. The 1959 replacement had much more modern styling. By the 1970s the Pops of the 1950s were old fashioned, readily available, dirt cheap and the ideal basis for a custom project. Anglia or Popular they all became just 'Pop's in the UK. (It seems that in the US, by contrast, 'Anglia' was chosen as the collective name for both types and they were much more likely to be used for drag racing than cruising).
