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OT: Retro Wrangler/Willys Pickup (long)

The model building phase of this project is complete. In the photos below you will see the completed Retro-Wrangler model posed along with it's inspiration and grandfather, a 50's Willys. In case you're interested, the Willys started life as a die-cast stakebed toy bank, I was able to convert it to a scale model pickup without too much trouble.

I managed to hack together a soft top, so you can see what the truck will look like in the first phase of construction before I get to the hardtop fabrication. Found a spare to put on the bedside; also finished the details - front bumper, mirrors, fog lights, tail lights...

Any further thoughts or comments before we declare this thread done and we move on?

Jeff

Models-1.jpg
 
Looks great. Build it!

Hey...how about some action shots! :p
 
shawnboy said:
looks awesome, how does it look with the top and doors off?
Click to expand...

I guess I'd say it looks better than most pickups would if they had no top or doors. :-) There really isn't a frame of reference to compare it to, I can't think of any other pickups like that. A Scrambler doesn't qualify, it's really a long Jeep, not a pickup (don't flame me for that, remember I own a Scrambler too!).

The doors on the model don't come off because of how I had to build the model, so I can't show you a photo of that. And I never put a roll bar on the model, which would also change the look.

Anyway, I like how it looks with the doors on and no top (and imagining the roll bar). If people really want to see it I'll post a photo with no top :-)

jeff
 
Jeff, looks great. I can't wait to see the real thing. You have some vision.

Truck
 
I can't wait to see the real thing.

I love the retro look and admire your skills "overlander"

I lost intrest in the brute when I saw it with no top or doors.
 
Looking at it again now... with the hard top, that's just too much red for my taste. The soft top looks killer because there's the black top to break up all the red.

Maybe it's something about the difference in the lines between the two (the old Willys and yours)... I can't put my finger on it.

Did you ever try the black flare look with the red before finalizing it?


This is hardly worthy of posting here, but I had to see something that would give an idea of what the black flares would look like (and I didn't want the old truck there to be a visual distraction so I could try and look at it on it's own...

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I suck at this kind of thing... but I had to try. Someone's gotta throw the monkey in the wrench. ;)

Regardless, I just want to see you build it, this is a nitpicky little thing that's a personal problem of mine, I just ain't right. (At least that's what my wife tells me)
 
bigwalton said:
Looking at it again now... with the hard top, that's just too much red for my taste. The soft top looks killer because there's the black top to break up all the red.

Maybe it's something about the difference in the lines between the two (the old Willys and yours)... I can't put my finger on it.

Did you ever try the black flare look with the red before finalizing it?


This is hardly worthy of posting here, but I had to see something that would give an idea of what the black flares would look like (and I didn't want the old truck there to be a visual distraction so I could try and look at it on it's own...

attachment.php


I suck at this kind of thing... but I had to try. Someone's gotta throw the monkey in the wrench. ;)

Regardless, I just want to see you build it, this is a nitpicky little thing that's a personal problem of mine, I just ain't right. (At least that's what my wife tells me)
Click to expand...

Are you thinking of black flares on the rear fenders or painting the rear fenders black?
 
I don't know on that one... I just roughly colored the outer edge of the rear ones that were there, I didn't try to come out from the metal fender or anything (reading that makes me laugh considering how poor I am at editing photos :))

What if you took some electrical tape and cut out pieces to stick over the front ones and you could play with the back ones some?

Take a photo from the top of it so we can see how the outer edges of the fenders align as it stands now. I think you want them even down the long axis of the Jeep, so that might dictate the answer if they're pretty even now.


Of course you can dismiss all of this out of hand if you like (same with anything I ever type or say ;)). I was just curious enough to want to try to visualize it.

Edit: more reason to forget about what I'm saying: as I'm looking at it again, I think the view where all the red bothers me is the one from the back left corner, from side-on it's not bad and the view I edited is in between...
 
bigwalton said:
I don't know on that one... I just roughly colored the outer edge of the rear ones that were there, I didn't try to come out from the metal fender or anything (reading that makes me laugh considering how poor I am at editing photos :))

What if you took some electrical tape and cut out pieces to stick over the front ones and you could play with the back ones some?

Take a photo from the top of it so we can see how the outer edges of the fenders align as it stands now. I think you want them even down the long axis of the Jeep, so that might dictate the answer if they're pretty even now.


Of course you can dismiss all of this out of hand if you like (same with anything I ever type or say ;)). I was just curious enough to want to try to visualize it.

Edit: more reason to forget about what I'm saying: as I'm looking at it again, I think the view where all the red bothers me is the one from the back left corner, from side-on it's not bad and the view I edited is in between...
Click to expand...

The rear fenders stick out about an inch more than the front flares at the moment. That's mostly because the TJ's rear axle width is slight less than the Willys rear axle, I'll need to either use spacers or wheels with slightly less backspacing to clear the sides of the bed. BTW, on the original Willys, the rear track was about 4.5 inches wider than the front track.

I plan to use wider flares than stock on the front, but not the Bushwacker pocket flares as on the model. Something with about the same profile as the stock flares. The Bushwackers I have on the model are definitely not this right ones. I think the stock flare profile in a little bit wider version and painted will look fine with the rear fenders, but we'll see when it gets built and go from there.
Jeff


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I think it looks best with the black top and red fenders. It melds both the old and new together, without making one overpower the other. I love it.
 
shawnboy said:
I think it looks best with the black top and red fenders. It melds both the old and new together, without making one overpower the other. I love it.
Click to expand...


x2 The soft top version looks WAY cooler.

Craig
 
1x1_Speed_Craig said:
x2 The soft top version looks WAY cooler.

Craig
Click to expand...

That's good cuz the hardtop fab is the hardest part of the project, so I'll probably be running the soft top quite a while, not to mention during the warm months every year...
 
Will the soft top fold down or just get removed completely when you want to go topless?
 
bigwalton said:
Will the soft top fold down or just get removed completely when you want to go topless?
Click to expand...

Removed. There isn't a convenient place for it to fold down into, it would hang into the pickup bed.
 
Hey Truck!

Here's what you need... found these the other day, they were used on 47-49 Willys pickups.

I was going to make up a vinyl "Jeep Truck" logo to put on the lower part of the front fenders (I posted the graphics about a week ago), but now maybe I'll use these instead. I could put them on the rear upper corners of the beside, in the place the Scrambler emblems go on a Scrambler.

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That is awesome. Just need to cut in half and flip them. Where were they located originally. Is it part of the body or is it a badge?

Truck
 
Truck said:
That is awesome. Just need to cut in half and flip them. Where were they located originally. Is it part of the body or is it a badge?

Truck
Click to expand...

It is a badge. These were used on the side of the hood on Willys pickups from 47-49. They were replaced with the "4-Wheel-Drive" script emblems in late 49.

Jeff
 
I want to have the time it takes to track down some tiny detail like that... I'm so damn jealous. That's just awesome, I love it. :thumbsup:
 
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