Chuck Jones' Custom

The Museum's Hot 150 list, which supports our Clone the Past program, aims at reproducing the most influential models in the history of our hobby so that model car historians and Museum visitors can appreciate how the leading edge of our hobby has developed since the early Fifties. One of those models from the Second Age of our hobby is Chuck Jones' innovative bubble top, mid-engined custom model that won the International Modelers' Guild in 1963. If you haven't done so already, you should read the article The Early Years: Model Car Contests in America The Chuck Jones Saga, that appeared in Volume 10, No.2 of The Builder. This issue is available as a downloadable file. As explained in that story, that model no longer exists (it seems it disappeared in Ed Roth's creative but chaotic shop) when it was there, ostensibly, to be replicated in full-scale as part of Chuck's prize package: the original model no longer exists. After many calls and letters between Chuck and me, Chuck told the Museum his story and agreed to create a master for his historic model. Chuck sent that fiberglass to me and I sent the same to Museum consultant Mike Good for his review. Mike Good had these comments when I asked him about what could be done to prepare the Jones' master for resin casting to produce a thin body for building a replica of Chuck's terrific model:

"This body is great! Welcome to my world! If you are going to build models of "sculpted" cars, this entails a lot of sanding and refining of basic shapes. The Astrodan and the Blitz Bug were both lumpier than this when they started out. There is nothing wrong with this body that a lot of elbow grease and commitment can't fix!

"Now, down to practical concerns. The body master appears to have been sculpted in clay. A simple mold was taken off this and the casting you have consists of layers of two different materials. I can't say exactly what this stuff is (Bondo or casting resin, perhaps both) but the first layer was brushed into the mold to create the outer surface of the body. The succeeding layers (in a second material) were added later and reinforced with fiberglass cloth to make the piece more rigid and durable.

"I did a little sanding on one side of the body. The material is responsive enough to sanding, however I recommend that you DO NOT do this! The reason is that the material used to create the outer surface of the body was not evacuated of air. This means that lurking just below the surface are hundreds of tiny little air bubbles. Any amount of sanding will open these up and create a raft of problems that are not easy to solve.

"The best solution to this would be to pull a mold off of this body as is and have it cast in a homogenous resin by a reputable caster who uses vacuum or pressure to de-air his molds and casting resin. Once you have a good casting, then you can undertake the refinement of the outer surfaces. Before sending it out for casting, be sure to remove all of the little external bubbles that project from the outer surface. These can be easily dealt with using an X-Acto knife. Trust me, you will be annoyed at having to remove these from every single casting!

"Beyond this, what you do with the body depends on the level of commitment of the builder. If that person intends to build a fully detailed model with opening doors and rear deck, it would be best to use two or three different body castings. Use one casting for the main body (with the opening panels cut away), then cut the separate panels from another body. The same will have to be done for the bubble top, which will have to be used as a master for vacuum forming clear duplicates. Once the body is separated into its component parts, that builder could then undertake removing material from the inside to bring the panels to a more reasonable thickness and finish. WARNING! Do not be tempted to thin the resin panels too much. The thinner you make the resin parts, the more susceptible they will be to warpage and distortion in the future.

"Obviously, if this seems like too much work, the builder could always opt for lesser degrees of effort. This can vary from a fully detailed model, to a simple slammer with the bubble top, "painted" and a set of wheels added. Every extra degree of detail will add exponentially to the amount of effort needed. Only that builder can decide what his or her tolerance level is!"

The Museum is pleased that Trustee Alan Raab has taken over the task of perfecting the body master as well as seeking out a resin caster to produce a thin-wall casting of this very significant model.

Though not as well known as the top Revell-Pactra winners, Chuck's mid-engine bubble canopy custom was thoughtful and leading edge. Check out the now-contemporary flip up/forward doors. This winning model was destined to be built full-size.

Chuck recreated the original body in clay and then pulled a model and filled it with resin and fiberglass cloth. We have plans to have this body cast to duplicate the original model for our Clone the Past program. Are YOU interested in this project?

Although Chuck's original model no longer exists, he did make a clay mock-up from memory, pulled mold off it and then did a lay up with fiberglass to produce the copy shown in this article.

Chuck is a recently retired design engineer from Ford, hence his ability for clay mock-ups and model-making.  While at Ford he worked on the design of all but 1 of the Probe show cars, as well as the Focus, the Fusion and the new 500.

After a few telephone conversations with Chuck, I was able to make a list of the necessary parts and modifications required to accurately clone his model. The biggest challenge will be the body itself. Originally starting with a '61 Pontiac Bonneville, Chuck heavily modified/scratch built the model that won the Championship. The fiberglass body made by Chuck will be reworked to produce a clean master from which a resin copy will be made. The finished product will be painted by the Ol' Putty Thrower himself, while the rest of the assembly will be done by yours truly.

Be sure to watch for the final product and a seminar at GSL next year and with any luck, Chuck will also be there!!

Chuck created this basic fiberglass "buck" for further work. I have determined that the body – made from memory only – needs to be extended at both ends. Chuck has graciously given me permission to do so.

Chuck tells me that his wild custom started as an AMT 1961 Poncho. Hard to believe that Chuck was able to morph the kit into the final model!

The Museum supplied a rare Revell Corvette frame kit, and my stash produced the Revell 1960 Pontiac V8.  Chuck's going to supply the modifications details – remember, the model was mid-engine!