'49 Mercury Questions

I was wondering if anyone knows what a dash on an old Merc looks like at night? What gauges are lit up? I can't light up all the gauges but I've got to light something up.
I borrowed these pics from old buddy Kane, not that he's around here much any more but I don't think he would mind.




Also I'm trying to make it a show car, should I smooth the firewall? Move the battery? Remove the air tubes?
I don't plan on heavily detailing the engine bay but any idea's on how to make it more of a "show car" would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Joe.

If you smooth the firewall then I think you need to carry the theme elsewhere, like smoothing the inner fenders as well and definitely getting rid of the battery. Hide all wiring as best you can, if doing plug wires, run them under the headers. I'd also smooth the dash, getting rid of all the knobs on it and leaving the bare essentials. Don't have any speakers showing (they are hidden). You don't need to do all this for a show car but with the amount of customising you have already done, if it were me I'd start smoothing

I'd say that at night you'd have all the dials and the radio lit up.
As for smoothing and hidden wiring etc , the problem in doing it in scale is that if you do it to the level that the elite show cars do then it ends up looking (unless you know otherwise) like you haven't done any detailing and it's a simplified kit.
How about sanding the firewall smooth and then extending the inner guards back to the firewall. You can then scribe the tops of the extensions to represent lids that IRL would be removed to get access to oil tank, battery etc. Or even make removable lids to show these items if you're feeling like doing some really fiddley work. Maybe just put a filler cap on the RH side to represent an oil tank and a lid on the LH side for a battery?

I get what you are saying Fred but being the type of car it is, I would see that the idea was to hide everything, maybe cause that is the type of stuff I'm into both scale and 1:1. To me, nothing looks cooler than an engine bay that has just got the motor in it with nothing else showing and people scratching their heads and wondering how the thing runs But that gets back to the whole theme, you wouldn't smooth the engine bay and do nothing else. JMHO

I see what you're saying Tubbo.
Personally however I like an engine to look like an engine with all the wires and pipes visible (albeit neatly arranged and tidied up).
I think it provides a good contrast. Smooth gleaming body and then when the bonnet is opened there's this big lump of metal with bits hanging off it.
Same with motorbikes. I like to be able to see the engine in all it's glory rather than to be hidden inside a plastic coccoon.

Cheers guys, this is the kind of feedback I was after.

1. So the dash,
makes sense to remove the knobs and speaker face. Less is more.. got it.

2. Smooth firewall and inner fenders, extend fenders to firewall.
Hide the battery on one side and the oil tank on the other. Should I use the bee hive oil filter or something else?

3. Hide the plug wires under the headers but make sure there not competely hidden.

4. One more question,Should there be some sort of brake cylinder on the fire wall? or just dead smooth? Seems a bit bare to me.
What about mounting the coil to the fire wall, would that be practical?

I agree with both optinons, smooth and nothing showing looks killer on a 1:1 but on a model it can look lifeless if not done correctly.

Thanks guys I feel more on target now, instead of staring at it wondering what to do.
Cheers.

u could put brake clutch cylinders under the floor as they do with hot rods,u have to change the pedals put them on the floor so they look like they go down into the floor,put the battery down there also.

How about no coil and master cylinder but with doors scribed into the firewall where they'd be?

Thanks for your input Allan and not a bad idea either Fred but I like the idea of the battery, cylinder and oil tank hidden in the inner guards with lids....I think. Since the Merc will be siting on a mirror, it would be cool to put some more detail underneath. Hmm, more thinking to do.