Scale dragster bodies have always posed a challenge to serious modelers. While kit bodies usually provide the proper contours, they are too thick and heavy-looking. In scale, kit bodies would be an inch or better in thickness. As is often the case with scale modeling, one needs to look no farther than the 1:1 world for answers. After that, it's simply a matter of determining the proper materials and adapting 1:1 techniques to the scale world to come up with the proper scale alternative. With this article, the SLM draws on the expertise of Tom Hanna, via a two-part article from the March and April, 1967 issues of Hot Rod to create a realistic yet simple dragster body. It should also be noted that while this instance regards basic digger bodies, real-world techniques can generally be applied to models to provide more realistic outcomes than those that come straight from the box, no matter the complexity of the desired result. Follow along as we implement Hanna's techniques to our world. I would also like to thank Riceman for his inspiration and the knowledge he's shared through the years. Roger has experimented with many 1:1 scale techniques and applied them successfully to our hobby. We all owe him a debt of gratitude.

To get started, here are the items you'll need as pictured right:

1. Dragster chassis.

2. Aluminum sheet. I used .010" aluminum flashing. Mine came in 5"X7" sheets. Any thin, somewhat rigid sheet will work (sheet must not be tooling aluminum or disposable baking pans as these are not rigid enough).

3. Wood buck for shaping cowl. Details below.

4. Ball-ended burnisher/scriber.

5. Shaping tools. Details below.

6. Ball pein hammers. Shown are an X-acto changeable head hammer and a small hammer from the craft store. I found the latter to be most useful.

7 & 9. Various shapes and sizes of metal and wood pieces for shaping panels.

8. 3/16" pin punch.

10. March and April, 1967 issues of Hot Rod Magazine or a copy of the article entitled Shape Up which is available as a .pdf file HERE. If you prefer, you can access the individual pages HERE.

11. A sheet metal nibbler is very helpful in cutting out the cowl opening, but the job can be accomplished using other methods.

12. Scissors or shears.

13. Since this photo was taken, I have also added a length of round steel rod 1/2"X10", based on Riceman's recommendation, to use as a slaphammer.

14. As always, you will need general modeling tools including measuring devices and a scriber.
Before you begin, it is imperative that you read Shape Up in its entirety and become familiar with it. It will also serve to understand some basics of dragster construction. You can glean some information from Riceman's drawings. Also, read the sidebar below. Knowing the subject will not only increase your understanding of what you're attempting, it will also explain why certain things are done the way they are. As with any subject, knowledge is priceless. Hey, if you're going build a dragster body, it's unlikely that you'll find better feet to learn at than Tom Hanna's!
Above are a pair of cowls I made in the process of learning to form aluminum sheet. They are used here to illustrate that, while you may not build a perfect cowl the first time, by persevering, you will improve and eventually succeed. The cowl on the left was simply used to learn to form the compound curves around the cowl opening; while an improvement on earlier efforts, it is still unacceptable as a finished product. The cowl on the right was created using the techniques and principles described by Hanna and applied here. As you can see, there is no comparison between the two, form and flow-wise. The technique is described and illustrated in such a way that it removes sheet metal work from the realm of black magic, and places it where it is accesible to anyone who is willing to take the time to learn it.
Getting Started: The Motor Plate

The first step in creating a dragster body is the motor plate, because it is critical to building the body properly. It determines the cross-section of the cowl. Therefore, we'll begin with that. In the real world, we'd use a heavier gauge sheet to create the motor plate than the body, but for our purposes, we'll use the same material for both. If that bothers you, you can always thin the edges of the body panels once they're formed.

Begin by gathering a few crucial measurements: The height and the inside and outside widths of the chassis at the motorplate uprights, and (if the steering box is mounted on a bracket, rather than the motorplate) the height of the top of the steering box (denoted by the yellow circle, here).

Once these measurments are determined, begin by cutting a rectangle of aluminum sheet that covers the two longest of these measurments (overall width and overall height to top of steering box--add .040" extra to the height just for clearance).
Now that you've cut the blank for the plate from sheet stock, measure and mark the center of the plate both horizontally and vertically.
Now, determine a top arc for the plate that is appealing to you. Here, I chose the kit plate from AMT's Wynn's Jammer/Swamp Rat VI kit. Align the top of your arc pattern with the top edge of the engine plate blank you cut and scribe along its radius.
Next, mark the point where the bottom of the upper frame tubes intersect with the engine plate. Note the two scribe hash marks just above the horizontal center line.
Now determine the diameter of the frame tubes and measure and mark that distance in from each side of the plate, then scribe lines from the hash marks to the bottom of the plate. I've applied black ink from a Sharpie to the plate, so that everything is easier to see (The eyes ain't what they used to be).
Now we'll cut the sides of the plate so that it will slip between the frame rails. It's important to use your scissors like a shear for this step. In other words, hold the engine plate side of the sheet flat on the cutting surface of the scissors, so that the falloff curls, rather than the engine plate. Using this cutting technique is much easier than working distortion out of the plate.
The importance of employing a "shearing" action with the scissors can be seen in this photo, the cutoff is curled, but the engine plate remained relatively flat and undistorted. Once the curls have been cut off, any distortion of the plate can be readily rolled out with a smooth piece of steel or aluminum rod (I use a brass bushing).
Now, it's time to test fit the plate in the chassis. At this time, we're checking for width. The plate should fit snugly between the chassis tubing without pushing the chassis sides out. Note that the plate doesn't reach the bottom of the chassis at this point. We'll fix that with the next step.
Now that the plate fits properly between the tubes, clamp it in a vise so that only the "ear" on one side sticks out. Clamped like this, a small, round file can be used to round the bottom of the ear, so that it fits neatly around the chassis tube while not allowing the file to cut into the vertical surface of the plate.The yellow arc roughly indicates the area to be removed. This operation also allows the plate to rest lower in the chassis, so it's best to remove a little at a time, then re-try the fit until both ears rest on the upper frame tubes and the bottom edge of the plate is level with the bottom of the chassis.
Here's the result of all that cutting, filing and fitting--a motor plate that fits like a glove! All that's left to do now is to drill it for the output shaft (see below for more on this). Also note that the mounting tabs for my old motor plate don't align properly with the new motor plate. Guess we all know what that means! I'll worry about that another time.
Here's a view of the plate installed with the engine. The engine plate always mounts between a pair of frame uprights. Also, due to something referred to as "Tampa Dump" (A nose-down attitude to the engine), engine plates angle from frontward at the top toward the rear at the bottom, which makes it imperative to roughly construct subassemblies so they can be test-fitted before they are finished. Unfortunately, this project has changed so much since it was begun that there are now a plethora of fixes that need done. Never mind that--get to work on your motor plate. In our next installment, we'll begin working on the body panels. DO YOUR READING!
A Few Construction notes:

When building a dragster (the same applies to funny cars, altereds, or any vehicle that implements an output shaft, rather than a standard driveshaft), it is important create a complete powertrain that can be easily assembled and disassembled. During initial chassis construction, the motor plate isn't a critical part of this assembly. There will, however, come a point at which the motor plate becomes critical. At that point, it should be treated as a part of the drivetrain.

As can be seen in the drawing above, the powertrain components: crankshaft, clutch (and transmission, when applicable), output shaft and pinion, all center on the same axis (indicated by the dashed line). One of the simplest ways to create this assembly is to begin by boring through the length of the engine block from the crank snout through its tail and inserting a length of rod or tubing to align the powertrain on. The shaft should be long enough to enter the differential at the pinion, and still exit the front of the engine block while leaving enough in between to provide the proper distance between the pinion and the motor plate. In dragster parlance, the term for this distance is out. For example, "How far out is the motor?" We can't tell you what that distance is, here, because that varies from car to car and builder to builder--research is paramount!

Coming Soon Part 2: The Body Panels