58 replies to this topic

[Jairus]

One thing I would like to mention is the dash trim. The panel between the top and bottom is actually texture chrome.  Base line models stop with the clock panel. Only Fairlane's have the trim panel on the glove box door.
Base line models have two painted control panels on either side of the steering wheel shaft, while the Fairlane is graced with chrome as shown in this pic.

Hope it's not too late...

[Ramfins59]

Shoot...!!!  Yeah Jairus, the dash is already CA glued on and hit with zip kicker.  On the reference picture that I used, that panel looked more white than textured chrome so I left most of it the blue color.  Oooops.  I won't tell anyone if you won't.  Thanks for the heads up though.

 

I spent about 4 hours today putting on all the BMF on the body.  Here's how it looks at the moment...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm getting close to putting this little fella together.  I can't wait...!!!

[Tony T]

Ooooooooo....that is nice!!! Looks good, Rich. I love the big old Fords!!

[John Goschke]

Oh, bwaayy-bwweeee! Love it!

[crazyrichard]

awsome really brings the whole body to life !! what a difefrence

[Ramfins59]

Jairus, your post about the dashboard trim has been driving me nuts since last night...!!!  

 

I'm picking up some CA glue Debonder today to see if I can remove the dashboard from the assembled interior without damaging anything.  I'll also try to unglue the steering wheel so I can try to get unobstructed access to the dash.  I'm hoping that the Debonder will work even on the Zip Kicker I used.  If that all works OK I'll do my best to paint that center strip on the dash with some aluminum metalizer which should hopefully be good enough...???  I'm hoping that any "damage" that may be caused by taking things apart will be minimal and that not much touch-up repair will be needed.

 

Thanks SO MUCH for your input Jairus... and for the extra work now needed...!!!     

 

Isn't modeling fun...!!! 

Edited by Ramfins59, 01 February 2013 - 10:34 AM.

[Tom Geiger]

Rich, I wouldn't try to get the dash free from the body. It looks as if you got the steering wheel out of the way, you could BMF it in place.  Just slice the wheel off the column and either glue it back on, or drill a little and add a small bit of pin wire between the two.

[Jairus]

I would NOT try bare metal in such a tight space. Just pop the top on a good home brew, put on some calming music and brush silver on with a good NEW 000 brush.
No need to remove the dash, just the steering wheel.

You got the white face gauges correct so all you need now is the silver.  Oh... and the gauge needles are fluorescent red if you are feeling really lucky.

[Ramfins59]

OK...  Ixnay on the debonder.  The LHS guy told me that the debonder would take off the paint in addition to having the CA glue let go.  So my first thoughts were to just leave it alone.  But the longer I looked at it, the more I thought that I could come up with a solution WITHOUT removing the dashboard.

 

I wound up taking a piece of the metal trim from the Galaxie '48 Chevy (which was the PERFECT size height wise), cutting a couple of pieces to the right length, painted them aluminum, and carefully glued them in place... a longer piece with a glove box button to the right of the clock and a shorter piece to the left of the steering wheel.  I'm happy with it and think it looks pretty good...... no matter what Jairus says now...    Here's what it looks like...  and NO Jairus, I DON'T feel that lucky...  Tnanks buddy.

 

 

I glued on the fender ornaments and the faux hood scoop and also installed the headlight lenses with some half headlight shields from the J. C. Whitney catalog (actually they're from Detail Master).

 

 

 

Then I glued in the taillight assemblies with the J.C. Whit......ooops.... the MV lens blue dots...

 

 

 

 

It's definitely coming along.  I have to add a plastic filler piece along the top outside edge of the driver's side interior side panel as there is a rather large and noticeable gap when I dry fitted the interior in.  The gap on the passenger side is much smaller but also may need a thinner piece of plastic filler.  An unexpected step which will require some additional work and paint touch-ups but hey...  that's part of the "joy of modeling" right...???  So the beat goes on and it's another day closer to completion.

 

Thanks to everyone for following along on this saga.

Edited by Ramfins59, 01 February 2013 - 06:56 PM.

[Ramfins59]

Thank you very much Derick, and no, I don't think I'll be changing ANYTHING.  It's coming along exactly how I envisioned it would when I started working on it.

[Jairus]

Sorry dude, I just sit behind one of those dash boards every day and the details tend to have an effect. You know?

[lanesteele240]

your bmf work is great. keep up the good work

[Ramfins59]

I understand totally Jairus. No problem at all.  I kind of like to try to get most of the little stuff right myself.  I used to have a '59 Dodge so I know where you're coming from buddy.  Thanks for the additional detail picture with the yellow arrow HINT...!!!

 

And no....  I won't be adding a hula skirt girl....(I don't think I could find a Z scale one playing a ukelele and I'm NOT even going to attempt to try to make one of my own).  By the way, you need to repair that chip or tear on your steering wheel

 

Thanks very much Gary, I appreciate the encouragement.

[Ramfins59]

A little bit of progress today.  I added a filler piece of plastic to the outside edge of the driver side interior panel to fill the gap, sanded it a bit to fit properly and then touched up the Coral Blue paint where necessary.  I also trimmed the vacuuformed windshield to fit and glued that in place with Elmer's glue.  It is drying now.  

 

Oh, and if you're still tuning in to this saga Jairus, note that I added the dash knob to the left of the steering wheel that you pointed out in your last picture...!!! 

 

 

More work to come on this tomorrow.  It's getting there.  Thanks for following along.

[Tony T]

Looking good, Rich!

[Jairus]

I understand totally Jairus. No problem at all.  I kind of like to try to get most of the little stuff right myself.  I used to have a '59 Dodge so I know where you're coming from buddy.  Thanks for the additional detail picture with the yellow arrow HINT...!!!

 

And no....  I won't be adding a hula skirt girl....(I don't think I could find a Z scale one playing a ukelele and I'm NOT even going to attempt to try to make one of my own).  By the way, you need to repair that chip or tear on your steering wheel

 

 

 

The car is not a restoration. It's a period hot rod with-which I haul t-shirts to the various local car shows. And to that end I plan to keep any and all modifications vintage circa 1968 - 1978.

But, I am keeping my eyes open for another steering wheel, but this one works. I also want to dump the C-6 for a good 4-speed/clutch tranny.

The arrow by-the-way, points to a switch I installed to control a fan that blows on the rear window.  Rear-window defogger if you will.  The switch is a 1952 Ford pickup two-speed, the chrome bezel is from some vintage Ford product of the early 60's while the knob a '58 reproduction.

That pic was taken and posted for a Station Wagon Forum and that panel would normally be blank.

 

However, I love what you have done with your customizing on that Fairlane 500 and hope you just finish it as is.

Edited by Jairus, 04 February 2013 - 05:04 AM.

[Ramfins59]

Thanks for your info Jairus, and thanks very much for your encouragement.  Since I glued in the vacuuformed glass I'm having fitment issues with the interior assembly.  It's nothing that I can't fix but it's just aggravating.... I'm so close to final assembly and NOW I'm suddenly having issues...!!!  So that's my plan of attack for today.  Once I get the interior assembly to sit properly I can finish up this little beauty.

 

I guess I can say that the knob that I added can be called the "rear window defogger" switch" now...!!!  I wondered why I never saw that knob on my own reference pictures...!!!

[Johnny]

Be careful Rich! This is the point at which when troubles happen, we modelers tend to shelve the kit with the idea that we will get back on it when the frustration level dops.

Only we get side tracked onto another and another and another build.

Well, you know how it works!

 

Looking good! Can hardley wait to see the finished car!

BTW what did you use for the Blue Dots?

[Tom Geiger]

Come on Rich... that knob is your manual choke.  Nobody will argue with that.