StevenGuthmiller Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) I've decided it's time to get started on this beautifully preserved original AMT '61 Ford Starliner. I am going to set aside my "factory stock" hat for this one, although, it will not be far away. Nothing too wild. Mostly stock in appearance from the outside. I've wanted to do a tribute to the 1961 Starliner in one of the final scenes of the movie comedy "Hollywood Knights". Paint will be a metallic charcoal gray with aluminum slots & white lettered tires. Where I may waiver from the movie car is in the interior. I think I my do a "tri-tone" horizontally striped interior reminiscent of the '58 Impala design. Possible colors may be red with gray, black & red stripes, although with a gray exterior, anything is possible. At this point, I think I'm going to keep it a bit more "period" & go with the tri-carb T-Bird engine from the AMT '62 Thunder Bird kit, I've never been a fan of modern engines in vintage cars, so if I change my mind on that, rest assured, it will be something from the same decade. One thing I found interesting about this kit was how AMT didn't see fit to change the front fender script from the convertible. Luckily, I have a '60 PE set so that I can replace the existing "Sunliner" scripts with "Starliner" ones. They weren't exactly the same from '60-'61, but they'll do. Anyway, looking forward to getting started on it!  Steve  Edited August 8, 2015 by StevenGuthmiller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorbolt73 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Nice project. Looks like the hood is molded shut on it? If so, sounds like you're going to cut it open since you mention the T bird engine. Check out my 61 Galaxie styline kit build over in the drag car section. Cutting open the hood and building up the engine bay is pretty easy if the starliner is similar to the galaxie kit. I'm even using the thunderbird engine in it as well..I'll keep an eye on this build for sure. look forward to seeing the build progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Looking forward to the build Steve.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 Nice project. Looks like the hood is molded shut on it? If so, sounds like you're going to cut it open since you mention the T bird engine. Check out my 61 Galaxie styline kit build over in the drag car section. Cutting open the hood and building up the engine bay is pretty easy if the starliner is similar to the galaxie kit. I'm even using the thunderbird engine in it as well..I'll keep an eye on this build for sure. look forward to seeing the build progress. No Matt, the hood is open, just sitting in place in these photos. This is an original '61 annual. By '61 all of the AMT annuals had opening hoods & engines. I'm guessing the re-pop of the Galaxie has the hood molded shut because it utilized an old promo mold. Just my guess. steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorbolt73 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Ohh..OK. I wasn't aware of that. I thought most of them started out as promos with everything molded shut with one piece chassis plates and were retooled later with better chassis detail with opening engine bays. Maybe I'm confused on the old kits. Those were before my time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) Steve, looks to be an interesting project! I'll be tuning in 'cuz any birth year model being done gets my attention! FWIW, I like the '61's a little better than the '60's---------the fins look a bit better to me how they sweep into the doors, and those perfectly round taillights in the rear. Jet age! Edit: BTW, I have this same model on my shelf! I bought it as a flawless unpainted buildup off of eBay, but haven't done a thing with it. Yours may give me some inspiration! Edited June 7, 2015 by MrObsessive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ellis Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 The re-pop of the '61 notchback is from the annual '61 Galaxie Styline kit. It never had an opening hood, just a lot of customizing parts in a flat box. Non dated bumpers too. The Starliner (you have) and the Sunliner are gone for good, I think. The Sunliner reappeared in 1967 as a Trophy Series kit. It included a rubber band for the hood too. AMT adopted the hood clip from SMP after the 2 companies became one. My Starliner kit says Sunliner too. Ti's funny because the Starliner promo says Starliner on the fender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Hamilton Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I've decided it's time to get started on this beautifully preserved original AMT '61 Ford Starliner. I am going to set aside my "factory stock" hat for this one, although, it will not be far away. Nothing too wild. Mostly stock in appearance from the outside. I've wanted to do a tribute to the 1961 Starliner in one of the final scenes of the movie comedy "Hollywood Knights". Paint will be a metallic charcoal gray with aluminum slots & white lettered tires. Where I may waiver from the movie car is in the interior. I think I my do a "tri-tone" horizontally striped interior reminiscent of the '58 Impala design. Possible colors may be red with gray, black & red stripes, although with a gray exterior, anything is possible. At this point, I think I'm going to keep it a bit more "period" & go with the tri-carb T-Bird engine from the AMT '62 Thunder Bird kit, I've never been a fan of modern engines in vintage cars, so if I change my mind on that, rest assured, it will be something from the same decade. One thing I found interesting about this kit was how AMT didn't see fit to change the front fender script from the convertible. Luckily, I have a '60 PE set so that I can replace the existing "Sunliner" scripts with "Starliner" ones. They weren't exactly the same from '60-'61, but they'll do. Anyway, looking forward to getting started on it! Steve Steve, I love this one. I have a few '61 Fords in my stash. At one time, Missing Link Resins had the '61 Ford Photo-etch Scripts. I wonder if they still have it as I need a set for one of my '61's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 Steve, I love this one. I have a few '61 Fords in my stash. At one time, Missing Link Resins had the '61 Ford Photo-etch Scripts. I wonder if they still have it as I need a set for one of my '61's. I have a set for the '60 Starliner. Not a lot of difference. The front fender scripts are a little bigger I believe. Being as it's not going to be "strictly stock" anyway, I'm good with those. They're gold & should look pretty nice against the charcoal paint. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 At this point, I'm still working on prep & getting some "issues" taken care of with the body before paint. I decided to get rid of those eyesore "hood supports" at the rear of the hood opening that a lot of these old annuals had, as well as the chassis screw "tunnels" or whatever you call them, on the radiator brace. I'm also scratch building a few under hood details like the top of the radiator support & the hood latch plate. I'll post some photos of that when it's closer to finished. Another thing that I'm experimenting with is drilling out the head light buckets. It has always bothered me a little trying to come up with a painting technique to make plated head lights look a little more realistic, but I always just "lived with it". After seeing some of the nice results other members on this forum get with drilling them out, I decided it was time to put forth the effort to give it a try. I'm going to just "hollow" out the headlights with the Dremel, forming a bucket & then paint it silver & add lenses. It's a bit of a nail biter hollowing these out after the grille has already been re-chromed, so in the future, I'll do this step before chroming. That will give me a better "reflector" as well. At some point, I'll need to cast some clear resin lenses also so I don't have to keep robbing lenses from other kits. I'm guessing that I'll probably be doing this on all of my future build that need it. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 Just a couple more photos of some of the "refinements" I'm making under the hood. As you can see by these comparison photos, I removed the little square hood supports @ the rear of the compartment & added strips of styrene to the full length of the fender. Then I made a new top for the radiator support to give it some shape, removed the chassis "screw posts" & scratch built a hood latch plate that will be painted & glued on later. These kind of mods do slow down a build a little, but it sure makes the engine compartment look better @ the end. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMCMAN52 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 great start .. I always had a soft spot for the 61 Starliner since my first ride in my uncles yellow 61 Starliner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 Got the last primer coats on it tonight. Busy tomorrow, but I should still get the color coats on it by Sunday night. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I am curious to see how your headlights turn out Steven. Nice work so far.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyrichard Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 hmm nice ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Looks great in primer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 Got the color coats on tonight. Color is 1960 GM "Shadow Gray". Not the best paint job I've ever done. A little bit more orange peel than I would have liked, but I'll take care of that with clear coats & polishing. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledsel Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Lookin good..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I like the color. Whatever chrome there will be, should really make it pop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taaron76 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Another beauty, Steve. Nice! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino246gt Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Looking cool, love those Starliners! Here's what I do when I drill out the headlights, foil the bucket but don't trim the foil, Q-tip the inside and glue in the clear lenses from a parts box or donor kit. Once the lenses are glued in, trim the foil using the clear lens as a guide for your knife, it makes it a lot easier than all the other methods I've tried over the years. I really don't like chrome headlights! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted June 27, 2015 Author Share Posted June 27, 2015 Just a couple more pics after clear coats. I think I did a pretty good job of getting out all of the orange peel that I was concerned about. Shouldn't take a lot of polishing. I'm a little disappointed with a couple of areas. Somewhere along the line, I wound up with a little "blushing" on one side of the hood. I just need to decide if I want to go through the whole repaint ordeal on the hood, or just live with it. At this point, I think I'm going to just leave well enough alone. I don't plan on winning any awards with it anyway. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peekay Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Looking beautiful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Man this is sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Great start. The silver really looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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