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1959 Ford Skyliner - Revell


shaunmza

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So.. first build post, and first build in oh.. 3 years. Total builds before this = 3 (spread out over 20 or so years!), so not a super experienced builder by any means.

I go this kit at a local hobby shop, which I went to with my son. He left with an airplane, and I had this.

Pictures so far is of me having taken it out the box and taped the sides and chassis together so I could see what it looks like. 

I was born in South Africa and lived there till 3 months ago, and have never seen a car of this vintage in real life.

I am particularly impressed by the chrome wheels, I thought they might not look good assembled, but with the whitewall insert I actually quite like it!

This will be an OOB and seeing as I have no tools / paint or real experience the bar is set pretty low. Going to have to brush paint it as there is no way I am buying an airbrush for quite some time!

Comments and guidance most welcome!

Revell-1959-Ford-Failane-500-Skyliner-test-wheel.jpg

Revell-1959-Ford-Failane-500-Skyliner-kit-box-contents.jpg

Revell-1959-Ford-Failane-500-Skyliner-test-right-side.jpg

Revell-1959-Ford-Failane-500-Skyliner-test-hood-opened.jpg

Revell-1959-Ford-Failane-500-Skyliner-front.jpg

Revell-1959-Ford-Failane-500-Skyliner-left-rear.jpg

Revell-1959-Ford-Failane-500-Skyliner-test-front-left.jpg

Revell-1959-Ford-Failane-500-Skyliner-Boxart.jpg

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Oooh! This will be fun to watch! I'm fortunate in that I had an Uncle (Mom's younger brother) that had a '57 back in the later '60's, so I got to see one of these live and in person with the top working and all. To a seven year old kid, it was really neat to watch as the top motors made all kinds of whirring sounds, and I can remember a kind of a "clacking" noise after the top went down and the deck lid closed up. I guess that was the automated "locking" mechanism so the rear deck didn't fly up and act as some kind of parachute! :D 

I can also remember that the car had to absolutely be running while the top was operating. It can put a REAL STRAIN on the battery as my Uncle found out!

I built this same kit many years ago (early '90s) and I can tell you to TAKE YOUR TIME! The kit will go together as intended, and I got the top working as it's supposed to, but taking your time and test fitting everything over and over will go a long way to a model that you'll marvel at when done.

I'll be following along------this is another one of my favorites from the '50's. ;)

 

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I have built this kit several times and consider it a milestone model. I agree with everything that has been written so far. My friendly advice would be to at least buy a Testors spray can of flat black for the chassis and a can of spray gloss white and use it for the white parts of the body and top. You'll get a much more satisfying finish that way. I'll be watching with interest. Welcome to the hobby! 

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Have one of these kits and will be watching. Was thinking of making mine into a Ranchero. Cool.

Oooh! This will be fun to watch! I'm fortunate in that I had an Uncle (Mom's younger brother) that had a '57 back in the later '60's, so I got to see one of these live and in person with the top working and all. To a seven year old kid, it was really neat to watch as the top motors made all kinds of whirring sounds, and I can remember a kind of a "clacking" noise after the top went down and the deck lid closed up. I guess that was the automated "locking" mechanism so the rear deck didn't fly up and act as some kind of parachute! :D 

I can only imagine as a kid how amazing that would have been!

I have built this kit several times and consider it a milestone model. I agree with everything that has been written so far. My friendly advice would be to at least buy a Testors spray can of flat black for the chassis and a can of spray gloss white and use it for the white parts of the body and top. You'll get a much more satisfying finish that way. I'll be watching with interest. Welcome to the hobby! 

Most def. try to get spray paints . (it will come out much nicer) Test fit all parts a few times , serve you best in the end. Keep everyone posted with progress pictures. Welcome to the hobby .

I don't think we get Testors here (Portugal) but will take your advice to heart. It's a big part of the reason I posted this here, to get advice. I was going to brush paint to see how it turns out, but looks like the consensus is to spray.

I agree with the above posts. This is not an easy kit, but it builds up nice with careful work. Here's one I built a while ago.

13913821700_8b40d48efb_n.jpg

Sam

Have seen that in another thread, it is beautiful!

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Automotive sandable primer is your best friend. Get a can of gray and white.

Spray paint- I would recommend finding a store that stocks Humbrol enamels. Their sprays are easy to use and leave a nice finish. Their French Blue and white will be a pretty decent representation of the factory Colonial White/Diamond blue two-tone.

The satin white and flat light and dark blues Humbrol makes will also work nicely for the interior. Look up some pictures for references.

The engine is black, the transmission aluminum. The valve covers and air cleaner should be either red or blue, as it varied with engine and model year.

Charlie Larkin

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I'll be very interested in this build, I've often wondered about this kit. When I was a kid a neighbor's son bought one new (the car, not the kit), everyone on our street gathered around to watch the top retract and the reverse and go up! Pretty cool ijn 59! we were amazed!

I might just have to get one of these.

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The hunt is on for primer and paints, it's a long story, but suffice to say I have no car and by the time I am done with work and have wrapped stuff up with the wife and kiddies, it's just too late to use public transport and travel the distance I need to get to the closest mall.

Whilst I work on getting paint, I have been looking at how the engine goes together, I may be getting ahead of myself, but after seeing so many of the cars on here with such amazing detailing I figured the least I can do is make a plan with some plug wires...
and coolant hoses...
 

Being a firm believer in using what's at hand (some would say, a cheapskate) I found some wires that may do the trick,DSCN1609.thumb.JPG.294669103a799abba0b79

Here I have, yet again, taped the body together, more successfully this time ;). I was checking to see if I could list the air clear a touch as it sits almost on top of the distributor. There does seem to be room to do this. Not 100% sure though, so am going to try some thing else I think.

DSCN1616.thumb.JPG.9bfec2d2c32350d18d7c3

Here you can see what I mean. I do feel that air cleaner is too close, it even has a cutout, this bothers me, probably more than it should...

DSCN1617.thumb.JPG.25dda3787e12215892eee

This looks better in person, but my first 2 wires are in, from the coil (not attached) to the distributor, and 1 plug wire.

DSCN1618.thumb.JPG.4c1e4b9759b5bacbf792f

And here it is with the air cleaner on. It hides much of the ugliness where I pushed the wires in. I imagine the pointy bits under the valve covers are where the plugs would be. Evenif that's not the case it's where my wires will end up!

The plug wires are from the inside of the wire twisted around cables when they are packaged. They are quite thin and pliable, so i am sure I can make them work.
Realistically they are probably not to scale, but I am way too much of a noob to care about that.

I would like to get the wiring from the distributor correct, even though it will be hidden from view by the air cleaner, so I will be spending some time finding a diagram that shows which cylinder matches each position on the distributor.

Thanks for looking!

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Hi Shaun,take these guys advice,and ,,,take your time,,,,get if you can,,,,duplicolor primer,a pair of sidecutters,Semigloss black,(interior,chassis) gloss white, both spraycans,to get you started,this is a very tough model to make nice,just,keep ALL OF US HERE close by,and DONT BE AFRAID TO ASK!,,,Shaun

Automotive sandable primer is your best friend. Get a can of gray and white.

Spray paint- I would recommend finding a store that stocks Humbrol enamels. Their sprays are easy to use and leave a nice finish. Their French Blue and white will be a pretty decent representation of the factory Colonial White/Diamond blue two-tone.

The satin white and flat light and dark blues Humbrol makes will also work nicely for the interior. Look up some pictures for references.

The engine is black, the transmission aluminum. The valve covers and air cleaner should be either red or blue, as it varied with engine and model year.

Charlie Larkin

I am trying to find paints, local stores don't have much in the way of choice in rattle cans.

The local hobby store sells Vallejo paints, don't remember seeing Humrol though. It's quite a small store though. 
I do appreciate the advice on the colours, in my searches I did see a rather striking Skyliner which I am going to try and emulate though!

The instructions say the engine should be dark blue? Regardless, I remember fixing a Ford Courier ( a model of truck? that was sold in South Africa ) many years ago. I helped him paint it in a brightish shade of blue. Ever since then I always imagine a Ford motor should be blue :)
Valve covers and air cleaner will be red, because, well red...

I have one of these started, but never goy further than gluing the body panels together. I have seen several built, and if you take your time, it should come out fine. I need to get back on mine, as I have decided on the color combination.

Have decide on a colour combo too, now to see if I can find a bright enough paint!

That kit can be built into a very nice model. And yes, the retractable roof will work! I built mine many years ago... still looks good.

skyliner2.jpg

skyliner1.jpg

That looks incredibly well done. If I am honest, that chrome looks way better than mine does straight out of the box. Did you redo it?

I'll be very interested in this build, I've often wondered about this kit. When I was a kid a neighbor's son bought one new (the car, not the kit), everyone on our street gathered around to watch the top retract and the reverse and go up! Pretty cool ijn 59! we were amazed!

I might just have to get one of these.

Hope at the very least you are entertained :)

I'll be watching and taking pointers to redo this one.

IMG_0721.jpg

 

I would be glad if mine looked that good when I was done.

I'm very interested in watching this one come together.

In fact, looks like the whole community will be watching you... no pressure. :D 

Seriously though, you have some of the best model builders in the world here in this forum to back you up.

David G.

I am quite please so many people have replied, it definitely helped me move on from trying to brush paint!

No pressure, it will work or it won't. Either way I get experience, and to share. Hopefully someone takes away something from this build.

I have seen the models built here, that a big reason I am posting this here. Going to post little bits as often as I can, so that I can get guidance early before I mess something up.

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Was not happy with my description of my source for plug wires, so here's some pics!

DSCN1620.thumb.JPG.62fa56c5bac2cb3a000bd

Worth a 1000 words I think!

Last one, have a few of these now, probably enough to do all the wires.

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I don't have small drill bit's, or any drill bits, not a drilling machine... Used to have a garage full of tool's :wacko:

I get the wires in by heating them up with a lighter, then pushing them in with a tweezers. Working so far.

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Shaun, I believe that engine is supposed to represent a 352 for '59. I have a diagram here that can help you out if you want to see how the wires go from the distributor to the spark plugs.

ENGINE_FORD_BIG-vi.jpg

IIRC, on this era of Ford engine, the #1 cylinder starts with the first spark plug in the front on the passenger side. Your distributor is in the front looking at your pics------------the #1 plug would be on your left hand side in the front looking at this diagram.

Hope this helps!

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Shaun, I believe that engine is supposed to represent a 352 for '59. I have a diagram here that can help you out if you want to see how the wires go from the distributor to the spark plugs.

ENGINE_FORD_BIG-vi.jpg

IIRC, on this era of Ford engine, the #1 cylinder starts with the first spark plug in the front on the passenger side. Your distributor is in the front looking at your pics------------the #1 plug would be on your left hand side in the front looking at this diagram.

Hope this helps!

I had dinner, tucked the kids into bed and came back to this!

This is 100% what I needed, the cylinder numbers match up exactly with what I have read to date, thank you.

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Last update, have a loooong week ahead of early mornings, so may only post again Friday, but promise to lurk and watch other builds' progress!

 

DSCN1623.thumb.JPG.4d7ad262cd45660443cce

My camera is an oldie, but still impresses me sometimes! Temporary first wire fitment, in the car - just to see

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Same same, but different angle

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The air cleaner hides most of it, but with the valve covers red, and the wires black (maybe blue?) I will know ;)
Now I have never seen this car in real life, but in all the images I see of Fairlanes and Galaxies, there is no way you can see the transmission. The air cleaner is also usually so far back it's almost touching the firewall. I don't like how this sits, so will likely try move the engine back a touch. I am also planning on moving the air cleaner back as well. 1 to be closer to the firewall and 2 so that I can fill that cutout it has. It really should not be on top of the distributor.

DSCN1625.thumb.JPG.624ac68033b97a53780e1

Because it's all held together with masking tap, I thought it pertinent to check the front suspension is more or less in the right place, as the engine's height is determined by the crossmember. Looks like the box art...

DSCN1626.thumb.JPG.04dafc6e775a813e0d063

Almost done for today, I promise. The pointy bits that I thought were meant to be spark plugs, well they are the top of the exhaust manifolds, that go on to the ports. I realised this after I had butchered two, sigh. Will have to try fix, bit it is hard to see from the top so not super crucial.

I ended up poking holes through with a hot wire, more or less where the spark plugs would be. Not very precise but again, should be ok.

DSCN1628.thumb.JPG.ba01340755b2d8fa1341c

Just to make absolutely, 100% sure you get my point :) underside of heads/manifold so you can see the wire poking through.

 

Masking tape galore!

If you have not noticed yet, this is going to be a slooow build. I may be posting too many images, but it's my thread and I'll post if I want to! Seriously, I like threads full of images and details, so that's what I am aiming for.

Thanks for looking.

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That looks incredibly well done. If I am honest, that chrome looks way better than mine does straight out of the box. Did you redo it?

No, I didn't redo it. The kit chrome is as it came out of the box, the rest of the "chrome" trim is Bare Metal Foil. My model was molded in red, came with two seated figures (man and woman), and was part of the "Skip's Fiesta" series of reissues.

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