MrObsessive Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 Haven't forgotten about this fellas! Finally able to get back to this! As usual, the hangups about how to approach the glass were daunting to me, especially for a '50's car because there's so much of it. I had used clear stencil sheet for the glass before, but I really did not feel like fighting that to keep its shape as both front and rear glass have compound curves. I had recently bought some clay to try and "mold" the shape using some very low shrinkage stuff called "Critter Clay". Problem is it has at least a week's curing time, and it is VERY messy to work with. I don't have a pic of it here as it's still curing, but in the meantime I figure why not try to make a basic pattern using plastic? So that's what you see here. Like the '59 Chevy and the '74 Corvette, I'll "box these in" and fill the cavity with Plaster of Paris. The clay will come in handy in this case as I can use it to make some sort of base for the bucks to lay on, so it'll form properly in the vacuform machine. I'll get the glass to fit just a teeny bit more flush with the trim. Cars of this vintage did not have flush glass as that was many years away, but they also didn't have a huge offset such as what can be seen of certain kits of the '60's and '70s when built. Here are the patterns I've made using simple sheet plastic heat formed and bent to my liking. As I mentioned, I'll make some sort of flange around the perimeter of the buck, box it in with more plastic, and then fill the inside with the plaster for strength. Before it's all said and done, I'll polish up the surface a bit to make the glass as smooth as possible once it's vacuformed. I'd like to get the glass molded and test fitted in the next week or two. After that, I'll need to tackle the dash as that got damaged when I had to dissassemble the car to redo it. The edge that goes against the windshield base snapped and I'll have to figure out a way to rebuild that. Finally, it's the last teeny bit of bodywork and it's on to the paint booth! Same colors as before, but with extra safeguards this time around that should ward off any surprises such as cracking/crazing bodywork. Thanks to all of you following along! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Egads! My mind boggles at the patience it would take to do that. I just wouldn't have it. Can't wait to see the results though. I'm sure it will be spectacular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 (edited) ? Edited March 21, 2020 by MrObsessive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 (edited) OK..........posted too soon earlier. Hit the Ctrl/Enter keys by accident and needed to add more. FINALLY! After numerous tries in doing the glass, I was able to get copies that I liked so here they are. It would have been MUCH easier if the glass existed already and I could do molds off of that. But..........since this car was never done before I had to make my own bucks as you saw previously and go from there. On a side note..........I have no extra time to build like a lot of you guys might have due to the virus and its aftermath. Where I work is considered an "essential business" and I'm working my hours as normal (third shift). Just the same, that may change in the coming days so I'm not ruling anything out. Here's the result of what I was able to do with my vacuforming machine. BTW, I should warn those that are looking into getting one of these that PATIENCE is a definite must here. With both the front and rear glass combined, I'd say it was a total of a dozen tries till I got what I wanted. Still not 100% perfect, but MUCH better than fighting with stiff clear stencil sheet like the last time and to my eyes the rear glass is better shaped with those compound curves. Here we go.................. I might tint the glass that '50's bluish-green which was popular back in those days. That'll depend on how well I can get the glass in after a number of test fittings without scratching things up such as the tint. Now it's on to the dash which I wrecked as I mentioned before. After that's done, it's on to base primer/barrier coats, then the color coats which can be set aside for a bit till I figure out what I want to work on next. Thanks for keeping up with this! Edited March 21, 2020 by MrObsessive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBcritter Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Fighting the good fight to the bitter end! Thanks for the update! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 Oh I almost forgot to mention..............earlier I said something about using "Critter Clay" as a buck for making the glass. Well, scratch that. There's waaaay too much shrinkage for it to be any use and the way I did this pretty much works for me in the future. Thanks goodness I'm not a prolific builder! I couldn't deal with the distorted glass on a regular basis! Drives me CRAZY! ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David G. Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Thanks for the update Bill. I always enjoy following your builds and it's nice to see this one back on the bench. David G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted January 16, 2021 Author Share Posted January 16, 2021 (edited) Has it been almost a YEAR since I posted on this?? I guess so as I see a March post date for the last time I mentioned something. Well, since the Mustang is in the history books as far as getting done, I gotta get back to this one. It's hard to believe that is been OVER 15 years since I started working on this. The reason I remember is because when I went to Puerto Rico in 2006, I remember taking this with me as there's pics of it sitting on one of the pavilion tables when we had a get together at a local park one night. Wow does time fly! Well, it's finally got some NEW paint on 'er. Here are some pics of how that went so far............... This is the second time I've repainted this Ford with the first paint job literally showing the bodywork that was done after a period of time. The entire body was first done in Duplicolor Gray with the BIN Zinsser sealer underneath. I wanted NO chance of any paint crazing the bodywork after all the work that was done to redo this. After the primer was thoroughly dry, I did the first color in Snowshoe White, an original '55 Ford color I got from Paintscratch.com. After the white was thoroughly dry, I painted the second color once again Regency Purple, a 1954-'55 color I got through Paintscratch. I'll be clearcoating the purple in the milder Tamiya X-22 Clear. I don't want to take the chance of ANY issues with clear after all the work done, so this is the mildest paint I have which should have no issues going over the hotter paint. After that's dried through, I'll rub out and polish the clear as I usually do. So far so good! No trace of where the redone work was on the roof. I highly recommend the BIN Zinsser as a sealer ESPECIALLY for the softer plastics that are being foisted on us these days in new kits. That's it for the time being. I'll try to clearcoat it in the coming days, let it dry and then rub out and polish the clear. Then it's on to getting everything back together again with some other details I had never gotten to. Thanks for looking! Edited January 16, 2021 by MrObsessive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Nice to see someone using the BIN. I've been using it for almost 30 years now. Glad to see you back on this one Bill. I know it was giving you headaches in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Nice color choice Bill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 I'm glade to see you are getting this one restored again. The colors really look good together, one thing about the '50's the manufactures were not shy about using color on their cars. While reviewing your earlier pictures of this build I liked seeing how you created all of the body chrome moldings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doorsovdoon Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 That's a combo that pops! Looks very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted March 28, 2021 Author Share Posted March 28, 2021 This one is still alive on my table folks! Just took some "semi beauty" shots of it mocked up on wheels. This has been quite the battle in getting it back together. Sometimes when you take models apart to repair or redo them, they just do not want to cooperate! Hopefully, I can get this done in the not too distant future. I've got that Green Hornet Shelby that's been languishing for the longest time and now that I have some very recent info on it, I'm inspired to get back to working on it again. OK............here's where I am so far........ Instead of fighting with bending clear stencil sheet, you all seen how I vacuformed my own glass using a buck. In this instance though, the glass dimensions changed the way the dash went in as I had to grind away that much more to get it to fit without causing interference with something else. The glass was tinted using my own mix of Tamiya's acrylic clear, clear blue and clear green. It was put on using a sponge brush which leaves no brush marks after it's fully dry. The model for now is just mocked up with a set of wheels and tires to get an idea how the ride height should appear before setting everything in permanently. Still got a ways to go yet................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TransAmMike Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Looks great Bill, interesting how you applied the window tint. My attempts at spraying the colored acrylic clear has not been very acceptible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 (edited) I'm finally on the home stretch of this one fellas! A while back I got the chrome redone by a fellow (Bob Dahl) who's on Facebook. I'm happy with the results, and I'll definitely be keeping him in mind for future items. Since I got the 1/8 Agora Cobra done (pics of that one later....gotta find space to get decent pics), I want to get back to finishing this one up for good. Here are a few quick cell phone pics of what's up. I have to scratchbuild some sort of rear apron to get the rear bumper to have more of a positive location. Also, the trunk trim I made years ago, that'll have to be redone as it's gotten so brittle over the years since it was never mounted permanently on the car. I tried to BMF it on a hard surface and then mount it, and it broke in several places. Oh well, such as what happens when you've got a project that's FIFTEEN YEARS in the making. 😜 Edited November 13, 2021 by MrObsessive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 How long ago did you have the chrome redone? As far as I know, Bob's been out of the re-chroming business for several years. I wish he wasn't! There are very limited options today, and Bob's service and product was absolutely top notch!! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 Steve, I sent the chrome parts to him sometime in July. I believe it was during the week of the fourth as I was on vacation that week. I got them back I think around a couple months ago. I was in no hurry as I have waaaaay plenty to do while I wait on chrome or whatever else I'm wanting. As far as I know, he's not doing this on a major full time basis............I had never heard of him until a friend of mine mentioned him about six months ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 Always a treat to see your commitment to quality and getting the right "look" with everything you build. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 (edited) 36 minutes ago, MrObsessive said: Steve, I sent the chrome parts to him sometime in July. I believe it was during the week of the fourth as I was on vacation that week. I got them back I think around a couple months ago. I was in no hurry as I have waaaaay plenty to do while I wait on chrome or whatever else I'm wanting. As far as I know, he's not doing this on a major full time basis............I had never heard of him until a friend of mine mentioned him about six months ago. Maybe I need to bug him again. He stopped doing chrome several years ago in favor of his "Bob's Paint" business, and the chroming operation was passed along to another individual, whom I won't name, who turned out to be pretty much completely unreliable. At least I had heard enough bad stories to keep me from sending him any of my treasured parts. When Bob ran the operation, everything was done with the utmost integrity. I really wish he would start taking parts on a larger scale again. The hobby needs people like him to run services such as this, and lord knows, there is a market for some good rechroming operations. I could easily throw together about 20 kits worth of parts in pretty short order that he could plate for me! Bob's a great guy! I've met him in person a couple of times at an NNL show, and when he was running the plating operation, he wouldn't hesitate to contact you if there were any issues. More of his kind of service please!! Steve Edited November 13, 2021 by StevenGuthmiller 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 5 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said: Maybe I need to bug him again. He stopped doing chrome several years ago in favor of his "Bob's Paint" business, and the chroming operation was passed along to another individual, whom I won't name, who turned out to be pretty much completely unreliable. At least I had heard enough bad stories to keep me from sending him any of my treasured parts. When Bob ran the operation, everything was done with the utmost integrity. I really wish he would start taking parts on a larger scale again. The hobby needs people like him to run services such as this, and lord knows, there is a market for some good rechroming operations. I could easily throw together about 20 kits worth of parts in pretty short order that he could plate for me! Steve It wouldn't hurt to ask how much he's willing to handle. IIRC, he asks that you don't mount the parts.....he does the mounting. I thought he said that he does send the parts to a plater that does the actual work. I don't know who that would be.......this is the first I've sent things out to be chromed in a number of years actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beamerman Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 Amazing work...so much to learn here...more than in school in my younger years..:-)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewetwo Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 Looks great. Love the color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippi Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 Looking great. Love the old Ford's. I have a 56 Crown Vic painted for a winter project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 1 hour ago, MrObsessive said: It wouldn't hurt to ask how much he's willing to handle. IIRC, he asks that you don't mount the parts.....he does the mounting. I thought he said that he does send the parts to a plater that does the actual work. I don't know who that would be.......this is the first I've sent things out to be chromed in a number of years actually. He does send them out to a plater that I believe is located in Wisconsin or Michigan. Apparently, the same plater that used to do all of the chrome trees for many of the kit manufacturers years ago. (AMT, MPC?) The individual that took over for him when he got out sent them to the same place, so I'm sure that the chrome would have been of the same quality........if you could have relied on his service! I heard a story some time back about an individual who sent his parts out to be re-chromed with the "new" guy, and after a few months, when his parts hadn't returned and he was getting no responses to his inquiries, he finally received a package in the mail. When he inspected the parts, he found that his originals had been replaced with plated resin copies! Apparently the guy told him that if he was in "such a hurry", he figured that it would be okay to replace his originals with resin copies that I guess he had on hand? Originals, resin copies......same thing, right? Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David G. Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 Beautiful color combination and the chrome trim looks great. David G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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