Speedmaven Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 (edited) My passion is currently drag cars from the Jr Stock era, more specifically, the mid 60s to early 70s. I like these cars better than gassers, because anybody can drop in a big motor and go fast, it took brains to go fast in these cars. Instead of all the 55-57 Chevrolets that everyone else is building to represent cars from this time, I wanted something different. The obvious choice is the `57 Ford Custom from Revell, and I have a bunch of those going together right now too. However, I wanted something different, something that was a winner back then. I was going through some old pictures and found some of a Fairlane campaigned by Parham and Payne, a supercharged 312 powered yellow 57 Ford Fairlane 4 door hardtop. See below. I had an old body that I bought from ebay for parts; the roof was broken off, the front had been brush painted with flames, and the car was molded in that light blue plastic. I stripped it, glued the doors shut, fixed the roof, and began converting it into a four door hardtop. First was to scribe in the new door lines. Once that was done, I puttied up the old door lines and removed the door handles. Two or three primings and sandings later, I sprayed the yellow base. Edited December 20, 2013 by Speedmaven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 good start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedmaven Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 I made my decals while I was waiting for the paint to dry. Days go by, finally get around to getting out the foil. After I fought with the bare metal foil for about 2 hours, I deemed it good enough, and began applying the decals.. I have the chassis about 2/3 done, but have no photos yet. I am doing the earlier version of this car, with stock steel wheels all around, and no black stripes on the roof. More photos when I get a chance to take some... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Very convincing four door. I'm looking forward to watching your build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedmaven Posted December 21, 2013 Author Share Posted December 21, 2013 I'm going to be looking for some door handles, some like maybe the Thunderbolt kits, or even some aftermarket pewter items. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscool Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I am really liking this. Please don't stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyD340 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Excellent start, looks great so far!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Smith Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I'm going to be looking for some door handles, some like maybe the Thunderbolt kits, or even some aftermarket pewter items. Any ideas? Revell's '57 Ford Custom? You would need four, but should be accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedmaven Posted December 21, 2013 Author Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) I forgot that the Revell 57 had separate door handles...May look into that. All of the Revell kits I have now are slated for a build of some kind, I have a lot of friends with these cars, lol.. Thanks for the tip. I will be busy for the next several days with Christmas, so I probably wont be on much, but I will try to post some photos of my progress today or tomorrow. Edited December 21, 2013 by Speedmaven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gman Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I'm going to be looking for some door handles, some like maybe the Thunderbolt kits, or even some aftermarket pewter items. Any ideas? http://www.owencraft.com/handle.html ^^ I bought some of these at a model show, and they look great when sanded and polished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBcritter Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Nice job on this one - especially how you matched the markings. My uncle had a '57 Fairlane 500 four-door pillared sedan which he raced around Paducah, KY in the mid-60s: It ran a 406 four-speed with a single four-barrel (the tri-carb setup was on the 292 it had before). Since it was his daily driver, the markings were temporary. (Which will make it a lot easier for me someday when I build it - I can freehand them and it won't have to be too neat!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedmaven Posted December 21, 2013 Author Share Posted December 21, 2013 That is a cool 57...I hope you don't mind, I saved the photo. I collect photos of old race cars when I find them for reference on future projects. Was that car red and white or black and white? Its hard to tell in the B&W photo. Very cool pic. I see it ran B/MP..that would have been for the bigger cube cars, this one ran a 406 4 speed? Should have been a killer on the track, 406 was one heck of an engine. The Jr Stock and Modified Production cars are my abslute faorites. I can relate to them better than the gassers and early funny cars. Thanks for the link gman, that's exactly what I was looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBcritter Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 (edited) It was actually Silver Mocha Poly (dark brown, like the Revell '57 Country Squire) and Doeskin Tan - my uncle called it the Brown Beast. He said he did most of his racing on the streets of Paducah, but when this was shot the markings were temporary for a trip to the dragstrip in Brookport, IL. He sold the car shortly afterward in 1965 when he went into the Air Force. Here's a closer but blurrier shot: P.S. Just noticed you're from Pass Christian - my mom's from Gulfport. Her cousin (whom I never got to meet) drove stock cars around there - "Tiger" Fillingim, #72. Here's a few photos: http://www.misschicken.com/72-Tiger%20Fillingim.htm Edited December 22, 2013 by ChrisBcritter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedmaven Posted January 4, 2014 Author Share Posted January 4, 2014 I haven't forgotten or given up on this project, just been away visiting family for the holidays. When I returned, not only did I make some progress on the Parham and Payne Fairlane, but I also started making some progress on another famous 57 Ford, the Hoosier Hurricane of John Feistritzer. John is a friend of mine, and I was able to get pretty close replicating the lettering on his car, being as I have a large number of photos of it that I took myself just for the purpose of replicating. I will be taking some photos tomorrow when it warms up, pretty cold out in the shop or I would do it tonight. I have both cars up on wheels with windows in, but the P&P car needs the chrome dividers put in between the front and back door glasses. I have them made, just need to put them in. Then the grilles need black wash put in, bumpers and splash pans installed, and finally, window lettering and then I can concentrate on the engines. Both are supercharged 312 Y blocks, with the VR57 Paxtons taking center place. I have replaced the square box from the AMT kits with scratch built bonnets that match the one I have for my real 1:1 scale supercharged 57 Ford. Sculpey is a good tool to have around the shop. I will get some photos up tomorrow, and if I haven't bored you to death with 57 Fords by that point, I may post up some prelim photos of another friends 57 in 1/25, along with the decals I just finished for his car. Finally getting time to build a lot of my friends and some of my hero's cars, having a blast doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsDano85gt Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 glad your having a blast building over there in the pass james! wow so you have a 1:1 out in the garage??i'd love to see a real in the flesh ol' school paxton charged y block! i'm in the same county possibly 30 minutes or less away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedmaven Posted January 4, 2014 Author Share Posted January 4, 2014 I have a real 57 Custom, tudor sedan with 312 VR57 supercharger. The 312 is at the machine shop right now, and the body is getting ready for paint. Hope to have it ready for Cruisin the Coast this year. Interior probably wont be done, but the paint and engine should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowtienutz Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 James I almost didn't open this post, so many times someone does a half *** job of replicating a car it just bugs the daylights out of me. I was expecting to see a 2 two door Fairlane with maybe some trim removed. Your doing great so far convincing job. Hats off for the the conversion work to a four door. I'll be watching this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedmaven Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 James I almost didn't open this post, so many times someone does a half *** job of replicating a car it just bugs the daylights out of me. I was expecting to see a 2 two door Fairlane with maybe some trim removed. Your doing great so far convincing job. Hats off for the the conversion work to a four door. I'll be watching this. I still have a long way to go. I will be rounding up some door handles for it, washing out the grille, just a lot of stuff left to go. It kinda sorta looks right now, but I have to get the side glass chrome edges done before I do much else. I am kinda in the middle of casting a bunch of small tire weld wheels right now. I made a master and bought an RTV mold set, and that stuff sucks. Alumalite RTV cannot compete with Micro Mark, and I will be ordering some MM RTV asap. Anyway, I will be making a few sets of the draglites in the next few days, to complete some of my other projects. I got a couple pics tonight, photography isn't my strong point, at least lighting isn't. I will post a couple pics as it sits now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedmaven Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 What do you guys use to recut the door lines? I don't know if any of you remember or not, but back in the old days, Auto World did models and stuff, not just slot cars. I bought this really cool tool, pretty much a wood burner kit with a blade attachment, made for cutting open body panels on models. My blade is getting about done, after 35 years, lol, but it is what I used to rescribe the door lines with. It was actually more work filling in the old ones than cutting the new. I am pleased with how it is coming out so far. Seriously, the body was in bad enough shape, I almost threw it away two or three times. I just can't bring myself to get rid of cool old stuff like that. I figured, if I can fix it and use it for something else, at least it will be out of the scrap box, finally. It will be getting ready for my soon to be built pine and glass display cabinet, so hopefully, I can get all my finished ones out and repair the damage from being stored that way for years, being moved, etc. Hopefully, I can get them all so I can see and enjoy them. I do love these old Fords, owned 7 or 8 of the real thing, including my current in process supercharged Custom tudor. Some of the photos, you can see the cowl of the real car in the background. Thanks for all the encouragement and kind words. I never really thought of myself as any kind of good builder, I just enjoy it when it's too cold or wet to work on the real deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBcritter Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 That's an Auto Cutter, and you must have a surgeon's hands to be getting such straight lines! For my windows and front door lines I'll be using a side profile image of my old '58 Edsel Ranger sedan (front doors and window frames are same as Ford) scaled to 1/25, and a photoetch saw blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Looking Good! An interesting project for sure, Stockers and Super Stockers are seen way too rarely in this scale. You are doing great job with this, the conversion you made looks excellent and I like the paint and decal work, too. My passion is currently drag cars from the Jr Stock era, more specifically, the mid 60s to early 70s. I like these cars better than gassers, because anybody can drop in a big motor and go fast, it took brains to go fast in these cars. Yup, I agree. Though my favorites are Early '60s Full Size cars like Chevy Impala, but I really like these, too. It's great to see how close to Stock these things actually were (And are still today), but then again they are clearly race cars. I'm also building The Ramchargers' '61 Phoenix that ran in S/S and I have one '58 Chevy Sedan Delivery that will be another Junior Stocker while waiting for the next Drag Race Season to start... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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