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'58 Fairlane 500 Semi-Custom! Finished at Last!


John Goschke

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I may take a stab at that glass technique on my '58 as well - already reworked the openings more or less like you did. Used the '57 Ford cowl vent after separating the wipers to reinstall later.

One step forward, two steps back department: I cut the trunk opening lines in the stock taillights and got an idea: why not cast them in clear resin, paint the lenses clear red, do the chrome with a Molotow pen and leave the backup lenses clear? Best-laid plans... mold came out OK but the resin doesn't seem to have set up right OR want to come out of the mold :angry:.

John, what was your source for the fender ornaments on the older build? Monogram '58 T-bird?

Edited by ChrisBcritter
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VERY cool windshiel/glass tips. Have you painted or tinted any of this pvc sheet? Just wondering how well it accepts paint. Has anyone vacu-formed any of this material?

Thanks, Rusty!  I think Juha Ario may have tinted this or similar material for his builds.  Bill Geary did the vac thing for his '59 Impala.

I may take a stab at that glass technique on my '58 as well - already reworked the openings more or less like you did. Used the '57 Ford cowl vent after separating the wipers to reinstall later.

One step forward, two steps back department: I cut the trunk opening lines in the stock taillights and got an idea: why not cast them in clear resin, paint the lenses clear red, do the chrome with a Molotow pen and leave the backup lenses clear? Best-laid plans... mold came out OK but the resin doesn't seem to have set up right OR want to come out of the mold :angry:.

John, what was your source for the fender ornaments on the older build? Monogram '58 T-bird?

Thanks, Chris.  The '57 Ford piece is actually more accurate, but since my custom may just have a chrome bullet over the wiper shaft for a cleaner look, I didn't want to shave the wipers off and scribe the missing ventholes. 

Sounds like you had a good plan for the taillights, too bad it didn't work out. I wish I could remember where I got the clear red lights on yellow and black car - they were a custom option in an early '60s AMT kit.

The fender ornaments were scratch-made and consist of a carved plastic base, a thin aluminum strip ring filled Micro Kristal-Kleer, with two little dabs of Kristal-Kleer on either that are painted gold. You can see them better in these two shots (The foils needs to be redone on the bases!)

2v23R8MBnxE7U1V.jpg2v23R8MWFxE7U1V.jpg

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Thanks for the info - I come looking for food for thought and get a banquet!:)

Might salvage the taillights after all - they seem to be setting up a bit. I'll give 'em a few days... Fingers crossed.

Thanks, Chris.  Just don't overthink it -- that's the kiss of death for a lot of projects.   Ask me how I know!

Haven't been here too much but I am certainly following this build my friend, really turning out unbelievably nice!

Thanks, Marcos!  Hope to see you at Sept. Showdown.  This won't be there unless I bring it as an unfinished project.

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"... I wish I could remember where I got the clear red lights on yellow and black car - they were a custom option in an early '60s AMT kit."

Might we see a pic?

Of course, Rusty! These lenses, wherever they're from are perfect replicas, including the little channels for the attachment screws.

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(Wow!  Several object lessons in this shot, including; "Epoxy is not an archival method for attaching photo-etched emblems!," and "Here's why kit glass is junk!")

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VERY cool windshiel/glass tips. Have you painted or tinted any of this pvc sheet? Just wondering how well it accepts paint. Has anyone vacu-formed any of this material?

Clear stencil sheet does not vacuform very well.......mostly due to its thinness. I used .020 Clear Vivak (PETG) sheet on my '59 Impala as suggested to me by Carol Holthaus. That's what they used to make their glass for their kits. I did slightly tint the glass in my build and it takes paint very well.

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Well, those lights didn't cure and were pretty much stuck to the mold so I'm redoing it. I'll do better next time. Redid the grille with the Eduard photoetch mesh and removed the center bar - looks way better.

Thanks for the rear shot! I'm stumped on the source of those lenses too. Time to check Drastic Plastics' old instruction sheets on Fotki! Modelhaus did make separate lenses and bezels for the car, per Carol, but they weren't in the official catalog.

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  • 1 month later...
Now that the quickie projects are done and the distracting '57 T-bird is away on the shelf, I can concentrate on replacing the Fairlane's interior in earnest. Basically it's an AMT '57 Fairlane 500 interior minus the side panels, which have been replaced with sheet styrene that I'll detail with trim and hardware later. I'm using a '58 T-bird console with '62 T-bird bucket seats. To match the front seats, the rolled and pleated sections from the '62 T-bird rear seat were fitted into the '57 Ford rear seat. The custom steering wheel is from AMT's '56 Fairlane kit.
 
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I used the same interior mounting technique as on the '58 Impala. Tabs inside the body that fit slots on the outside of the interior.  Additionally a block behind the package shelf will provide another cementing point.
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One of the inaccuracies on AMT's '58 Ford body is the door panel line that curves forward toward the top where it should be straight. To fill only the curved section I drilled a hole through the body at the bottom of the curve that I plugged with styrene rod that served as "dam" against capillary action when the curved portion of the line was filled with cyano.
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Edited by John Goschke
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I, for one, appreciate the fact that you are making corrections to the '58 Ford body, that few modelers would, or could do. That one is looking so good in those colors, if it were me, I would do it up in Pearl White/ Gold Flake with a coordinating 2 tone interior with pearl white roll and pleats, and gold bolsters and primary trim. That would set off the gold and chrome trim on the car.

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I, for one, appreciate the fact that you are making corrections to the '58 Ford body, that few modelers would, or could do. That one is looking so good in those colors, if it were me, I would do it up in Pearl White/ Gold Flake with a coordinating 2 tone interior with pearl white roll and pleats, and gold bolsters and primary trim. That would set off the gold and chrome trim on the car.

Thanks, Ron!  I like your color suggestion and if I didn't already have a plan I'd go with it, but it does include a pearl white roof.

Lookin real good!!!!!!!

Thanks, Kerry!

Aha! Another little item to correct on mine - duly noted. :)

Are you going with power windows? The original Revell '57 Ford Country Squire has them; I could copy a set of switches from a gluebomb I'm dismantling for you.

Thanks, Chris!  If you wouldn't copying those switches, that would be great!  Thanks!  Send me a PM.

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I'm glad to see you are back on this restoration. I noticed some excellent mountings for the interior and the rear window mountings give me an idea for a build I'm working on now. I was having a hard time figuring out how to mount the rea window and side windows on a resin body. Your pictures clearly show how to do that, thank you thank you.  

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I'm glad to see you are back on this restoration. I noticed some excellent mountings for the interior and the rear window mountings give me an idea for a build I'm working on now. I was having a hard time figuring out how to mount the rear window and side windows on a resin body. Your pictures clearly show how to do that, thank you thank you.  

Thanks, David! 

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