customline

I'm sure it must be dead by now, Bob. Maybe it's time to breathe new life into it. (see what I did there?) Find out what parts are missing. Help is just one post away ?. My kit was an Ebay find and showed up here without a grille. I reached out and a kind member laid one on me. Maybe it's time, Bob. ?

If you plan to build this kit, there's a couple of things to check before you paint in addition to what has been discussed already. The tail lights are a poor fit so do whatever with that. Also the bumpers mount to the splash pans on locating pins that may be too long, (not a big deal.) The hood is not a good fit and I wish I had paid more attention to it early on. I don't think the grille is a great fit either but it's probably okay unless you are a hard-core perfectionist (which I am but I'm also kind of lazy). I swapped the wheels and would appreciate any comments about the color. See below. Oh, and check the rear bumper ?

It's a jewel, Paul. Totally amazing.

OK, let's get the chrome on it awreddy! Beautiful work, Greg. ?

Yup. I like 'em too. But the idea of the build was a more accurate model. Let's wait till we can see it with the gray rims. Thanks for your interest, Rich. Thanks, Dennis. I was a bit worried about sanding through with the 2000 that I used. If that happened, it was going "barn find" ?. Below the Tamiya was a very dark gray primer. It could have worked out ?. maybe next time. Thanks Paul! Happy to help! ?

OK, so.....this is a phantom? From what I can tell, Ford didn't make a convertible T'Bird that year....what a great idea ?

Yeah, the contrast is nice but after all the extra work....I'm undecided. The Deluxe angle that you mention makes a good argument for the body color rims. By the way, Dave, it's not white, but light gray Tamiya fine surface primer with clear over it and I just finished polishing it and I'm ecsatic ?!

I really appreciate your praise, Dennis. And I believe you are correct about the wheels. I have a set in body color waiting for clear and I plan to photograph the mock-up both ways because I think it looks pretty good with black rims (originally the car was to be black but after I primed it with the Tamiya gray, it occurred to me that just clearing it would give me the look of a Southern car in a "possible" factory color.) Today I'm going to polish it out. Wish me luck!

Yes they did. Cleaning the sludge from the rocker arms and shafts was always a picnic too. A gasket replacement usually went that way.

It looks great, John. I was OK with the other one too. That car looks good in any color.

Oh he'll yeah! I'm on board!

Today it reached 72f with under 30% humidity so I sprayed some paint. Clear enamel, actually. ACE brand. I am back on this one for now but you all know what happens ?. Thanks for checking in. Gotta give it a few days and then micro polish. I think I have enough clear on it to get me there. Any opinions on the wheel color ? Leave 'em black or go with body color?

As do I, Lenny. I was young and unenlightened about these things and made the mistake of using a fine wire wheel to clean them. Years later after having assembled the car (a P7 Biz coupe) and left it outside in the rainy New England weather, discovered they were rusting. I had to keep waxing them to keep the rust from forming. I still don't know exactly what they were made of but not all "stainless steel" is rust-proof or non-magnetic. They may have had a non-corrosive cladding that I unwittingly wire brushed through.

OH SHUT UP! That's what decals are for, Lenny! (see above)

Thanks. David, that looks like some super nice woodieness! ? Seriously, though, I appreciate the info. If there's a next time, I will refer to this post. There's all different manifestations of wood grain. faking the faux wood grain on a pre-war car is way different than the burl walnut on a Jaguar. I can do neither. It's a skill I just don't have time to develop. The next time I attempt a wood grain effect it will be on the AMT '41 Ford. I've done it one time before, on the Revell Merc, and it turned out pretty well but there wasn't much to it. Thankfully, the decals did the heavy lifting. Some brown smudges and wavy lines on tan and then orange-tinted clear did the trick on the trim pieces. That's about as deep as I want to get.

I'm glad you think so, Greg! ?....I am so done with this ?. On a lighter note, I have several days of dry, warm weather in my immediate future and an untested, brand new Iwata waiting patiently for my enthusiasm to reach a high enough level to motivate me to take it for a spin! And no medical appointments! ?.

I love a good Y-block, David. Nice detailing on the covers and pinning those manifolds is is the way to go. I can smell the oil leaking from the covers burning on the manifolds. Sweet.

I agree. The level of chromieness is very important. If you have too much chromieness on a vehicle of this vintage, one could assume it was actually chrome plated steel rather than highly polished stainless steel trying to look like actual chrome. I'm not sure where I'm going with this.....but it's important. ?

Sure.... and you can do a brain transplant too ?

Ok...almost there....had a little trouble getting the body to sit all the way down. Seemed like a typical dash/windshield thing. I dropped the dash down about 3/64" and that did the trick. I'm still playing with the rear splash pan. I glued it to the body twice now ?. I had to re-do the angle of the magnet on the hood nose because it was holding the rear of the hood up. Working on battery cables, etc....the bumpers are now in place...oh, I attempted a wood grain job on the dash...?....anyway, yes....go ahead, but it's staying. I gotta find a tutorial on you tube for that ?. Thanks for looking and having a good laugh. it looks like what those guys did to Christine ???

Ok...almost there....had a little trouble getting the body to sit all the way down. Seemed like a typical dash/windshield thing. I dropped the dash down about 3/64" and that did the trick. I'm still playing with the rear splash pan. I glued it to the body twice now ?. I had to re-do the angle of the magnet on the hood nose because it was holding the rear of the hood up. Working on battery cables, etc....the bumpers are now in place...oh, I attempted a wood grain job on the dash...?....anyway, yes....go ahead, but it's staying. I gotta find a tutorial on you tube for that ?. Thanks for looking and having a good laugh. it looks like what those guys did to Christine ???

...And keep on buying them ....go figure ? Edit: and I will be using all those coke bottles too ?

Thanks, Jim. I didn't intend it that way. Just an account of my stumbling through model building. This is not to be construed as any sort of "how to", just the incoherent rants of an old glue sniffer. ?

I think you're crazy, Lenny. ?

The 1:1 grille is stamped sheet metal painted body color. The trim pieces are added on top. To actually replicate that and then simulate the void behind the grille with flat black would be nearly impossible without neuro-surgeon-like skill, which you may or may not possess. I agree with Greg, Len. It looks great. One of the reasons I chose black for the body color on my build was to put my mind at ease about the body color behind the bright grille trim. ? And the fender welt is black....? .