customline

But is it the greenhouse or the.....the...bird catcher?.

I can't put a handle on this one : how about "Qustom" ??

Naaah.....

I was lucky enough to get a heads-up about the clearance issue involving the dash width so I spent some time with that today. Thank you, TJ, you saved me from a whole bunch of very loud vulgar language. I had to shave the ends of the dash and that seemed to take care of it. But then I wondered about the glass thickness so I installed the glass into the frame and tried it again. ? Nope....in order to get it all to fit I had to remove material, a little at a time, from the front edge of the dash and from the bottom edge of the glass. This is where a Dremel comes in handy. Got my grille and wheels washed and...... I entertained the "swing-away steering wheel" idea. ?

I've got an interesting "what if" for ya........pretty cool, huh?

So what are you tryin' to say, Charlie? 345 horsepower ain't enough for you? Good ? grief. OK, so tell us what you got there ?

Had to do it. Not just the handles, either. Side trim must have been an option because half the '62s don't have it. I think they look better without it. So much for one coat of primer ?. Got the engine almost finished but I'm gonna do a dip stick. Black-washed the wheels and grille. Removed the fender badging....OK, I didn't see any way those front badges could possibly be workable. So it's a restoration and I'm waiting for a set of N.O.S. scripts and badges. I can drill some holes....? I put the rear end together and found the mold of the springs was shifted enough to make clean-up impractical. A common situation. Lots of small parts need cleaning-up but the big stuff is fine. When I opened the bag that the parts came in I found the front suspension had suffered some sort of mishap in packaging. It was twisted severely. I attempted to straighten it out and I eventually got it installed after cutting the sway bar. That stuff happens and it was still usable so "no harm, no fowl."

I have done it on other cars but on those with "normal" handles, which are fairly easy to drill out. You're right, though, they look darn good the way they come.

That's a very cool 'Bird, Dennis. I can't tell from the photo but did you open up the door handles? I'm thinking about trying it but it looks like it might end badly for me. Thanks for sharing!

Welcome to my nightmare ? . Your interest is appreciated, Steve.

The scripts on this body seem pretty faint but I am going to try foiling them before the primer goes on. Thanks for your interest, Tim.

Yeah, that's a jewel, Charles. Thank you!

I know, right?

Oooo.....red......I wish you had said that....um.....sooner. as far as flat black goes, I have used it on occasion where appropriate for a whole car. This '40 coupe is painted with satin black. I know, I'm splitting hairs but the effect is somewhat different. And the first coat was a bit O.P. so I wet sanded with 2000 and re-coated on a dry ( like under 50% RH) day. Ya gotta watch out for blushing with this paint because whatever you get, that's it. No polishing. There is a sheen that needs to be even in order to look good. I have used the same paint on another project and polished it down to look like old, neglected, original black paint on a Model A coupe.

Your foiling prowess is apparently about 8 levels higher than mine but I appreciate your suggestions and I just might try it. Thanks!

Yup. Preaching to the choir, Dave, and I do appreciate your interest. I will certainly try out the trim tricks. I've known about them for a while but haven't the opportunity yet. When I get a kit in my hands, the second thing I do is BING it. I download a big batch of jpg files and just brainstorm on it. Hey, so what?

That was the idea, David. Gonna open up a little here, Dave.....this Ford design is equal, in my mind, to the styling of the '64, (full line..all of 'em....).....and the '56 Crown Vic. The '40 coupe is magical. The smooth curves of the coupe's roof is reminiscent of a Beagles head. It looks like a damned puppy to me. There! I said it!....sorry....it's an icon, David. OK, ☺️ thanks, David!

Yeah. I don't know what happened there ?. I painted the engine black so don't bother to talk me out of it ?.

Oh I dunno, Steve....it looks like a hair-puller to me but maybe I can work something out. Most of it looks like fun, though. It's a whole lot better than the old screw-bottoms I've been dealing with lately. Fun is where you find it ?.

I guess I need to type something here. ? .....OK, I screwed it up. ?

The thing I see that could be troublesome is the chrome trim that runs along the top ridge. My foiling skills are good enough to do most jobs but this one will test me. This kit is not a level 2, In my humble opinion, due to the skills required to make an authentic replica. Look at the cool stuff below. The windshield fit is perfect! And the way the chassis locks into the body at the rear? You gotta love that! And hanging pedals? You don't get that on most kits ?. And they gave us a swing-away steering wheel to make real if we so desire.

Steve, your 'Bird looks fantastic in red w/ white roof- this car begs for that. Do you think this kit rises to the level of the Moebius Chryslers? It is at the very least as good as some of the Revell Special Editions. I am highly motivated to make this one special. I cannot find anything on the body that needs correction. No parting lines, no nuthin'! It's perfect. There is, however, an issue that, for me, could be a bit of a challenge. The scripts and emblems are very low relief, making it quite difficult to "finish" them properly. Maybe someone can help me out with their input on this. I will usually remove them in order to have an easy job of micro-polishing out the paint job but I don't want to build a custom this time.

Good point, Dave. Stop making sense! ? I hate to paint this engine black but that's what my research turned up. Maybe someone will give me a reason to use another color....gold, maybe? I think blue looks good, huh?

I read the reviews on the Hobbylinc site and I just had to get one. So I found this one on Ebay for a decent price and it arrived Saturday. I couldn't get away from it. The perfect body, the fully detailed 390, the sharply rendered wire wheels, white wall inserts, separate interior sides with details in high relief. Steering box, air conditioning system, power steering, heater hoses, posable wheels....friends, it's a great kit. The chrome windshield frame is precision fit to the cowl from the bottom.....I had to start this thing like NOW! The big FE is equipped with three deuces and the detail of the block and heads is on par with the Moebius 300B hemi. Almost. The distributor is on the small side but big enough to drill the center out for wires....it had a vacuum advance on it but I broke it off while drilling ?. I have assembled it enough for paint that I will apply later today. I feel like I should strip the chrome off the rocker covers and paint them silver for authenticity but hey, I love chrome. I don't need to decide on that yet. The plan is to keep it stock and I have already been cautioned about the dash being too wide but anything else I should know will be appreciated, and yes, I have seen the blue one with the Starliner roof. Comments, criticism, BS, etc...welcome, as always ?.

That dash was not fun and I tried to make it look somewhat like it's supposed to. I did discover something useful, though. I used BMF "black chrome" on the flat area where the glove box resides and as I am rubbing it down I noticed the black coating is rubbing off on the "Thunderbird"......cool huh? You can speed it up with an alcohol dampened swab. Think of the possibilities ?. Thanks for checking in, Rusty.