Plowboy

Very nice little Escort!

Judging by the vertical line mid door, it looks like a reaction with the styrene. What kind of primer did you use? Is this out of the can or did you airbrush it? I'm actually working on the same kit turning it into a wagon. The styrene on it is weird. It was a nightmare to scribe! Even with light pressure, my scriber would dig in and hang. No problem with the roof section from the Malibu wagon. No issue with the primer either.

Something that's been bugging me with this model was the quarter panels. They didn't have that definitive line toward the top like it should. So, I decided to fix them. I first sanded the area back down to bare styrene. Then I took a length of .010 styrene rod and glued it where I wanted the line to be. Once it was dry enough, I cut through it at the door line and puttied it in. Even in this rough stage, you can see the line it creates. I also found a new set of wheels and tires for it. These are from the Foose '67 Coronet. To me, they suit it perfect! I just gotta modify the wheel backs so that they are see through. I thought I could use the wheel backs from the other wheels. But, these are designed completely different. More on that later. Something else that's bugging me are the tail lights. Kinda doesn't make sense to me to have the rest of the body right and the tail lights wrong. But, they're definitely not going to be easy to replicate. Gonna have to some siphering on that one.

Yeah, the more looked at that six cylinder, the less I liked it. If I was building it plane Jane, it would have been perfect. But, it didn't fit with what I'm doing with it.

Those are brass rods hit with a Molotow pen. I can't recall the exact diameter. Thinking .015.

That is wicked! You say that's Mica Red over Gold. I have a model with the same combination and it's much darker. Did I just use too much red? I did three coats. I've been wanting to do a red like yours. I thought I had the combination. But, didn't. Is that just one coat of Mica Red?

I made a big one on my last project when I smeared what I thought was Tamiya Finish Compound, but was actually Tamiya White Putty on the roof. I managed to fix it luckily. My biggest was when I was a kid. My mother was stripping paint from the windows of our house and repainting them. She was using paint stripper and making it look easy to me. I had a '66 Skylark that my brother gave to me that was a color I didn't like. I asked her if I could use it on my model. She replied, "OH NO, don't you even touch this stuff, it'll burn your skin!" My thought was as soon as she goes inside, I'm going to put some of that stuff on my model. I got a piece of wood to set it on so that I could just grab the brush, slather some on and be gone. She went inside to make lunch and I had my chance! I grabbed the model from behind the house, grabbed the brush, slathered some on, hid it behind the house and went inside like nothing happened. After lunch, I went to check on it and there was nothing but a big blob of ugly colored styrene left! I guess I should have listened to her!

Built this from the parts box.

The six is out and the 5.7 LS is in! Much better than the six cylinder! I had to do a little trimming here and there to get it to fit nicely. But, now it fits like it should and has plenty of room between it, the radiator and firewall.

The Revell-Monogram 1/24 '37 Ford coupe, sedan and cabriolet have a very nice SBC in them. The coupe has TPI. The cabriolet has a carburetor. Not sure on the sedan. They're backed by an automatic transmission. I think it's an AOD. They are a true 1/24 scale.

Next time, either sand the silver lightly with 1000 grit before the clear read or apply the clear red over the silver a few minutes afterwards. I would only shoot one coat of the clear red over the silver, allow those two coats to dry, sand with 2000 and then shoot additional coats of clear red. Something else to consider is you may using too much pressure when you're trimming your foil. That can cause the paint to lift sometimes. It takes very little pressure to cut foil if you use a new blade.I found a long time ago that the lighter the pressure, the straighter the cut.

This also proves that paint doesn't bond to a smooth surface. I also don't see the point of using tape. It may be of benefit if there's no visible edge to go by. But, that's a rare instance. There's an easy way to keep foil residue off of unwanted surfaces. Don't burnish past the trim and use a strip of foil only double the width of the trim. I can do most trim with a strip of foil 3mms wide.

I've decided to can the OHC six cylinder. I made some motor mounts for it and got it fitting well. But, it just doesn't work for the look I want. I don't think a turbo or supercharger would help. I'll stick it in something else. I found an LS from a '98 Corvette in the stash that I'll stick a four speed behind. I tried a five speed. But, it wouldn't fit without hacking up the transmission tunnel. I don't want to get into that. I'm planning on also using the radiator and dual electric fans from the Corvette.

Nice looking little Nova Jim! Really like the color on it! I should have bought this Nova instead of the '65.

Very nice restoration Anthony! Perfect color!

How much too long is the wheelbase on the 2+2? I think I have one in the stash. Or it may be the Grand Prix.

That's crazy! But, what else can one expect from Ken Block? Wish I had just a bit of his talent!

I'd like to see Round2 take this kit a step further and do a LWB fleetside 2wd. I think it's the perfect subject to do it with. With simple grille changes, they could do the years from '81-'87. They could do all kinds of mixing and matching. They could use the short bed fleetside from the GMC for the short chassis. It would just need a tailgate or even simpler, a decal. Lots of possibilities IMO.

One thing I do on the windshield is test fit first and if there anything hanging below the bottom of the cowl, I trim it down until it is flush. Same for the backlight. Then put the interior together temporarily and test fit.

You don't have to modify the chassis. The transmission tunnel on the interior tub just needs some trimming. Plus, the wheelbase is right.

The engine in the '69 Firebird kit is the Sprint OHC. I got the engine tacked together enough to do a mockup with it. It fits fine. It just looks so swallowed in the engine bay. In one way, it's cool. In another way, it's lame. Definitely something different!

If you want a better chassis, the AMT '66 Fairlane's is almost a drop fit. IIRC, I just had to some trimming on the transmission/driveshaft tunnel on the Torino's interior tub.

Bob, before you strip it, I would try sanding it with 600 grit, then 1000 and shoot the color on again. If it looks to suit you, then shoot your clear. It would be worth a shot before starting over.

Thanx for the feedback guys, I appreciate it! I got the suspension lowered. Three mms in the front. I just cut the spindles loose and moved them up. The rear got lowered almost the same amount. I just cut the coil springs down. I had to do a little grinding in the wheel wells to get enough clearance. As you saw in the previous photos, I couldn't resist sanding the body down. And once that was done, I couldn't resist shooting a coat of primer. The only real issue I had was the body cracked on the left quarter panel. Pretty sure it was a result of spreading the body to get the chassis in. I just have to change my method of installing it in the future. The rest was just minor touch ups and a little additional sanding. I decided to get rid of the GTO emblems on the front fenders. I have the entire body sanded down with 400 grit. I'll go over the whole thing with 600 and it'll be ready for final primer. I'm liking the way it looks now! I have the color choice down to two colors. It'll either be Tamiya Champagne Gold or Light Blue Pearl. I'm going to get the wheels painted before I choose. Right now, I'm kinda leaning towards the gold. Something else I'm going to do is do a mockup with the OHC six cylinder from the AMT '69 Firebird. If it looks right in the engine bay, I'll cut the hood scoop out of the hood and turn it into a flat hood. That's why it's still bare.

That's a wicked looking old Chevy truck Joel! Nice to see one with the cab corners done right for a change. Nice work!