carbuilder1950

Like several of the really old kits, it takes patience and dedication to your plans ?.

In the 1950's, in SoCal where I grew up, I was a "snot-nosed" kid walking to junior high school every day about 6 blocks from my house. One day in the morning I was walking to school and I saw this car being backed out of this guys garage - it looked like a space ship from the future at the time. It was love at first sight - the car. On my way home the same day, the guy still had the car out and was working on it. It was painted and mostly done, but needed the final touches. Not being a shy kid I went up to the guy and started talking to him. He showed me all over the car and explained to me about all the pieces he used and all the work he had done, and that it was a customized and SHORTENED 1950 MERCURY, with a lot of 1955 Chevy pieces used. He was so friendly and I think he could tell I was really taken by the car. He told me I could come by anytime and talk to him again, and see the progress of the car. Not long after that I found out he moved and I was so disappointed But that's not the end of the story. Years later I ran into him again through some friends when I was in my early 20's. My buddies were working in a machine shop in Rialto California, not far from where I lived in the next town over just a few miles away, and not to far from where "Big Daddy Roth" was building his cars. Anyway it turns out this guy who built the custom was of all people LEO LYONS, and he was at the machine shop finishing up the first ever set of ALUMINUM HEMI HEADS for a 350 Chevy going into a dragster. I was blown away when I heard who he was and we both talked and he still had the car stored away. TODAY, I ran into an article about the car being restored and going to Pebble beach, and a picture of LEO LYONS with the guy who bought and restored the car. Yeah, LEO still had that car over 50 years. I also met Ron Aguire who built the Sonic X bubble top corvette and saw it on the street when he was testing it before the first show he had it in. That was wild, but that's another story. Several years later and old enough to drive I bought my first car, a 1950 Mercury, and I painted it the same blue you see his car in the photos below. Last 3 pics are the restored car that went to Pebble Beach. Sometimes, life is just amazing.

@Tom99 Good looking. It's a tough kit, and yours looks great. Nice Color ?.

@RomanII That's funny because I have been looking at El Morocco pictures and Barrett/Jackson just had several from a collection, up for auction this last weekend. I think they had a 1955, 56, and 57. Only time will tell, but it's sure fun to think about. Love this hobby.

Thank you @Kah puts. Much appreciated. It was a lot of fun building.

@Koellefornia Kid Very kind of you. Thank you so much. ?

Well thank you @1959scudetto (Helmut). ? That's very nice of you. This is a great hobby and I enjoy it so much. The look just comes because that's what I enjoy building Have a great day.. Dave

This is such an Iconic car from the past, and you sure did it justice. Thanks for all the hard work and sharing it with us ?.

Thank you all for you great comments. Much appreciated ??

I like to use hinging quite a bit as it adds a lot of realism and finish to a completed build, but their just fun to make also. I use all brass tubing and rod for 2 different styles of opening hinges pretty much like the simple designs already seen here. Here's a sample of one car completely opened up with hinges.

Yjanks for taking the time for photographing all the cars and then posting them. I never miss Mecum Auctions and Barrett/Jackson Auctions, in fact I am watching Barrett/Jackson right now. Great subject matter and new color combinations and some cars that I've never seen or heard of. Both those auctions add a lot to our model car hobby.

This old kit is pretty cool, but is also pretty primitive. The chrome is beautiful and well made, as is the body panels with very nice detail. I left the "Dagmars" full chrome, as I am a "Bling freak," and the Chrome hood and trunk emblems came from a 1957 Chevy. After I got the body glued together, the long side chrome strip needed some help, so I added a full length of half round strip of plastic by Evergreen from the back door to the headlights, to eventually be foiled. After that I used a donor 1966 Olds convertible for the package tray area that located the 'vert top, and the Olds 'vert top that needed to be widened using round tubular plastic stock, again from Evergreen, and used a 1959 Chevy chrome windshield frame and glass from a 'vert, to complete the 'vert conversion. The body color is Deep Garnet Red Pearl Metallic. Thanks for taking the time to look. Any comments appreciated.

@David G. I like how clean your Batmobile came out. Very, very nice ?. I love all the different variations of the Batmobile down through the years. I have all the different versions, and have built one with several more to go. Fun stuff this model car hobby.

@Tom Geiger YAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ?

I have enjoyed using Ebay and PayPal since 2005. I soon discovered that you could buy re-builders of rare cars pretty cheap, and then get all you needed from Modelhaus to complete a very nice kit. Just needed to strip the old paint, and I had a new body I now have about 30 to 50 pristeen rare kits I set aside for the future, which is now, and being that Modelhaus is gone, I'm glad that I used them at the time, and the chrome pieces I bought are better than kit Chrome. Now I just buy pieces for some of my kits I robbed from years ago for other builds, and forgot about them being gone until I started looking not too long ago. I managed to find all the parts I needed so I'm good to go. I'm done buying kits but it's still fun to look and keep up with what is happening there with prices and resin bodies and kits. I like resin and plastic, and I have some nice diecast. I've always thought of Ebay as a real blessing and they added so much to my building experience. Yeah, there was a couple of jerks, but by and large most of the sellers have been great, and where else would I have gotten my diecast and other non-model things like movies and so much more. For me Ebay and PayPal have both been great, and really gave me more enjoyment than I ever would have had without them, and they still do. My 2 cents.

Well this was certainly a nice surprise?. I wasn't expecting a pickup roadster that has a beautiful paint job and love the color. It suits the build perfectly. And I am a big wheel/tire guy, so I love your choice. The only complaint I have is that there aren't nearly enough pics to enjoy the full scope of your build. More pics would certainly be appreciated. Dave

@Maindrian Pace Yes sir. I pretty much made everything as the scale was so much bigger, 1/24, than all that was available, and I even stretched it a bit more to get the look I wanted. I made the doors, roof and trunk lid too, as well as the body, using any pieces I could find that I could make work. I was a lot of fun and very challenging too. I've been an artist and engineer all my life, so both came in handy at scratch-building things. Nothing like a great challenge

Thank you so much. Actually @Maindrian Pace only the grill, bumpers, dash, steering wheel and chrome eyebrows came from the diecast limo. The body you see was hand made of plastic and body filler. Sorry if my explanation confused you. Dave

Thank you for all your generous comments. I'm very grateful . Dave

Lot's of great comments and responses are all very much appreciated . Thank you all .

@lucky 130 Thank you. FYI. There were 2 Lincoln body styles made in 1950. The "lido" and the "Capri." The Cosmopolitan "Lido" was a 1950 Mercury "Lincolnized" with a Lincoln front clip but still retaining the side "dip" you mentioned. See 2nd pic below in kind of a grayish/brown color. The one I created is the flat sided Cosmopolitan "Capri", see pic below in blue, with the chrome "eyelids" over each wheel well opening. Kind of a plain ugly sort of car, but I saw potential.

Once every several years I run across some car part, like a bumper or grill, that inspires me to build a car. Sometimes the car turns out to be mostly handmade with the added pieces to complete the build. In this case it was a 1/24 presidential 1950 Lincoln limousine glass bubble top diecast, and the beautiful front bumper and grill, but especially that rear incredibly looong bumper and beautiful continental kit combination. I couldn't resist all that. So I pretty much hand made the body, modified a whole lot of pieces for the chassis and interior, and gave it a garnet red pearl metallic paint job, and made a top for it, and about 7 years later I was done. Sometimes I take a break or a long nap - LOL The little shiny round things on the door jams are magnets. The last pic is the Lincoln next to an AMT 1/25 1949 Mercury.

Several of you mentioned the color combination.. This is one I've use a few times, but it has to be the right car to use these colors. Every car needs the right color to make it "POP." I don't always get it right, but I try. Sometimes ya just have to go for it. Make it or break it time ?. Thanks again for all the great comments. Much appreciated. Dave

Hi @JollySipper Paint formulas have changed a lot the last 10 years or so. For me I always test my choices on a scrap sample before doing my "KEEPER." When I use clear many of my paints flatten a bit, so I usually give my sample, or car 2 to 3 coats of clear and let it dry a few days, then try polishing it. Paints don't play together as nice as they used to, even DupliColor paints have changed. If your using rattle cans, let the can warm up over night somewhere indoors to room temperature if your paint is stored outside. The paint flows much nicer. Good luck Dave

You @Venom and others here are so gracious in your compliments. Thank you so much. For me, I just enjoy my ability to have fun and relax while involved with this hobby in my retirement, and interact with others here who are so highly skilled beyond me. I consider myself blessed to just enjoy myself, and have enough reasonable skills to be half-way decent at it, and be able to share here. Dave