1959

Very clean looking mild custom. I have had this kit in the stash for a long time, but I have never got a good vision what to build out of that but after seeing this I think mild custom will be my way too. Thanks for the inspiration! Kimmo

Looks really great. It is nice to see 57 Ford in one color instead of the more common two tones. Kimmo

Very nice job Ville! Great that you kept is as a sleeper and not go all the way to the modern style despite the Hellcat under the hood. Kimmo

Wow! Great detailing all over but I especially noticed the oil change decals in the door. What a great idea to add those. Kimmo

Don't be too critical to your work. I would be super happy if I could make as realistic patina as you have made here. I really like this. Kimmo

Hey Matt The body was quite easy to fit. It has the inner fenders as in the Revell kit so it does not require much more work than slightly modify the bottom plate from the rear end area and thin the fenders and rockers from the body. Interior fits well too but of course the rear shelf needs some changes to fit the fastback rear window area. I made a mistake by not installing the center post in the windshield that the body is missing. It is missing the vent windows too. Those would bring a lot of reality but somehow I missed to install them. This was actually my first resin body build so I can't compare how good or bad it is compared to others but I can recommend it. Kimmo

Here is my son's latest project. AMT 64 Belvedere Restomod. Wheels and tires from Aoshima. Engine will be Hellcat from Texas 3D Customs.

I haven't followed these community topics, but run into link so I decided to share my two builds of AMT Merc. Pink one is build at the age of 16 in the mid 90s. My first top chop and back then I didn't realize that sanding out all the trim around the windows is not a good idea. Paint is own mixture of hardware store universal paint. Engine is 392 Hemi from the 53 Stude kit. I won few prizes with this one. The other one is a glue bomb restoration from my friend's terrible build that I finished this autumn. Very traditional style and it is built pretty much in a style I would build a 1:1 Merc. More about it is in the topic here in under glass section.

Very nice! Weathering is excellent. I like that you didn't build the McRae version.

Wow, great looking build. The color choice is perfect and execution is really nice. I would really much like to have one of those AMT kits too. As some of you said that 59 Buick is one of the nicest 50's cars I have to agree. In the late 80s there was a blue Electra often on the yard of one house on the way to our summer cottage and I asked my dad to wake me up just before we pass it. Once we were looking at some cars that had just been imported to Finland from US and it was the first time I saw a 59 Impala coupe. But when I saw a 59 Buick front peeking under a plastic cover I decided that I got to have one when I grow up. So when I turned 40 I bought Invicta convertible. A very nice car but also quite complicated and definitely not the easiest one to service and repair and parts are not easy to find. Kimmo

Have to admit that I had to Google who or what is Holden Efijy... thanks for the tip, sure a fine looking concept where to pick some ideas for future projects too.

Thanks! And you are right, my initial plan was to use a resin body on this but wanted to take the challenge. And I didn't find a resin body where the top chop was done to my taste. Any suggestions as I have couple more Mercurys with poor or completely missing bodies?

No worries, Henri is already on the bench with some new projects!

That is true that different brands could cause problems but in this case everything from primer to clear was from same brand. My guess is that candy effect would have needed a bit more time to fully dry and settle before the clear was applied. I tested the paints for few spare part hoods and there was no issues but I applied the clear after a month or so.

This is my son Henri's (13 years) latest project. Revell kit built with the kit's lowrider parts. It is mainly out of the box but wheels and tires are from Pegasus and some details in the engine and interior has been changed with the parts from the spare part box. Molotow chrome was sprayed in many parts in the chassis. Paint job was a real head ache in this project. We used a hardware store spray can candy effect green over silver. The first attempt was not successful, perhaps it was the humidity, but the green was shiny on some areas but mainly dull. So paint was stripped and Henri started from square 1 and this time it became nice and shiny. After the roof decal was put in it's place the whole body was cleared with the same manufacturer's clear and it became nice. But after some weeks when BMF work had been done some cracks started to show up in the clear coat on the green areas. So much effort was put already on this so he decided to leave it like that and finished it despite the cracks. Strange thing is that such cracks didn't show up in the pieces where we tested the paint. Lots of challenges with this but case is now closed with this one and next one will be better. Kimmo & the builder Henri