1959

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

And here the before and few WIP photos

I got this AMT 49 as a terribly customized glue bomb from my friend. First I thought it is beyond rescue but then I decided to give it a try. So after I stripped off several paint layers and bondo I realised the roof had an extension piece in the middle and it was also heated and pressed down on the rear window area to get rid of the "bubble" that was left there due to the way the top chop was done so it was worse than I thought. But I kept going and first cut out the rear window frame and then took off the roof and removed the extension piece. Roof was too much chopped to my taste so I added some 2mm to the front pillars. Rear part I left on the height my friend had made and glued it back. Then I tilted the rear window frame in it's place and filled the gaps with styrene sheet pieces to get some smoothness to the lines. I wanted to have Hirohata-style sidewindows so I left the side pillars away. Then it was just filler, sanding, primer, again filler and sanding and primer many many times. Rest of the body is pretty much untouched but I frenched the head and tail lights. I added some 2mm styrene pieces between the bezel and the front fender to get the head lights a bit further and get a bit more forms to the front end. Tail lights are from AMT 57 Chevy. Window and side trims and the Hirohata glass frames were made from Evergreen styrene rods. Styrene sheet was used also to build the fender skirts. Paint is metallic red from a spray can that I bought from hardware store discount and with spray can clear on top of it. I am not happy how it turned out as I think I added too thick last layer and the paint made some wrinkles on the roof so I had to sand off the first round completely and of course the base for the new coat wasn't that good any more. After a long thinking between several options I decided to use the Mercury kit's pretty simple custom grille bar. To avoid to have too much vertical bars in the front I removed the bumber guards and the bar between them and used Molotow chrome to "replate" it after the modifications. Tires are AMT Firestones with handpainted white walls. Caddy Sombreros are from Replicas&Miniatures and are the only aftermarket parts in this build. Interior is OOB, white with Revell gold 94 as accent color. Same color is used for the engine. Kit came to me with the Mopar big block which is a bit strange option for this kind of a car on my opinion and wanted to use something else. I found a Ford Y-block of unknown origin from my spare part box. Someone had installed a tri carb system on top of it which I think looked pretty cool so it was an easy decision to go with that. Found also a nicer pair of valve covers and exhaust manifolds. Added some wiring and throttle linkage to complete the engine. Frame is oob with a modest lowering on top of the kit's lowered custom version suspension. Lots of work but also lots of fun with this build and it came out pretty much as I would build a 1:1 Mercury too. And lots of fun to show this to my friend and compare the outcome with the pictures of his build... All comments are wellcome! Kimmo

Really sharp build! Great paint job with excellent color choice. I made also sometime ago this ElCamino-style 55 and I think this is one of the nicest conversion choices that any model kit has because it could be something that came out of the factory line. Many custom options are more or less odd to my eyes. Kimmo

Nice! I like your idea of leaving rest of the car almost stock with heavily chopped top. Top chop is very smooth, rear window area flows nicely towards the trunk lid.

Really Really nice build of my favourite rally car of all times. And great that it is late great Henri's Monte Carlo winner Delta. He did an amazing race then along with other Finnish rally heros Salonen and Mikkola finishing second and third. What a great time for me to be a 10 year old rally fan in Finland!

Great build! I really like the group B era rallying and it is nice to see models from that era. Your build is Tony Pond's 1985 RAC car, am I right? He finished third and it was Metro's debut race.

Great model from the greatest era of rallying! Well done! As a kid I watched probably 30 times VHS-tape from 1985 WRC season and remember well the Monte Carlo rally and how one of our country's legendary drivers, Ari Vatanen, won the race and Rohrl was second.

You are right. I had build and painted basically everything ready and was waiting a parts delivery where the exhaust pipes were coming and run into trouble when started to test fit those. Had to make a compromise with it and hoped no one notices😀 Thanks for feedback! Kimmo

Great looking build and very tasteful color and wheel choice.! Paint job looks excellent. As an old american car guy I have lately found my self liking these earlier JDM cars and I have one of these kits too and it seems to be of high quality. Too bad that Hasegawa kits don't have open hoods and engines. I have 3d printed engine waiting but it also needs the firewall and inner fenders so lot of work ahead but your build gives motivation. Kimmo

Wow! Customizing an Exner car is always risky and not always end up in a better looking car than the original but this surely is a success. I really like the idea of using 57 roof on it along with the other small modifications. And the color...can't get better than that in a late 50's custom. Well done! Kimmo

Great build! These 58-60 Lincolns are strange cars; they are in a way ugly but at the same time really good looking. I especially like the 58 as it has those heavily sculptured front fenders. I like your color choice and execution on this one and it makes me miss Modelhaus too even that I have never had a one single kit from them. Kimmo

Very nice! I like 59 Olds very much and this reminds a of one 98 flattop that was in my home town in the late 80's. Color combo and paint job is excellent on this build. Well done! Kimmo

This was my first attempt to build Revell 29 Roadster but most probably not the last. It surely is a nice kit. I replaced the, if I may say little bit boring, SBC with AMT flathead dressed with Replicas&Miniatures Eddie Meyer hop up kit. Fuel pump and exhaust pipes are also R&M resin parts. Chassis is built out of the box with a minor lowering. I also modified the front shocks and brackets because the headlight supports are bit too high up and wide to my taste. Now I got the headlights closer to the 32 grille which is from the spare part box. I used a spare part box instrument panel (I believe originates to AMT 57 Chevy), 40 Ford steering wheel and unknown gear shifter on otherwise oob interior. Interior is painted with a mixture of gloss Humbrol light brown and matt Revell light brown. I hoped it to be a bit more glossy when dry but seems like I put a bit too much matt color in it. Body is basically untouched and is painted with Debeer automotive acrylic. I decided the color after seeing a very nice 32 Coupe in the car magazine. I managed to get a pretty decent paint so it is not sanded but only polished with 3M and Mequiars polishing medias. It actually looks better in reality than in my slightly poor pictures. I had some struggle on the final assembly so I am not 100% happy how it turned out but it is the best one I have made since getting back to modelling after 25 years break. I would have liked to use Hallock-style windshield but I didn't have it then. Now there is one waiting for the next 29 Roadster which I hope to manage to build without the challenges I had with this one. Thanks for looking and contructive comments are more than welcome. Kimmo

Wow, a great build inside out! Very nice stance and color choice. I like these small UK cars as hotrod. My dad bought a Ford Popular (a cheaper version of Anglia) project in the mid 80s but he never started it. He would have restored it to original as me and my brother insisted a hot rod build out of it. Maybe it was easier for him to sell it instead of listening our hotrod talk. I think I need to find one of these Revell kits to full fill that hot rod build dream atleat in 1/25 scale. Kimmo

What a great build! I know a bit of 59 Fords as I have owned mine for 32 years,so I can confirm you have nailed the details well! I really like that MEL-engine idea in the cheapest 2d post body. It would have been a real sleeper. However over my 32 years career of reading about 59 Fords I have never seen any information or pictures about the MEL option. But then again I don't recall reading the 100% bullet proof opposite information either, so who knows maybe there have been some secret sleepers built by the factory or dealers? Kimmo

I have bought resin casted E&J headlights. Producer is The Parts box. Haven't used them yet but they seen to be nice ones.

Wow, one of the nicest weathering I have seen! I really like the idea of a replaced fender and hood. Gives a whole lot more realism to the model. Well done!

Wow, I like it a lot! Weathering is excellent, not too much or too little. Also tools and other stuff in the bed is just perfect! One of the nicest weathered builds I have seen.

Really nice build and definitely makes honor to your dad's Vette. A crazy idea came into my mind; how about building also the other versions of the car on your dad's 52 years ownership?