Bernard Kron

Customized 1953 Studebaker Starliner “Studillac” Hardtop (More photos below) Raymond Loewy’s design for the 1953 Studebakers was a radical departure from virtually any other American car of the period. Low, streamlined, and devoid of the heaviness of the new pontoon style bodies pioneered by Ford in 1949, it was an instant classic. But the near-perfect integration of form, line and proportion, and the radical simplicity which was so atypical of the period, made it terribly difficult to restyle successfully – most of these cars suffer horribly under the customizer’s torch. And yet, when AMT developed their 3-in-1 kit for this iconic car in the early 60’s they showed remarkable sensitivity and restraint and came up with restyling parts that, if anything, actually served to “purify” Loewy’s masterpiece, emphasizing its best points. In doing this project I set out to take advantage of what AMT had given me. The result is a car that looks almost stock but which in fact is pretty thoroughly gone over. The front end consists of the kit’s Custom lower pan and grill surround, the Custom lower grille and bumperette pieces, and the stock upper grille pieces. I chose to use the stock upper pieces because the Custom upper grilles were designed to match the lower halves exactly, creating the impression of a large, continuous opening. It just looked too big to me. The stock pieces with their thin chrome spears and turn signals in the corner served to define the upper half and lighten up the front end a bit. The kit’s Custom rear bumper and taillight combination is incredibly simple and a perfect complement to the rest of the design. It’s so “pure” that I left off the license plate, something I have never done on a street drivable car before. The only other accent was to include a pair of polished aluminum exhaust tips, to make a performance statement. The whole project was an exercise in less is more. The two tone paint scheme actually was never offered by Studebaker who only painted the roof in a contrasting color. But the coves seemed a natural to emphasize Lowey’s masterful lines. As for the rest, it’s the usual Customizer’s trick of cleaning up the basic design – shave, french and mold. Motivation is provided by a Revell Parts Pac 354 Cadillac V8 with quad carbs. This modification was a popular one in the mid 50’s because the Caddy mill was dimensionally nearly identical to the Studebaker V8, about the same weight, and yet put out almost twice as much power. Similarly, the Revell Caddy drops into the AMT Stude with almost no modifications. Studebakers modified in this way were referred to as “Studillacs”. Below are all the details. Unless otherwise indicated, everything else is from the basic AMT kit. Thanx for lookin’, B. Bodywork: AMT kit rolled front grille pan, Custom lower grille and bumperettes. Frenched headlights with kit Lucas beams. Kit Custom rear bumper and taillights. All trim handles, etc. shaved and vents and gas filler lid filled. Interior: Custom tuck and roll upholstery using styrene strip over stock kit seats. Steering wheel from AMT ’29 Ford roadster kit. Engine and transmission: Revell Parts Pac Cadillac Chassis: Lowered 2 ½ scale inches front and rear using kit front king pin offsets and lowering blocks in the rear. Scratch built dual exhaust system using kit mufflers, solder and aluminum tubing. Wheels and tires: Kit supplied ’53 Studebaker Commander hubcaps with Cadillac crests from Revell ’49 Mercury kit. Whitewall tires are Modelhaus T-193’s. Paint: Duplicolor Hampsted Green Metallic and Wimbledon White over white primer. Chassis finished in Testors Metalizers and flat black acrylic

I’ve just about got things wrapped up. Here are some final build pics and some comments about this kit and my approach to this classic design. The Revell Parts Pac Cadillac engine is an excellent fit, even down to utilizing the stock engine mounts. Even the Revell custom headers clear the chassis rails properly and line up well for a credible exhaust system. The only adjustment required was to mill away some of the inside of the hood to clear the front carbs: The kit only supplies one muffler and a single pipe exhaust system. Because of the striking purity of the original Raymond Loewy design I decided against the lakes pipes I had been considering. But with a hopped-up Caddy under the hood a single exhaust system would have been wrong, wrong, wrong! So a dual exhaust system had to be fabricated and installed. I used a second muffler from another ’53 Stude kit and solder for the exhaust pipes with aluminum tubing for the tips. Here’s the resulting undercarriage: And lastly, the custom front and rear brightwork has been installed and the chassis glued into position. The front end looks like it’s straight out of the old Off the Sketchpad pages of Rod & Custom. The only change I made was to use the stock upper trim instead of the Custom ones, The reason was the Custom one was designed to match the lower halves exactly, creating the impression of a large, continuous opening. It just looked too big to me. The stock pieces with their thin chrome spears and turn signals in the corner served to define the upper half and lighten up the front end a bit: The kit’s Custom rear bumper and taillight combination is incredibly simple and a perfect compliment to the rest of the design. It’s so “pure” that I’ll probably forgo a license plate entirely, something I have never done on a street drivable car. The only other accent was to include a pair of polished aluminum exhaust tips, to make a performance statement. This is an excellent kit. A couple of things require comment. First off is how well the Customizing parts suit the basic Loewy design. None of that leaded-on baroque complexity of the Styleline kits. Perhaps the design team at AMT chose a more sensitive approach because of what they were dealing with, and reserved the more exaggerated approach for the competition version with its double blower and radically chopped top. Because of these more subtle parts the resulting Custom looks almost stock, even though the changes are actually pretty extensive. My car is lowered a good 3 scale inches all the way around, and yet it looks sleek and well balanced, not slammed. Secondly, the kit features an interesting approach to many of the working details. Wherever possible the kit designers tried to replicate the 1:1 parts in miniature. This includes things like elements of the posable steering, the engine mounts, brake drums with the wheel spindles and axle ends intact, the rear shock mounts, etc. Combined with a consistently high degree of accuracy in parts fit, it results in build experience of a very high order. Perhaps some of you model kit historians to tell me when it dates from. So that’s pretty much it. I’ve got some detailing to do under the hood and general cleanup and polishing and she’ll be ready for her “beauty shots”. Thanx for following along, B.

Thanx Tom. I've added it to my collection of Modelhaus photoi links, which is how I've chosen to handle the photo deficit. It's also the way I've chosen to deal with the Replicas & Miniatures photo deficit. While I agree that the lack of photos is a serious problem for me, and no doubt for others,(I have occasionally purchased parts from them that weren't what I required - although it should be noted that this is no different than the problem I've hasd at times with kits I've bought from my LHS), and that product images would drive sales upwards substantially, this is a business decision these vendors have made and find acceptable. Despite the propaganda in today's financial world. growth and ambition are not everything. While the unequivocally superb quality of both these product lines may be obvious to anyone who has had the good fortune to see or use them, those who live outside the Eastern half of the USA, and/or don't attend model car shows in that region, and those who are new to the aftermarket part of the auto modeling hobby, can have no way of knowing what many of these items are, let alone how well made they are. It's unfortunate but that's the way it is. In the meantime below is another photo link I've collected: Many thanx to those who have created them and made them available...With respect to Replicas & Minitures I highly recommend anyone considering their fine products purchase their catalog. It provides a complete listing of all their hundreds of offerings and includes all product updates issued over the years. All these updates include photographs of the new parts released, and the original catalog pages also have dozens of photos of important items. http://s223.photobucket.com/albums/dd211/Oldsklhombre/ModelCars/Modelhaus%20Pics/08%20pics/

Thanx so much to everyone who has contributed so far to my initial question! There’s so much rich information here, both explicit and implicit. Casey, the FineMolds videos are fascinating, a great insight into mold making as it is done today. And the photos of the wooden bucks that Bill Wowk and Casey provided are very impressive and bring to life Art Anderson’s comment: “In the days before laser-derived information and CAD/CAM, doing model kit parts in the tooling mockup stage for a model kit simply required the services of highly skilled artisans--sculptors in every sense of the word--no less artists than a Michelangelo…”. The incredible depth and breadth of Art’s contributions to this discussion open the door wide open to the world of model kit creation. The fact that one of the wooden models is of the Bugatti Veyron indicates the sculptor’s arts haven’t been entirely replaced by computer data quite yet! And finally thanx to Bill Engwer for his own hands-on insights and the wonderful photos. It seems that my original question has been somewhat eclipsed by reality, that reality being that, as Art has explained so well, creating a plastic model kit is a complex and meticulous process taking the creativity, talents and commitments of many people. Identifying a “star” who creates wonderful prototype models which are somehow magically translated into injection molds misrepresents the whole process. Perhaps the role of “kit designer” or team leader is the closest we can come to that – Tom West’s reputation has a lot of that to it. I recall an interview that Hobbylink did with the owner of Model Factory Hiro that made it clear that it was very much the owner of that company’s vision that informed everything they produced. But these people are not necessarily the “hands” that produce the prototypes. A subset of my original question is the curiosity I have about how the small bits are created, the carburetors, injection pumps, wheels, dashboards and so forth. The level of detail is often mind boggling. Thanx for all the info, stories and lore provided so far! B.

Thanx for the info, Casey. I remember the Aurora article on SLM. Hopefully I can go back and check it out.

Which, I feel, is significant in itself. Frequently, subjective decisions based on subject knowledge and insight into the model kit business itself must play an important role. It probably influences how specific sub-models (is this a concept worth pursuing...?) are created. Digitalization allows significant improvements in accuracy and turnaround times, but it isn't intended to address fundamental conceptual and design issues.

Thanx for the replies so far. The link to the article on Tom West on The International Model Car Builder Museum website is is great. While it's mainly about how generous West was in donating a large amount of highly significant memorabilia, it still provides a glimpse behind the scenes in the 1960's. It leads me to wondering about the making of these large scale prototypes. I'd assume that the wooden model of the bodywork for the Mickey Thompson Attempt I in the Tom West articles was produced by a professional pattern maker based on working drawings generated by the team at Revell. This would have been common practice at the time. Highly skilled wooden pattern makers were an integral part of industrial America in those pre-computer times, notably in the foundry industry. So that got me thinking about the divison of labor. Presumably folks like Tom West were the creative force in the work, the educated eyes that made sure things were accurate and true to the subject, and who made the decisions on what the kit would actually be. Were all the subassemblies produced by industrial prototyping professionals (like a pattern maker) or did guys like West also make prototype bits (perhaps things like chassis and engine details, for example, where their subject matter knowledge would be invaluable)? Regarding my comment about the pre-digital days, it is simply to point out that, whereas we would assume exceptional levels of quality as the result of the tools we have available today, the techniques used in earlier times often proved to be no hindrance to creating exceptionally highly detailed and accurate kits on a level with what we see now. And if the number of releases coming out at the time is any evidence, time-to-market and productivity weren't a problem either! I hope to see more comments, insights and memories from the community on this fascinating subject. Thanx, B.

Nicely done rendition of an iconic car. I'll have to keep my eye out for the Fremont Resin body. In contrast to the currently available Altered Sates piece. it's unchopped, which is what gives the Batto car its signature look. Thanx for sharing!

Very interesting. I am not a general modeler. I build cars and trucks exclusively. But recently I became interested in these old "hot rod" speed boat kits and acquired examples of both the AMT and Revell ones. I will be following along with your build to learn more about these unique and interesting kits. Thanx for sharing! The outer cladding you are adding appears to be real wood stripping. How thin is it and is it a hobby supply item?

Who are the modelers' modelers, the legends of the art? Where can one see their handiwork? How are/were the original models upon which the plastic kits we all enjoy made? I understand some of the process, the making of molds, etc. But the kits themselves consist of many little subassemblies, often intricately detailed models in their own right. Who makes those models? In what form? Fantastic kits were engineered and produced when CAD and CAM and 3D scanning weren't even being discussed as a possibility, let alone a reality. I know that larger scale models are sometimes produced and then scaled down, in the past using a device called a pantograph. Where can I find more information on the history and the current state of this, to me, mysterious process (for example, how is Moebius developing its impressive new kits)?. Inquiring minds want to know!

Looking forward to more, more, more!!

Thanx for the continued appreciation. I'm indeed flattered! I took her into the studio the other day for a little TRJ-style photo action. I hope you all dig it!

I guess I'm a steady, life-long collector with a small but good quality library, mostly about racing cars and race car engineering. I don't actually see myself as a collector because I buy books to read, but I've always had trouble getting rid of the books I like so the "collection" has grown over the years. I have books going back to my childhood. The subject matter varies according to what things automotive I have been interested in at various times. Currently I seem to be acquiring hot rod and custom car oriented books. I buy whatever takes my fancy, both old books and current releases. I'm particularly attracted to books contemporary with their subject matter and to oral histories. I have north of 150 books. Here are some of my all-time favorites which I have read repeatedly and still go back to even now. The Grand Prix Car - Volumes 1-2 by Laurence Pomeroy (1906-1953), Volume 3 by L.J.K. Setright. (1954-1966) American Road Racing - The Automobile Racing Club Of America In The 1930's by John C. Rueter Racing With Mercedes Benz by George Monkhouse (published by Floyd Clymer in 1948, Monkhouse's year with MB in 1938) Muroc: When the Hot Rods Ran May 15, 1938 by William Carroll (a l ittle photo book of a day at the lakes) Flat Out by Albert Drake (pre-war lakes racing and hot rodding) Offenhauser and also Kurtis Kraft, both by Gordon White Racing and Sports Car Chassis Design by Michael Costin and David Phipps (from 1967, first edition) The Golden Age of the American Racing Car and Miller, both by Griff Borgeson Book Of The 1950 Carrera Panamericana - Mexican Road Race by Floyd Clymer (published immediately after the first year and an original edition) High Performance: The Culture and Technology of Drag Racing, 1950-2000 by Dr. Robert C. Post (the greatest history of Top Fuel drag racing ever written) Kustomland: The Custom Car Photography of James Potter, 1955-1959 by Thom Taylor Barris Kustom Techniques of the '50s: Volumes 1-4 by George Barris For Practice Only by Louis Klemantaski and Michael Frostick and also Klemantaski Himself (his autobiography) (the dean of postwar grand prix and sportscar photography) The American Hot Rod by Dean Batchelor

Very nice.full custom, Jay. With the radical revisions you made the lakes pipes make total sense. I especially like the "coveless" side development with the accent line resolved at the rear wheel opening, the reshaped front wheel opening to echo it, and the extension of the hood line down to the small lower grill opening. Pretty ambitious stuff, and it works a treat, too. I took the time to explore your Photobucket and I especially like the interior treatment of the this "Napolitano" Stude. The whole thing has that 50's cool and with the little side markers it looks less like a "kustom" and more like a true customized personal car from the period. Bravo! BTW, that's a pretty famous name you've got there (at least to us design aficionados...).

Thanx everyone! Some Photoshop Phun showing the progress on this project. Things are moving along steadily. I made a tuck and roll interior using the stock seats, adding rectangular bolsters and utilizing the kit pleats. The dashboard is stock with chrome and body color details. The steering wheel is from an AMT ’29 Ford roadster kit. I completed the sunken and frenched headlights, using the Lucas custom headlights from the kit set inside the fenders with the headlight tunnels finished in chrome. The motor is completed and installed in the chassis. Still left to do is fabricating a dual exhaust system and foiling the window area. Then final assembly. I’m undecided on whether to install lakes pipes. The simplicity and purity of the basic design says NO! Period correct customizing practice says YES! I’ll decide once the custom grille and rear bumper are installed. Below are the detail pics from the montage. Thanx for lookin’, B.

I guess I was right. There's a whole lot more to your model than your initial pictures let on! Any chance of seeing some detail pics of the chassis and interior? Regarding the Alps. here's a link you might find useful" http://www.alps-supplies.com/

Nicely done! It's got the right look, alright. And there's a lot more to this model than your pictures show. It looks like you went to some lengths to provide the car with period-correct suspension, judging from the bits of the front end peaking through. I'd also love to see more of the interior. But most interestingly, the car is inspired by a real car from back in the day, the Williams Bros. #159 A-bone which started out with a Flattie around 1948 and then in '54 ran a small block Dodge and ran... 159 MPH at Bonneville. It has been recently restored. You went with the same color, but where on earth did you come up with the decals? Anyway, sweet build. Thanx! Here's are a couple of pics of the inspiration car:

I've been working on my Photoshop skills, with an emphasis on that The Rodder's Journal black background style. One important aspect in getting The Look down has been using a tripod and shutter timer to eliminate any possibility of camera shake or lack of focus. I'm going through my older builds and re-shooting them with what I've learned. Here's a couple of pictures of a V-12 powered dry lakes modifed I built for the 2012 NNL West theme category that I think are getting closer to what I'm after. Thanx for lookin', B.

Thanx Sean!

Thanx again! Thanx Curt. Coolness on the wheels! I need to learn to make some myself. The kit wheels never look real enough...

Thanx again!

The end of the post-WWII recovery, the pre-digital age when machinists ruled the roost. It's why so many of us model that era.

Perhaps the best known and most succesful dual real wheel car was the Eddie Hill "Double Dragon" from '60. It may not look like it, because it's so elegantly compact, but it actually has a separate driveine for each engine and there are two wheels on each side. Simple drag racer's math: 2 x engines = 2 x POWER, 2 x tires = 2 x TRACTION! It worked, too. The car held numerous National records and was the first gas powered dragster to break 200 mph (202 in '61). He ran the car in competition through '62 when he switched to fuel and built a new single engined race car. Hill continued to run the Double Dragon in match race competition until he retired from drag racing in 1966. After succesfully racing motorcycles he took up top fuel drag boats until 1985 when he reurned to cars and national prominence in Top Fuel drag racing, finally retiring at the end of 1999! The again there's this one...

Follow this link and Neil Leffler himself will tell you everything you need to know about the Coburn-Leffler Messer' competition coupe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn5BPRigLV0

I was editing my response when you replied. We are in agreement. Consider the horse dead...