impcon

OK - no one else seems to want to do this, so I'll put forth the challenge. There seems to be a few guys here who really enjoy the Ford products from 1957 thru 1959 inclusively. So why not showcase these cars ( and trucks even?? ) on one easy to find thread? Even the younger set can appreciate the timeless lines and beauty of these cars from a better era when life was more simple and the music ws a whole lot better. I, for one, look forward to the inspiration and motivation that looking at some else's build ups and projects can give. Regardless of what you see your personal skill level as, why not show us what you have because in model building, the best builds are the builds where the person doing the project simply does his/her best. Let's go with no age limitations as this thread should be meant to encourage others regardless of any perceived imperfections thatthe most critical eye can see in the build. Keep the comments polite and positive as they usually are on this site and sit back and see what others have accomplished.. Maybe the moderators will allow some photos of the finished product during its creation - Let the curtain rise and the cavalcade of the late 50's vintage classic beauty queens begin..

For a car that is seldom, if ever seen both in real life and on the forums, the '58 sure seems too be at least somewhat popular! What s really nice is that all are a stock build theme! The '58 was a like 'em or hate 'em year but I have always liked them. A friend of mine had a green and white two door hardtop that was beautiful until it was destroyed by a drunk driver rear ending it. The dark green/white/dark green colour combination seems to have been pretty unusual on the hard tops but it sure was pretty. I'm thinkin' that there should be one of those "Show Me Your _____ " threads started for the '57 - 59 Ford cars!! I despise that term "show me your ____" - maybe someone can come up with a new subject title that sounds a bit more - for lack of a better term - organized?? Maybe we could ask for a sub forum for displaying make and year specific groups of models might be an idea? What say you all???

Wow!!! Simply - WOW!!! That's gorgeous!!!!!! I have an original SMP hardtop that I got from another guy here on the forum that is a toughie. It needs a lot of lovin, but it has potential. I doubt that I can make it look as good as yours though..

Red with a black top is really sharp but as rare as that little car is, I'd suggest something more - conservative. Crystal Blue poly with a white roof would look elegant and classy - add a white interior. Obviously, the purchase was a good one. Congratulations on getting these at a decent price and sincerely, I am very happy for you. They have a good home and are in good, capable hands. personally, as decent as that Edsel looks, I'd have a difficult time hiding the original styrene - but that's just me. The turquoise and white will look really good on it. Mechanics Illustrated magazine had a turquoise and white convertible on the cover when those were brand new and I always liked that combination.

This will be interesting to say the least. With enough exposure, Mopars are like a stray puppy - they can work their way into your heart and almost anyone will develop an appreciation of them sooner or later. I plan on scooping a couple of these Plymouth's and one will be black - and do those cars look good in black!!! I've used synthetic enamel on builds in the past as well Tulio and it really does go on nicely and it flows out well. I am surprised that you haven't had issues with the red plastic with white paint over top without a sealer though. I also have used automotive urethane with even better success.. it hardens well and polishes out easily. You may want to try it but wear a mask - it's potent stuff.

Ron, that silver hardtop is a thing of sheer beauty!!!!! All three cars are super nice, but that silver one really makes my heart skip a beat! A friend of mine has a 1:1 that is a light silver/blue and man, it is gorgeous!!!! It's always a crowd pleaser at the shows. There is just something about the lines of those cars that is timeless. VERY worthwhile and nice saves and sweet builds to boot!!!!!

As usual Steve, your tastes reflect mine pretty much exactly! How about a two tone though?? That dark red with a light silver or slightly off white roof?? Mmmmmm.. Those mid 60's C body cars sure had class! I've owned a few and still have my Canadian built '65 Monaco convertible and U.S. built hardtop. Nothing drives as nice as those old Mopars with tons of power and the cleanest lines!

MMMMMMM.. let's see... oh - I have one - how about just reissuing your 1981 Camaro Z28 convertible???? And yeah - that idea of a '58 Ford or several variations would be almost as cool! Why can't you guys just tool different body shells to fit the same chassis ( and engines, at least some interior parts, glass, etc ) like the '58 Ford wagon and the '58 Ranchero? Double the sales ( or more ) with minimal costs and retooling... hellooooooo????

Kenny, some ladies just look soooooooo good in black and your Camaro i s one of them!!!! What a pretty model... It could easily pass as a 1:1 full blown restoration of no mileage original. Nice job - far better than I could ever do, that's for certain!! The quality of the work done by the people on this forum is amazing and I stand in awe of it.

Looking good! How about the stock, factory turquoise with an aqua interior? Or white with the aqua interior? Of your suggestions, I'd say Champagne ( solid colour ) with a tan interior - a subtle but very attractive combination. The Champagne colour is very attractive when shiny and nice and while a black interior would look good, I'd suggest the tan as the colours should flow well together lending a somewhat classy appearance. Also, it would be unusual given that these seem to usually end up red or black it seems. Softer colours can really suit the right car and the '62 Chevrolet is one of them. Hopefully, you'll stay away from the baby buggy wheel look and go with more traditional rubber - complete with narrow white walls. This is a nice car - sure be interesting to see what you do with it.

Dan, This is really, really looking good! Your decision to repaint the interior was a wise one I think and those stock caps look oh so righteous!! Respectfully, I concur that a finer weave material for the headliner would look good but then, that's just my thought. Believe me, I am not criticizing. I've never seen a headliner done this way before so yeah - it does look awesome just as it is and is a vast improvement over just leaving it bare plastic. The headliner in my 1:1 was I believe, a kind of perforated hardboard with "chrome" plastic strips that ran across the headliner where the panels joined, rather than the normal vinyl or cloth. It's been a few years and I could be wrong on the material so if someone else knows better, feel free to correct me. I thought that I was wrong about something once - but as it turned out, I was actually right. You are doing wonders with this and it sure is looking a lot like the 1:1 that I had which was a light silver blue like your car with the interior being a very pretty blue - kinda like your car. I'm wishing now that I had kept it after seeing this build. Nice work.

You do nice work, Jonathan. I can appreciate this sort of project because I am doing something similar for my son and detail becomes very important, doesn't it? This will be a nice model when done based on your work thus far. A gift such as what you are creating is truly a special gift because it is very personal, having been created by your hands especially just for him. It will be the only such car on the planet in the combination that you are building it in and as such, I suspect that it will be a very, very special and treasured possession for him. What could be more personal than this link to his past that you created specifically just for him? I am in the process of converting a MPC 1980/81 Camaro Z28 into a Berlinetta and it has been an exercise in frustration so far with difficulties in finding the right parts to make the model as close to the real car as possible. I'll be trying to combine the MPC kit with the AMT Baldwin Motion 70 Camaro chassis but it may not work. We'll see when I get to that pint. I enjoy reverse engineering a model to a lower trim line, but it sure can be a lot of work. Keep at it and you'll beat it. I'll be watching your progress.

This is a really good thread!! I owned a 1:1 Fury II wagon that was I really liked and so this one hits close to home for me. Clearly, this is going to be a nice piece and very unusual when completed and I look forward to seeing it. A good choice of colours and best of all, a stock build of a very attractive and seldom seen car. May I ask what process you used to make and apply the side trim? It appears that you have it pretty much perfectly straight and sized - but how did you accomplish that feat and what materials did you use? If you would be so kind as to share your technique, I am sure that there are those if us who could benefit from your expertise and knowledge. I need to make side trim for a 59 Chevy Bel Air but I am just not sure how to go about making the lines as symmetrical as it appears that you made yours on this model.

1965 Dodge Monaco 1965 Dodge Polara convertible 1966 Dodge monaco 1966 Chrysler 300 1963 Impala Craftsman H.T. kit molded in tan 1967 Fairlane Plus others too numerous to mention

I agree 110% with you Tom regarding the constantly rehashed and never improved upon re-issues. One would think that the manufacturers would take into consideration some of the Ebay sales result - selling prices and number of bids - on old annuals that seem top hover around the hundred dollar mark. Not everyone in the hobby by any means can afford to spend or justify spending that amount of money on a kit - myself included. I guess that it is all about priorities and what's important but I can't afford it on a regular basis. I also think that the cost of kits tends to keep at least a few younger people out of the hobby. It's supply and demand and I would suggest that just an example, the AMT '67 Fairlane annual or the '67 Galaxie kit could stand to be produced again as they were popular cars back in the day and both, especially the Fairlane, bring some pretty good prices in the 1:1 world today. I'd likely buy a reissue of either or both if they were available at less than the going prices on line and the same could be said for some of the old IMC kits like the '65 Dodge Monaco hardtop. What ever happened to the IMC molds anyways? Does anyone know? I see the resin industry blossoming with some truly unique offerings of cars, trucks and parts, so obviously there is somewhat of a market for some of this stuff if it was marketed properly. I am impressed that kits are being manufactured in North America and will support Lindberg at the hobby shop and on line before I buy Chinese made kits. I wonder how many of you guys feel/think the same way?

Chris, thank you for your perspective. The Comet was built on the Falcon platform where as the Fairlane and the Mercury Meteor indeed were a slightly larger vehicle. The early Mustangs were Falcon/Comet underneath and shared many mechanical components and I believe ( I may be wrong but I believe ) the same inner fenders, firewall, floors and chassis. Given how things seem to work in the model car world as far as pin point accuracy ( or the lack there of ) regarding sizing and proportions of models go compared to the 1:1 cars, I'll buy a Comet in hopes that the interior will perhaps fit. If it doesn't, then that's OK too because I'll just build it as I have a soft spot for the '64 Comet. I had a convertible that I drove years ago that I bought on an abandoned vehicle auction for the unbelievable price of a mere five dollar bill. It needed a transmission and it had some rust on the rear driver's quarter, but aside from that, it drove fine it made a real fun, cheap, summer car with it's little six cylinder and automatic transmission. It was metallic blue with a blue bench seat interior and carried me many miles and gave me lots of pleasure even with it's cosmetic flaws. The Fairlane conversion may prove to be beyond my capabilities but as said, I'll give 'er my best lick and see what happens even if it ends up being just a phantom two door wagon curbside. There are guys here on this forum who could take that Thunderbolt and do a proper conversion to a four door interior but I am not one of them. At my age, the old peepers aren't what they used to be and the hands are not as steady as they once were - golden years, eh??? Maybe as station wagons slowly continue to increase in popularity, someone will cast a four door wagon but for now, this one will have to do. It would be nice to see some really talented builder do this conversion to show what can be done as the Fairlane wagons really are a very nice car - not huge but not small either. Given the prices that the '62. '63 and 65 Fairlanes kits can demand, they obviously have somewhat of a following and have not gone totally unnoticed over the years.

Ron, Thank you for the input. Your suggestion mirrors my thoughts on the solution to building the Fairlane as something as close to factory stock as possible. I lack the talents of many of the top quality builders here such as yourself but we learn through trying, don't we? Sometime after Christmas, I'll get a Comet to build and see if I can get an extra interior bucket and I already have the Modelhaus seat. I think that making the Fairlane totally accurate will be a bit beyond my abilities, but Ill give it my best attempt to come as close as possible. Thanks for the input guys and hopefully there will be more.

Has anyone had problems after the fact when they have glued the clear T roofs into a styrene body? It seems to me that I have read where the filler used to finish the roof after the panels are glued in can crack after a period of time. I want another non t top second generation Camaro but I have concerns about gluing the panels in. If there are issues, I suspect because the clear plastic is different somehow that that which the body is molded in and it likely has something to do with different rates of expansion and contraction with age and temperatures. I know that this can happen on 1:1 cars.. any input or advice on how to make a roof into a solid roof will be appreciated.

It seems that Perry's Resins casts a '64 Comet wagon that may make for a basis for an interior even though the Fairlane and Comet were built on slightly different platforms as I recall. The Comet is priced affordably and I'll grab one or two of those after Christmas. I really like the Comets of that year as well. Let's see - there's the AMT Caliente hardtop and there was also a convertible, the wagon - all that is needed is for someone to cast a 2 door sedan, four door sedan and the Comet sedan delivery that they should have made - and voilà!! A pretty much complete set!!! Of course one has to have an appreciation for those cars but that would make for a pretty cool display!!

Thank you Aaron. I'll try to email Keith and see what happens.

You are likely right, but the Flintstone wagon has some real possibilities in my mind, even it is just done as a curbside with the windows blacked out and the hood glued closed. I'd want to go at least try to do something more than that with it, but that would be a worst case scenario IMHO. It could be converted to a reasonable facsimile of a four door wagon or a phantom hardtop wagon and still be better than some of the BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH that is marketed as production kits such as the Testors Camaro Z28 that I opened up recently. Wow!!! Talk about a U turn in modeling evolution!!!! It's barely a parts kit IMHO and I have zero interest in spending any time trying to do anything with it. I think that the Fairlane would, even if not totally correct, still make a cute display piece.

To each his own - I have models on display in my living room that I bought already built off of Ebay but I never take credit for the quality for the workmanship which is often far above my building skills. I enjoy certain models irrespective of who built them and I enjoy owning certain models that are still unbuilt and will remain that way. I'll let the next owner enjoy building them because I simply enjoy having them and being able to open the box of an old annual and see a sort of a time capsule. Not to start a debate on "to build or not to build" here - this thread is not about that. But frankly, I'd be very happy and proud to display one of Paul's models on my shelf and I;d have absolutely NO issues giving him the credit for the build. Displaying someone else's build and saying that I built it is in my opinion, a form of theft and just not right. Give credit where credit is due and do so with a good attitude.

This is a question that has been asked before but it bears asking again based on personal preferences. Perhaps, this might be considered as a sticky because both new and seasoned model builders are almost always open to opinions and new ideas. So what sealer do YOU prefer and use when painting over a red body or body parts to stop the red from bleeding through. Someone suggested that the red colour doesn't "bleed" through white, because the white is opaque. I am not a paint specialist or chemist but I do know based on painting 1:1 vehicles, that a stop bleed product has to be applied over red. I am self taught with painting 1:1's and I learned a lot of lessons the difficult and costly way because we did not have the Internet back then to do research on. My first ( and only experience ) with white paint over red took place when I painted a GMC Astro highway tractor that was solid red and two toned it red and white. I finished painting the white, left the shop and returned several hours later to stare when I discovered that the shiny white enamel turned had turned a VERY effeminate shade of pink which is about the last thing that some macho, 265 pound, bearded, ornery truck driver appreciates or finds amusing. I mean, this guy loved his truck and seeing it in pink... ??? Needless to say, I had to let the truck sit and then seal and respray the white. The 1:1 Sherwin Williams product that I used to seal the red was a black coloured product appropriately called I believe, "Stop Bleed". So what is your time tested favorite? Or have you found just a colour of paint that you can apply as a sealer? Inquiring minds need to know...

Does anyone know if Keith Sorci is still in business? The wagon is his creation and based on his Fotki page, he has several other items that are interesting. Apparently, he took over from Paul Coolidge of Promolite Models. Does anyone have any knowledge of this? If Tom has quit casting, then it is a sad day for modeling because his service and personal touch were beyond reproach and unequaled IMHO.