David G.

I love these old trucks, and this one is looking great! Looks like you nailed the color and the detail is good. One thing I often wondered about is, why did GM think that putting a 90hp six cylinder engine in a three ton truck was a good idea? I've driven a 1951 pick-up and a 53 panel truck, though the pick-up wasn't too bad, the wagon seemed frighteningly underpowered.

I was reading the other topic on the best material for modeling spark plug wires and the verdict seems to be that 30 ga wire is about the best bet. Now, what are some of the best ways to use it? I tried to get a couple of different ways to get the wire affixed to the kit distributor, and failed, ruining the distributor in the process. I ended up ordering a few pre-wired units from Scale Models By Chris, but at about five bucks a pop plus shipping, it adds up pretty quick. But he does have a lot of cool stuff! Besides all that, I like to think of myself as a creative, resourceful kind of guy, and I just feel that this is something I should know how to do. Thanks, David G.

Where I grew up in north-east Ohio in the 1970's, almost all of the cars I can recall working on had some form of undercoating. In that part of the States, undercoating is (or was at that time) a fairly big business; Rusty Jones and Ziebart are a couple of companies that come to mind. The materials used ranged from spray-on asphalt to special polymerized surface coatings aka, plastic paint. Inexpensive undercoating would do its job as long as its integrity held out. As soon as there was a "chink in the armor" so to speak, moisture would get between the undercoating and the metal surface and remain trapped there, accelerating the corrosion process. My bodywork kit usually included a small propane torch and a stout putty knife for removing asphalt undercoating prior to making repairs. Of course, here in Phoenix, none of that matters!

Yup, I sprayed the fenderwells satin black the other day, the floorpan with oxide red primer yesterday, clearcoat's going on today. When I've got it all knocked together, it should look like the one in the photo. I don't think I'll mess with any overspray on the floorpans any time in the near future. I think an airbrush (something I don't have) is needed to do it properly, and most people outside of our community probably wouldn't get it anyway. I also picked up AMT's 58 Edsel, the one with the continental kit, at the Desert Scale Classic last weekend. I can't wait to tear into that one. Thanks, David G.

The interior is nicely detailed, the masking and paintwork is awesome. Overall, the car just has a solid feel to it as it sits on the workbench in the last couple of photos. And, oh yes, what tape did you use? It seems to work well.

After all is said and done, that'll be the answer. The engine is already in gloss black with the appropriate aluminum, steel and iron bits. The valve covers are gold and the aircleaner will be stripped of its chrome in a bleach bath and painted gold to match the valve covers. whew! Thanks to everybody who chimed in on this one. That's what I like about this community, there is never a shortage of answers to a question. David G.

OK, that's really interesting. It matches nothing that I've learned up to this point. Regardless of the silver sheetmetal, the one in the photo isn't even Ford Blue. sigh Maybe it has to do with the engine's configuration. The one in the kit I have has an "R" designation, meaning that it's a 4v interceptor, and that (supposedly) is why it wears black. At this point, it seems that one could argue a good point for just about any color combination. Still, thanks for the link. David G.

Ed, According to the kit directions and the results of my previous question about the engine color in this particular kit, gloss black seems to be the correct paint for the engine overall, with the valve covers in gold. Based on the current consensus, I think the aircleaner should be gold to match the valve covers. It seems to make the most sense. At first I was a bit bummed-out about painting the engine all in gloss black. With the fender wells and firewall in semi-gloss black, I thought much of the engine detail would be lost in a sea of darkness, so to speak. But I took it as an interesting challenge to overcome, and I've hit on a few ideas for some subtle touches that should make it work. All you guys are a great source of ideas and inspiration, and I do so enjoy batting concepts and ideas back and forth with you. Thanks, David G.

Thanks, your suggestion about the body paint seems to be the reasonable option, based on the information you provide. Thanks again, guys. David G. It seems that painting the aircleaner in gold to match the valve covers makes the most sense. I'm glad to find that "chrome" is definitely out. It just didn't seem right to me.

That's what I did too and it seems that Ford put that engine in everything from the 1958 Edsel to the 1976 F-150. The air cleaner colors ranged from chrome to blue, gold, white, black and rusted metal with several of those colors associated with Galaxie and Starliner applications. Not knowing which of these, if any, were original, prompted me to post the question here with the hope that somebody will have first-hand knowledge of which color would be the correct factory configuration. I do thank you for taking the time to reply, though. David G.

Wanting to be as accurate as I can, I have a couple of more questions about the AMT 60 Ford Starliner that I'm building. 1. The stock air cleaner that is in the kit is plated. I find it hard to imagine that the 1:1 car would have had a chrome plated air cleaner. If that's true, then I'm OK with it, but I think it would have been painted. My question is, if it was originally painted, what color would it have been? The engine in question is the V8 352 R Interceptor with a 4 bbl carb. 2. I've seen many modelers replicate the body color overspray on the floorpan of the car chassis. Would there have been such a thing as "underspray"? I mean to say that the fenders and other body panels would have likely had a primer coat on their inside surfaces. Should this inside surface be visible in some locations, like the slight overhang of a fender wheelwell beyond the inner wheelhousing, would the primer coat (oxide red?) be visible or whould this area be painted the same as the body color? I know, these may seem like picky points, but this is a decent kit and I want to do it justice. Any tips would, as always, be appreciated. Thanks in advance, David G. p.s. I did do a Google image search and came up dry on these two points, otherwise, I wouldn't ask.

I was there and met some fellow modelers, picked up a few kits and enjoyed the wonderful contest entries. However, I had no idea that this was such a big event with people traveling such great distances to attend. How lucky I am to have such a great show right in my own back yard; I actually live about 1.5 miles from the venue! Thanks to all of those folks who did the work so the rest of us could play!

Well, you've changed my mind about this kit. I've always thought of this as a goofy "cartoon" kit; not really intended for a "serious" build. Now that I see what you've done with it, wow! I think I'll go shopping for one of these this afternoon just to see what I can do with it. Thanks for the inspiration.

That turned out nicely! You managed to do one thing I couldn't, paint the rubber window gaskets black. I tried three times, with different paints, to get the paint on the proper areas without it wicking up the inside edges of the window frames. I ended up having to repaint the roof due to my efforts. How did you manage to get your window gaskets to look so good?

The paint looks great so far. I picked one of these at the Desert Scale Classic; the one with the continental kit. I'll have to keep an eye on yours to see what cool ideas you come up with.

From what I can see, it looks good so far! The weathering is coming along nicely.

No, that would be my wife. I'm a car modeler and Trekker (only uncooth outsiders use "Trekkie.")

I mean no offense by this, but my first imperssion was that you had given the car a face, like Benny the Cab from the Roger Rabbit movie. I could totally see this as a cartoon character, chugging along, playing some happy little tune through its calliope steam pipes. Don't get me wrong, it's a good sketch, it's just that that's how it first struck me. Regards, David G.

But then nobody would look at the cars! What does that say for those of us who are both?

It looks great. The level of detail is good, but the stance clinches it. The car just seems to have mass and looks like it's waiting to spring off the line. I have a question about the tail lights. The ones in the picture obviously aren't stock, did the kit come that way or is that a modification you made? Regards, David G.

Thanks J, the timeline info will help on future builds. To fill the cavities, I cut styrene strips and wedged them in edgewise, used Plastruct to hold them in place, trimmed the tops down and filed them flush. Now I'm waiting for the spot putty to dry so I can sand and paint. BTW, I really enjoy your artwork. I assume you're the same Jairus I'm thinking of, I mean there can't be too many folks that share such a unique name. Thanks for the tips, David G.

Ryan, Thanks for the links, they're awsome, they'll help tremendously with the frame details! I did several searches, but didn't find those pages. What did we ever do without the internet? What color do you plan on painting yours? I'm going to try to duplicate Ford's Orchid Gray. Thanks Tons, David G.

Hey All, I'm building Revell's 1960 Ford Starliner and the frame is cast as a channel frame. Since the front of the frame will be visible when the hood is open, I was wondering if leaving it as a channel frame would be accurate, or should I close off the top and box it. I don't recall ever seeing a car that had a channel frame in the front, but I've never seen a '60 Starliner frame either. As always, any advise offered would be appreciated. Thanks again, David G.

Ziinng! Maybe that's why they're called "Zingers"

Thanks, they're my favorite feature. For mine, I painted it brown first, let it dry completely, then covered some areas with dampened salt before I painted the red. While the red paint was dry but still soft, I cleaned away the salt. Some of the salt will want to stick and you may have to rub to remove it, just be careful not to rub the brown paint off. After I had the red looking mostly like I wanted it to, I drybrushed with flat tan and flat black. I then followed with a thin wash of black. I hope that helps, you can also cruise the Tips, Tricks and Tutorials section for some great ideas in more detail.