MrObsessive

Man, I've got to make it a point to get there next year!! At least to get away from the cold! It looks like it was a fantastic show...............too bad I had to miss it. I've got enough time for vacation at work now, so I'm gonna start making plans.............

Remember folks that if you use Fotki, you MUST use the URL found under the "Share Photo" button if you want the pic to be directly on your message. Otherwise the pic may show, but it will only last on the board for only a short time. This goes for free AND paid accounts. You can't just right click on the photo and get the properties URL.....................The pic won't last the day!

Ditto what Cruz said Jonathan! Pics don't do the paint justice...........it was really super slick in person!

Cruz, I keep all my builds (as well as car references) in separate folders in my PC. So I have a folder marked "1955 Ford Fairlane" and all my photo reference, as well as the buildup pics are in that folder. In case my PC should take a dump, (it better not.....it's brand new! ) I have an online backup service that I can use to recover everything. As far as pics online, Fotki has a service where you can have them printed for much cheaper than the brick and mortar places. You remember the pics from P.R.? Those came from Fotki and they do excellent work. It's definitely needed in my case, 'cuz if I ever take the model to GSL, one of the requirements if it's in factory stock to be considered for judging, is to have all your work shown in pics. As well as reference photos of the car you're building. (Shop Manual!)

Okay,Okay! I'd better beat everyone else to the punch 'cuz I know this'll get slipped in somewhere along the way! And yes, I literally gave this wig a whirl! Maybe I would have looked better if I shaved first...............don'tcha think??

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That is a one aggressive machine Roberto!! Great paint on that too! Is that a working sunroof??

That's what I sorely miss in today's styling of cars...........Front and rear ends that you can actually see without scooting up in your seat to tell where you are in parking. The high beltline styling I also wish would go away too. It makes a lot of cars just look "fat". The interior padding in cars today (my Saturn included) are so thick and the front pillars are so wide that it borders on dangerous! And yet we can't get a car built in this country anymore with "pillarless" roof styling!

Olle, that's turnin' out real nice! And yes, black is difficult to get to look right especially in interiors. I've found the best black paint out there for engine bays and interiors is Polly Scale's "Engine Black"-------yours looks perfect though! It's a water based acrylic, and has just the right sheen to my view for those areas. It brush paints nicely as well with nary a brush stroke to be seen.

Very,Very Nice!..............And super clean too! Yup, I remember those 2 door sedans very well as they were a lot more common than the "bubbletop" hardtop. I've got a resin 4 door hardtop (6 window) roof section that I think came from a Johan '59 Cadillac. I just won a '59 Caddy convertible at our club auction yesterday...............hmmmm......

You Betcha!

I spent this past week trying to make the grille and trunk trim for the '55. Two of the biggest hangups to finishing the car from before. My attempt at resizing the grille were anything but stellar resulting in a ruined piece and frustration. I wanted to totally scratchbuild the grille, but I have no more PE eggcrate to use and NO ONE makes the correct grid pattern I need! My only other option was to now use the grille out of the Danbury Mint '55 that I got from Rick Hanmore. I originally didn't want to use this because the parking light pods were a bit undersized for my tastes, and of course the dreaded 1/24 scale! BTW, here's the car that is giving up it's grille along with a bunch of other parts to build mine…………… Don't let the pic fool you! This car has a very substandard paint job with runs-----------------and the roof section which is a separate piece, wasn't sanded down properly as the underside ribbing from the headliner can be seen from the outside. Danbury obviously put this one out to pasture, and now I have it to scavenge parts. The Danbury grille actually has some better detail than the other grille so I held my breath and went to hack away. I split the grille right down the middle with a coping saw, (the grille is plastic) and then carefully filed down both halves until both sides were symmetrical. Filing down the top inside of the grille, I was able to finally get it to fit inside the front of the Ford……….. Some tweaking of the leading edge of the grille will be needed to ensure a nice clean fit. If you take a look at the above pic, you can see where I'm beginning to replicate the car's "eyelashes' on the headlight doors. I can't make any promises that this'll turn out well, but we'll see. I tried to use the diecast's headlight eyelashes, but of course they were too big. Now it's on to the trunk trim……………frustration out of not finding anything suitable to replicate this, led to me to just completely scratchbuild this on my own. I started with some plain styrene sheet, cut it to a basic shape according to photos, and just started to add the little "grids" one by one as you can see here……………. Like the grille, I tried to keep everything as symmetrical as possible------keeping the spacing as even as possible using .010 styrene square rod……….. After all the little teeth were done, I glued a border around the perimeter per the 1:1. Then I test fit the whole works on the rear deck of the model……….. Some more tweaking of the corners, and some filing down will be needed to thin it out a bit more….and afterwards it'll be BMF'd with a black wash to bring out those teeth. This was a LOT of work, but another hurdle cleared! I've got a long way to go, so thanks for lookin'! Edit: Please excuse the font size! I originally wrote this in Microsoft Word, and copied and pasted, but somehow the font turned out bigger than I usually use. I REALLY don't feel like reposting this!

Gorgeous paint job!! I would have a reeeeallll difficult time letting that one go! I hope the bidders make it worth your while.............That's one of the nicest flame jobs I've ever seen!

James, it sounds like he used CA glue which doesn't like primer over it in my experience, especially Krylon. Yeah, some sort of sealer would be best to keep it from showing. Different colors of primer may not work...........the ghosting still may show up again in the final color coats. That's one of the reasons I no longer use CA glue as a filler-------it can be unpredictable when it comes time for painting. But it's best to use some sort of sealer anyway to head off any surprises.

Here are a couple of mine................

NICE !! Yup, I can definitely picture those runnin' around down in P.R! I gotta remember to bring my camera tomorrow and get pics of that! Now, like Ismael, you got me wondering about doing a certain '70's Corolla with a rotary and independent double coiled shock rear!

That's actually a good idea..............When I split the roof on the Ford to widen it, I did fill the gap with as much plastic as possible. I then added the putty to even out the surface. What's nice about body putty/plastic filler, is there is virtually no shrinkage which leads to no surprises six months down the road after it's all painted and built!

Good old fashioned body putty should do the trick.............My favorite is Dynatron Putty-Cote which is a two part putty. It's a Bondo product so it's readily available.................. I swear by it 'cuz it dries fast, feather edges beautifully, and have not had a problem with the putty drying out (as long as the can is tightly sealed ). Others may have their favorites too............I like to stay with what's worked for me for years!

Looks like the '58 Chevy will have separate chrome also............ It would be a good time to line everything up too while we're at it! I hope this one is soon to be here!

The '55 Chevy Hardtop is out?? Great!! We have a club meeting Saturday, and I hope our kit vendor has 'em. As far as the chrome, I think the buildup would look a LOT better if one would strip the chrome trim, apply it to the body before painting, and then BMF everything. You can clean everything up, including those mold lines/cut tags, and the final result won't appear so "heavyhanded".

That's mighty fine lookin' Jairus! That's the one you were mentioning before............ I may have to pick one of these up since I've got several Lindberg '53 Fords to be used. You oughta hear how some folks pronounce "Geary".........

I located the auction Manuel from "Completed Auctions".............eBay probably pulls the direct URL once the auction is over so it can't be linked. That kit looks pretty good from a distance-----Do you know who the caster is? Looking forward to the review and up close pics.............I love Studebaker Hawks!

Bruce in case you can't find the acetate in a new shirt............ You can always go to an art and crafts store and ask for "clear stencil sheet". If you ask for acetate they'll look at you like you've landed from Mars! You can bend acetate, but in only one direction------since your rear window is likely flat as Ken mentioned, this should be no problem. Compound curves can be done though as I've done several windshields over the years such as on my '58 Impala............. Please excuse the dust!.............The trick is to epoxy one side, let it dry thoroughly and work your way across the windshield gradually------- letting it dry so the previous work doesn't pop out of place. HTH!

ERTL/RC2 did a '66 for quite some time in their many reissues, however that one was a hardtop. With some patience you could turn it into a convertible. You can find those on the 'Bay perhaps......... Revell did a '64½ (titled 1965 in the real world ) Mustang Pace Car Convertible that you may be able to turn into a '66, but the model is 1/24 and I don't know of any '66 wheelcovers in 1/24. You could maybe take their '65 Fastback kit and use those wheels since that was the same optional wheel for '66. You'd also have to change the rear side "scoop" and interior to be correct for '66. though. There are probably some '66 annual convertible from AMT/MPC kits floating around out there but be prepared to pay BIG $$$!!

Here's your pic Chris resized just a bit............... That's a NICE build!!