Ramfins59

I'll surely take a couple of those too...!!!

By the way Jairus...... isn't that a '59 Edsel...??? I guess you like the year '59 too......!!!

Good Lord John... those headers must have been a real bear to make. You are one patient and talented modeler.

Thanks very much Charlie, JB, Randy and Nathan. Yeah Ron, you can join Ron H., Jairus and I for a cruise anytime. BTW Ron, the Edsel is next on my list of '58 cars to build, but first I've got to get back to finishing up the '36 HiBoy that has been on hold since I started this Ford.

Nice build Al. The red and black combo looks great.

Great job Matti.

Thank you so very much John... That's a great compliment coming from a builder of your caliber. Thanks a lot Jairus. I wholeheartedly agree on loving '58. I'm going to try to build all the 1958 cars that I can. and thank you also Alan, Derrick, Derick, Adam and Sam. All your encouraging words really mean a lot.

I pack my models in the model boxes and surround the model with wadded paper towels to keep them from moving. I pack them all (usually only 4 at the most) in a large shopping bag. I also bring along any raised display platforms and mirrors to display the models on. I also bring along a plastic bag (an Emergency repair kit - in case any parts come off intransit) with a bottle of CA glue, some toothpicks, a tweezer and a gentle brush to dust off any lint or dusties which may be on the model. I also bring along a pen (to fill out the model entry forms) and my digital camera with extra batteries to take pictures of the models at the show. Oh, and I also bring along some cash for the entry fees, anything I might buy from the vendors, and food & drinks.

I'm ready whenever you are Ron...!!!

That's a beautiful build Virgil. I love it.

Thank you very much to everyone for your kind comments. I really appreciate all the encouraging words as they help me to continue to take my time, not rush it, and do things right and in the proper sequence to get a good clean build. Carl thanks for your comments. The photo-etched metal headlight half-moon covers are from Detail Master. They make a fret of them with smaller covers for dual headlight cars (like my '58) and slightly larger covers for the single headlight cars.

OK kids... I finally got this little beauty finished up. My goal was to customize this car as if someone back in '59 would have thrown a J.C. Whitney catalog at the car to see what would stick..... all Bolt-On Customizing. Are you ready for the big reveal......?????? V V V V V V V V WAIT FOR IT V V V V V V V BUS DRIVER . . . . . . . . . . MOVE . . . . . . THAT BUS OK...... Sorry about that sick little try at humor here...... Here are pictures of this finished little Blue Angel. I am really happy with the way this model turned out. It's not perfect as I doubt if I'll EVER make a perfect model, but I just love it. Getting the interior assembly to fit at final assembly gave me some troubles after I installed the vacuuformed glass. A hint to anyone building a resin kit with this type of glass...... make sure that you trim the glass as close to the window frame on the cowl as possible. Cut and fit, cut and fit as often as you have to, to prevent the dashboard from not seating properly against the cowl and vent windows. When you have the glass trimmed as perfectly as possible, first tack glue it in place in a couple of spots with tiny drops of some non-fogging CA glue. When you have it in, recheck the fit of the interior assembly. If all is good, then continue with gluing in the glass with the non-fogging CA glue, let that dry and then install the interior assembly. The Elmer's glue I originally used to glue in the glass dried too thick for the dashboard to seat properly against the cowl. Aside from the issues with the interior, my model also now has a rear window defogger knob on the dashboard (thanks to Jairus...!!!) Since when does a convertible need a rear window defogger...?!?!?!? Oh well. Thanks for looking in on this everyone. It was a blast building this. Bring on those 50's chrome-laden land yachts...!!!

Thanks for your info Jairus, and thanks very much for your encouragement. Since I glued in the vacuuformed glass I'm having fitment issues with the interior assembly. It's nothing that I can't fix but it's just aggravating.... I'm so close to final assembly and NOW I'm suddenly having issues...!!! So that's my plan of attack for today. Once I get the interior assembly to sit properly I can finish up this little beauty. I guess I can say that the knob that I added can be called the "rear window defogger" switch" now...!!! I wondered why I never saw that knob on my own reference pictures...!!!

Great job Tommy, as always. Now work on the Truck willya...!!!

A little bit of progress today. I added a filler piece of plastic to the outside edge of the driver side interior panel to fill the gap, sanded it a bit to fit properly and then touched up the Coral Blue paint where necessary. I also trimmed the vacuuformed windshield to fit and glued that in place with Elmer's glue. It is drying now. Oh, and if you're still tuning in to this saga Jairus, note that I added the dash knob to the left of the steering wheel that you pointed out in your last picture...!!! More work to come on this tomorrow. It's getting there. Thanks for following along.

Great job Tom. Nice work on the interior.

I think you should go ahead and use the pinstripe decals. The only way that you'll learn is by doing. I would also use a decal setting solution when applying the decals which will help to eliminate any "silvering" or white film, from showing within or around the edges of the decal. Let the setting solution dry completely before you put any clearcoat over them on the body. Welcome back to the hobby and good luck on your build.

I understand totally Jairus. No problem at all. I kind of like to try to get most of the little stuff right myself. I used to have a '59 Dodge so I know where you're coming from buddy. Thanks for the additional detail picture with the yellow arrow HINT...!!! And no.... I won't be adding a hula skirt girl....(I don't think I could find a Z scale one playing a ukelele and I'm NOT even going to attempt to try to make one of my own). By the way, you need to repair that chip or tear on your steering wheel Thanks very much Gary, I appreciate the encouragement.

Thank you very much Derick, and no, I don't think I'll be changing ANYTHING. It's coming along exactly how I envisioned it would when I started working on it.

OK... Ixnay on the debonder. The LHS guy told me that the debonder would take off the paint in addition to having the CA glue let go. So my first thoughts were to just leave it alone. But the longer I looked at it, the more I thought that I could come up with a solution WITHOUT removing the dashboard. I wound up taking a piece of the metal trim from the Galaxie '48 Chevy (which was the PERFECT size height wise), cutting a couple of pieces to the right length, painted them aluminum, and carefully glued them in place... a longer piece with a glove box button to the right of the clock and a shorter piece to the left of the steering wheel. I'm happy with it and think it looks pretty good...... no matter what Jairus says now... Here's what it looks like... and NO Jairus, I DON'T feel that lucky... Tnanks buddy. I glued on the fender ornaments and the faux hood scoop and also installed the headlight lenses with some half headlight shields from the J. C. Whitney catalog (actually they're from Detail Master). Then I glued in the taillight assemblies with the J.C. Whit......ooops.... the MV lens blue dots... It's definitely coming along. I have to add a plastic filler piece along the top outside edge of the driver's side interior side panel as there is a rather large and noticeable gap when I dry fitted the interior in. The gap on the passenger side is much smaller but also may need a thinner piece of plastic filler. An unexpected step which will require some additional work and paint touch-ups but hey... that's part of the "joy of modeling" right...??? So the beat goes on and it's another day closer to completion. Thanks to everyone for following along on this saga.

Jairus, your post about the dashboard trim has been driving me nuts since last night...!!! I'm picking up some CA glue Debonder today to see if I can remove the dashboard from the assembled interior without damaging anything. I'll also try to unglue the steering wheel so I can try to get unobstructed access to the dash. I'm hoping that the Debonder will work even on the Zip Kicker I used. If that all works OK I'll do my best to paint that center strip on the dash with some aluminum metalizer which should hopefully be good enough...??? I'm hoping that any "damage" that may be caused by taking things apart will be minimal and that not much touch-up repair will be needed. Thanks SO MUCH for your input Jairus... and for the extra work now needed...!!! Isn't modeling fun...!!!

A very Happy Birthday wish to you Gregg.

Shoot...!!! Yeah Jairus, the dash is already CA glued on and hit with zip kicker. On the reference picture that I used, that panel looked more white than textured chrome so I left most of it the blue color. Oooops. I won't tell anyone if you won't. Thanks for the heads up though. I spent about 4 hours today putting on all the BMF on the body. Here's how it looks at the moment... I'm getting close to putting this little fella together. I can't wait...!!!

Back in the early 90's when I rediscovered this hobby I also discovered Bare Metal Foil which I thought at the time (and still do) that it is one of the best things to come out for hobbyists to use on their models. No more trying to paint chrome trim with silver paint, or trying to glue on aluminum foil. I remember that back then and for a few years after, that the foil came with a cardboard sheet that prevented the foil from bending, twisting, creasing or getting wrinkled. There was hardly any waste on a sheet other than the excess foil that was trimmed from the model you were using it on. Now you buy a sheet in an envelope and the only "protection" is the flimsy backing paper and wax paper like cover sheet. I can't tell you how much BMF is unusable because of all the wrinkles and crinkles all over the sheet. It tears at those wrinkles when you try to cut a strip that has a wrinkle in it. Cutting around the wrinkles just causes so much unusable waste. While BMF is not terribly expensive, for the price we pay for it at either model shows or at your LHS we shouldn't have to pay for sometimes almost a third of a sheet that is unusable. Thankfully BMF seems to have fixed the crappy adhesive problems of a few years ago. The Gold and Black foils are terrible and are a waste of money. I'm sure that eliminating the piece of cardboard was probably a "cost cutting" decision, but it really did more harm than good...... Good for them because we have to go buy MORE sheets to make up for all the unusable stuff we have to throw away. OK I feel much better now that I've vented. I've been foiling the '58 Ford I'm building and when I opened up a brand new sheet that I bought at last years NNL East I was PO'd at all the GD wrinkles......!!!!!! Back to the bench.

Thanks John. Yeah I'd love to see anyone come out with new kits of this Ford and ANY of the great '58 & '59 cars..... Buick, Olds, Pontiac, Mercury, and the '59 Ford. Of course the Chrysler, DeSoto, Dodge and Plymouths would be way cool too. We can dream can't we...??? Until then I guess we'll just have to splurge once in awhile on a good resin kit.