1954 Hudson Hornet custom coupe complete

[Peter Lombardo]

Finally, I have completed the 1954 Hudson Hornet custom coupe.........to recap the build :

1. I sectioned out about 6 scale inches from the sides, back and front of the car.

2. I chopped about 6 scale inches from the top by cutting a couple of wedges from the upper front and lower back of the A pillar, 6 inches from the B pillar and a 6 inch die-angled cut in the rear pillar, so that the top was "slid back and down" to the new lowered position and then secured with glue. The B pillar has a new top section filled in where the old pillar was moved to. I added a new chrome trim accent strip to the sides in a flowing pattern from the front, just back from the headlight, down to the rear fender back by the rear bumper.

3. The rear fender top line was raised 1 scale inch from the end of the rear quarter panel window to the new tail light fixture to give the fender line a very small fin as a fore-runner of the larger fins to come in the end of the 1950 ear with a sharp "C" look to it. The tail lights are a mix of epoxy and clear red paint dropped into the opening after the opening was painted reflective silver.

4 on the rear deck, I formed a faux- continental kit look into the rear deck to give the rear deck a little height because the nose tends to be a little high on this car.

5. the hood was smoothed out by removing the large flat area that was molded on the real car.

6. The headlights were frenched and filled with liquid mask so that the chrome finish was protected from the painting.

7. a black mesh inner grill was installed to the grill opening which was covered with a "Toothy" grill from my parts box.

8. I replaced the 6 banger stock engine with a Revell chrome Cadillac V8 with 6, 2 barrel carbs.

9. the engine bay firewall and inner fenders were smoothed and covered with bare metal foil, as was the inside top of the hood.

10. The hood was hinged on the left side to open sideways, just to be different.

11. The stock wheels and rear view mirrors were used.

12. Chrome "lake" pipes lifted from the Revell 1949 Mercury kit seemed to fit this car perfectly, so they were added.

13. The stock front and rear bumpers were installed

14. And finally the paint. The car was primed, sanded and re-primed. I mixed up a dark gold paint from Tamiya bottled paint which was sprayed on the hood, top and sides of the front fenders and doors. Once dry, I installed some custom flame masks that my brother designed on the computer and cut out of vinyl ( he is a custom sign maker) ....these were old masked that I used on a Plymouth street rod from about 8 years ago and were just rolled up on a shelf. I installed the masks on the hood and side fenders ( not an easy task I might add). Then the entire car was sprayed light gold. As the paint dried I removed the masks. Once dry, I lightly sanded the area to remove the ridge caused by the paint mask and the thickness of the paint. Once smooth I touched up a few spots and then painted the nose and front side fenders with Tamiya clear red. When just about dry, I painted the entire car Tamiya clear orange, I wanted to give the front end, which has the ghost flames a darker, more red glow, that is why the red is under the orange. Lastly, as the orange as about dry, I mixed a few small scoops of extremely fine gold metalflake into the clear orange so to give the candy blood red/orange a metal sparkle. In the sun, it really poops. And finally, when dry, the car was clear coated with 3 layers of clear, and once dry, it was waxed out and buffed

15. Once the body was dry, the Bare Metal Foil was applied to the side strip and the window trim.

16. OOPS, I forgot, the interior is made up mostly from the door panels, console and seats from an Infiniti G35 coupe with a modified Plymouth dashboard and the steering wheel from the Hornet kit.

Thanks it, I hope you like it......I know I am very happy with the result.......I think the original car is chunky and too tall....I think the section and chop bring the car into the proper proportion, and the lowered stance make this into a great 50's lead sled.

Here are the finished pictures.

Thanks for looking...............

Edited June 16, 2015 by Peter Lombardo

[Petetrucker07]

Very nice. I love the paint. Well I love the whole build. Well done.

[Jmaracing]

Wow!! That's one of the best paint jobs I ever seen!! Great job.

[wayne swayze]

Very nicely done! I looked up "custom car" in my dictionary, and there was a picture of YOUR car!

[Chuck Most]

Finally? Didn't you just start on this a few weeks ago?

That came out great!

[cobraman]

Oh my, that is beautiful ! I am jealous of your work.

[Foxer]

Another beauty, Peter! I thought those taillights were Packards .. they were made from epoxy?

[slusher]

Stunning and amazing..

[vintagercr]

Wow!

[DumpyDan]

Now that's cool

[Ramfins59]

Peter, that looks fabulous, I love it.

[bisc63]

Love that color! Is there a build thread here on the forum?`

[DeeCee]

I love the way you think, and do!!!

A magnificent piece of real custom modeling Peter, well thought out and extremely well executed too.

Paint looks great, and the subtle flames really work too,

Great build, i love it!!

[hjracing]

Awesome work! Great job on the "ghost flames"!

[thatz4u]

Beautiful, I'm just gonna rebox mine & put it back on the shelf....

[crazyjim]

Gorgeous and SHINY :)

[Pete L.]

Nice work, I especially like the paint !!!

[customsrus]

Very nice build Peter. Great design elements on this build. All the custom work and paint looks great. What's next?

[om617]

Coolest Hudson i have ever seen,great custom touches.

[Dave Van]

VERY Slick!!

[HotRodaSaurus]

Love these Hudsons. Why didnt the Barris brothers ever get around to working with this car?

[Grumpa]

Fantastic custom Peter! The line of this build is beautiful! Adding the continental was a great idea! Awesome job!

[Danno]

Sweet!

[PatW]

Super build altogether!

[Albie D]

Killer!