Ferbz Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 One step forward, two steps back! This 53 Ford is my intro back into the hobby after many years of being away. Things were going really well until about mid way through the painting process. The idea was to try and do a tri-tone paintjob similar to the latter version of the Barris built Larry Ernst Chevy. After getting the body straight and in white primer, I sprayed a gold basecoat. I probably should have stopped there since it was looking pretty good in gold, but I really wanted to try that multi-colored paint scheme like Ernst's Chevy so I proceeded to spray the other colors. While spraying the Red-Orange color, the Testors spray can started spitting the paint out! Needless to say, that ended my 'brilliant' idea. The colors I chose weren't working they way I imagined anyway, so I soaked the body in Simple Green to strip the paint and I've started over. It's now in white primer (again!) and I'm headed in another direction with the paint scheme. It'll be a miracle if this thing turns out decent. If it does, I'll be sure to post the pics. In the meantime, take a look at these pics of the process this car has gone through thus far........Ugh! Pic 1: Custom bodywork complete and test fitting grill and bumper. Pic 2: Putty work and windshield test fit. Pic 3: Final white primer coat before basecoat color. Pic 4: Gold basecoat. Pic 5: Jacked up color coats! Pic 6: Paint stripped......stay tuned..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Pugh Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I love the direction you're heading in. Please keep going. The chop is perfect btw! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne swayze Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Wow!! That is so cool! Did you round the corners of the hood? It looks great! Good luck with your next attempt painting...it'll be killer!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferbz Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 Thanks Greg! My solution to getting a smooth profile to that top: I cut the top of the trunk and rear fenders away from the body and slid them forward so that the rear window opening moved forward the amount of the top forward when the A and C pillars were cut down. Not a normal thing to do in 1:1 scale, but it's effective and certainly possible in 1:1 scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferbz Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 Thanks Wayne! Yes, I rounded all the corners of the hood so they match the corners of the trunk. I'm going to go with a simpler paint scheme, fingers crossed..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 A shame about the paint problem. It looks like the Simple Green had a bad effect on the filler on your front fenders also. Have you considered raising the front wheel openings ? You have the skills based on everything else you've done. This was a common modification on this style of car in the '50s. I agree that the gold looked good, but with a little bit of a scallop style candy paint over it to really show off the body mods you've done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 She was beautiful in primer and gold. After the bath, she looks like a custom job that's been sitting in the desert for years. It's a very interesting effect...no rust, just paint falling off in scaly layers.Anyway, best of luck with the re-spray. The body mods and proportions look great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Goschke Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Great custom work! Good luck with the repaint! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James2 Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I'm liking this a lot. Regretfully I'll need to start fresh with mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobramike Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 sad that the darn Testors spray can did that to you. I had the exact same problem tith Testors on the last car I built, I had to strip the paint 3 times, finally got fed up with the testors making a mess of my paint (i can do that on my own, don't need testors adding to my grief). So I bought some "Dupli-color" from the parts store, and shot it with that, NO PROBLEMS! Came out like glass! Problem solved! I am going to stop using Testors after this debacle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geemoney Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 don't paint it!it looks sooooo vintage!assemble it an move on!love it!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferbz Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 sad that the darn Testors spray can did that to you. I had the exact same problem tith Testors on the last car I built, I had to strip the paint 3 times, finally got fed up with the testors making a mess of my paint (i can do that on my own, don't need testors adding to my grief). So I bought some "Dupli-color" from the parts store, and shot it with that, NO PROBLEMS! Came out like glass! Problem solved! I am going to stop using Testors after this debacle. Agreed. It's not the first time I've had problems with model spray cans. Years ago I switched to automotive spray can lacquers and have had much more consistent positive results. In many cases, automotive spray cans like Duplicolor and Plastikote are nearly the same price or cheaper than model spray can like Testors and Tamiya, AND you get more paint for your money because of the bigger cans! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferbz Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 don't paint it!it looks sooooo vintage!assemble it an move on!love it!!!!Too late! I've already sanded, reprimed and begun repainting. Thanks though. You're not the only one who's suggested building it as a 'barn find' or 'patina'd custom. Someday I really would like to build something like that, but this one is destined to be a freshly painted custom.....stay tuned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STYRENE-SURFER Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I really Like the look of this. Glad to hear you are persevering. Cant wait to see this in Under Glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobramike Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Agreed. It's not the first time I've had problems with model spray cans. Years ago I switched to automotive spray can lacquers and have had much more consistent positive results. In many cases, automotive spray cans like Duplicolor and Plastikote are nearly the same price or cheaper than model spray can like Testors and Tamiya, AND you get more paint for your money because of the bigger cans!Your exactly right about better paint jobs, and way more paint and it's about the same price as those small cans from Testors. Bit limited on colors currently but I found that plasticote has some decent colors. Also I have decanted both duplicolor and plasticote and mixed my own colors. Just have to use the same brand, works great in my airbrush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobramike Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 The gold on your car...wow, that really pops! Are you going to finish it in that gold or going back to red?I finished a 66 Fairlane recently with gold overlayed with testors 1605 gloss custom red. Yep, testors for that project so that I could get the gold to make the see thru red really pop out. It worked good. Not bragging though.The finished color was pretty cool looking actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carnut Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Hey, nice start of your custom '53. I think you will get past the setbacks. I use rattle cans and very so often a paint job will flop. Keep at it and have fun with this, it looks like I need to get started on my 53 custom Ford coupe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferbz Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 Your exactly right about better paint jobs, and way more paint and it's about the same price as those small cans from Testors. Bit limited on colors currently but I found that plasticote has some decent colors. Also I have decanted both duplicolor and plasticote and mixed my own colors. Just have to use the same brand, works great in my airbrush. In the past I used Plastikote auto spray can lacquers quite a bit but have noticed they are getting hard to find in the auto stores. Are they being phased out? They used to have a nice Candy Apple Red that went really well with their metallic Gold base(I used this combo on the Chrysler I posted pics of in my intro if you feel like looking that up) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobramike Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 In the past I used Plastikote auto spray can lacquers quite a bit but have noticed they are getting hard to find in the auto stores. Are they being phased out? They used to have a nice Candy Apple Red that went really well with their metallic Gold base(I used this combo on the Chrysler I posted pics of in my intro if you feel like looking that up) I haven't seen any plasticote lately except in Ace hardware, and they didn't have any candy apple Red at all. That Chrysler is a thing of beauty! Great job with that paint! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Hamilton Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I like the look. Too bad about the paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
showrods Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 You should go try your original colour scheme again - stunning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferbz Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share Posted December 7, 2015 A shame about the paint problem. It looks like the Simple Green had a bad effect on the filler on your front fenders also. Have you considered raising the front wheel openings ? You have the skills based on everything else you've done. This was a common modification on this style of car in the '50s. I agree that the gold looked good, but with a little bit of a scallop style candy paint over it to really show off the body mods you've done.You have a good eye as you're right about the wheel openings as they did indeed raise them back in the day. I actually like the factory height of the front wheel openings. I like how the tires look 'stuffed' up under the fender when the car is lowered. Not too practical as it limits the turning radius of the car(I know this from personal experience with my lowered 1:1 51 Shoebox) I did drop the front gravel pan a bit and reshaped the rear curve of the opening for a different design decision though. I may try to explain the reasoning behind that when I post more recent pics soon. Please stay tuned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Ferby, I'm enjoying watching your build. You mentioned your 1:1 '51 Shoe Box. Many, many years ago as a young man I also had a '51 Ford Tudor Deluxe as it was known as at that time. Like you I lowered it, and this may make you laugh now, but remember this was at a time this sort of modification was very crude at best. While upgrading the exhaust system you would have the guy with the torch heat the front springs until the lower A arm's bump stops hit the frame. It would handle OK until you hit an expansion joint or any irregularity in the road. Then it would bounce and come down hard on the frame. The only good thing besides looking good is it would corner like a slot car. I had a 3/4 Flathead with 3-97's and Evans heads and headers. Never got beyond the rattle can primer and chrome rims but I really loved that car. Keep up the good work on you're '53 Custom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DumpyDan Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Like this a lot, I only need more pictures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferbz Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 Like this a lot, I only need more picturesThanks man! After lots of sanding and prepping, the body is now repainted Lime Ice metallic on top, white pearl on bottom. I'm now working on the interior while I wait for the clearcoat to fully harden up before I do the wetsand/polish thing. I'll try to post pics of the interior and body this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.