57 Ford Ranch Wagon

[Modlbldr]

Lol! 

Man, that is so true. I was working on this the other morning and I had the model sitting to my right and had a tube of superglue in my left hand about 10 inches away. I was putting a drop of glue on a shock. All of a sudden the glue shot across and landed on the top of the dash. Aarrrgg! I've never seen it shoot like that. And, of course, it had to go straight to the model. I quickly wiped it off. Then I had to tape it off and repaint. Shouldn't show now, but how frustrating.

Later-

[randyc]

Stuff like that happens to me all the time.  Or I put down a part to pick up glue and then can't find the part.   And to do fine detail work, I usually have my glasses off.  So I have to put my glasses back on, find part, repeat whole process.    Keep working - looking forward to seeing the final finish on this one.

[Modlbldr]

Well, couldn't tell it from looking at your builds. They are outstanding! Thanks for the encouragement. I'm enjoying this one.

Later-

[Tom Geiger]

9 hours ago, Modlbldr said:

Man, that is so true. I was working on this the other morning and I had the model sitting to my right and had a tube of superglue in my left hand about 10 inches away. I was putting a drop of glue on a shock. All of a sudden the glue shot across and landed on the top of the dash. Aarrrgg! I've never seen it shoot like that. And, of course, it had to go straight to the model. I quickly wiped it off. Then I had to tape it off and repaint. Shouldn't show now, but how frustrating.

Ah! Static electricity!  I've had that happen with the darn Molotow pen.  I've been holding it away from the body and the paint jumps off the tip onto the body... of course where it's not wanted.

[Modlbldr]

So, small update. I have been trying to round up enough of the side mirrors from this and the other Revell 57 Ford kits to get 5 bases for my scratchbuilt roof rack. I am still short a couple, but here is the start of it.

I also tried my hand at scratchbuilding a vintage ice chest for the back. Not a bad go at it. I have a resin one or two on the way. Whichever ones I don't use will go to other projects. Next up is to make some scale vintage road maps.

First pic is the roof rack I am using as a model. Enjoy the pics.

Later-

[ewetwo]

Both look great Tom. 

[Modlbldr]

Thanks. 

Later-

[Modlbldr]

I received a second ice chest today from George Bojaciuk (Thanks Buddy). I painted it up, added a latch and a "Coleman" badge and set it next to my scratchbuilt "Monarch" ice chest. This rig is getting closer to another road trip.

Later-

[David G.]

Very cool idea for the roof rack! The ice chests will be a nice touch too.

Now all you need is a nice fluffy blanket in the back and a beach umbrella to tie to the roof rack.

David G.

[Modlbldr]

Funny you should mention the blanket. My wife is into quilting and she keeps telling me that I need a quilt to put on the back seat. I might try to figure out a way. Tissue and white glue???

I am trying to get her to help me resize a couple of pictures of vintage road maps for the passenger seat. My idea from the beginning was a summer road trip from the late 50's to early 60's.

Later- 

[TarheelRick]

Very nice work on this build.  Those ice chests are excellent, but, they need a bottle cap opener on the side and they would be perfect; had to have some way to open those Coca-Cola pony bottles.

[David G.]

5 minutes ago, Modlbldr said:

Funny you should mention the blanket. My wife is into quilting and she keeps telling me that I need a quilt to put on the back seat. I might try to figure out a way. Tissue and white glue???

I am trying to get her to help me resize a couple of pictures of vintage road maps for the passenger seat. My idea from the beginning was a summer road trip from the late 50's to early 60's.

Later- 

Somewhere out there, maybe even on this forum, there's a tutorial on making a 1:25 Mexican blanket using cellophane tape and embroidery floss. 

I can also see the tissue and white glue working well. Maybe a piece of folded paper napkin or paper towel to give it some thickness, then soak it down with a mixture of white glue and water. Then place it on the back seat as you'd like it to look when finished. You'd want cover the seat with plastic wrap to keep the glue from bonding to it as the "quilt" cures. Once it has cured you could paint it up or download a quilt print from the internet and make a decal.

Of course, all that may be more work than it's worth, but this is a hobby and the work is worth what it's worth.

Best regards,

David G.

[Modlbldr]

Great ideas David on the napkin or paper towel since they will be thicker and I could even use the "quicker picker-upper", since it's quilted. Lol.

I also like the idea of looking for a quilt pattern online to print off.

Later-

Edited September 28, 2019 by Modlbldr

[GeeBee]

Very nice build, and one I've never seen built, I've just been on Ebay and bought one...

[Modlbldr]

3 hours ago, GeeBee said:

Very nice build, and one I've never seen built, I've just been on Ebay and bought one...

Good to hear. It is a beautifully designed kit. You will definitely enjoy it.

Later-

[Modlbldr]

So, I'm back to work on this one. Not much progress so far tonight. Been working on the roof rack a bit.

Also working on the BMF. The idea I picked up on the site here was to tape off around the chrome so as to give the knife edge something a bit more substantial to follow. Also, this allows you to pull up the tape once the BMF is trimmed and  the BMF can't stick to the body where you do t want it. This idea works pretty good.

I also have a quilt that my wife made folded on the rear seat and the start of a vintage thermos on the front seat.

Later-

Edited December 29, 2019 by Modlbldr

[dino246gt]

Very cool build, love the family camping "stuff" inside! What'll be on the roof?

 

[Modlbldr]

8 hours ago, dino246gt said:

Very cool build, love the family camping "stuff" inside! What'll be on the roof?

 

Thanks. Not sure what, if anything, will be on the roof. 

I did a bit of the foiling this morning that I didn't get done last night. Got the passenger side done. The BMF isnt perfect but it's good enough for me. Besides, this represents a well cared for family cruiser from the early 60's. The chrome is going to have a bit of road rash and wear.

I believe that I am going to try flowing gold paint into the recess on the side trim. I had used the decals but they didn't get lined up properly. 

Later-

[Sam I Am]

Looking great Tom !

[espo]

Tamaya X-31 Titan Gold is pretty close for the gold trim. Bare-Metal Foil is also available in Gold foil. 

[Modlbldr]

1 hour ago, espo said:

Tamaya X-31 Titan Gold is pretty close for the gold trim. Bare-Metal Foil is also available in Gold foil. 

Thanks for that. I appreciate it. I was wondering what shade of gold would be good. I think I'll try that.

Got the driver's side and windshield trim done today and started on the rear window hatch.

Later-

 

[espo]

15 hours ago, Modlbldr said:

Thanks for that. I appreciate it. I was wondering what shade of gold would be good. I think I'll try that.

Got the driver's side and windshield trim done today and started on the rear window hatch.

Later-

 

I forgot to mention something about the Gold Foil. The foils finish is very shiny much like their chrome. This is what I used on the ones I have built. This is purely personal choice but since it is so shiny it may appear unrealistic to the eye. The area is also very small and you may not even notice it. I have owned a couple of 1:1 '57 Fords years ago and the gold area was a metal insert held in place by some adhesive and the side moldings above and below and the finish was not shiny like chrome. Should the gold foil appear to shiny, again to your taste, a very light coat of semi-gloss paint should go a long way to tone it down. I left mine without any top coat and they look fine to these old eyes.   

[Modlbldr]

Thanks espo-. I actually have some foil paper that may work for such a small area. Not sure about the pattern in it though.

Later-

[Modlbldr]

34 minutes ago, espo said:

I forgot to mention something about the Gold Foil. The foils finish is very shiny much like their chrome. This is what I used on the ones I have built. This is purely personal choice but since it is so shiny it may appear unrealistic to the eye. The area is also very small and you may not even notice it. I have owned a couple of 1:1 '57 Fords years ago and the gold area was a metal insert held in place by some adhesive and the side moldings above and below and the finish was not shiny like chrome. Should the gold foil appear to shiny, again to your taste, a very light coat of semi-gloss paint should go a long way to tone it down. I left mine without any top coat and they look fine to these old eyes.   

espo-,

What do you think? It won't be easy trimming this to shape and I'm not sure about the texture in it. This was just a quick down and dirty trim job to see what my option was. I think I should go with the gold paint option and save this gold paper for what I originally kept it for, doing door panels on a lowrider.

Later-

[espo]

12 minutes ago, Modlbldr said:

Thanks espo-. I actually have some foil paper that may work for such a small area. Not sure about the pattern in it though.

Later-

Looking at the pattern and the finish here this may be an ideal option. The 1:1 cars had a textured surface that I think you could find on Google by just asking for pictures of a '57 Ford Fairlane 500. The kit body has a very correct finish in the plastic in this area, at least to my eye. This texture shows thru the gold foil with a good burnishing of the foil. While this material looks like a good finish I wonder about the thickness of the material and weather or not it has any adhesive backing. If it is any thicker than the foil then it may look out of proportion to the surrounding chrome trim.