Curly Tremayne 50 Merc Replica: Update!

[Ferbz]

5 hours ago, geemoney said:

INCREDIBLE!

Butch would be proud!

Thanks! Yeah I'd like to think and hope he would be 🙂 I'm in touch with Rod Powell and he's helped me along the way with paint info and various details I dont recall when i saw the car in person back in the day. He's appreciating the progress of this project which is a huge compliment to me 👍

[Ferbz]

2 hours ago, Kit Karson said:

WOW! Outstanding replication in scale going on here!  Wanna see more, Brother! -KK

Thank you! It's not exact, but it's my best effort at copying as many of the details from the real car as possible. I'll be posting the progress as I approach the finish line.....it's getting close! 🙂

[slusher]

Fantastic work on your Mercury project!!

[Ferbz]

14 hours ago, slusher said:

Fantastic work on your Mercury project!!

Thanks man! The real car has been one of my all time favorite Mercs 🙂

[H.A.K]

Very nice sofar.

[thatz4u]

Way Kool, takes me back to my mis-spent youth....well done

[Ferbz]

2 hours ago, H.A.K said:

Very nice sofar.

Thank you! I'm getting close to finally wrapping up this build. It's been a long 5+yrs since I've started lol 

[Ferbz]

2 hours ago, thatz4u said:

Way Kool, takes me back to my mis-spent youth....well done

Thanks! Sounds like you were around back when customs were king! The real car (built back in the late 70s) in my mind helped bring the popularity of chopped mercs back in car culture 😎

[speedy5963]

Build is coming along very nice Ferbz, awesome to see you building this, brings back a lot of memories seeing this from when I was a kid!  If you don't mind I would like to take some of the pics and post it to our club Instagram page!  

[Ferbz]

1 hour ago, speedy5963 said:

Build is coming along very nice Ferbz, awesome to see you building this, brings back a lot of memories seeing this from when I was a kid!  If you don't mind I would like to take some of the pics and post it to our club Instagram page!  

Thanks man! I'm glad it brings back memories like that for you! It has been one of my all time favorite cars ever since I first saw it in the early 80s(I have a cool story about that actually!). Yeah man, feel free to grab and post what you like. Just be sure to tag me when you do! 👍 

[speedy5963]

6 minutes ago, Ferbz said:

Thanks man! I'm glad it brings back memories like that for you! It has been one of my all time favorite cars ever since I first saw it in the early 80s(I have a cool story about that actually!). Yeah man, feel free to grab and post what you like. Just be sure to tag me when you do! 👍 

I was just showing pops your post and updates, he really likes the build as well!  I'll definitely tag you in the post!

[Kenmojr]

Awesome work for sure!!!!!

[Ferbz]

12 hours ago, Kenmojr said:

Awesome work for sure!!!!!

Thanks! It's been a long road getting this build to the finish line, but it's finally getting close! I'll post a couple more progress pics here and then try to take some nice pics and post them in the completed channel 👍

[Ferbz]

Some progress shots of the interior work: R & M's resin 50 Merc dash was paint detailed using white pearl and Alclad chrome, and some of the same candy tangerine used on the body of the car. I replicated Rod Powell's trippy airbrush work in Photoshop(it's not exact but it gives the right impression!) and printed out a decal of it and applied it to the top surface of the dash then cleared it. The steering wheel is a parts box item that I modified to make it a 50 Merc wheel. The bullet in the center is a drop of 2 part epoxy that was detailed with a Molotow chrome pen. The horn ring is a length of metal wire that I shaped and also applied Molotow Chrome to it. I made the instrument panel window by cutting/shaping a piece of thin clear plastic. It's the same clear sheet plastic that I use for all the flat glass windows. Much of this is tough to see once it gets installed in the car so I thought I'd share pics of it before it went in! I decided to use the Revell tuck and roll interior for this build, but it required some problem solving to get it to work. The Revell 49 Merc kit is VERY different from the AMT 49 Merc kit in many respects, but I did like how the interior panels are angled out down to the sides(which is more realistic) as opposed to the door panel sides in the AMT kit's interior tub. Those angle inward at the bottom. I cut away everything except the floor of the AMT kit, glued it to the chassis, and added some sheet styrene to the sides of the floor widening it so that I could properly glue down the door panels at their respective angles. I had to add some sheet styrene to the front of the kick panel areas so they meet the AMT firewall. Curley's 1:1 car had thick white carpet which I replicated using felt material. The seats and door panels were painted the same white pearl as the dash/steering wheel but coated with a satin clear. The 50 Merc door handles and window cranks are resin pieces from Steve Boutte (thanks again, Steve!) which add a nice touch of realism. After these pics were taken, (and before I assembled the interior/chassis with the body) I scratch built the floor shifter and boot and glued in place on the top of the driveshaft tunnel in front of the front seat. I'll try and get a decent pic of that if I can:

Edited May 26, 2023 by Ferbz

[David G.]

Sweet detail work!

Great idea getting the photos before assembly.

 

David G.

[NOBLNG]

Beautiful work!👍Nice detailing on that dash.

Edited May 27, 2023 by NOBLNG

[espo]

Beautiful looking dash, especially the artwork on the top. 

[Ferbz]

On 5/27/2023 at 7:54 AM, David G. said:

Sweet detail work!

Great idea getting the photos before assembly.

 

David G.

Thanks! It's something I dont usually do....but I decided on it this time lol

[Ferbz]

On 5/27/2023 at 8:10 AM, NOBLNG said:

Beautiful work!👍Nice detailing on that dash.

Thanks! The 50 Merc dash from Replicas and Miniatures is such a great piece! It even came with the knobs and a print out of the instrument panel 👍

[Ferbz]

On 5/27/2023 at 12:11 PM, espo said:

Beautiful looking dash, especially the artwork on the top. 

Thanks! It's my first time printing out my own decal which is something I've always wanted to try 👍

[jaftygas]

1 minute ago, Ferbz said:

Thanks! It's my first time printing out my own decal which is something I've always wanted to try 👍

I’ve always wanted to print decals, but I don’t think I’m savvy enough. What printer do you have?

[Ferbz]

Guys, I've officially finished this build! Here's a link to where I've posted some pics of the results: 

 

[Ferbz]

5 minutes ago, jaftygas said:

I’ve always wanted to print decals, but I don’t think I’m savvy enough. What printer do you have?

We have an older inkjet Pixma MX472 but it worked out fine. I used Micro-Mark clear decal sheet which came with instructions. One step I learned from the instructions was to absolutely spray the printed decal with some kind of clear (I used artist Spray Fixative) to protect it before setting it in water to apply it. If you dont, the print will dissolve and disappear in the water! One tip I'll add is to make sure you work in the right scale in photoshop (or whatever graphic program you'll be using) and make sure your file resolution is set high (300dpi). Print out test(s) using regular paper first to double check size and color before you print using a decal sheet. Do some research then give it a try!

[jaftygas]

5 hours ago, Ferbz said:

We have an older inkjet Pixma MX472 but it worked out fine. I used Micro-Mark clear decal sheet which came with instructions. One step I learned from the instructions was to absolutely spray the printed decal with some kind of clear (I used artist Spray Fixative) to protect it before setting it in water to apply it. If you dont, the print will dissolve and disappear in the water! One tip I'll add is to make sure you work in the right scale in photoshop (or whatever graphic program you'll be using) and make sure your file resolution is set high (300dpi). Print out test(s) using regular paper first to double check size and color before you print using a decal sheet. Do some research then give it a try!

Thanks for the tip Ferby. I’m going to have to give it a try someday. I’ve always had ideas for my own artwork then just scanning it. But we’ll see. Nice Merc, BTW. Love that dash.