Gladys

[crossfire 2004]

Take a step back to the U.K. hot rod & custom scene in the late ‘80S, and Martin Ayres ‘57 Fairlane was a regular at many shows right through into the early ‘90s after which it disappeared. It was always a favourite of mine and when Revell released the sedan and wagon kits I knew it was time. 
The major hurdle was the side trim, mainly the fact that the trim on the sedan was wrong and the wagon’s was correct, so out came the saw to both bodies.

Surgery complete and several attempts in the paint booth gave me something close to the correct colour. The rest is pretty much box stock except the wheels robbed from a Silhouette show car.

I mentioned that Gladys disappeared after several years , well it resurfaced looking worse for wear at an event a few years back...

 

Finally, why ‘Gladys’ I here you ask ?  Apparently Martin was so pleased that he had finally completed the build,  he was ‘glad it’s finished’ and so the car was simply named ‘Gladys’. 

[oldnslow]

gorgeous , love it . 

Edited June 4, 2020 by oldnslow

[stavanzer]

Neat Car, Great Build, Cool Name!

[Tom Geiger]

Very nice work!   It’s a shame what happened to the real car!  

[cobraman]

Very cool model.

[espo]

Great looking conversion. You would never know from looking at your finished model what all you had done on the body unless you pointed it out to someone. 

[crossfire 2004]

19 minutes ago, espo said:

Great looking conversion. You would never know from looking at your finished model what all you had done on the body unless you pointed it out to someone. 

Thanks David, I have the wagon body glued together just waiting for a tidy up prior to building, it will be low on Astro Supremes.

[espo]

Just now, crossfire 2004 said:

Thanks David, I have the wagon body glued together just waiting for a tidy up prior to building, it will be low on Astro Supremes.

I would like to see that one also. By coincidence a class mate of mine in high school had a '57 Ford wagon with that same trim level. His was a 6 cylinder and automatic transmission car in a beige tan color that he got from his parents when they bought a new car.  

[beeRS]

Wow - I remeber Gladys. I had that issue of Street Machine at a time when I was still an impressionable teenager. I'd buy the mag on release day and read every inch from cover to cover. I once saw Gladys pass my Escort on the M25 as we were both going to the Lakeside car meet. Would have been around 1990. Shame to see what has become of it now.

You done a great job on this, and the conversion must have been a lot of work. Would it have been easier to start with the AMT kit? IIRC it has the correct side trim.

[crossfire 2004]

2 hours ago, beeRS said:

Wow - I remeber Gladys. I had that issue of Street Machine at a time when I was still an impressionable teenager. I'd buy the mag on release day and read every inch from cover to cover. I once saw Gladys pass my Escort on the M25 as we were both going to the Lakeside car meet. Would have been around 1990. Shame to see what has become of it now.

You done a great job on this, and the conversion must have been a lot of work. Would it have been easier to start with the AMT kit? IIRC it has the correct side trim.

I was a regular at the Thurrock too in my Mopar, as I used to live in Hertfordshire, they were great times.

Regarding the AMT ‘57 Ford kits, at first glance it seems the easy option , however they are hard tops not sedans so the side spear dips in the centre of the door rather than on the rear quarter as seen on the Revell wagon. I’m no rivet counter but it just wasn’t good enough even by my low standards !

Also the hard top body lacks door posts at the B pillar though that would be an easy fix.

Lastly I had both Revell kits in the stash...

 

[PappyD340]

Very nice!

[beeRS]

21 hours ago, crossfire 2004 said:

I was a regular at the Thurrock too in my Mopar, as I used to live in Hertfordshire, they were great times.

Regarding the AMT ‘57 Ford kits, at first glance it seems the easy option , however they are hard tops not sedans so the side spear dips in the centre of the door rather than on the rear quarter as seen on the Revell wagon. I’m no rivet counter but it just wasn’t good enough even by my low standards !

Also the hard top body lacks door posts at the B pillar though that would be an easy fix.

Lastly I had both Revell kits in the stash...

 

Just checked it out. Yes - the AMT hardtop is very different.

I was one of those Escort boy-racers at Thurrock. My friends didn't really understand the American cars scene, but I loved them, even back then.

[Nazz]

On ‎6‎/‎4‎/‎2020 at 7:12 AM, alexis said:

Neat Car, Great Build, Cool Name!

And I love the color.

[ChrisR]

Great model!

[Deuces ll]

??

[BlackSheep214]

Now I gotta me one. See what you’ve done to me...?

[Spottedlaurel]

Looks great, and good to see the old Street Machine inspiration.

[crossfire 2004]

24 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Looks great, and good to see the old Street Machine inspiration.

Thanks Nigel, I’m pleased that others remember Gladys too, she wasn’t a ground breaking money no object build just a neat, clean and well remembered car here in the U.K. 

Heres another later shot with the one off wheels and I think it had been bagged by this time.

[slusher]

Real sharp model, great color!