Mel Burns 1963 FORD 300 427

[Brutalform]

The Ford 300 was only offered in 1963, and it was a low option car. Pretty much used for police and taxi service, it had no carpeting, and hardly any chrome trim. But it was offered with pretty much any engine, and it includes the 427.  So I figured the less BMF work, the easier it would be. I started this build a couple years ago. I bought decals from SMP and it’s pretty much been sitting around since then. This car will use the Starliner chassis, and engine. Also I plan on adding the Thunderbolt air intake, grabbing air from the inner headlights. 

I normally don’t enjoy working on resin, but I had to remove the side trim from the resin body. I also filled the front fender trim holes with CA glue, and sanded it down, and finished it off with some putty. Then I used some red glazing putty, which won’t attack the resin like it would styrene, to fill in the little scratches I created from the trim removal. 

I also have a resin tear drop hood, and a lightweight resin interior which will have a bench seat added. 

[Brutalform]

Sanded the Galaxie rear bumper trim away. This area has no trim on the 300, as it would be painted body color. 

Edited November 18, 2020 by Brutalform

[Brutalform]

I originally had some strip styrene that I tried to scribe as straight as I could, to make a pillar post. After seeing how bad it came out, I glued some strip styrene together, side by side, to make it look more real. I’m just waiting for it to dry, so I can glue on the new posts. 

[cobraman]

Cool project.

[Brutalform]

The strip I glued together was too thin. So I had to scribe a thicker piece to use. Glued them in, but due to this body being brittle, it seems every time I touch it, a piece of the drip rail comes off. After this dries, I’m planning on filing the repair to the drip rail down. 

[afx]

Great work so far Tom. Would like to build a 300 someday, where did you get the body?

[dragcarz]

I love this, so cool. Can’t wait to see the progress.

[falcon wagon]

Cool car

[TarheelRick]

Some really nice modeling.  Really enjoy the ingenuity of those early racers to find ways to lose weight.

[Brutalform]

13 hours ago, afx said:

Great work so far Tom. Would like to build a 300 someday, where did you get the body?

Thank you...The body was cast by Time Machine Resin. 

[R. Thorne]

I like it a lot.  Are you going to put a strip of styrene under the drip rails to duplicate the top of the door and rear window top strip on the sedans?

[Bainford]

Cool project, and nice work so far. I'm digging it.

[Deuces ll]

??

[Force]

Nice project and I will follow this closely.
I own a 1963½ Galaxie 500 XL and one thing I really don't like with the AMT kits is the much too thick tail light bezels, if you look at the picture of the real car you see how the bezels should look, they are quite slim compared to the kit part.

[Brutalform]

15 hours ago, R. Thorne said:

I like it a lot.  Are you going to put a strip of styrene under the drip rails to duplicate the top of the door and rear window top strip on the sedans?

Yes. But right now I only have .040 plastic strips that are only .015 thick.They are a bit flimsy, and hard to cement. I’d like to run down to the LHS and grab a .020 pack. I know just cutting some of the thicker strips that I do have is an option, but I’d rather have some nice, straight, new pieces, since my cuts will look like a hack job. 

 

[Brutalform]

24 minutes ago, Force said:

Nice project and I will follow this closely.
I own a 1963½ Galaxie 500 XL and one thing I really don't like with the AMT kits is the much too thick tail light bezels, if you look at the picture of the real car you see how the bezels should look, they are quite slim compared to the kit part.

I agree 100%. I look at some of my older Galaxie builds, and I always thought the bezels look totally wrong. 

[Scott8950]

Very cool build, i love the old super stocks..

[slusher]

Really nice work on your build..

[Brutalform]

It upsets me to say, that this body got broken. I’m beginning to seriously dislike resin bodies. I had so much time into this body, but, I’m not going to get angry, but just going to move on. At least I have all the rest of the parts to incorporate into another 63 or 64 Galaxie build. Since I still have the decals and everything else, I might even keep my eyes open for another body, down the road. Oh well... time to move on. 

[afx]

Sorry to hear that Tom.

[Vietnam Vet67]

Never heard of that model till now. You learn something everyday.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/frugal-ford-1963-ford-300-sedan

[R. Thorne]

My sympathies.  My curiousity, however, has to ask, how?  Dropped?  Nonrepairable?  Although a neophyte with resin bodies (only have 3) what problems have you experienced? 

[Brutalform]

9 hours ago, R. Thorne said:

My sympathies.  My curiousity, however, has to ask, how?  Dropped?  Nonrepairable?  Although a neophyte with resin bodies (only have 3) what problems have you experienced? 

I was hooking up a new monitor for my computer, and when i was finished putting the screws in the back of the screen, it slipped and I jerked my arm hard enough for my elbow to push the body up against my paint rack. 

[mustang1989]

Really hate to hear that Tom. Especially after the hard work you've been putting into this. Hope to see recovery efforts soon.

[Brutalform]

I recently found an old green promo donor car, to replace the cracked resin body. I should have chose this route to begin with. Another learning experience. I removed the trim, filled the front fenders where the trim wouldn’t exist on a Ford 300, and built some door and windows posts. After this all dries I’m hoping to carefully remove the cardboard templates, and add a bit more glue to the inside to strengthen the pillars more. Then I can prime the whole thing, and fill the little gouges that occurred from the trim removal. After priming, and sanding, it should reveal the high and low spots I’ll need to fill with putty. 

Edited August 20, 2021 by Brutalform