Kromolly Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 I briefly mentioned this one a while back in the "Bring Out Your Dead". I started this '40 Ford in the mid-90s but didn't get far other than gathering some parts and assembling and painting a Cadillac engine. All of my stuff was boxed up for 25 years. A good friend of mine who passed a while back built a '39 coupe that he used to show back in the '60s. This kit was always intended to recreate a model of that car, and I'm building my '40 Ford model in the spirit of his car and remembering my friend. The first pic is the resurrection, after setting up the suspension. I finally got paint on it tonight, after weeks of struggling with gold spray paint and panel line etching, amongst other "relearning" after 25 years of not building models. I ended up stripping the body once and starting over. It's only mocked up at this point, and the rear ride height isn't right. The paint is tender so I didn't want to force anything. I am so excited to finally have paint on it. There is a little dust in a couple of places so I am going to color sand with 2000 grit and spray one more time, after vacuuming my spray booth and crossing my fingers. I couldn't resist getting a couple of shots of my Hot Rod Lincoln WIP with the '40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moparfarmer Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Let the paint settle for a week or so..Looks like you never lost any skills in missing 25 years..Very nice and the color sure Pops.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kromolly Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 Thank you. There's been a "relearning curve" for sure. The paint is enamel, so you're right, a week or so to cure before moving on with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modlbldr Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 That is a beautiful paint job. You look like you still have it after all these years and it is a wonderful tribute to your friend. What colors of gold and green did you use? Later- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Great looking paint job. So your friend ran the Impala hub caps ? If you have any pictures of your friends car from that time you can work on the suspension to get the stands while the paint sets up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bainford Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Looking good. The colour looks period perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kromolly Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 3 hours ago, Modlbldr said: That is a beautiful paint job. You look like you still have it after all these years and it is a wonderful tribute to your friend. What colors of gold and green did you use? Later- Thank you. I used Duplicolor metallic gold from the rattle can for the gold base coat. The top coat is Testors "Custom Green Metal Flake" decanted from the spray can and airbrushed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kromolly Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 52 minutes ago, espo said: Great looking paint job. So your friend ran the Impala hub caps ? If you have any pictures of your friends car from that time you can work on the suspension to get the stands while the paint sets up. He had what looks like Oldsmobile hub caps with 4 fins. The Impala caps are all I had in the parts box. I'll be looking for a closer match. I think the body is hanging up on the chassis at this point. In the first picture I posted w/o paint you can see what the rear looked like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 When you look at the Oldsmobile spinner hub caps there're three styles used between the '55, including the '54 Fiesta show car, the '56, the most popular, and the '57. The aftermarket offered a four fin replacement part for the 3 fin factory part on the '55's. A very nice reproduction of the OEM 3 fin caps can be found in the Revell '50 Olds. coupe that was offered with the custom parts. Another cap to consider, and this is where an old picture would come in handy, was the also very popular Dodge Royal Lancer hub caps that were a 4 fin design. I loved these old AMT '40 Ford coupes and I do recall that sometimes the frame would make a slight contact when seating into the fender and running boards part. A very light sanding on the top outer edges of the frame usually eliminated the problem. Should you need any additional or different parts the AMT '39 / '40 sedan and the Delivery models all interchange. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kromolly Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 54 minutes ago, espo said: When you look at the Oldsmobile spinner hub caps there're three styles used between the '55, including the '54 Fiesta show car, the '56, the most popular, and the '57. The aftermarket offered a four fin replacement part for the 3 fin factory part on the '55's. A very nice reproduction of the OEM 3 fin caps can be found in the Revell '50 Olds. coupe that was offered with the custom parts. Another cap to consider, and this is where an old picture would come in handy, was the also very popular Dodge Royal Lancer hub caps that were a 4 fin design. I loved these old AMT '40 Ford coupes and I do recall that sometimes the frame would make a slight contact when seating into the fender and running boards part. A very light sanding on the top outer edges of the frame usually eliminated the problem. Should you need any additional or different parts the AMT '39 / '40 sedan and the Delivery models all interchange. Hope this helps. Thank you for the information. Here is a picture of the car with the hub caps I hope to replicate. I did think about changing parts around to convert to a '39, but the cars are so close that the '40 will be fine as a shelf display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 11 hours ago, Kromolly said: Thank you. There's been a "relearning curve" for sure. The paint is enamel, so you're right, a week or so to cure before moving on with it. Nice color, I let mine set a week sometimes more.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 5 hours ago, Kromolly said: Thank you for the information. Here is a picture of the car with the hub caps I hope to replicate. I did think about changing parts around to convert to a '39, but the cars are so close that the '40 will be fine as a shelf display. The hub caps look like the after market versions of the Royal Lancer hub caps. The center background was a checkerboard in white and chrome divides. I think Pegasus offers something like them with some wide white tires. The hood and grill from the AMT sedan kit would have the parts you would need if you want the '39 style grill. Otheer wise I would consider using the Revell '40 kit unless they're not around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plowboy Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 That color looks really nice! Pegasus does make those wheel covers. Here's what they look like. I painted the red and added the valve stem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VW93 Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 6 hours ago, Kromolly said: Thank you for the information. Here is a picture of the car with the hub caps I hope to replicate. I did think about changing parts around to convert to a '39, but the cars are so close that the '40 will be fine as a shelf display. The Revell 59 Chevy HTP 2 in 1 comes with a set of Lancer wheelcovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Plowboy said: That color looks really nice! Pegasus does make those wheel covers. Here's what they look like. I painted the red and added the valve stem. That's exactly what I was trying to suggest. They look perfect in this application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kromolly Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 4 hours ago, espo said: The hub caps look like the after market versions of the Royal Lancer hub caps. The center background was a checkerboard in white and chrome divides. I think Pegasus offers something like them with some wide white tires. The hood and grill from the AMT sedan kit would have the parts you would need if you want the '39 style grill. Otheer wise I would consider using the Revell '40 kit unless they're not around. 4 hours ago, Plowboy said: That color looks really nice! Pegasus does make those wheel covers. Here's what they look like. I painted the red and added the valve stem. 3 hours ago, VW93 said: The Revell 59 Chevy HTP 2 in 1 comes with a set of Lancer wheelcovers. 1 hour ago, espo said: That's exactly what I was trying to suggest. They look perfect in this application. Thanks guys! I had no idea those were Royal Lancer hub caps. I really appreciate the information and I will look those up. I need to get more educated on custom model parts suppliers. I have other pictures of the car with different hub caps, including ~ '55 Buick hub caps. Even some showing the car painted orange. He told me that the cops in a town ran him out and told him never to come back. So he painted the car orange and went back. it looked a lot better in green, I thought. Funny story though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 That looks stunning so far! Nice work! Which brand of enamel clear do you like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kromolly Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 40 minutes ago, CabDriver said: That looks stunning so far! Nice work! Which brand of enamel clear do you like? That's a great question as I haven't done any clear coating since the mid-'90s, before my 25-year hiatus from the hobby. That green is just the Testors paint, no clear. I decanted and airbrushed it. The bottle on the left below is what I used to airbrush when I clear coated, it's from the mid-90s. The bottle on the right is one I just bought a couple weeks ago. The ingredients are different and I'm afraid like so many things the new stuff won't be as good. The old stuff has really yellowed (I think... I don't recall how clear it was, but I don't think it was amber-ish like that). It's amazing that it didn't dry up in all these years of storage. I may have to start an airbrush enamel clear coat thread to find out what others are using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie8575 Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 I really like the color. If you decide to clear it, I would suggest using Acryl Gloss Clear, which won't yellow. If you can't find the Acryl anymore (thanks, Rust-Oleum!), you could use Vallejo or another good acrylic. The enamel clears will yellow. Glosscote spray, I believe in lacquer, but I'm not sure. I know for certain Dullcote is. Charlie Larkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 10 hours ago, Kromolly said: That's a great question as I haven't done any clear coating since the mid-'90s, before my 25-year hiatus from the hobby. That green is just the Testors paint, no clear. I decanted and airbrushed it. The bottle on the left below is what I used to airbrush when I clear coated, it's from the mid-90s. The bottle on the right is one I just bought a couple weeks ago. The ingredients are different and I'm afraid like so many things the new stuff won't be as good. The old stuff has really yellowed (I think... I don't recall how clear it was, but I don't think it was amber-ish like that). It's amazing that it didn't dry up in all these years of storage. I may have to start an airbrush enamel clear coat thread to find out what others are using. Ohh, from looking at the finish I would've assumed you'd cleared it - looks great! I like the Testors enamel clear cut with lacquer thinner - I haven't experienced any troubles with yellowing, although I understand that they'll do that over very light shades. Great project, keep going! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscool Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 That is a beautiful paint job on one of my favorite old kits. Whenever I do a paint job that comes out that shiny, I usually don't clear coat for fear of making it look worse. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kromolly Posted March 24, 2021 Author Share Posted March 24, 2021 11 hours ago, oldscool said: That is a beautiful paint job on one of my favorite old kits. Whenever I do a paint job that comes out that shiny, I usually don't clear coat for fear of making it look worse. Lol Yeah, I have to agree with you there. I don't want to risk messing it up. I've already stripped the body once! 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kromolly Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 On 3/23/2021 at 7:26 AM, CabDriver said: Ohh, from looking at the finish I would've assumed you'd cleared it - looks great! I like the Testors enamel clear cut with lacquer thinner - I haven't experienced any troubles with yellowing, although I understand that they'll do that over very light shades. Great project, keep going! Thank you. I am impressed with that particular Testor's paint. Funny, I found that can at Goodwill for $1.99 a couple of years ago. Do you thin the enamel with off the shelf lacquer thinner? I've only used Testors airbrush thinner that I bought years ago and I'm running out. Is it the blue bottle of clear that you are using? By the way, your Avatar is my favorite... I've seen that picture before. Looks like that would have been a fun night to be at the pub! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 12 hours ago, Kromolly said: Do you thin the enamel with off the shelf lacquer thinner? Yes sir! Just regular Sunnyside brand from any old store...I'm sure the other brands work the same, but I tried Sunnyside and it worked so I stuck with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leica007 Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 The 59 chevy caps are not quite like the Lancer, but if you want them for your build send me your address. I'm a long time fan of the 40 Coupe since reading Street Rod back in the 60's. I attached a photo of the ones I didn't use from the chevy build. By the I love green not matter what color it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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