oldscool Posted July 11, 2021 Posted July 11, 2021 Don't know why I overlooked this one until now as I like your builds and always try to follow them. i have never seen one of these kits other than on the internet and have always wanted to know how they were engineered. Looking great so far!
Classicgas Posted July 11, 2021 Posted July 11, 2021 I may have a spare gauge panel decal. I'll let you know.
Bucky Posted July 12, 2021 Posted July 12, 2021 I built one of these years ago. I believe it was molded in a coral color. I got lucky that the multi-piece body came out relatively square. I've thought about rebuilding it, plus I have another unbuilt kit in the stash. Maybe I'll leave the old one as is, and build the other one as a comparison. It may or may not show any improvement! LoL At any rate, I'm enjoying watching this one come together, and I'm taking lots of mental notes for the future.
ModelcarJR Posted July 13, 2021 Author Posted July 13, 2021 Thanks, All! I appreciate your comments! Lee, I just received my dash stickers from Best Models so I appreciate your offer but I won't need the gauge decal. Raining again today so little progress. Painted a couple of parts this morning before it started raining but that's it! I'm finishing left door panel and will be working on wiring the engine next until I can finish painting. Thanks for looking! ?
mustang1989 Posted July 13, 2021 Posted July 13, 2021 Lookin' good John! I got a chance to see a 54 Skyliner at Dicks classic car museum in San Marcos before it closed down. Never even knew they existed before that and thought it was a very interesting vehicle. The fact that it had a glass panel in the hood made it even more interesting.
Dave Darby Posted July 13, 2021 Posted July 13, 2021 On 7/9/2021 at 11:58 AM, ModelcarJR said: Thanks, David, Dave and John! I appreciate your suggestions! Yes, I am re-doing the interior but I am stymied at this point as it rained all day yesterday and is raining again today. Dave, I would be interested in knowing about the 57 conversion. How much of the 59 is in the 57. Is it only the trunk lid and top or did you have to do more than that? Thanks all for the inspiration! ? Hi John, I used the rear 2/3rds of the 59 Skyliner chassis with the front third of the AMT 57. I had to cut the rearmost section of the chassis and tilt it up a bit, so it wouldn't protrude from the body. I also used the roof, and mechanisms, alog with the deck and the section that carries the hinge. Real 57-58 Skyliners have their own rear quarters, with higher fins, but I didn't know that when I built mine. This required me to chop the windshield frame 3/32nds of an inch. (How I remember that after 31 years I'll never know!)
ModelcarJR Posted July 13, 2021 Author Posted July 13, 2021 Thanks, Joe and Dave! Joe, I've been to that museum too but didn't know they shut it down. I enjoyed going through it but my memory has slipped on the 54 Skyliner. Dave, sounds like quite a bit of work getting that 57 Skyliner together! Nice work! Cudos!
hedotwo Posted July 14, 2021 Posted July 14, 2021 Challenging kit but you've been doing great work! Following along.....
ModelcarJR Posted July 15, 2021 Author Posted July 15, 2021 Thanks, Rich! I appreciate your comments! Finally got the white on the body along with two coats of clear on both colors, despite the humidity. Walked it out painted it and walked it back into the house. Mom was gone so I got away with it! Now I just have to rub it out without busting the glue joints! Thanks for looking!
ModelcarJR Posted July 16, 2021 Author Posted July 16, 2021 Starting to make some progress - rubbed out, foiled and the interior is partially installed. Working on engine so that I can move on quickly. Its more turquoise than it appears in the photos. Thanks for looking! ?
David G. Posted July 16, 2021 Posted July 16, 2021 Looks really good. Seeing it like it is in the last photo makes me wonder if Ford used a modified station wagon chassis as a platform. David G.
slusher Posted July 17, 2021 Posted July 17, 2021 Real nice progress John, I really like the color choices….
Bills72sj Posted July 17, 2021 Posted July 17, 2021 I built a yellow (no Paint) one in my early teens. The roof mechanism was pretty neat.
alan barton Posted July 17, 2021 Posted July 17, 2021 That is looking great so far, John. Before you go to much further, test fit the windshield frame. I got mine to our NNL today, 95% finished, but it is very tricky to get the windshield frame fitting nicely. My process was to first use Mod Plodge to to glue the quarter window frames to the glass, leaving it to dry overnight. I then slide the frame over the glass, the quarter window frames helping to locate it correctly in the frame. It is very challenging to do cleanly, especially with high gloss paint finished on both side of the windshield frame and no positive locating points. Your work is very high quality so far and I know you can do but forewarned is forearmed! Cheers Alan
Dave Darby Posted July 17, 2021 Posted July 17, 2021 4 hours ago, alan barton said: That is looking great so far, John. Before you go to much further, test fit the windshield frame. I got mine to our NNL today, 95% finished, but it is very tricky to get the windshield frame fitting nicely. My process was to first use Mod Plodge to to glue the quarter window frames to the glass, leaving it to dry overnight. I then slide the frame over the glass, the quarter window frames helping to locate it correctly in the frame. It is very challenging to do cleanly, especially with high gloss paint finished on both side of the windshield frame and no positive locating points. Your work is very high quality so far and I know you can do but forewarned is forearmed! Cheers Alan I seem to remember having success with gluing the windshield frame to the body first, as it has locating lugs, then slipping the glass in.
ModelcarJR Posted July 18, 2021 Author Posted July 18, 2021 Thanks, Guys for the suggestions on the windshield frame. I did test fit it a bit and it does appear a bit challenging. At the moment, my biggest challenge is getting the moving parts all together and mounting the top to the package shelf. There were no tabs on the ends for the B pillar which I have sanded down a bit to get rid of the chrome to glue (see photo). So I mounted the rear window on the top to give me a reference for the edge of the package shelf meeting the window and also discovered that the package shelf is a bit too wide to mount the top on level without breaking the glue joint for the window. I can't just cut it shorter because the top link brackets are directly underneath. So now I have to call on my non-existent whittling skills to cut out the edges of the package shelf to mount the top (see photo). I'll deal with the windshield after that. Here are a few pics of the engine and the build so far on wheels! Thanks for looking!
High octane Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 While the '59 Ford is one of the least favorite Ford styles I like, it does build up to be a beautiful model as I've seen a few of them built up and they are gorgeous. Looks like you've got everything under control and making great progress John.
ModelcarJR Posted July 19, 2021 Author Posted July 19, 2021 Thanks,, Mike and Nick! I appreciate your comments! Don't know if I have everything under control but I'll take it! This one is almost done. Just hardware and touch-ups to go. I had all kind of problems with the top and getting it on the package tray as well as the trunk lid getting it to close. I broke the hinges on the trunk lid and had to glue them back together and reinforce them with some plastic strip. I couldn't get the trunk to close and after much fiddling fount that the luggage box was keeping it from closing with the roof in the trunk. Further, in the convertible position the trunk lid and package shelf are in a bind and I can't get the back seat to budge to move it forward a bit. Other than that - everything is OK. I'm disappointed that it didn't come out better. Thanks for looking!
Dave Darby Posted July 20, 2021 Posted July 20, 2021 The rear hinge has always been the trickiest part of the build for this kit. Since you dont have the grille mounted yet, I'd like to offer a suggestion that will greatly improve the appearance of the headlights, which unaltered look like toy pet eyes. I drilled mine out to the diameter of the lenses, which I mounted flush, then made reflectors for behind made out of the baby moon hubcaps from the AMT 56 Ford. Don't mind the sloppy fit on the roof and front bumper on this one. It got thrown across the room by a psycho ex girlfriend a bunch of years ago, and I need to give it some love.
ModelcarJR Posted July 21, 2021 Author Posted July 21, 2021 Thanks, Dave, Mark and Carl! I appreciate your comments! Dave, thanks for the suggestion on the headlights. I prefer to concentrate on the paint, foil, engine detail painting and detailing and interior painting and detailing. Although I agree that the headlights look awful, I just added some pearl white paint to the lenses and called it good. One lens was eaten by the carpet mongster and I cut another one down and cracked it in the process. I just pieced it together and let it go. No one will really notice. The rest of it, except for the trunk lid closing on the convertible came out OK. I added heater hoses but they are hard to see. Its now finished! Thanks for looking! Oops! I didn't shut the hood correctly.
David G. Posted July 21, 2021 Posted July 21, 2021 Beautifully Done! It's great to see one of these come together. I'm sure that over the years, there have been many of these started but few finished. David G.
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