1950 Buick Roadmaster mild custom

[carbuilder1950]

Well, I always wanted a 1950 Buick kit like this one, but nobody ever built one.

So, the first thing I had to do was set out to build a 1950 Buick.

As several others builds, I loved the Modelhaus grill/bumper assembly, so the car was pretty much built around that.

I used an early diecast caddy rear bumper, and pieces of a 1958 Edsel taillights for the rear.

No body makes one. I saw a resin body one time, but wasn't very well done, so I decided to build one sorta stock before it was customized.

I stared out using a 1949 mercury and a 1951 Chevy fastback Fleetline to form the base of the body, and then used plenty of body filler.

The pictures tell most of the story

Edited August 5, 2021 by carbuilder1950

[carbuilder1950]

The engine came from the 1949 Merc kit. Sort of a generic Chrysler or Chevy crossram engine with nice chrome and detail. 
I opened the hood and hinged it.

[espo]

Excellent body molding and shaping. Beautiful looking paint and finish. Glad you included the body assembly pictures as it would be hard to know what all had been done without them. 

[EngineerBob]

Wow, I've always loved fastback body-style kustoms but yours takes it to a whole other level. Great job combining parts to get the look you wanted. I'm especially blown away by how clean your created body lines are.

What tools and/or methods do you use to get such crisp sculptures?

[carbuilder1950]

On 8/5/2021 at 9:36 AM, EngineerBob said:

Wow, I've always loved fastback body-style kustoms but yours takes it to a whole other level. Great job combining parts to get the look you wanted. I'm especially blown away by how clean your created body lines are.

What tools and/or methods do you use to get such crisp sculptures?

Thanks @EngineerBob (Grant).

Some people just have an inate ability for this kind of thing. Kind of like a mechanic friend who can fix anything. Guys a genius. I'm by no means a genius, but sculpting model cars has always been pretty easy and pretty fun. It's sort of a natural artistic thing. I used to restore 1 to 1 cars, build street rods and customs many eons ago. Did a lot of body work, so some of this probably came with that.

To answer your question, I use either multi-levels of tape stacked on top of each other as a pattern for shapes on compound curves, or I use Evergreen plastic as patterns for mostly flat shapes , especially those that need to be repeated on both sides. The rest is just eyeball work that seems to work pretty good with a set of digital calipers. I make everything with a sharp edge, clean and crisp, and then use several grades of sandpaper to round things off to get the right look. It just takes time and a pretty good eye, and it usually comes together pretty good.

Never perfect, but it's usually good enough, like this Buick.

I do a lot of measuring and pencil line drawing too.

Anymore question, I'll be more than happy to answer.

Edited August 8, 2021 by carbuilder1950

[EngineerBob]

14 minutes ago, carbuilder1950 said:

Thanks @EngineerBob (Grant).

Some people just have an inate ability for this kind of thing. Kind of like a mechanic friend who can fix anything. Guys a genius. I'm by no means a genius, but sculpting model cars has always been pretty easy and pretty fun. It's sort of a natural artistic thing. I used to restore 1 to 1 cars, build street rods and customs many eons ago. Did a lot of body work, so some of this probably came with that.

To answer your question, I use either multi-levels of tape stacked on top of each other as a pattern for shapes on compound curves, or I use Evergreen plastic as patterns for mostly flat shapes , especially those that need to repeated on both sides. The rest is just eyeball work that seems to work pretty good with a set of digital calipers. I make everything with a sharp edge, clean and crisp, and then use several grades of sandpaper to round things off to get the right look. It just takes time and a pretty good eye, and it usually comes together pretty good.

Never perfect, but it's usually good enough, like this Buick.

I do a lot of measuring and pencil line drawing too.

Anymore question, I'll be more than happy to answer.

Thanks for the info. One of your pictures shows you using styrene sheet as a pattern, great suggestion. Do you make a custom shaped sanding stick to get such crisp lines?

[carbuilder1950]

1 minute ago, EngineerBob said:

Do you make a custom shaped sanding stick to get such crisp lines?

@EngineerBob

I have some flat sanding blocks of various sized , some short for small areas, and some longer ones for for getting long  area's flat, to keep the body from being wavy.

As I said, the rest is pretty much eyeballing. Everyone has their own style of building, and over time you just develop your own style. After a while it becomes pretty easy.

[Bronzekeg]

I 'm not a custom fan but this build is very very well done.

[Zippi]

That is a nice looking ride.  Color looks great.

[moparfarmer]

That model is definately a work of art..Very well done and exquisit work..EXCELLENT job..Can't describe the workmanship..

 

[cobraman]

Well done, great looking model.

[FLHCAHZ]

That really looks great!  Amazing work 

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

Wow. I tried to come up with something else to say but wow pretty much says it.

[TooOld]

Very well done !!  I just love seeing custom fab and body work being done and you've got a great eye !  Best way to do it , sometimes measuring everything doesn't look as good as just eyeballing it .

[ChrisR]

COOL!!!

[carbuilder1950]

On 8/6/2021 at 2:00 PM, TooOld said:

Very well done !!  I just love seeing custom fab and body work being done and you've got a great eye !  Best way to do it , sometimes measuring everything doesn't look as good as just eyeballing it .

@TooOld

Your so right Bob.

Some of us have a knack for eyeballing. Just seems to come naturally ?.

Edited August 8, 2021 by carbuilder1950

[slusher]

Very sharp Buick.

[ewetwo]

That is beautiful David.

[Koellefornia Kid]

Amazing work! Looks kool!

[crazyjim]

Fantastic workmanship.

[SickBoy]

Another top notch build David. Your eye for design and ability to implement your designs in plastic are simply amazing. Love seeing your work. 

[carbuilder1950]

On 8/7/2021 at 9:32 AM, slusher said:

Very sharp Buick.

Thank you @slusher

 

On 8/7/2021 at 9:56 AM, ewetwo said:

That is beautiful David.

Appreciate it very much @ewetwo

 

4 hours ago, Koellefornia Kid said:

Amazing work! Looks kool!

@Koellefornia KidLot's of fun building it 

 

4 hours ago, crazyjim said:

Fantastic workmanship.

Thanks @crazyjim

 

1 hour ago, SickBoy said:

Another top notch build David. Your eye for design and ability to implement your designs in plastic are simply amazing. Love seeing your work. 

Thank you @SickBoy. it's such a fun hobby and I enjoy being here ?.

[ATHU]

Wow!! you put a lot of effort into this one and it really paid off. Excellent work!!

[PappyD340]

SWEET ride, very well done!

[spencer1984]

Some incredible custom work here, beautifully done!