Call me crazy...roof swap on '53 Vicky

[David G.]

Excellent design concepts and very well executed!

Thanks for taking the time to share these with us.

David G.

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

Some serious mud slinging going on here. I approve. Carry on.... -RRR

[customline]

Thanks, guys, I'm glad you approve ?.  Now the hard part.....smoothing it out with Mr. Surfacer and much primer. And much tedium ?.

[BERT100]

On 12/23/2021 at 12:31 PM, customline said:

Thanks, guys, I'm glad you approve ?.  Now the hard part.....smoothing it out with Mr. Surfacer and much primer. And much tedium ?.

Yeah, but heck you gotta wait for Santa anyway, so's might as well use the time "constructively" ? 

[customline]

A little forward movement. This is every bit as difficult as I thought ?

Edited January 14, 2022 by customline
Added text

[misterNNL]

On 12/21/2021 at 6:29 PM, customline said:

Up till 3 am on this. I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. This will look much better than what I had and is a lot closer to my inspirational subject. the bumpers will be pinned on the ends as shown here. Over-riders will be glued to the plate mount. Still a ways to go to get it smoothed out. Thanks for looking

It really liking these Corvette bumpers. Their styling flows very well in that area. IMHO much better choice than the other attempts. Looking forward to seeing this play out.

[customline]

1 hour ago, misterNNL said:

It really liking these Corvette bumpers. Their styling flows very well in that area. IMHO much better choice than the other attempts. Looking forward to seeing this play out.

Yeah, me too,Tom ? Thanks for the encouragement.

[Modlbldr]

Love your work on this and the inspiration your following.

Going back to your issue with the roof "looking like a business coupe". The rear side window opening on the 1:1 looks to be a bit larger at the base. Perhaps opening up the rear side window area a bit to thin out the base of the c pillar would help. I was thinking maybe removing a little less than 1/8" at the base to nothing at the top. Just an idea. It would make the roof look lighter.

Later-

[customline]

On 1/16/2022 at 12:54 AM, Modlbldr said:

Love your work on this and the inspiration your following.

Going back to your issue with the roof "looking like a business coupe". The rear side window opening on the 1:1 looks to be a bit larger at the base. Perhaps opening up the rear side window area a bit to thin out the base of the c pillar would help. I was thinking maybe removing a little less than 1/8" at the base to nothing at the top. Just an idea. It would make the roof look lighter.

Later-

That idea has merit, you may have hit upon a very good point. I always thought the 1:1 used a full size '65-'67 Chevy Hardtop roof. Having built my '67 Impala kit, I had to find something else. I settled for the Camaro roof but it really was the perfect size. But to execute that sort of change now would be counterproductive. Too many do-overs already but I thank you for your input, Tom.  It's just a bit too far down the road now.

 

[customline]

Ready for painting.  And a warm day ?.

[bisc63]

Very nice lines.

[BERT100]

Some really quality modelin' going on here.  I too really like your original inspiration custom.

If you haven't seen the original designers info here's a link  https://www.kaucherkustoms.com/custom-car-projects/54-ford/  to his project.

The guy is quite a talent.

 

[customline]

On 1/21/2022 at 11:47 PM, bisc63 said:

Very nice lines.

Yes, without modifications this body style has a nice overall look of moving forward, it says "fast".  Chrysler rolled out "the forward look", as they called it, in '54 but they were playing catch- up. I have always had a feeling of familiarity for the ford's of the early '50s. The first car in my life was a '51 and it was still new when I was born. This is the second of 3 kits. The next one will be O O B stock because in my mind the Crestline Victoria hardtop is a classic.

[customline]

1 hour ago, BERT100 said:

Some really quality modelin' going on here.  I too really like your original inspiration custom.

If you haven't seen the original designers info here's a link  https://www.kaucherkustoms.com/custom-car-projects/54-ford/  to his project.

The guy is quite a talent.

 

Thank you for the compliment and the link. Im going there now!

[customline]

The weather broke warm today so I rushed out to the garage, a can of Duplicolor "Electron Blue Pearl" under my arm, a handful of styrene and Bondo covered with Handi-wrap ( it had rained a little)  and got 'er done! But it's going to be more work after it cures. I'm told this paint is acrylic lacquer but I'm not totally convinced. At this point, it doesn't matter.  This is a done deal. I believe Duplicolor is formulated as a two part system. Gotta cover with Clear coat. Maybe not. I don't know yet.  Here's what it looks like now, blushed to the max.

[espo]

Looks like you may need at least one more color coat. 

[customline]

17 minutes ago, espo said:

Looks like you may need at least one more color coat. 

Well, I dunno...that just might be, Dave, but the blush is just on the surface. While doing this today, I recalled another car I painted with this can. I remember using clear over it and I accepted a little orange peel thinking "good enough" but this build will get more attention to the finish. I have a lot of time in this one. Below is the other car I painted with this can. The Victoria has got to be slick?   by the way, where are my tail lights?

Edited February 3, 2022 by customline
Added text

[bisc63]

Acrylic lacquers are very susceptible to moisture in the air, and when I read you were about to paint just after the rain, I knew what was coming next. I began doing body work on cars just at the tail end of lacquers being used, so I learned it then. As you noted, it looks intimidating, but after a good cure, will polish out.

[customline]

2 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Acrylic lacquers are very susceptible to moisture in the air, and when I read you were about to paint just after the rain, I knew what was coming next. I began doing body work on cars just at the tail end of lacquers being used, so I learned it then. As you noted, it looks intimidating, but after a good cure, will polish out.

Yeah, I might be able to polish it out. I'll see what it looks like at 6000 grit. I ain't skeerd ?

[bisc63]

Nothing to lose, right? In a spray gun, we avoided this by using a very slow drying (high temp) reducer, to allow the trapped water time to evaporate out with the rest of the vapors. Thin coats, and plenty of dry time between at that. A spray can, however, is "all purpose", so never really perfectly suited to shop conditions; just generally warmer is better, and the lower the humidity the better. Good luck!

[customline]

8 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Nothing to lose, right? In a spray gun, we avoided this by using a very slow drying (high temp) reducer, to allow the trapped water time to evaporate out with the rest of the vapors. Thin coats, and plenty of dry time between at that. A spray can, however, is "all purpose", so never really perfectly suited to shop conditions; just generally warmer is better, and the lower the humidity the better. Good luck!

The weather here is sorta paradoxical in the context of painting; when it's cold it's dry, when it warms up, like today( and yesterday), the humidity goes up. In the airbrush, I use cheap hardware store lacquer thinner. It slows the drying enough sometimes but yesterday, with the rattle can, I used a hair dryer to speed things up without ? thinking. Oops! Oh well, it'll polish out but I may use clear on this one.

[bisc63]

Worth your money to invest in genuine high temp automotive lacquer thinner, a quart would last ages and really is different. (In a good way!)

I'm in KY, so I know all about your climate issues; much the same environment as you have.

Any way, loving this project, and I know you'll whip it!

[customline]

Yeah, the high temp stuff would be great on a day like yesterday or today (I shot a car or two) but I use the cheap stuff because it's a bit kinder to whatever you spray it on. And it's cheap!  ? anyway, that's what I learned from an old man.  But I hear you, Rusty ?

But rattle cans, it's a moot point.

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by customline

[customline]

This is rubbed out and polished with Novus. I mocked it up a little to get an idea if I wasted my time or not ?. I'm not sure yet if I like it or not.  I've got to see it with wheels.the hood didn't survive?

[customline]

Had to remove material from the highly modified rear body/chassis area to make the two assemblies fit together, but I still have to deal with the interior.  I got a good fit and I'll need to disguise the work done  with flat black ?. Now it's foil, trim, glass, and then I gotta re-paint the stupid hood. It's going great!?  The wheels/tires are from the '56 Chrysler  300B.