Monogram's 1955 Lincoln Futura Concept Car: WIP

[David G.]

22 hours ago, LennyB said:

When you started this build David you made me want to build one, but the more I see what you need to do to make a decent job of it the more that feeling fades.  ?

Thanks Len. It is becoming more of a challenge to find the will to work on this one. Most of that lack of will comes from thinking of all the time and effort that I'm putting into such a simple kit. All that work just to have something that will (at best) look pretty good when it's done. 

I would have rather put that time and effort into improving the kit rather than correcting its flaws and defects.

21 hours ago, customline said:

Yeah, ditto that. I spent a few ebay sessions trying to find one at a decent price but I'm glad I gave up ( I'm happy with my Edsel ?.)  It takes a very methodical, patient, experienced....any way, that's why I gave up on it, the truth be known.

I like the idea of adding filler to CA; I need to try that. Nice work, David! 

Thank you Jim, I appreciate your kind words. 

Honestly, that's one of the reasons I do these WIPs. To share information about the kits I work on and help model builders manage their expectations. 

When I'm considering buying a kit I do a search to see if I can find any WIPs or build threads on it. Reviews and "open the box" videos are helpful but they can only tell one so much. If you really want to know what a kit is like to build, watch someone build it.

It's nice knowing when someone draws benefit from my efforts, thank you both for that.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I feel that my feelings of frustration and futility have faded enough to put this one back on the bench... Yay! 

Before I go any further fitting the bumpers, I have to get the side moldings permanently in place so I so I can fit the bumpers to them. 

 

 

I decided that rather than painting the chrome finish on the side moldings, I would use Bare Metal Foil. I thought it would be better to apply the foil *before* mounting the molding pieces to the body. This would give me the option to correct any problems or even remove the foil and paint them without the risk of damaging the body. 

I measured and cut a strip of foil and placed the molding on the foil rather than trying to place the foil on the molding.

 

 

Once I did that, I used the coated backing paper as the surface to burnish BMF to the molding and trim it to size. I left about 1mm to wrap around the edges to help hold the BMF in place after the molding is installed. I did this for each of the four separate molding pieces.

 

 

With the side moldings in place, it's time to fit the bumpers!

 

It seems hard to believe but I'm really close to having this one completed, I hope to have it wrapped up soon.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to share any comments you may have.

David G.

[Bullybeef]

Beautiful work @David G.. 

[customline]

I've been patient. Let's wrap this one up, David.  Wake up Mr.& Mrs Futura and get the bubble cleaned up. 

Good thinking on the foil/molding thing. Meticulous workmanship, David. 

Edited October 1, 2024 by customline

[David G.]

21 hours ago, customline said:

I've been patient. Let's wrap this one up, David.  Wake up Mr.& Mrs Futura and get the bubble cleaned up. 

Good thinking on the foil/molding thing. Meticulous workmanship, David. 

Thank you kindly Jim. 

Don't worry, I'll get it finished. I've come too far with this one to quit now.

I just needed some time away from it.

David G.

Edited October 2, 2024 by David G.
typo

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I must be getting close to completing this one.  Because I'm starting to think about what I plan to build when this one's finally finished. 

Hmmm... We'll see.

It's time for a putty party!

 

 

The view from the top is pretty good.

 

 

The bottom lines up pretty well, except where the moldings and bumper meet. It could use a little more work there.

 

 

After a little sanding, filing and fussing, it's finally fitting!

Now that I have the fit, it's on to getting the finish done. Next step, chroming the bumper!

 

As always, thanks for your time and please feel free to share your thoughts in comment form.

David G. 

[jaymcminn]

It's always great watching someone apply modern techniques and a lot of skill to one of these very early kits. I'm enjoying this build a lot!

[LennyB]

7 hours ago, David G. said:

Hello Everybody!

I must be getting close to completing this one.  Because I'm starting to think about what I plan to build when this one's finally finished. 

Hmmm... We'll see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

David, you keep picking these “simple” kits and they end up being complicated.   Maybe you need to pick something complicated ?

[customline]

2 hours ago, LennyB said:

David, you keep picking these “simple” kits and they end up being complicated.   Maybe you need to pick something complicated ?

Oooo....I'm listening ?

[LennyB]

2 hours ago, customline said:

Oooo....I'm listening ?

Monkey see, monkey  do?

 

So that would mean this is next  

 

 

 

 

[Bugatti Fan]

Your perseverance will be well rewarded !

A really nice out of the ordinary model taking shape here.

[David G.]

16 hours ago, LennyB said:

David, you keep picking these “simple” kits and they end up being complicated.   Maybe you need to pick something complicated ?

Hmmm...

Have you seen this one yet, Len? 

 

4 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Your perseverance will be well rewarded !

A really nice out of the ordinary model taking shape here.

Thank you most kindly Noel!

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

It's getting close to what I call the "Buttons & Bows" stage of the build. It's the stage where I'm wrapping up the little details right before final assembly.

 

Yes. Yes I did!

 

 

I've also been working on the bumpers. I sprayed the front bumper (the one on top) with some Rustoleum chrome paint. My prep wasn't as good as I would have hoped and there were some flaws I wanted to correct so I smoothed ant polished it a little more. I also wanted to do a blackwash of the grille area in the center. Since both the chrome paint and the wash are enamel based, they blended together and made a bit of a mess. It's not bad and it should look better once I put on the second coat of chrome.

This series of events inspired me to pre-shade the rear bumper prior to applying the chrome paint. I'll have to see how that works out.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.
 

[LennyB]

David, that rear bumper has such a sinister look to it.?

[Anglia105E]

Some really nice work going on here David G., . . . Someone mentioned your tendency to pick simple kits and then make them complicated, but I would agree with your philosophy actually . . . Take for example, the 1:24 Minicraft kit of the 1962 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, which only has between 26 and 30 parts inside the box. Both you and I have enjoyed endless hours of model building satisfaction while going to extreme lengths to ' complicate ' that very simple kit . . .

David W.

[David G.]

21 hours ago, LennyB said:

David, that rear bumper has such a sinister look to it.?

Yeah, it does look like an evil robot!   

 

18 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

Some really nice work going on here David G., . . . Someone mentioned your tendency to pick simple kits and then make them complicated, but I would agree with your philosophy actually . . . Take for example, the 1:24 Minicraft kit of the 1962 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, which only has between 26 and 30 parts inside the box. Both you and I have enjoyed endless hours of model building satisfaction while going to extreme lengths to ' complicate ' that very simple kit . . .

David W.

Thank you David.

Yeah, I always like to give each kit I build my best effort, I think that that is a trait we share.

David G.

[Steve H]

Looking good David. You’re getting close… Oh, and the gold badge on front, VERY impressive brush work there. 

[bobthehobbyguy]

Nice work.  Shows what can be done with one of the early technology kits.

[Bullybeef]

@David G. your finish work is exemplary, love the hand painted hood badge!! 

[David G.]

21 hours ago, Steve H said:

Looking good David. You’re getting close… Oh, and the gold badge on front, VERY impressive brush work there. 

Thank you so much Steve. I got lucky that day, my hands were unsarcastically steady.

 

15 hours ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

Nice work.  Shows what can be done with one of the early technology kits.

Thank you Bob. I do wish that they would update some of these early kits. I do get tired of correcting their shortcomings.  

 

13 hours ago, Bullybeef said:

@David G. your finish work is exemplary, love the hand painted hood badge!! 

Thanks Bil, I'm especially pleased with how well that turned out.

David G.

[Anglia105E]

Very impressive gold paint for the script at the front of the hood David G., . . . Mr Color used to be a Gunze Sangyo product I believe?

This build of yours is turning out really nicely, and you must be well pleased with the result . . . Not an easy subject by any means !

David W.

[Sledsel]

She is looking good. I like what you are doing and what you have done. A bit shocked all the fitment want done before painting tho.

[David G.]

22 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

Very impressive gold paint for the script at the front of the hood David G., . . . Mr Color used to be a Gunze Sangyo product I believe?

This build of yours is turning out really nicely, and you must be well pleased with the result . . . Not an easy subject by any means !

David W.

The paint, I'm not sure of. I needed some gold and it's what was available at my local hobby shop, and a good gold it is too. It seems to be some kind of enamel hybrid.

Thank you for the compliment David. I am trying to make this one worth my while and so far, I'm happy with the results.

 

17 hours ago, Sledsel said:

She is looking good. I like what you are doing and what you have done. A bit shocked all the fitment want done before painting tho.

Thank you Andy. I was a bit taken aback by the amount and level of work needed to bring this kit up to what I consider an acceptable state. So much so that it sat in my stash for several years before I screwed up the courage to have a go at it.

In many ways, it's more like a DIY toy kit than a model.  Rather like a disassembled promo, very much a product of its time.

David G.  

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

The crawl to the Futura finish line continues!

The pre-shading was pretty much covered up by the chrome paint so I won't bother with doing that for the front bumper. The good news is that the rear bumper is done! The chrome paint isn't ideal but after three attempts, it's good enough.

 

The front bumper has once again been stripped of its failed finish and I have re-prepped and reprimed it. It's currently waiting for yet another chrome paint application. In all honesty, the second failure was due to my own impatience. I didn't wait for the chrome paint to fully cure before starting the detail work. In handling it, I damaged the finish. Lesson learned... again!    

Thanks for looking, please feel free to share any thoughts you may have.

David G.
 

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, David G. said:

Hello Everybody!

The crawl to the Futura finish line continues!

The pre-shading was pretty much covered up by the chrome paint so I won't bother with doing that for the front bumper. The good news is that the rear bumper is done! The chrome paint isn't ideal but after three attempts, it's good enough.

 

The front bumper has once again been stripped of its failed finish and I have re-prepped and reprimed it. It's currently waiting for yet another chrome paint application. In all honesty, the second failure was due to my own impatience. I didn't wait for the chrome paint to fully cure before starting the detail work. In handling it, I damaged the finish. Lesson learned... again!    

Thanks for looking, please feel free to share any thoughts you may have.

David G.
 

Your rear bumper looks fine David . . . Interesting that you should have to admit to further impatience, because I too am guilty of repeated impatience syndrome, let's call it ' R I S ' . While test fitting the carbide generator to the Model T Ford and due to premature handling, I noticed my thumb print in the black painted surface of the running board . . . Ooops !

David W.