AMT 1957 Thunderbird - Completed

[Duddly01]

My wife asked me to build a 1957 Thunderbird next. I opened the box and I have to say I was really not happy with what I had to start with. I purchased a resin top from Drag City Castings, but the chassis is not great but I made the best of it. As usual I added Headlight, taillight & gauge light LEDs. I removed most all of the molded in engine detail and scratch built it. Cut open the trunk for the LED battery and added a model kit box of the kit it came from in the trunk. A lot of photo-etch detailing. Paint is correct willow green exterior and columbine green / willow green interior with a colonial white top from MCW Finishes. 2K clear on the body from Splash paints. Scratch vent windows, antenna and rear view mirrors.

If you missed the full build in WIP it is available here: 

 

[FoMoCo66]

Amazing work as usual. In your WIP you can really tell the work you put into this promo style chassis to make it look really good. 

[charger74]

Thats a really nice looking t-bird????

[Duddly01]

57 minutes ago, FoMoCo66 said:

Amazing work as usual. In your WIP you can really tell the work you put into this promo style chassis to make it look really good. 

Thank you. This one was really a fight to get it looking as good as I could make it.

57 minutes ago, charger74 said:

Thats a really nice looking t-bird????

Thank you!

[Hard_2_Handle_454]

love the colr

[Duddly01]

48 minutes ago, Hard_2_Handle_454 said:

love the colr

Thank you.

[XYHARRY]

That's one beautiful T-Bird there Donald, the detail work you put into your builds is nothing short of amazing. Really well done and thanks for sharing. 

Cheers, 

David. ??

[louis Carabott]

Very nice ?

[Tom99]

Excellent!!

[LennyB]

Donald, this one was worth all the trouble, it looks fantastic.  ?

[Jim B]

Great looking Thunderbird. Very well done. 

[Kah puts]

The green is the hook, but then you notice all of the details, outstanding ?

[Duddly01]

5 hours ago, XYHARRY said:

That's one beautiful T-Bird there Donald, the detail work you put into your builds is nothing short of amazing. Really well done and thanks for sharing. 

Cheers, 

David. ??

Thank you.

3 hours ago, louis Carabott said:

Very nice ?

Thank you.

3 hours ago, Tom99 said:

Excellent!!

Thank you.

[Duddly01]

3 hours ago, LennyB said:

Donald, this one was worth all the trouble, it looks fantastic.  ?

Thank you @LennyB, and thanks for following the WIP and calling out the issue with the battery so I could make it right.

[Duddly01]

2 hours ago, Jim B said:

Great looking Thunderbird. Very well done. 

Thank you.

1 hour ago, Kah puts said:

The green is the hook, but then you notice all of the details, outstanding ?

Had to go with Willow Green. I actually almost purchased a 1957 Thunderbird about 10 years ago that looked exactly like this one but decided against it. At the time the baby birds were actually dropping in value pretty rapidly, I think they are finally stabilized so I may think about it again. I don’t buy classic cars with the mind of resale, I have had my current mustangs for well over 20 years, but I also don’t want to lose a ton of money if I ever do.

[1959scudetto]

A super-nice T-bird you have built here, Donald - looks marvellous with lights on !

[SpikeSchumacher]

Very nice! Love the addition of the led lighting. ?

[espo]

Beautiful looking Thunderbird. Enjoyed watching your build and all of the extra effort you put into the detailing and the addition of the LED lights. The color looks so 1955.  

[Musclecarbuilder]

Man it looks awesome! That paint turned out amazing! 

[Brudda]

WOW!!!! Very nice!!!

[PappyD340]

Super nice T-bird, well done!

[Duddly01]

4 hours ago, 1959scudetto said:

A super-nice T-bird you have built here, Donald - looks marvellous with lights on !

Thank you!

4 hours ago, SpikeSchumacher said:

Very nice! Love the addition of the led lighting. ?

Thank you!

[Duddly01]

4 hours ago, espo said:

Beautiful looking Thunderbird. Enjoyed watching your build and all of the extra effort you put into the detailing and the addition of the LED lights. The color looks so 1955.  

It’s actually 1957 Thunderbird willow green from MCW finishes to match an original color. Thanks.

3 hours ago, Musclecarbuilder said:

Man it looks awesome! That paint turned out amazing! 

Thank you!

[Duddly01]

2 hours ago, Brudda said:

WOW!!!! Very nice!!!

Thank you!

1 hour ago, PappyD340 said:

Super nice T-bird, well done!

Thank you!

[karbuildr]

Exceptional build, excellent details, and the color is very nice with the matching interior.