'57 T-BIRD from AMT...it's historic!

[customline]

42 minutes ago, Sledsel said:

Rustoleum Modern Mint is very close. 

 

Yes indeed, Andy! I propably have a can buried out in the garage somewhere (it looks familiar ?.)  I should go look.  Thanks!

[customline]

Today I got the dreaded detail painting on the chassis done as well as gaffing the exhaust pipes where I removed them earlier in order to get the engine to fit ?.  I installed the new drive shaft and then I realized that AMT didn't see fit to mold in any rear shocks. I thought "Great! I don't have to paint them" ?......but then I thought "I should put them in."  I couldn't find anything in my "chassis parts drawer" so I had no other choice but to fab 'em up. Sweet! ?  So, okay, the chassis is done now and it's time to work on getting the body paint-ready. But for now, I need to put some deep thought into the color scheme ?. (The green is growing on me)

exhaust pipe is just cold-bent styrene rod. I inserted .020 brass into the manifolds before attaching them to the engine in anticipation of this day

Not great but better than the ones that were here originally.

the new drive shaft and shocks ?

 ?

Voila!......well, that's a bit strong......ta da? ?  I thought about somehow connecting the tail pipes into the rear bumper by cutting off the last eighth inch and bending some rod or solder and inserting upon final but I will leave that for you. Good luck ?

[customline]

10 hours ago, Sledsel said:

Rustoleum Modern Mint is very close. 

 

Hey, Andy, I just took a trip to the garage and lookie here! Okay, it's not the same exactly but it's in the ball park, ain't it? Probably made in the same production line ?

It's a tad brighter but hey, it could work, couldn't it? It's a nice '50s look, right?

 

I'm liking this a lot. I also have a can of "satin jade" for the interior dark shade. If that won't work,, I'll go with the all white....We may have a winner!

Edited July 3, 2024 by customline

[Duddly01]

2 hours ago, customline said:

Hey, Andy, I just took a trip to the garage and lookie here! Okay, it's not the same exactly but it's in the ball park, ain't it? Probably made in the same production line ?

It's a tad brighter but hey, it could work, couldn't it? It's a nice '50s look, right?

Actually looks reasonably close to the original willow green. I went with MCW Finishes willow green on my build.  

[stavanzer]

Looks like a much 'Happier" Colour than my first suggestion of Gunmetal. I like this better!

Go For it!

[customline]

37 minutes ago, Duddly01 said:

Actually looks reasonably close to the original willow green. I went with MCW Finishes willow green on my build.  

If I can save some dinero on this one and use some of this stuff up before it solidifies in the can, I probably should. I think it's a very near match but I won't know until I clear it and polish it out. Then I'm stuck with it. ?....and then, Donald,  I'm going to blame the guy that suggested it ?

11 minutes ago, stavanzer said:

Looks like a much 'Happier" Colour than my first suggestion of Gunmetal. I like this better!

Go For it!

I believe I will, Alan, it's just so...so......um......ahh......so, um.....happy ?

Besides, Wifey said it was good.....oh....I may reconsider ?.

Edited July 3, 2024 by customline

[Russell C]

The 1:1 photo reminded me that I was wondering what a factory quadlight '57 might look like. Good thing Ford stayed with the singles in this generation, probably...

[Sledsel]

6 hours ago, customline said:

Hey, Andy, I just took a trip to the garage and lookie here! Okay, it's not the same exactly but it's in the ball park, ain't it? Probably made in the same production line ?

It's a tad brighter but hey, it could work, couldn't it? It's a nice '50s look, right?

 

I'm liking this a lot. I also have a can of "satin jade" for the interior dark shade. If that won't work,, I'll go with the all white....We may have a winner!

It does look a bit brighter but should be a good 50's color. I'd try on a scrap piece or body first to sure you are happy with it. I have a few bodies with many many coats of primer/color, primer/color ect ect.

[customline]

5 hours ago, Sledsel said:

It does look a bit brighter but should be a good 50's color. I'd try on a scrap piece or body first to sure you are happy with it. I have a few bodies with many many coats of primer/color, primer/color ect ect.

The only reliable comparison would be an actual, proper, in-the-flesh paint chip or a car painted with that color, in the same light.  It's close enough for my purpose but a test is always a good idea. The can is a few years old, I am guessing.

I've re-read this thread to find who suggested extending the front fenders and modifying the bumper to look more like a 1:1 and still can't. I decided to do that mod last night and here's some pix. I hope it works the way I executed it. I'm pretty sure it will after Bondo. The bumper suffered some chipping of the plating but it still needs some fine tuning. I do see the point of this mod, though and I want to acknowledge the idea guy by name if I could only find it. Raise your hand, man!

I used some evergreen strips and thin solvent to make a sort of lamination and this morning I reinforced the back side with CA. Bondo later but that's it for now. Wish me luck! ?

Oh! I found it! It was YOU, ANDY! ???

[Sledsel]

2 hours ago, customline said:

The only reliable comparison would be an actual, proper, in-the-flesh paint chip or a car painted with that color, in the same light.  It's close enough for my purpose but a test is always a good idea. The can is a few years old, I am guessing.

I've re-read this thread to find who suggested extending the front fenders and modifying the bumper to look more like a 1:1 and still can't. I decided to do that mod last night and here's some pix. I hope it works the way I executed it. I'm pretty sure it will after Bondo. The bumper suffered some chipping of the plating but it still needs some fine tuning. I do see the point of this mod, though and I want to acknowledge the idea guy by name if I could only find it. Raise your hand, man!

I used some evergreen strips and thin solvent to make a sort of lamination and this morning I reinforced the back side with CA. Bondo later but that's it for now. Wish me luck! ?

Oh! I found it! It was YOU, ANDY! ???

It's looking good. You are very welcome. Just touch up the chipped area with a chrome pen

[customline]

6 hours ago, Sledsel said:

It's looking good. You are very welcome. Just touch up the chipped area with a chrome pen

Hey, the Drag City top from Spotlight came in today. The interface with the windshield is great but at the deck is too straight across the bottom, leaving gaps at both corners. I'm considering a more profound repair on the original top and see if it will fly. As far as the resin top goes, I wonder if it can be slightly reshaped in the area below the backlight by some process unbeknownst to me.  On a lighter note, the paint I found in the garage could be a candidate but it's a bit too dark for my liking. MCW has one they call Willow Green/ *** and they don't show all the T-Bird colors. I sprayed the stuff that I have on an orphan body (Lindberg '38 Ford "van" ?) and it might be OK but I'm not totally happy with it. SCALE FINISHES has raven black....period. So it's MCW or Krylon. We saw a newish Ford Focus today in a very light minty green that Wifey and I loved. I may look for that!  AAAUGH!!! 

[NOBLNG]

11 minutes ago, customline said:

On a lighter note, the paint I found in the garage could be a candidate but it's a bit too dark for my liking. MCW has one they call Willow Green/ *** and they don't show all the T-Bird colors. I sprayed the stuff that I have on an orphan body (Lindberg '38 Ford "van" ?) and it might be OK but I'm not totally happy with it. SCALE FINISHES has raven black....period. So it's MCW or Krylon. We saw a newish Ford Focus today in a very light minty green that Wifey and I loved. I may look for that!  AAAUGH!!! 

Welcome to my world. The conundrum about paint colours is one of my biggest hurdles, and delays my progress on every single build.?

[customline]

3 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

Welcome to my world. The conundrum about paint colours is one of my biggest hurdles, and delays my progress on every single build.?

Well.....I guess I'm in good company, Greg! ?

  I have another 'Bird on the way, Mgram '56, so maybe I'll get MCW's paint in two different colors and figure it out from there;  just rely on my mood on paint day ?. I have paint coming out of my a$$ and I need to stop buying more and use some of what I have ?.  There, I said it! ?.....but I won't.

[LennyB]

2 hours ago, customline said:

SCALE FINISHES has raven black....period.

Jim, they will mix custom colors for you. Just have to ask.

[customline]

41 minutes ago, LennyB said:

Jim, they will mix custom colors for you. Just have to ask.

Oh.........never mind ?

How would one order a color that's not on their website? Factory codes?

[LennyB]

11 hours ago, customline said:

Oh.........never mind ?

How would one order a color that's not on their website? Factory codes?

Exactly?

[David G.]

Great work on the chassis Jim. It's cool the way you worked the exhaust pipes in.

Also a good call following up  on the front fender mods. It's the little things that add up to build the overall impression.

David G.

[customline]

1 hour ago, LennyB said:

Exactly?

I knew that ?

[customline]

37 minutes ago, David G. said:

Great work on the chassis Jim. It's cool the way you worked the exhaust pipes in.

Also a good call following up  on the front fender mods. It's the little things that add up to build the overall impression.

David G.

Thank you, David.  Gonna spend some time on the fenders today. It's Bondo time! ? I love the smell of Bondo in the morning.  It's got that...that....Polyester smell ?

[customline]

The body work continues. I'm happy with the fender/bumper mod. Great idea, Andy. Getting closer all the time. Pretty soon it will almost be an authentic scale model ?. 

It's a small thing that one wouldn't notice if not actually involved in the hobby (Wifey would never understand this if I was ever stupid enough to try to explain it to her) but WE KNOW !

So I put that aside.  After comparing the two tops, I'm not real happy with the way the resin top fits the deck so I decided to try and fix the kit unit again by replacing the section below the backlight. Result is fair, maybe acceptable. Maybe something can be done with the resin top to fit the deck better. I dunno. One step forward, two steps backwards. It is a convertible, after all. ?

 

It's summer. I'll leave the top down.

[LennyB]

Maybe it needs some weatherstripping along the lower edge to fill the gap and then some baby magnets to hold it in place. 

[NOBLNG]

Kudos to you Jim for showing these poor disadvantaged AMT kits what it is possible for them to become.? The fit of the kit roof is looking pretty good now. I think there is too much curvature of the rear deck…but not much you can do about that.? the resin roof would need the same treatment…filed to shape and new molding applied.? The front fender extensions definitely look like a  worthwhile improvement!??

[customline]

1 hour ago, LennyB said:

Maybe it needs some weatherstripping along the lower edge to fill the gap and then some baby magnets to hold it in place. 

Mmmmmmm.....I dunno, Len. This one is a really good candidate for box duty. Not as a punishment but rather to save it for a time when I'm too feeble to finish it. ☺️

1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

Kudos to you Jim for showing these poor disadvantaged AMT kits what it is possible for them to become.? The fit of the kit roof is looking pretty good now. I think there is too much curvature of the rear deck…but not much you can do about that.? the resin roof would need the same treatment…filed to shape and new molding applied.? The front fender extensions definitely look like a  worthwhile improvement!??

Well thanks, Greg, I need some kudos to keep this one afloat. It looks pretty good without a top so if all else fails....?

You may be right on the resin top, though, I think that might be the solution.

Edited July 5, 2024 by customline

[David G.]

The fenders are coming along quite nicely Jim. I think the repair job you did on the top will look much better once you do a little sanding and throw some primer on it.

David G.

[customline]

Greg gave me advice and I finally acted on it. The resin top is a good fit at the windshield and after spending $12 for it I felt compelled to make use of it.  I shaved the "trim" off and sanded the mating surface under the backlight to better conform to the curve of the rear deck.  Man, does that stuff stink!  ?   I replaced the trim with .030 Plastruct triangular strip and sanded it down to match the rest. It's not perfect but it's acceptable. Now I can move on to the body. Thanks for checking up on my bird ?

Before

After....good enough?