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

[NOBLNG]

Great work on the roof Jim…it looks a hundred times better!??

[Steve H]

Really nice work happening here Jim!! I know it’s still summertime, but Santa needs to find you a nice “easy” kit that you can build BOX STOCK! Your extra effort, and abundance of patience will definitely pay off on the final look. Love the porthole idea, should look great once you finesse them. OOB build… ??‍♂️???

[customline]

3 hours ago, David G. said:

Nice work on the top Daniel! Great idea using those headlight bezels.

David G.

?....who's Daniel?

Wait till you see what I do for the glass ?

[customline]

3 hours ago, bobss396 said:

The top added material looks quite good. Me personally, I would consider the AMT '56 Ford chassis. Maybe on your next one? You have a lot of work in this one.

I think I'll wait for a freshly tooled version, Bob.  And that windshield thing? You guessed it. My job today will be to rectify that little mishap.  ? 

[customline]

1 hour ago, Steve H said:

Really nice work happening here Jim!! I know it’s still summertime, but Santa needs to find you a nice “easy” kit that you can build BOX STOCK! Your extra effort, and abundance of patience will definitely pay off on the final look. Love the porthole idea, should look great once you finesse them. OOB build… ??‍♂️???

Steve, I'm beginning to see that building OOB isn't for me. 

[David G.]

1 hour ago, customline said:

?....who's Daniel?

Wait till you see what I do for the glass ?

Sorry Jim, That happens sometimes when I'm reading and responding to multiple posts at once.

Apologies!

I'm looking forward to the glass installation.

David G.

[Sledsel]

22 hours ago, customline said:

Thanks, Andy.   Yeah, man, I know about the air cleaner. The "D" pin on the part locates it backward.  Lots of stuff like that in this kit.  I have resigned myself to making some corrections and a few repairs of crappy molds. It-is-what-it-is. I bought this kit off of ebay in my ignorance and now I am dealing with its shortcomings. It's kinda fun, though, like resurrecting a gloo bomb.  I appreciate your heads-ups on these issues. I'm not sure I get the grille fix, maybe you could expound a bit on that. 

AMT did a very nice 56 Thunderbird and it has a separate grill. The actual front clip on 55-57's is the same other than parking lights and bumper The grill is the same on 55-57 Thunderbirds but the grill looks different on the 57 because of the bumper and wider trim. 

Below are pics of 55-6 (red) and 57 Thunderbirds. The grill opening is the same just looks different assembled. 

To make the 57 better you need to remove the grill from the bumper and get part #47 from the AMT '56

That being said, the surround trim on the 57's grill is wider, so you could compare the kit piece and correct if you want. I am trying a Revell 56 grill in a 57 kit. I am attaching a new surround to the body trimming the grill (it is 1/24) and installing the grill from the rear.

Edited June 28, 2024 by Sledsel

[Sledsel]

22 hours ago, customline said:

I look forward to seeing what you can do with this kit, Bill, armed with this good Information. I would not have thought of the '56 but I did think about the '53, since I have two of those somewhere. I gotta look at that....hmmmm

the 53 is close but the front suspension is totally different. FYI

[Duddly01]

Nice work on the top. I went the easy route and got a resin top for my build of this kit from Drag City Castings.

[LennyB]

I really need to stop reading these threads. ? I followed Donald’s build and wanted to start on my own. Now I’m following yours Jim and I want to start my own. I need to put myself in isolation so I don’t get infected with this bug as I have too many other things to build?

[Duddly01]

20 minutes ago, LennyB said:

I really need to stop reading these threads. ? I followed Donald’s build and wanted to start on my own. Now I’m following yours Jim and I want to start my own. I need to put myself in isolation so I don’t get infected with this bug as I have too many other things to build?

Don't let us stop you! But in all honesty unless you have a great preference for the 1957 the 1956 Thunderbird AMT kit is much nicer. I picked one up I thought I was going to steal the chassis for the 57 and seeing how nice that kit is I couldn't bring myself to do it.

[customline]

5 hours ago, David G. said:

Sorry Jim, That happens sometimes when I'm reading and responding to multiple posts at once.

Apologies!

I'm looking forward to the glass installation.

David G.

Well, who's Daniel, dam it? Ha ha ha....no, really, I'm LMFAO right now.....it's the booze....

Anyway...

I returned to the house from the garage in a somewhat impaired state due to my iintimate relationship with vodka, I entered the "play room" and apparently dropped the roof and ....well, you can imagine my reaction when I retrieved it from the floor. ?

Not to worry.... when I was in my working life waaaaay back in the '90s, I worked for a mechanical outfit.  One day I was welding something in the shop and I wondered aloud what would happen if I got this thing wrong and another guy said " you can't f++k it up, you're in a welding shop"  .....yeah. That's right! So....it's the same way here.  It doesn't matter how much you f÷÷k it up, you can fix it easily because you have everything you need to do so!

Jus' saying ?

 

The tail light issue can be remedied with a set from the '57 Fairlane or Custom kits, im pretty sure.  I wanted to keep it OOB ( ? ) so I added a couple of layers of sheet cookies to the "recepticles"  and wanted to see if the kit lights would look "adequate" if they were out farther. They do. They are smaller in diameter but shimming them out gives them a more "factory" look rather than a "Frenched" look. I'm happy with it.  I know, I know......?

 Last night I attempted to attach the T-Bird's windshield frame to the glass with the "GOLD" variety CA. Nope. Made a freaking mess of it.  Had to start all over after a polish job on the glass.  So I used 5 min. epoxy as a second attempt. So far, so good. You have got to have a back-up plan....full stop.

this didn't work out for me; not because it was a bad idea...no....it could have worked. It just didn't.................

and that's it for now, folks.....maybe later.....

Thanks for spending your time with my brain ? 

[customline]

7 hours ago, Sledsel said:

AMT did a very nice 56 Thunderbird and it has a separate grill. The actual front clip on 55-57's is the same other than parking lights and bumper The grill is the same on 55-57 Thunderbirds but the grill looks different on the 57 because of the bumper and wider trim. 

Below are pics of 55-6 (red) and 57 Thunderbirds. The grill opening is the same just looks different assembled. 

To make the 57 better you need to remove the grill from the bumper and get part #47 from the AMT '56

That being said, the surround trim on the 57's grill is wider, so you could compare the kit piece and correct if you want. I am trying a Revell 56 grill in a 57 kit. I am attaching a new surround to the body trimming the grill (it is 1/24) and installing the grill from the rear.

Oh.  Andy, are any of those 1 :1s yours? Okay, your instructions are a bit different than mine.  I would love to have your windshield, though. I am not going to do this again, Andy.  I just don't love it enough.  There are too many fish in the sea....... but pay attention, kids! Good info here!

Thanks, Andy, I appreciate all your input. I just wish I had it a few weeks ago. Who am I kidding? I probably would have done it exactly the way I did anyway ?. BTW, count the squares in the grilles of the 1:1s at the center. I estimate 1/2 - 3/4" difference in height. I still don't know why the kit grille that I have needs to be upgraded. What did I miss?  What is better about the '56 grille?

Edited June 29, 2024 by customline

[customline]

13 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Great work on the roof Jim…it looks a hundred times better!??

Thanks, Greg. It's actually something that closely resembles fun.  I don't know about 100 times better.  Maybe 69.3 times. I'm happy.

[customline]

7 hours ago, Duddly01 said:

Nice work on the top. I went the easy route and got a resin top for my build of this kit from Drag City Castings.

I looked for that top and found it, and it was rea$onable enough,  but the pictures of it didn't show me what I needed to see;  I passed.

[Sledsel]

47 minutes ago, customline said:

 ?I still don't know why the kit grille that I have needs to be upgraded. What did I miss?  What is better about the '56 grille?

It doesn't need to be changed, changing it just gives the kit a better look. Unfortunately none of those are mine, but I do have a 64 a 77 and an 82 Thunderbird

[Duddly01]

10 minutes ago, customline said:

I looked for that top and found it, and it was rea$onable enough,  but the pictures of it didn't show me what I needed to see;  I passed.

What were you wanting to see? It’s a nice resin top. You did fix the kit one nicely, and I am sure you can fix the break.

Edited June 29, 2024 by Duddly01

[customline]

18 minutes ago, Sledsel said:

It doesn't need to be changed, changing it just gives the kit a better look. Unfortunately none of those are mine, but I do have a 64 a 77 and an 82 Thunderbird

I dig T-birds, Andy. I bought an '84 right off the showroom floor in the spring of '84. It was Charcoal metallic with red pinstripes. In '77, I rented one to drive up to Maine for a vacation with my bride. That one was dark blue with a tan vinyl roof and interior. Beautiful car. A friend had a '59 for a very short time....what a tank.

I'm not looking to bash any kits to improve this one. It just isn't warranted. He'll, I already spoiled a perfectly good '41 Plymouth kit ?

Edited June 29, 2024 by customline

[customline]

4 minutes ago, Duddly01 said:

What were you wanting to see? It’s a nice resin top

Yes, I can see that but the pictures of the roof on line were not showing the side view, only top view and bottom view. It looked like it could have been cloned from the roof I have now. I would have spent the price of another great '41 Plymouth kit to get a roof ....well, you can finish this thought ?

[Duddly01]

8 minutes ago, customline said:

Yes, I can see that but the pictures of the roof on line were not showing the side view, only top view and bottom view. It looked like it could have been cloned from the roof I have now. I would have spent the price of another great '41 Plymouth kit to get a roof ....well, you can finish this thought ?

Ah, yeah the kit one fit horrible at the windshield, which is why I went with the resin. You did a nice job of fixing it though.

[customline]

16 minutes ago, Duddly01 said:

Ah, yeah the kit one fit horrible at the windshield, which is why I went with the resin. You did a nice job of fixing it though.

Thanks, Don,  I had fun doing it ?

[bobss396]

I forgot that AMT did the '56 kit. Not that I'm looking for another kit to add to the stash.... I would hope it is a lot better than the '57 kit. Which was 100% groovy for me back around 1964.

[LennyB]

Jim, I think rather then build one of these I may decide to replicate the one in my driveway. ? You gave me that idea when you mentioned your 84 Charcoal Metallic.  I have an 87, two tone Black and Charcoal Metallic, has an 86 nose on it and a host of other mods.  I think I can skip the reference photos and just go outside for fresh air when I need to do my research.    ?‍?

[customline]

1 hour ago, LennyB said:

Jim, I think rather then build one of these I may decide to replicate the one in my driveway. ? You gave me that idea when you mentioned your 84 Charcoal Metallic.  I have an 87, two tone Black and Charcoal Metallic, has an 86 nose on it and a host of other mods.  I think I can skip the reference photos and just go outside for fresh air when I need to do my research.    ?‍?

And why have you not already done so? ? 

[LennyB]

5 hours ago, customline said:

And why have you not already done so? ? 

Had to build the real one first.