'53 - '54 Studebaker post coupe & '57-'61 Hawk - resin bodies

[buffalobill]

I want to build a replica of my first car - a '54 Studebaker Commander (post) coupe that I purchased in 1962 for $50. (that's not far off than what a decent resin kit costs today!)

I've seen this body offered in 1/25th scale from time to time on eBay, but have no idea re: the quality of the casting(s), or who the resin caster(s) were. . .[i plan to use the AMT '53 kit as a doner]

I'm also after a 1/25th scale Studebaker Hawk resin body - preferably the '57-'61 style.

Any leads and/or comments will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[MrObsessive]

Hendrix does a '53 post coupe, but I know of no one that does the '57-'61 finned Hawks.

If you click here and scroll down a bit there's a pic of one. Shouldn't be too hard to convert it to a '54 as they were almost identical save for the grille.

Here's the link below to contact Steve Kohler who handles Hendrix resins..............

http://resinrealm.net/Star/HendrixGallery/HendrixAll.html

The '57-'61 Hawks are certainly a missing link among Studes, in fact I converted a '53 to a '58 years ago but it got damaged and I never finished redoing it.

Edited September 18, 2009 by MrObsessive

[buffalobill]

Thanks for your info! btw - I want to compliment you on the terrific work that you do, as well as how eager you are to offer advice, ideas, etc, to all of us out here. . .

After I read your reply re: that there's a resin '53 Stude 'post coupe' body on Hendfix's site, I also found one listed on Resin Realm's site. By the looks of the lists of resin bodies on both Hendix's & Resin Realm's sites, it appears that some of them are one in the same. . .Is that true? I want to start w/ an accurate body shell, as this build will be rather special to me. (I'd rather not end up w/ yet another poorly done resin body to add to my collection!) I'm curious if anyone's used the subject '53 Stude body, and I'd be most appreciative if they'd comment (or, PM me instead, rather than trash someone else's work on the forum, if their experience w/ it had been less than hoped for).

You're correct that a '57-'61 Hawk body is one of the 'missing links' (and the '56 is, also) and let's hope that someone - somewhere - will decide to do one soon. A '62-'64 Hawk GT would also be cool, as the only one that I'm aware of (that are on ebay from time to time), are expensive & not very well executed. Here's hoping!

Bill

[JerryK]

Bill...

I had Hendrix whip that one up so I could build a model of the one I had. Some of the things to watch out for are the thinness of the casting on the passengers side (although the ones I just got in are perfect) and the rain gutter moldings which when trying to cast to scale became fragile. I just remove them since the ridge that's left is close to good.

The one from the Resin Realm comes cleaned up (Bleche-Wite 24 hour soak, detergent wash and rinse) with all flash removed. It takes me 2 to 3 hours to get it to the point where all you have to do is the final fitting prime and paint. You can see it here...

http://resinrealm.net/-MCM/OTHERMAKES/53St...tudeComCpe.html

and here is the paint page which I haven't linked to the Home page yet.

http://resinrealm.net/Paint/Studebakers/53...tudebakers.html

Hope this helps...

Jerry

[MrObsessive]

Bill here is the one that my cat wrecked years ago...............It needs the hood to be finished, but I'd sooner redo the whole car. It's a "someday" project now.

[JerryK]

Bill, that is one project that needs finished. those fins, the hardest part to recreate from scratch are perfect!!!

Git'r Done!

Jerry

[mr moto]

You're correct that a '57-'61 Hawk body is one of the 'missing links' (and the '56 is, also) and let's hope that someone - somewhere - will decide to do one soon.

There is a pretty good '56 Golden Hawk resin transkit by R&R. Not perfect but well worth building. I got one from Ebay and haven't built it yet. I don't know if there are any other good sources besides the 'Bay.

As far as the '57-'61 Hawks, I'm still hoping !!!

[dimaxion]

Bill here is the one that my cat wrecked years ago...............It needs the hood to be finished, but I'd sooner redo the whole car. It's a "someday" project now.

I like your Stude Mr Obsessive . I don't see a thing wrong other than some lost parts . I totally agree of the lack of ''57-'61 Hawks . Those fins are right on . How did you make them . I have some AMT boat kits to make some part of those fins .

BTW , the Hendrix Stude pillared sedan is a '53 . The '54 has a larger grille openings and a different grille . Art Anderson , AAM casted an excellent '54 Connestoga Wagon . He did point out to me the differences in the day . Once again , thank you Art .

Anyone out there casting a '54 & 55 Grilles . I bought a replated '55 from Evilbait . The pic was not too clear . When I got it it was a '56 . Anyone need a freshly plated Promo '56 Bumper Grille ? Thanx..

[MrObsessive]

Well, the lower grilles should be longer------they should extend a smidge beyond the main grille. Also, you can't tell in the pic-----but the doors still have a hint of the "scallop" that the '53 had. Redoing this, I would cut that section out and replace it with sheet plastic and blend everything in.

I originally built this in 1998 so my skills weren't as up to par as they are now.

The fins were done with sheet plastic by making a template out of a 3x5 card that would make both sides symmetrical. Also the "shoulder" of the fins were done with sheet plastic and once again both sides were done as a mirror of each other so there would be good symmetry.

Everything was blended in with superglue and baking soda to speed things up and then painted later after all the other body work was done. The paint IIRC was Krylon Antique White and Studebaker Canyon Copper for the fins.

Other things that aren't seen are the body door jambs could stand to look better per the 1:1, and also the interior particularly the front seat could have been done cleaner.

You mentioned the '56----- I have the '56 Golden Hawk done by R&R. It's VERY clean with little cleanup needed and the details are spot on! Who knows when I'll get to that one though............

[buffalobill]

Bill -

I knew that I'd seen your Golden Hawk before - it was in the Jan '96 issue of Car Modeler magazine (pg 21). You did a super job on the conversion, and I also think that it deserves a freshing up after being sidelined by your cat. (what did you do to the cat? lol) Hope to see you restore the Hawk, as it's that good! And, thanks for the reminder about R&Rs '56. It's good to learn that it's a decent resin body. But, there's just something extra cool about the '57-'61 fins on a Hawk. I recall seeing more than several '53-55 Stude coupes in late '50s/early '60s custom car 'little pages' magazines that had been converted into Hawk 'wannabes' - either just the front clip, or just the Hawk fins & trunk lid, or a complete conversion.

re: the differance between a '53 and a '54 Studebaker, it's not quite as was stated in an earlier post. The size of the '53 and the '54 grill openings are the same if one is referring to either of the coupe models. Ditto, for the 2 & 4 door sedans and the '54 Connestoga 2 door wagon. . .But the sedans & the wagon grills are not the same size, nor the exact shape as the coupes. Hardly any of the body parts were interchangeable between the longer wheel base coupes and the (surprisingly) shorter wheelbase sedans and wagons. That's esp true of the front clip, as even the hood on the sedans/wagon is both shorter & taller than the coupes. The only differance between the '53 and the '54 coupes, as well as the other models is that the two grills are a bit fussier on the '54s, since it had a series of vertical 'teeth' on the horizontal bars, while the '53s only had the horizontal bar in each grill opening. Perhaps a few photos will make my gibberish a little clearer. -

This is a '53 coupe:

http://rodcustom.automotive.com/87640/0408rc-1953-studebaker-coupe/index.html

And, this is a '54 coupe:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/237/550686300_204fa8c30d.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/37804160%40N00/550686300&usg=__I1tukakKNYhpXMtDCjWX0uKbtTY=&h=309&w=500&sz=161&hl=en&start=26&um=1&tbnid=uPFLlIcWrXfYFM:&tbnh=80&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1954%2BStudebaker%2B-%2Bimages%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGLL_en%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20%26um%3D1

And, here's a typical sedan front end that illustrates the diff between the coupes and the sedans/wagon:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.stationwagon.com/gallery/pictures/1954_Studebaker_Commander_Conestoga.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.stationwagon.com/gallery/1954_Studebaker_Commander.html&usg=__ToBGSrRlO_rEeikwYbh7QF_0Dnc=&h=339&w=548&sz=86&hl=en&start=30&um=1&tbnid=k2I39BSUMMWBxM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=133&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1954%2BStudebaker%2B-%2Bimages%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGLL_en%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20%26um%3D1

Sorry for having to refer you to the above links as I haven't figured out how to copy & paste an image on this froum yet.

[MrObsessive]

Bill -

I knew that I'd seen your Golden Hawk before - it was in the Jan '96 issue of Car Modeler magazine (pg 21). You did a super job on the conversion, and I also think that it deserves a freshing up after being sidelined by your cat. (what did you do to the cat? lol)

Hmmm.......I don't think that could have been mine as I was just building this during late 1997 into 1998. I remember the Hawk you're talking about in Car Modeler-------I don't remember who built it but it couldn't have been mine.

My cat unfortunately is seven years gone now. He became very sickly and wasn't getting any better and I had to have him put down.......he was 16 years old. He had wrecked it a couple years earlier.

[buffalobill]

I took another look @ that Golden hawk that was in Car Modeler, and now I can spot a few differances between your model & that one - color of the roof (gold), shape of the leading edge of the fins, smaller '53 style of front bumper guards, directionals on top of each front fender, etc. The photo was part of the coverage of the Mid-Atlantic NNL meet. The caption under the photo credits Bill Geary w/ the build. Hey - isn't that you??

re: cats & models co-existing in the same household. We have 2 cats now, and about to inherit 2 more when our son moves back home next week. I will never forget (or forgive) my ex's cat that attacked a just-completed fully-rigged & detailed model of the Santa Maria sailing ship many many years ago. The cat apparantly thought that it was an aircraft model and not a ship, and quickly discovered that it couldn't fly worth a darn. But I had considered flying that cat as payback, but re-gained my senses at the last minute.

[MrObsessive]

Ahhhh---------yes that was Hawk #1! I'm sorry I almost forgot about that one........Been in sorta of a daze lately. Got some interesting (read good) things happening in my life as of late.

Yes you're right...........I originally built the 1958 Hawk #1 back in 1993-94. But as my skills had gotten better, I went ahead and did the second one you see on the thread here a few years later. I don't know what happened to the first one. I may have traded it for something years ago, but don't remember what.

That was probably one of the first NNL's I had ever been to when I built that model. The one pictured here I don't think was ever at any show.

Sorry for the confusion........that one totally slipped my mind!

The cat apparantly thought that it was an aircraft model and not a ship, and quickly discovered that it couldn't fly worth a darn. But I had considered flying that cat as payback, but re-gained my senses at the last minute.

;)