Early compact Community Build

[charlie8575]

With my rediscovery of the wonders of the early American compact cars and the present resurgence in small cars, I thought it might be fun to do a community build for them; a retrospective of that place from whence we came, and have returned to.

The rules are very simple:

-Any scale, any detail level from box-stock to GSL "Best of" quality or anything in-between.

-Must be street-legal.

-Due date October 1, 2011. With so many of us with multiple big projects, life in general, etc., this should allow all of us (even me!) to get something done.

-Multiple entries allowed.

The following cars are eligible:

Postwar Crosleys

1959-63 Studebaker Lark

1950-63 Nash Rambler/Rambler American

1954-57 Nash Rambler/Hudson Rambler (these were a bit different from the first Ramblers and from the 1958-60 Ramblers, which were more "midsize.")

1960-63 Valiant/Plymouth Valiant (remember, Valiant was a separate make for 1960.)

1961-62 Dodge Lancer

1960-63 Ford Falcon and Ranchero

1960-62 Mercury Comet

1960-64 Chevrolet Corvair

1961-63 Buick Special

1961-63 Oldsmobile F-85/Cutlass

1961-63 Pontiac Tempest/LeMans

1962-65 Chevy II/Nova

The entries will be tracked here.

Charlie- 1962 Olds F-85 Cutlass

Mark- 1963 Chevy II Nova convertible

Matthew- 1963 Chevy II Nova coupe

Doug- 1962 Olds F-85 convertible; 1963 Pontiac Tempest sport coupe

Ron- 1960 Corvair

Glenn- 1961 Ranchero (or 1960? Glenn- please confirm year.)

Jim- 1960 Corvair

Charlie- 1962 Studebaker Lark

Nick- 1966 Pontiac Acadian Sport Deluxe

Date extension: Due to life having gotten into my way too (and it looks like a few other people's,) I'm strecting out the date to January 1, 2012, and may be extended again if needed.

Charlie Larkin

Edited May 28, 2011 by charlie8575

[charlie8575]

Progress on mine hitherto can be tracked here.

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=35291

Charlie Larkin

[highway]

Charlie, could a Studebaker Avanti qualify?

[charlie8575]

Charlie, could a Studebaker Avanti qualify?

That's more of a sports car, Matthew, although I do like them very much, they're not really in the spirit of where I was aiming to go with this particular theme.

Charlie Larkin

[highway]

That's more of a sports car, Matthew, although I do like them very much, they're not really in the spirit of where I was aiming to go with this particular theme.

Charlie Larkin

That's quite alright, Charlie. One other thought, how close is Trumpeter's 63 Chevy Nova to the Pontiac Tempest/LeMans?

[charlie8575]

The Nova itself is qualified. However, they have a lot of differences in the real cars.

But, if you'd like to enter either one, go right ahead, I'd love to see it.

Charlie Larkin

[Crazy Ed]

Interesting subject Charlie, but you forgot Americas Real Compact from that era! The Nash Metropolitan.

Ed

[charlie8575]

Actually, Ed, I hadn't.

The Metropolitans were built in England.

However, you did make a point. I forgot one car. The Crosley.

Thanks for jogging my memory.

Charlie Larkin

[Crazy Ed]

Actually, Ed, I hadn't.

The Metropolitans were built in England.

However, you did make a point. I forgot one car. The Crosley.

Thanks for jogging my memory.

Charlie Larkin

Whoooops. Of Course You're right. Thanks for the Memory Reset.

Ed

[highway]

With over a year's lead time I might have to participate in this CBP with a Trumpeter Nova.

Yeah, it might finally give me an excuse to try to build mine as well!

[charlie8575]

You're right, I did forget the Chevy II! Whoops!

That's being fixed now. I'll add you both in for those unless you request otherwise. We're flexible here.

Charlie Larkin

[highway]

You're right, I did forget the Chevy II! Whoops!

That's being fixed now. I'll add you both in for those unless you request otherwise. We're flexible here.

Charlie Larkin

Yep, you can put me down for the Nova.

[highway]

The entries will be tracked here.

Charlie- 1962 Olds F-85 Cutlass

Mark- 1963 Chevy II Nova convertible

Matthew- 1963 Chevy II Nova convertible

Charlie Larkin

Charlie, I just noticed this in the first post, mine is not the convertible. My kit is Trumpeter's 1963 Nova SS hardtop.

[my66s55]

Since this build is for a year,I have a couple I want to do. Both of these I got off of e-bay 8 to 9 years ago. The first is the convertible version of the 62 Olds F-85.

It is complete except for 2 tires, 2 hubcaps and taillights. The tires and hubcaps I can make resin copies of and there is the sprew in the box that the taillights were attached to that I can form new ones from.

The second is a 63 Tempest. It will require some repair as the body and rear bumper are damaged. It also has an engine plate and I want to replace it with a v-8.

[charlie8575]

Matthew- fixed. Sorry about that.

Doug- great choices! I'll really enjoy watching those come along. If you need to, the Modelhaus does have the taillights, wheels and wheelcovers for your Olds.

Charlie Larkin

[highway]

Matthew- fixed. Sorry about that.

Charlie Larkin

No problem, Charlie. It was my fault because I forgot to specify which it was because I forgot that they did both the coupe and convertible.

[robertw]

Ahhh...shucks. I just finished building an East German Trabant as a convertible. It fits the compact category but isn't on the list, LOL

robw

[Ron Hamilton]

How about a '60 Corvair 700 Sedan?

I have started on it, and the body is ready for paint,

but I still have to strip the interior.

Edited November 17, 2010 by Ron Hamilton

[charlie8575]

Excellent, Ron! I've been looking for one of those myself. I'm thrilled to see a first-year Corvair in this.

Thank you for the contribution!

Charlie Larkin

[CorvairJim]

Count me in, Charlie! Mine will be a Corvair, of course, but I don't know which year yet. I have "Glue Bomb" examples of every year from 1960-64, so I'll pick one of those. At the moment, I'm thinking a replica of a 1:1 Ermine White over Tasco Turquoise 1960 700 Series 4-door sedan that I used to own.

[Draggon]

I'd like to join with this. Got it awhile back from a friend over at TRaK. Its been stripped so far and I've done some of the body work.

[CorvairJim]

Well Charlie, you said you wanted to see a first-year Corvair in this, so here's my progress on mine so far, along with a couple of shots of what I had to work with. It turns out that I'm having to "Borrow" a few bits and pieces from a used-up promo that I had lying around with a broken body to make this thing happen. Later on, when I'm equipped to do some resin casting, I'll make some replacements. From what I've heard around the hobby, there's a ready market for Corvair odds and ends. This model is a replica of a car I once owned, and later on became my older daughter's first car. She was the only person in her high school class to have a car 20 years older than she was! I made her a replica of the car about 10 years ago, so I thought it was time I had one of my own. I tried something different on this one that worked out pretty well, for the most part: I cut the sides off the interior bucket with a razor saw to make it easier to paint the 4-color door panels. Here are some pictures of how it looks so far:

[CorvairJim]

Setback City! I had let the color coats on my '60 Corvair set up for a couple of weeks and shot the clearcoat this evening... and for the first time, the clear reacted with the color coat. Maybe it's because I generally use autpmptive touch-up spray cans instead of the Testor's I used on this one, but the Dupli-Color Ermine White roof still looks great while the Testor's Model Master Turquoise is, well, completely trashed. It looks like it was shot with crackle finish paint! Back to square one - Into the Simple Green "dunk tank" with it. I just hope it doesn't screw up the body repairs I had to do on it!

(4/28, 5:20 PM - In an addendum to last night's post above, when I looked at it earlier today it didn't look as bad as it did at first. It's still bad, but I want to try to wet sand and polish out the damaged areas before I do anything drastic with it like completely stripping it and starting over on what was otherwise a pretty decent paint job.)

Edited April 28, 2011 by CorvairJim

[charlie8575]

Sorry I didn't attend to this sooner- other things have my attention lately. I'll update to reflect your participations.

Glenn- great add with the Ranchero- thank you.

Jim- I LOVE that Corvair! I think what you had happen was the Model Master enamel react with the Dupli-Color lacquer topcoat. I'd suggest using either the Tamiya bottled clearcoat (NOT the spray-you'll have the same trouble,) and airbrush it on, or use, dare I say it, plain old Testors Glosscote.

Charlie Larkin

[charlie8575]

Hi, everyone!

Sorry about my lack of attention- things have been kinda loony for me and some other modeling and non-modeling projects have been occupying my time.

I pushed back the due date to January 1, 2012, and if we need to again, it can be readjusted.

Looking forward to some progress pictures.

Charlie Larkin