Dave Darby Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) My lovely wife Cristi has been on me for a few years now to build her a model, a 56 Thunderbird, to be exact, so this year, I finally relented and started on this one. She wanted it Pearl White, so stock was not an option. And she was good with that! This of course, gave me the excuse I needed to get rid of that Continental kit that makes the 56 look so tail heavy. Anyway, let's look at some pics, and I'll show you the changes we've made along the way... Up on wheels mock-up. Whoa, that ride height! Not a fan of plastic axles, either. Luckilly, they made it easy to fix that little issue... A little work with the Dremel... Halfway there... The front was handled in a similar way. I cut off the plastic axle stubs, and drilled new holes to mount metal stub axles made from finishing nails. And here is a sneak preview of the rolling stock. AMT 62 T Bird wires in Revell/Monogram tires... The headlights were also a bone of contention. I hate lenses with pins, and flat mounting surfaces. So out came the drill.... Lucas headlights! From the AMT 55 Nomad. All the rage back in '62... To Be continued... Edited June 22, 2021 by Dave Darby Restore Photos
Dave Darby Posted January 2, 2012 Author Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) Since the connie kit was going away, stock bumpers are not an option. So rolled pans are the order of the day. AMT 57 Chevy in front... The rear was a little more challenging, owing to the extension for the spare, and the squarish contours of the lower body... My final solution was the front rolled pan from the AMT 59 El Camino, with the ends cut off, swapped end for end and flipped 90 degrees.... Edited June 22, 2021 by Dave Darby Restored Photos
Dave Darby Posted January 2, 2012 Author Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) Something else we decided on was bucket seats. (AMT 53 Corvette.) That came with another set of challenges, namely, the rear package tray. Note that it is molded to the back of the bench seat... My solution was to clamp the rear interior panel to the bench seat, then run a bead of glue along just the seam at the top... Then I flipped it over and scribed through the top part... Voila! A little work later resulted in this... Chassis is pretty straight forward... The wheels benefit from a little black wash... Something else that bugged me was the non-chrome steering column, with its clunky turn signal lever. So I grabbed part of the chrome sprue from the kit, and started drilling... Turn signal lever made from a piece of wire... Edited January 4 by Dave Darby Restored Photos
Dave Darby Posted January 2, 2012 Author Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) I like this better, how bout you? OK, I still have color sanding and rubbing out to do, plus finishing the engine, but here are a couple teaser mock-up shots for you... Paint is Testors White Lightning Pearl, with a Flame Red interior... What do you think? Edited June 22, 2021 by Dave Darby Restored Photos
cruz Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Very nice start my friend, those pesky but necessary little details go a very long way, you are seriously making me think about breaking out my kit and start doing something with it!
promo55 Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Excellent work on a seldom seen customizing contestant. I love how you did the rolled pans, and the '62 wires look like they was made for that car! I have a gluebe '57, I am inspired by you to get it out and start cuttin'. Very good!
Haubenschild Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Man that looks nice , everything looks perfect , i cant wait to see more!
Modlbldr Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Dave- That looks fantastic. All of the customizing you are doing is improving the body. I like it! What are you doing with the remainder of the stock seat? If you'd like to get rid of it, I need it. Please let me know. It is what I am looking for for my50 Ford. Later-
Dave Darby Posted January 2, 2012 Author Posted January 2, 2012 That's the same idea I had. But, drop me your addy in a PM, Tom. Can't guarantee how fast it'll get to you, but you are welcome to it.
Dirty Gringo Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 I like the others have a couple of these kits and am starting to think about building them. I like some of the ideas you have done and to be honest might steal some
W-409 Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 It's looking very good so far. Those body modifications, you did are very nice, and they make this look like Smooth. With those wheels and tires it looks good too, and stance is just right.
Dave Darby Posted January 3, 2012 Author Posted January 3, 2012 (edited) Since I had the ability to redo this post to restore the photos, I decided to add a few things that didn't make it in the first time around, like some of the engine detailing... The kit exhaust manifolds (center) were pretty bad, so I replaced them with the chromed manifolds from the AMT 57 T Bird. Plug wiring and fuel line plumbing... This is the antenna from the AMT 25 Model T kit. OK, how anal retentive is this? Here are a couple more teaser photos before I take it apart, polish, and do final assembly.... The headlight lenses are from the AMT 53 Studebaker kit, dipped in Future to make 'em more clear. Now you can see those Lucas headlights better... And here is the rear. Taillight lenses are from the AMT 63 Galaxie, and similar to the headlight lenses, spent some time on the 4 way nail file to remove the extra height, then dipped in Future. The bumperettes are from the pre-1992 issues of the AMT 57 Ford. This photo shows off the pearl a little better. (Before I trimmed the taillight lenses down - Please, no red-rocket jokes...) All finished, and here is a link to the completed build: Edited June 22, 2021 by Dave Darby
Eshaver Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 Dave , all I have heard about this kit is just the usual whinnin an negativity bout this an that. Heck , You overcame all that an then some ! I'm really impressed by all the tiny details you involved in doing the job . Ed Shaver
Dave Darby Posted June 22, 2021 Author Posted June 22, 2021 I restored a bunch of photos that Fotki lost for me (my fault - I let my account lapse), and added some new bonus construction photos.
David G. Posted June 22, 2021 Posted June 22, 2021 Hi Dave. I really enjoyed all the custom work you did for this one, all of it very well done too. I missed this one the first time around, I'm glad you were able to get the photos restored. Thanks for taking the time to do that, it would have been a shame to lose this build and all the work you've done on it. David G.
NOBLNG Posted June 22, 2021 Posted June 22, 2021 You did a beautiful job on this T-bird for your Wife Dave! Thanks for taking the time to restore this thread.?
bisc63 Posted June 22, 2021 Posted June 22, 2021 Very nice work, and thanks for putting this thread together with new photos and such. It's new to me, I missed it first time around, I guess.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now