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1955 Ford Fairlane Victoria WIP


MrObsessive

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  • 1 month later...

I've had a few days off for Easter so thought I'd give you an update of what's been happening with the '55. Well, I finally got the interior parts painted and redone the way I wanted! In my last post, I mentioned the difficulty in getting the seats and whatnot out of the diecast. Little did I know what a nightmare it would be to get the parts stripped and repainted! B)

I had a heck of a time trying to strip the paint................whatever the Chinese are using over there, only the harshest lacquer thinner would remove it. I had to be extra careful with the dash as it was ABS plastic and the laquer thinner wanted to melt it the second it touched it. Nothing else would touch the paint..............not ELO, Easy-Off, CSC, nothing!

The front seats were tricky likewise as the seatbacks were plastic, but the seat bottoms were a rubber like vinyl which the lacquer thinner didn't hurt.

I knew the stripping part would be a challenge, so I started with something easy such as flocking the floor........

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Please excuse the little flecks of dust............digicams pick up every little speck of dirt that's around! I didn't try to cover up every nook and cranny, as the seats will take up most of the real estate inside. B)

Now I wanted to move on to the tougher part...........and that was the dash. The difficulty with this is not only the scale difference, but also the curvature of the dash didn't match the model I'm building. So after adding plastic, and filing and sanding down, particularly at the sides, here's what she looked like before I painted..............

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Care was taken with that neat Y-Block decal as I didn't want to lose that......also there was a PE Ford emblem next to it that I carefully took off and put in a safe place. I didn't try to strip the paint bare on this as I wanted to keep most of the detail...............it was tough enough to remove out of the car as it was!

Here's the repainted result with the gauges and emblem put back on................

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I test fit it in the dash before painting and she's lookin' pretty good. I may build a support bar for the dash to rest on so there won't be any drama when it comes time for final installation.

The paint BTW, it Polly S "Engine Black" which was polished up a bit as the 1:1. Actually the 1:1 had more of gloss black, but this didn't look right to me so I settled for more of a semi gloss black instead. I can't imagine driving the real thing with all that polished glare in your face, but I guess folks dealt with it back then!

Now it was on to the seats...............As I mentioned above, lacquer thinner was used to strip the seats except for the front seat backs and the rear seat side panels. These were molded in ABS (I think) and they would have melted. I just tried to carefully sand off as much as I could and painted over 'em............

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The rear side panels were glued on to the rear seat as this'll have to be put in as a whole unit once it comes time for final assembly. It's also not as stable as I'd like due to the seat being a very flexible vinyl. I sure some super glue will be needed to keep everything in place. :o

The rear side panels likewise had to be thinned down a bit as they would have been too wide for the rear seat fit in properly due to the scale difference.

Stay tuned for more!..............B)

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Now I have to work on the door panels..............as I mentioned in another post I couldn't use the diecast door panels as they're just too thick and heavyhanded. I went and scratchbuilt my own starting with just flat .020 sheet for the main panels and some thicker stuff for other sections.

Here are some pics....................

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The lower section was made from V-shaped ribbing plastic sheet to replicate the 1:1. The chrome trim was made using .010 plastic strip and then BMF'd after it was all painted. The handles came straight from the diecast and were epoxied in.

With the interior now out of the way for the most part.........I needed to start working on the glass. Since this was a conversion from a '56 to a '55 I can't use any of the kit glass, so I'm making my own from clear stencil sheet.

What I did first was to lay some masking tape over the opening and then traced around it in pencil. This was then cut out and layed on 3x5 card and then cut again along the tape's edge. I like using 3x5 cards for templates as they are flexible enough for templates, but not so thin that they fall apart like regular paper.

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If the writing on the templates seem as though they come from the Department of Redundancy Department, it's because if I don't write on 'em what's what..............they'll get accidentally tossed! Especially as long as it takes for me to get something done...........it's good insurance! :unsure:

The templates will be transferred to clear stencil sheet and then cut again. This'll probably take several tries to get right.......but that's okay as I'm a real stickler for well fitting glass. Nothing drives me crazier than ill fitting glass with huge gaps around the posts-----it's worth my time to make it look correct. :blink:

Now it's time to see what can be done about the headliner-----and this is where a horror story was about to take place. I first wanted to trace some lines to replicate the pleating in the headliner....................

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Then fill in the sides with a bit of putty................Much to my surprise this is what happened................I think from pressing too hard with the back edge of the exacto blade.............. :unsure:

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A hairline crack right along the section where the putty meets the plastic! So I got out the Dremel tool...........

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And I ground away at the original bodywork and "V" ground it this time to overlap the joint..............

I then primered this area again, and got out my Dynatron Putty-Cote after the primer dried sufficiently..............

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I let it sit overnight and afterward, sanded and shaped again.................

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This time it's overlapped so that section is thicker. As far as the headliner. I'll cover it with tape or something and add some light scribed lines................I don't want anymore potential disasters!

I'll primer this once again to make sure there are no dips and dives in the bodywork before final primering and painting. Hopefully that'll be in the next couple weeks or so--------I've got some other minor bodywork to do (Maybe latching the doors and inner fender work) before I get to the paint job.

Thanks for your time! :lol:

Edited by MrObsessive
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  • 1 month later...

It's been too long between updates------but I've not been much in a building mood since the weather's been getting nicer! Anyway, I figure it's high time to get a few more things done such as latching the doors, and finally get some paint on it! :o

Here are my trademark watch pin latches. These are a bit smaller than the ones I used in the Turbine Car, thus aren't as stiff to open and close the doors............

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I'll add some bolt detail around the pins so the door jambs don't look so naked.........not to mention making sure the doors sit as straight and true as possible in the openings without binding.

Well, it's finally time for final primering and painting...............as y'all know this'll be a two tone paint job, and I gotta admit, they're the least favorite of the types of paint jobs I like to do. :blink: This particular car though screams for two tone paint because of the trim and I remember seeing very few '55 Fords as a kid that were not two toned.

So here we go.............

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I like to spray the lighter colors first in a two tone so I made sure the inside of the door jambs were painted the Snowshoe White, then let it sit for a couple days..............

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I couldn't resist mocking up the car with the chassis and wheels after the Regency Purple was sprayed and cured........... :D There's a couple spots I have to touch up..........

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HOLD THE PHONE!! :o I didn't like the very faint ghosting of the bodywork on the roof where it was split to widen it, so I got out my foam rubber sanding block and 400 grit sandpaper and went to town on the finish. I then airbrushed a few more coats on the roof to even things out.

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AAAHHH much better! I still need to clearcoat......especially the purple because it's metallic. The Snowshoe White, I'll simply rub out and polish because it's a solid color.

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If I get the ambition, I'll try to get everything clearcoated, polished and rubbed out, and then foiled so I can get the front and rear glass in. In the meantime, I almost forgot that I have to modify the rear bumper as it's different than the kit based '56. :) Oh well, I've gotten this far with it...........I CAN'T stop now! :P

Thanks for lookin'!

Edited by MrObsessive
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All I can say is.....WOW! Your work knocks me to the floor- especially converting the Ford to a '55 (you'd think the only car made between '55- '57 were Chevies judging from the selection on the shelves). The color combo is true '50's pastel craziness. Finish it soon, please.

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You're building a stock replica, right?

If so, one question: Metallic purple???? :(

Yup! Regency Purple was a 1954-55 color............VERY rare! I've only ever seen one in my whole life! :(

I wanted to paint it something unique other than the turquoise and greens that are common to this car.

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Yup! Regency Purple was a 1954-55 color............VERY rare! I've only ever seen one in my whole life! :lol:

I wanted to paint it something unique other than the turquoise and greens that are common to this car.

Nice color choice Bill, I really love those unique 50's color combinations.

-Steve

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I'm loving this build, though all of your builds are excellent I have to admit though, I thought for a second we had you caught. I have never seen that purple on a 54 or 55 Ford and thought you might have forgot to open the windows when gluing when you came up with it but sure enough I found one on google.

:) Keep up the great work.

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Now that is one sharp convertible! I originally was going to do a convertible..............but then decided on the hardtop when I saw someone offering a started conversion on the 'bay using the Lindberg '53 Ford roof.

I bought that one which is what turned into this project, but it needed a total "roofectomy" when the conversion wasn't to my liking. This one has been a cliff hanger at times and trust me, my next project will be a LOT tamer! :)

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Now that is one sharp convertible! I originally was going to do a convertible..............but then decided on the hardtop when I saw someone offering a started conversion on the 'bay using the Lindberg '53 Ford roof.

I bought that one which is what turned into this project, but it needed a total "roofectomy" when the conversion wasn't to my liking. This one has been a cliff hanger at times and trust me, my next project will be a LOT tamer! :)

Nice job on the paint Bill!!

As for a tame project for you I will believe that when I see it.

Soon I hopefully want to try to do a model with the watch band door pin thingy :D that you do so well.

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