Ramfins59 Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 My new project on the bench is a 1958 Dodge model. This is a promo that I picked up on EBAY that is in great shape. I googled some reference pictures for color choices and picked yellow and black. Here ls what the promo body looks like after I sanded off the mold lines. I got replacement grille & bumpers from the Modelhaus. I gave the grille a blackwash with the Detailer after I took these pictures and also gave the headlights a thin coat of acrylic white. I will probably put some clear headlight lenses over them to make them look better. I also got a resin '59 Dodge interior from Modelhaus as they advised that the '58 Dodge promo body needs a shallow interior bucket to fit properly. I had to sand down the outside edges to get it to fit right as it was just a smidge too wide. Don Holthaus recommended that I use their '57 Dodge dashboard & steering wheel because it is almost the same for the '58 Dodge. All the interior pieces are sitting in Westleys Bleche White in preparation for paint work & detailing. This should be a fun, quick build as it is a Curbside, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone build a '58 Dodge model. It will be a neat addition to my "Class of '58" build group. Thanks for looking in on this new project and hopefully you'll follow along for the ride.
slusher Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 l will be watching Rich, l enjoy your projects.
jjsipes Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 I will be watching this. Love these cars. So many possible color choices with these from the factory that just look right. Great colors by the way.
realgone58 Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 Gonna be great Rich! I've been looking for one of these too. Hard to find them without the famous Jo-Han smile!
Ramfins59 Posted October 5, 2013 Author Posted October 5, 2013 Thanks a lot guys. I've looked for one of these for quite a while but an unwarped one was almost impossible to find. This one is about the straightest one I've ever seen. It looks like it had the beginnings of that famous Johan smile when you look at the very tip of the molded on side trim spear which has a slight curve upwards. Hopefully it won't get any worse as time goes on. Not much I can do about it if it does. As a side note, I've looked on Wheat's Nostalgia's website for loads of different promo's for different year's cars and he's just nuts with his prices, especially for all the warped stuff that he shows. The halfway decent stuff that he lists on EBAY is priced crazy too. I'm almost ashamed to say that I paid $73 for this Dodge promo and was lucky to get it for that price. Now I don't think I'll ever go that high on anything again. No way will I ever pay high 3 figures for even a straight promo. But, that's just me. Obviously someone is paying those high prices or they wouldn't be listed that high.
charlie8575 Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 I'll look forward to this one coming along, Rich. I think the 1957-58 Dodges were some of the best-looking cars of the 50s, and it's nice to see one being built. Charlie Larkin
cobraman Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 That's going to look great. Those chrome parts look fantastic. Are they chrome plated resin ?
Ramfins59 Posted October 5, 2013 Author Posted October 5, 2013 (edited) Thanks Charlie. I kind of agree with you, however, I'm kind of partial to the '59 Dodge myself...... only because I used to own one. I've got a Modelhaus kit of a '57 Dodge which I'll eventually be getting around to working on also. I've got a very large pile of 50's cars yet to build, and an even larger pile yet to still buy. I keep saying, so many models... so little time. Yes Ray, the Modelhaus bumpers and grille are chrome plated resin pieces. Edited October 5, 2013 by Ramfins59
FASTBACK340 Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 Why do I see some typical bizarro Chrysler combo like Salmon & Charcoal. Or a Robin Egg Blue & Black. Going stock, or mild custom? Lakes pipes? Bellflower Tips? Whats the plan?
Sixties Sam Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 That's going to be a great model! I like the 57-59 Dodges. We had a 57 wagon when I was a kid. It was big! Sam
Ramfins59 Posted October 5, 2013 Author Posted October 5, 2013 Thanks John and Kerry. John, I think I'll be doing this car stock and the colors will be yellow and black. You're right about the seemingly strange color combos on Chrysler's cars back then. Remember the baby BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH brown and tan colors on my Dodge..?? I usually download a bunch of Googled reference pictures of each car that I'm building a model of along with the color charts for that years' car so I'll at least get the colors close on the model. Sam, you're right about those cars being BIG. The '59 Dodge Coronet that I had was 18' 2" long and just over 6' wide. My younger daughter used to play the upright string bass in high school and her bass would fit, laying down on the back seat.
jeffs396 Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 I'm sure you'll do this one justice too Rich! looking forward to seeing it as I can't recall ever seeing one built either
peekay Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 Looking forward to this one Richard - my sort of model. I've got an X-EL 59 that's currently getting a similar treatment but in pink and charcoal.
ChrisBcritter Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 Couple quick questions: Since this body is so straight, and Modelhaus doesn't have a '58 Dodge in their inventory, maybe you could loan it to them to make a mold? Also, if you decide to strip the remaining paint, DON'T use Easy-Off on an acetate promo - I had a weird reaction when I used it to strip a '54 Pontiac promo body. The paint came off and left the plastic clean, but on the unpainted areas a thin layer of plastic peeled off - it looked like when you peel string cheese .
FASTBACK340 Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 Rich, ALL old Mopars were strange! Your old Tuna Boat was cool..... and yes, it was an interesting color combo. The yellow & black will pop nicely on your build for sure. And Peter's build with the pink & charcoal.... I really like that! And thanks for the heads-up on preventing a string-cheese incident Chris.
Scalper Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 Nice looking promo. this is going to look very nice. Would like to see how the headlights turned out.
TFchronos Posted October 5, 2013 Posted October 5, 2013 Love them old Dodges too, I'll be watching this one like a hawk. Looking forward to seeing more!
Ramfins59 Posted October 6, 2013 Author Posted October 6, 2013 Thanks very much everyone, I appreciate all your encouraging comments. ChrisBcritter, I actually thought about emailing Modelhaus and asking if they might be interested in taking a mold from this body, but I thought it might be too "forward" of me to do that. Maybe I will send them an email anyway. The body is in primer right now. I've already built one '59 Dodge promo back in the late 90's when I owned a real one. I built it as a mild Custom, painted black, the way I thought I originally wanted the real one to turn out but unfortunately that never happened. I've been trying to pick up another '59 promo on EBAY but keep getting outbid.
Customman Posted October 6, 2013 Posted October 6, 2013 Ya huh, Rich loves those big Tuna Trawlers, I'm sure it will be looking good when it's done. The big 4 were just a class act back in the day.
Ramfins59 Posted October 6, 2013 Author Posted October 6, 2013 George, funny thing you called the cars "Tuna Trawlwers"... I've got a funny story to tell you at lunch today about a "Tuna Boat".
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