1956 Ford - - W.I.P.

[Sixties Sam]

Looks great, Rich! The blue is a good color for it. I did a 56 about 4 years ago, and made a connie kit for it from sheet styrene. Here's a pic.

[rv1963]

Nice work Rich, you do appear to like doing those interior's.

[FASTBACK340]

That looks so sweet Rich! Great colors!!!!!

[charlie8575]

Those colors look right at home on that.

Charlie Larkin

[Ramfins59]

Thanks very much everyone, I appreciate all of your encouraging comments.

Sam, I also made a continental kit deck from sheet plastic for this car. I bought the connie chrome wheel ring and covers from Modelhaus (They'll sell the chrome ring and front & rear covers for $5.... I bought 6 sets to have for future builds).

I'm also using the Merc wagon taillights as you did. I love the pink & white colors on your car.

Robert, I DO love detailing my model interiors.

[Customman]

Lookin good Rich,

The '56 Ford is a very good looking car they have nice smooth lines !

[donb]

Great color combo. Like the way this coming along.

[Ramfins59]

Thanks George and Donald. Today I'm working on polishing up the clearcoat and taking care of a couple of small touch-ups. Iwon't be getting to the BMF work on this until at least Monday as we're going to VA to visit my 2 1/2 year old grandson.

He called the other night (actually my daughter called) and A.J. told me to bring my glue to fix the snap kit pickup I gave him.... He says he "bwoke it."

[Ron Hamilton]

I love this one, as one of my cousins had a pink and black Victoria, while at the same time, my neighbor who lived directly across the street had a blue and white Customline 2 Door Hardtop. I have an old built-up I did back in the '80s that does not look too bad, but I may pull it apart, and re-paint it, as the paint job is very much dated.

[Tom Geiger]

we're going to VA to visit my 2 1/2 year old grandson.

He called the other night (actually my daughter called) and A.J. told me to bring my glue to fix the snap kit pickup I gave him.... He says he "bwoke it."

He should be happy that you make house calls! Have fun, model cars will wait.

[johnbuzzed]

Looks good, as usual, Rich. If you haven't already glued the doors shut, you might consider leaving them hinged, but using magnets to keep them closed. Check out Radio Shack for their selection, or even a Michaels or Hobby Lobby type crafts store- there is all kinds of magnetic stuff available, even tape (and I don't mean recording tape). I have a few that I stripped from dead CD drives here at work- they're really strong- that I plan to use in '56 and '57 Ford and '55 and '57 Chevy builds. One in the body, one in the door and they shouldn't flop at all.

[Tom Geiger]

that I plan to use in '56 and '57 Ford and '55 and '57 Chevy builds. One in the body, one in the door and they shouldn't flop at all.

I've found two problems with the doors on those kits. First are the plastic hinges. They are awful and next time I'd replace them with scratch built metal ones. Second is the fit in the frame. The second kit I built as an adult was the '57 Ford. I didn't know enough to test fit everything back then the doors are very tight in their frames, and I broke off the drivers side hinge so my door is just wedged into the frame now.

[Ramfins59]

Thanks guys.

John and Tom, I still haven't made up my mind whether or not to just glue the doors shut. I originally thought about making better metal hinges but didn't. I'm not sure about going the magnet route either. The problem with the doors on these kits is, not only don't they usually stay closed, but, when they're opened, they usually sag because of the crappy hinges. I'm leaning towards the "glue them shut" option.

[slusher]

Rich those continental kits are almost like a signiture on your builds now. Very cool BTW...

[Ramfins59]

Hey thanks Carl. I think that a lot of the 50's cars look cool with a continental kit, especially when the car is done up as a mild custom. As you can tell by now, I'm a fan of the J.C Whitney "Bolt-On" style of customizing on 50's cars. It was the relatively cheap way back then to make your car look cool without any bodywork other than getting it nosed, decked and shaved. I'm partial to the full width connie kits as opposed to the smaller "basket" types.

I have to get another copy of Andy Southard's book "Custom Cars of the 50's & 60's" which I loaned to someone a very long time ago and never got it back. It had great pictures of mild customs from back in the day. Great for reference ideas.

[slownlow]

Rich, I vote for opening doors. Your interior is so good it'll be easier to see.

[goodwin3224]

nice work

[LogTripper]

Wow! That looks amazing!! Every build i look at just inspires me more!

[Ramfins59]

Thanks everyone. Today I finished the BMF work and painted the interior headliner. Tomorrow I can install the glass and hopefully start on final assembly. If all goes well, pictures will follow. Stay tuned.

[Joker]