'58 Fairlane 500 Semi-Custom! Finished at Last!

[Ron Hamilton]

Personally, I like the '57 Ford over the '58, but this build is making me rethink my opinion. I have a decent resin '58 in my collection. Not Modelhaus quality, but very workable. I may incorporate the headlamps into my build of the car, when I get around to it before I die.

The mods you are incorporating into the build are very tasteful.

[MrObsessive]

John, you know that I'm not a custom kinda guy, but I REALLY LIKE THIS! Besides that fact that it's also a '58 Ford (one of my '50's favorites), makes it all the better!

Can't wait till you get to the paint!

Ron, I like '57's too, but they always had the appearance of "looking up at you" as opposed to the '58!

[my80malibu]

when your thru with the body work, would you resin cast it? I would be down for two automatically.

[bisc63]

That front bumper is a natural; good call! Have you considered scribing the main bumper away from the lower part and painting the bottom body color, as if it were a separate panel? Just spit-ballin' here.

It would be hard for me to not use '60 T-bird tail lights in those oval recesses out back! That being said, I see exactly why you went with those custom pieces; VERY clean design.

Color decided yet? Can't wait to see more!

[#1 model citizen]

Great work so far ! 

You see lots of customs built, but not too many really add to the original cars appeal. I think you've really captured a typical custom that has improved on the original cars lines, takes a lot of skill to achieve such a subtle look !  Ill be following along for sure........   

 

John, you know that I'm not a custom kinda guy, but I REALLY LIKE THIS! Besides that fact that it's also a '58 Ford (one of my '50's favorites), makes it all the better!

Can't wait till you get to the paint!

Ron, I like '57's too, but they always had the appearance of "looking up at you" as opposed to the '58!

I have to agree whole heartily here! I'm not much of a customs guy either for the reason Martin stated. But this is great custom work that enhances the lines on an under appreciated auto design that is one of my '50s favs too.

Edited July 12, 2017 by #1 model citizen

[John Goschke]

John, all of your work on this car is just fantastic.  It is looking awesome.

Thanks, Rich!

I totally agree, looks very period correct, could've came from a pocket sized cover of the old R&C...

Thanks! I try hard to keep these things true to a pretty narrow period between late '58 and 1961 or '62. Using vintage references really helps 'cause a lot of cars out there today are a hash of styles from different eras.

Very nice, i love those tailfins!!

Thanks, Mike! Me too! Been in love with fins since the '57 Dodges were introduced!

Great work so far ! 

You see lots of customs built, but not too many really add to the original cars appeal. I think you've really captured a typical custom that has improved on the original cars lines, takes a lot of skill to achieve such a subtle look !  Ill be following along for sure........   

Thanks, Lowlife! I love customs that enhance, refine, or simplify a car's original design. 

Personally, I like the '57 Ford over the '58, but this build is making me rethink my opinion. I have a decent resin '58 in my collection. Not Modelhaus quality, but very workable. I may incorporate the headlamps into my build of the car, when I get around to it before I die.

The mods you are incorporating into the build are very tasteful.

Thanks, Ron!  I like the '57 Ford, too.  But having ridden in my parent's '58 Del Rio as a kid and later owning two different Fairlane 500s, the '58 has a special place in my heart!

John, you know that I'm not a custom kinda guy, but I REALLY LIKE THIS! Besides that fact that it's also a '58 Ford (one of my '50's favorites), makes it all the better!

Can't wait till you get to the paint!

Ron, I like '57's too, but they always had the appearance of "looking up at you" as opposed to the '58!

Thanks, Bill!  I appreciate that, and you know that even though I'm building customs I obsess over the shapes of things and as former IPMS airplane builder have done a lot of rivet counting.  So, stand by, the next round of mods to this body are all about rep-stock details, reshaping all the window moldings and notching in a cowl vent.

Oh, and the best way to get rid of the "looking up at you" appearance of the '57 is to customize it with a set of headlight bezels from a '56 F-100 pickup!

when your thru with the body work, would you resin cast it? I would be down for two automatically.

Thanks, Malibu! No on the resin casting unfortunately. I want to get this puppy done in my lifetime!

That front bumper is a natural; good call! Have you considered scribing the main bumper away from the lower part and painting the bottom body color, as if it were a separate panel? Just spit-ballin' here.

It would be hard for me to not use '60 T-bird tail lights in those oval recesses out back! That being said, I see exactly why you went with those custom pieces; VERY clean design.

Color decided yet? Can't wait to see more!

Thanks, Bisc!  I hear you on the bumper idea – might be worth a Photoshop sketch. My concern is that it might make the bumper look more massive. 

Yep, '60 T-bird lights would be a natural and I do have another '58 Ford to try it on!

At the moment basic color plans are Bob Paint's Plum Ice pearl body with Snow White pearl roof. Probably some thin Pearl White scallops and panel outlines on the body.

 

I have to agree whole heartily here! I'm not much of a customs guy either for the reason Martin stated. But this is great custom work that enhances the lines on an under appreciated auto design that is one of my '50s favs too.

Thanks, Citizen! I've never quite understood why folks are so down on the '58 Ford either, especially when you consider some the more flamboyant designs from GM that year, or, even worse, Studebaker-Packard!

[#1 model citizen]

Not to mention many of the same styling ques used on the very popular '58 T-Bird...

Edited July 13, 2017 by #1 model citizen

[#1 model citizen]

Not to mention the use of many of the same styling ques found on the very popular '58 T-Bird... 

[bisc63]

Just a quickie of what I was thinkin'...

[John Goschke]

 

Well, here's an update that should appeal to accuracy geeks like me who agonize over proportions and contours - the "rivet counters" who drive our fellow modelers crazy by pissing in the Cheerios when a new kit comes out that is a bit off.

But here we're talking about one of the oldest kits in our hobby and one of my favorites, which actually has quite a few flaws, in addition to a multitude of mold lines. The clunky rendition of the window moldings, especially the windshield and rear window are the ones that really need fixing, to my eye anyway.

The actual '57-'58 Ford Fairlane 500 and '58 Edsel Pacer share the same roof stamping, stainless window moldings and chrome vent window frames. The only difference being the stamped grooves in the '58 Ford's roof. One distinctive feature of this roof is the overhanging edge of the moldings over the windshield and rear window, which AMT completely missed. Another less obvious feature is the stainless side window channel for the quarter window and the corresponding hinged flap that flips up when the door is opened and closes over the top of the vent window frame (and door window when it's rolled up) when the door is shut. The flap and the channel show as another stainless molding below the drip rail when the car is viewed from the side. On my old 1980 build and on this one I fixed these errors, but my first round of repairs revealed another problem that almost made me park this project back on the "Shelf of Doom," and why the old build never looked quite right. More on that in a bit.

The car below is an Edsel Pacer four-door hardtop, which didn't have the hinged flap. The windshield moldings and ventwindow frame are the same as the two-door though.

The top of the front fenders on the kit are a bit high resulting in a hump at the cowl where it meets the lower windshield molding. In profile the top of the front fender has an exaggerated curve down to the front edge over the headlight. When viewed from the front it's easy to see that the outside edge of the fender-top groove is higher than the inside edge.

These were repaired with some pretty aggressive file work and sanding to bring the fender down closer to the correct shape. Then the panel lines between the fender/cowl and fender/rocker panel were scribed in.

Then I turned to resculpting the windshield and rear window moldings as I did in 1980. In the rear I carved off the extra upper molding that protrude from beneath the one above it and filed the top surface of the molding so it doesn't stick up so far from the roof and sharpened the edge of the molding. Then I scribed a line inside the edge of the molding to define the thin overhanging edge before carefully carving, shaving, filing and sanding underneath it to create the recessed portion of the molding. Essentially the same was used on the windshield molding.
[img style="max-width:100%;" src="

I also reshaped the vent window opening to a more accurate shape that included only the frame itself, not the inner frame for the glass. Next I used Tamiya extra thin cement to glue a strip .03x.03" stryrene strip inside the side window opening like a weather strip, then a strip of .01x.04" strip was cemented to the outside of the "weatherstrip," overlapping onto the top of the vent window frame to represent the stainless flap and channel. Then I mocked up the car up and didn't feel quite right about the result.

In profile, the front portion of the roof on the real car has a definite curve down toward to the windshield, a feature I was actually hoping to be able to ignore since the front edge of the kit roof is pretty thin where there is a locating groove for the windshield glass. Studying my reference photos further I finally realized that in a 3/4 angle front view the top edge of the windshield glass is nearly in line or slightly higher than the bottom edge of the drip rail, while on my model the top edge of the windshield was at least three scale inches higher than the of the drip rail! Cue the cursing, followed by about a week of pulling out parked projects deciding if maybe one of them could be moved forward more easily.

Ultimately my desire to finish this build won out and I decided to do what was necessary to improve the roof and the proportions of the windshield and side window openings. Most importantly to "not let perfect be the enemy of better!"  This included adding material to the inside of the front of the roof and the upper windshield opening, cutting out the vent window frame, and saving them for later replacement after the side window opening was enlarged to the top of the drip rail. The top of the windshield opening was then reshaped to bring it just a bit higher than the top of the new side window.

Then the remaining side window molding was filed and sanded off and the front of the roof was filed and sanded to the curved profile. After which I scribed a line back from the front edge of the roof the distance of the width of the windshield post to represent the back edge of the roof molding, then the roof was shaped a bit lower behind this line. In reshaping the roof I had to lose the fine overhanging edge, so that was replaced with a strip of .03x.03" styrene and the grooves were rescribed on the front of the roof.

I cemented the vent window frames back in after backing them with .01" sheet styrene, opening them up, and leaving a ledge for the vent glass to be added later. The large side window molding was replaced with .02x.08 strip filed and sanded to shape, then the drip rail was added using .03" square rod. The weatherstrip and channel were then added as before, with a scribed line to represent the break between the flap and quarter window channel.

While the windshield opening, glass fit, and the passenger vent window frame opening still need some refinement, I'm really glad I did this work and didn't park it again on the "Shelf of Doom!"

 

Edited August 10, 2017 by John Goschke

[MrObsessive]

John, you know how I feel about getting contours right----to the best of our ability! Rooflines to me are chief in needing to look correct, and you did a fantastic job! 

I remember five years ago when I contemplated building the '59 Chevy and I faced the same thing. The kit roof contours just were not right to me, and I had to decide either fix what was there, or replace the whole roof with something better. 

You know the rest of the story!

And I have to admit, until you pointed out the differences, I'm not sure I would have noticed 'cept to say that something about the original '58 was not quite "right". The current reissue of the '57 Ford to my eyes is not quite correct to me either------especially in the shape of the A pillar dogleg. Rest assured if I ever get to building that one, I'm certainly fixing it!

Keep up the fantastic work, and thanks for the update!

[John Goschke]

Thanks, Bill! 

Yep, you're right, rooflines and, I'd add, window shapes and proportions are critical to a good likeness in scale. All the iterations in 1/25 of this roofline have issues, including this '58, AMT's Trophy series '57 Fairlane 500, and the original annual '58 Edsel and the new-tool '58 Edsel.

[ChrisBcritter]

Oh, you're raising the bar for me...

Now are you using the kit glass or a vacuform replacement? I've been looking at mine to do the same thing, but all I have is the kit glass and I'm worried about it not fitting (I already checked the Trophy Series '57 windshield and it doesn't fit either).

[Super28]

WOW! Great job going there! Love it

[bisc63]

Agree that this roof was off, but your changes have yielded GREAT improvements, and I applaud your sticking with this project; it will be worth it!

[doggie427]

Wow. Amazing perseverance to get the right shape on that roof.

????

[John Goschke]

Oh, you're raising the bar for me...

Now are you using the kit glass or a vacuform replacement? I've been looking at mine to do the same thing, but all I have is the kit glass and I'm worried about it not fitting (I already checked the Trophy Series '57 windshield and it doesn't fit either).

Thanks, Chris! But just because I'm nuts doesn't mean you have to be!  My usual regime is to use the kit glass though I'll probably wind up using clear packaging plastic ("PETE”) here. The windshield in these cars wasn't a compound curved piece, in other words there is no top-to-bottom curve, so all that's needed is a flat piece cut to shape and bent around to fit in the opening. I think the rear window may have had a slight top-bottom curve, but it doesn't appear so in the profile shot of the real '58 posted above, so again a flat piece cut and bent to shape is sufficient. No vacuform needed!

WOW! Great job going there! Love it

Thanks, Terry!

Agree that this roof was off, but your changes have yielded GREAT improvements, and I applaud your sticking with this project; it will be worth it!

Thanks, Rusty!  I feel like it's been worth it. Particularly the personal victory over the typical impulse to park it and work on something else.

Wow. Amazing perseverance to get the right shape on that roof.

????

Thanks, Wayne! Having owned two of the real cars I really wanted, as much as possible, to capture the look of of the original.

[peekay]

My solution to such accuracy problems is nearly always the "work on something else" method.

But great to watch someone with your skills persevere and overcome.

 

[John Goschke]

My solution to such accuracy problems is nearly always the "work on something else" method.

But great to watch someone with your skills persevere and overcome.

 

Thanks, Peter!  With 20+ projects in various stages of completion, I'm trying to get away from the "work on something else" and, especially, the "start a new project" thing.

[DrKerry]

Lookin good!!!!!!!!!!

[ChrisBcritter]

Got a 404 error after writing a long post. So anyway, last night I went down to work on my '58 (already added the cowl vent from the '57 - after separating the '57's wipers and putting them aside for later) and did the front fender surgery. Then I started work on the windshield opening, and it looks like there's no problem with the glass fit - probably since I'm using a convertible windshield. Just might be able to fudge this enough to look OK. You guys are rubbing off on me...

Fun fact: The window opening on the passenger side slopes down towards the windshield, making that vent window slightly shorter.

Edited August 11, 2017 by ChrisBcritter

[espo]

I have enjoyed watching how you have overcome all of the inaccuracies of the body moldings. Your techniques can be used on so many other kits to correct body molding issues.   

[John Goschke]

Got a 404 error after writing a long post. So anyway, last night I went down to work on my '58 (already added the cowl vent from the '57 - after separating the '57's wipers and putting them aside for later) and did the front fender surgery. Then I started work on the windshield opening, and it looks like there's no problem with the glass fit - probably since I'm using a convertible windshield. Just might be able to fudge this enough to look OK. You guys are rubbing off on me...

Fun fact: The window opening on the passenger side slopes down towards the windshield, making that vent window slightly shorter.

Yep, Chris, I discovered that, too! It's never safe to assume that one side of these old kits is going to match the other!

[John Goschke]

I have enjoyed watching how you have overcome all of the inaccuracies of the body moldings. Your techniques can be used on so many other kits to correct body molding issues.   

Thanks, David!  I hope that even if someone doesn't care about '58 Fords (How could that be?!), they can apply the same techniques to their Chevelle or whatever.

[espo]

Thanks, David!  I hope that even if someone doesn't care about '58 Fords (How could that be?!), they can apply the same techniques to their Chevelle or whatever.

I'm more of a '57 person myself having owned two , one of witch I had three times. Never thought much of the '58 tail lights and that is why I liked what you did on this. I used to a lesser degree some of what you were showing on the moldings on a personal project last year. I had a new '67 El Camino that I drove until I bought a '74 C-10. I grafted the front end off the Revell '67 Chevelle to the '66 El Camino and created the correct tail lights. I used Plastruct to make the body moldings on the body sides. The results was a very accurate looking model of my El Camino.