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Post by Bernard Kron on Aug 19, 2010 8:45:53 GMT -5
Mild Custom? Full Custom? Factory Prototype? (More pictures below) The ’57 Thunderbird is one of several iconic 50’s American cars that I’ve wanted to customize from the perspective of cleaning up and simplifying the underlying design. Obviously heavily influenced by the Pininfarina Ferraris, I thought I’d do this one from that point of view. The car is lowered about 3” all around. I removed all the bumpers, fake vents, door handles and trim, straightened the accent line in front of the front door, and integrated the grill into the front end using brass mesh from K&S. The Lucas spots are from my parts box. I added a more aggressive and functional looking hood scoop from the AMT ’49 Ford kit. The rear pan is rolled and the taillights are cut down pieces from the AMT ’50 Ford kit. For a racing car keynote I used Halibrand 4-hole kidney bean mags of the type seen on the ’57 Reventlow Scarabs. I got them a couple of years ago from Replicas and Miniature of Maryland. They’re finished in Aluminum Plate Testors Metalizer and buffed out bright. But for a custom flavor I ran a set of white pinners from Modelhaus. Exterior paint is Duplicolor Orange Mist Metallic over a gold base for a Kandy Kopper effect sealed with Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic. The interior is done in Duplicolor Wimbledon White and Cayenne Red with Matte Aluminum BMF. Everything else is from the kit. Thanx for lookin’, B.
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murphy
Snaptite
"Glad to be here...hell, glad to be anywhere !"
Posts: 14
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Post by murphy on Aug 19, 2010 10:56:29 GMT -5
Well B, I gotta tellya, it works...it really works! From the mesh filled grille topped with spots to the abbreviated rear end treatment, I really like it. Your color choice with the white pinners makes the thing sparkle, and your faux Hot Rod magazine cover is the icing on the cupcake!
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Post by wyldemodelman on Aug 19, 2010 12:45:22 GMT -5
Really cool! I thought that was a real Mag cover.
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Post by Bernard Kron on Aug 20, 2010 8:34:11 GMT -5
Thanx guys! I'm glad you like it! Here's the back story that prompted the magazine cover. An HRM staffer stumbles on this car at Xmas time out in Palm Springs, being driven by a Ford exec on vacation, maybe the head of Styling, and snaps a few pics, then gets FoMoCo's permission to run this teaser article which somehow fails to name the owner. Maybe it got built in the Stroppe shop in SoCal using some prototype '57 fenders - pretty doubtful stuff but fun to think about... For those that may be curious, here's the original March 1956 Hot Rod Magazine cover: Not much to work with. Who would've imagined a cover feature on a showboat DOHC MG? Sportscars were hot about then, though. But I lucked out with the "Wringing Out the '56 Ford" headline! The added headlines are all from real articles inside.
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Post by wylee on Aug 22, 2010 6:55:07 GMT -5
you nailed it....................
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Post by flipatm on Aug 22, 2010 7:37:13 GMT -5
Congratulation for this built! I like the magazine idea.
flip
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Post by Bernard Kron on Aug 22, 2010 13:07:08 GMT -5
Thanx again for the kind words. They are greatly appreciated!
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Post by olskoolrodder on Aug 23, 2010 7:18:21 GMT -5
Fantastic replica!
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