Beverly Hills "Cruiser"

sequoiaranger · March 16, 2012, 09:20:19 AM

Though I am working on an aircraft project currently (Me-2262), the next whiff in the pipeline is this HO (1/87) "cruiser". We start with the stylish, 1956 Ford Thunderbird convertible (pardon the pixelated photo--it came from a Walther's catalog---gotta stand back a ways to look at it!):

And cut-and-stretch it to this "limo":

The new "limo" is chauffer-driven, and the chauffer has a single-place "cockpit", and the otherwise "passenger" side of the front seat is now plated over with a refrigerated compartment for picnic supplies and drinks! Great for cruising from Beverly Hills to Santa Monica beaches, or out to Palm Springs for soirees with the Hollywood set.

sequoiaranger · April 22, 2012, 08:32:12 AM

First of all, these little HO-scale T-birds are CHARMING!! I was truly AMAZED at the detailed *PAINTING*, not decal, for the "chrome" insignia and writing. The paint is as thin as the sharp end of a pin (we are talking 1/87 scale here!!) and has defined edges and the proper T-Bird style. Lookey here!:

Then here is the "Thunderbird" emblem on the "bonnet"--it's only 4 mm wingtip-to-wingtip! You can see the "Thunderbird" writing as OUTLINED in the silver paint! WOW!

I was *HOPING* they were decals I could purchase "aftermarket" from the company to use on my "cruiser", but...! The cruiser will need to be painted, so these marvelous details will be lost. But, here is a mock-up of the stretched-limo cruiser concept I had in mind. The driver's cupola, being smaller than the passenger area, has to have its own dashboard, seat, and windshield cut down to size. I took .020 sheet to fill in the "passenger" side of the driver's cupola. I will make a Vac-U-Form copy of the finished windshield so it won't have a "crack" in it. HO scale is so small, any "cracks" are canyons. I will PSR the rest of the concoction to smooth out joints and my additions. But...coming along!!

sequoiaranger · April 27, 2012, 01:38:26 PM

Here is my "cruiser" with some putty obscuring the fusion, and the interiors placed into place so you get the idea:

sequoiaranger · June 01, 2012, 02:04:59 PM

Here's my T-Bird Convertible Stretch Limo. I started with three of these blue original T-birds and hacked them up. I have crudely photoshopped some "chopped out parts" that I had used for the stretch version. Anyone for a cruise to Rodeo Drive? That's a beverage-cooler compartment beside the driver's cupola.

I'm afraid I have overdone the "panel lines". I had been struck by how prominent those black seams are in pictures of real T-birds (below), and hoped to get some "definition", but they seem so stark on my model.

Go4fun · June 01, 2012, 03:52:05 PM

If you use a white primer and do the lines with a fine liner ink marker then paint white over that it turns out as grey lines. Those lines are only black on black cars. They are darker colors of the paint job elsewise.

Joe C-P · June 01, 2012, 08:11:56 PM

I do like the result.

You might try a fine-line pencil instead of ink. Proper contrast and no bleeding, and a shot of clear-coat keeps it in place.

raafif · June 01, 2012, 08:14:03 PM

stretch T-Bird ?? wow great idea

I'd love to see more of this sort of thing !

sequoiaranger · June 02, 2012, 08:48:59 AM

JoeP, Raafif, Go4fun,

Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, in retrospect a fine pencil would have been better. I *MAY* just disassemble it and give it an overcoat of white (plus gloss coats) to subdue the lines, but many of the parts are glued (even super-glued), so I may not. I just HATE IT when the results don't match the effort

McColm · June 03, 2012, 03:38:35 AM

Wow!!

Sticky Fingers · June 03, 2012, 04:49:20 AM

How about just painting over the panellines only and quickly wiping the exces away? You should be left with paint only in the panellines and thus subdue them. No removal of glued parts requiered. Try it out, might work, 'specialy over a glosscoat.
Nice stretch otherwise!

sequoiaranger · June 03, 2012, 10:39:16 AM

>How about just painting over the panellines only and quickly wiping the exces away? You should be left with paint only in the panellines and thus subdue them. No removal of glued parts requiered. Try it out, might work, 'specialy over a glosscoat.<

That was indeed my first thought. I just tried it in a few places, and like the result (no pics yet). The thin white paint "grayed" the lines without obscuring them. Thanks.

>Nice stretch otherwise!<

*MUCH* better than what Ford did to the the Thunderbird in '58 to accommodate more passengers!

I am a little surprised that I have never seen something similar, what with all the "car guys" out here in SoCal, and the burgeoning "nostalgia limo" market.

sequoiaranger · June 03, 2012, 02:34:44 PM

Overpainting with white took the dark "edge" off the panel lines. I still am not 100% pleased with the results (not a consistent hue for the panel lines), but they are better than before:

Go4fun · June 03, 2012, 03:47:07 PM

It looks really good. But what happened to the blue one in the background?

sequoiaranger · June 03, 2012, 05:01:24 PM

>It looks really good. But what happened to the blue one in the background?<

The local panelbeaters got her! I needed some "sections" to help with the lines of the limo--I had three donor kits of blue T-birds, and ended up using pieces of all of them for the result! It's the same car as in reply #3--I just photoshopped the gaps out!