'57 Ford Custom Police Car.

[ea0863]

Niko, wonderful job on your project! It's nice to see I'm not the only one that sets a project down for a few years and picks it up again later. Take it from a guy who has been a cop for 30 years though - your car will need a few dents and some empty McDonald's wrappers on the front seat to become 100% authentic  

[Dennis Lacy]

Welcome back!

[David G.]

It's nice to see you back on the boards Niko.

Nice job on the ejector pin marks and roof polish. I hope that the body polishes out as nicely for you.

David G.

[W-409]

Thanks guys for the kinds words, they are appreciated!

David, yep, my spray can paint jobs always end up having some orange peel to polish. I want to move on to airbrush in the near future to make the paint jobs a bit better, and have a bit less orange peel to polish. Plus that then I would have a bigger selection of paint colors. Just need to figure out a good clear coat for airbrushing...

Gary, you're right that the casting marks are one of those small things that improve the overall look of a model a lot.

 

 

The body is now polished and ready for BMF. It was quite a lot of work because of the tricky body shapes especially in the quarter panel/tail fin area. But I think it turned out pretty good, especially considering how hard the black color is to get right.

 

The radiator wall had some casting marks on the front side as well. I'm not sure how well they can be seen in the finished model, but I got rid of them before painting anyway.

 

 

[David G.]

Excellent work on the polish Niko!

I like the checkered cloth too.

David G.

[Slotto]

Great finish on the body

[W-409]

Thanks David and Steve!

Today I got the BMF done on the body. This being the base model, Ford Custom, there wasn't that many chrome trim to foil. Not my best work, but on the other hand I've also done worse. Anyway it looks decent for me not having dealt with BMF for a couple of years. Also the underside of the body was painted with flat black, except for the headliner which I painted grey.

 

Air cleaner was glued together from two halves. The seam between them had to be smoothed out with putty before painting...

 

Now I've prepped and painted almost all small parts that are still not installed. Windshield and rear window are glued to the body and drying. Tomorrow I hope I can start the final assembly.

 

[W-409]

This is getting really close to being finished. Today I got the radiator and some small parts installed in the engine bay, added a few wires and hoses and then it was time to install the body on the chassis. Now it's only the exterior chrome parts and some small detailing in the exterior and engine bay, then I guess I will call it done.

 

[David G.]

Sharp work on the foil Niko!

Great looking detail in the engine bay too!

David G.

[W-409]

Thanks David!

Well this thing is pretty much finished. Tomorrow it'll go to a local Model Car Show over the Easter and after that I will take some photos of it and post them in Under Glass. Thanks to everyone who has been following this project and posting comments, I really appreciate it.

See you in Under Glass section next week.

[David G.]

Nicely Done Niko!

I'll look for it in the Under Glass section.

David G.

[W-409]

Thanx David!

Today I got around shooting pictures of this thing so here is a link to the Under Glass section.

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/180668-57-ford-custom-police-car/