1965 Ford Galaxie 500 XL

[ModelcarJR]

I started this one yesterday, prepping the body and adding a coat of primer. Its gonna rain starting tomorrow and the weather may be bad through the weekend. So while I am completing work on the Caddy, I wanted to get a body painted so I could at least rub it out and foil it while the weather is bad. So I thought I would have a vinyl top and started on it this morning. The square corners at the back made the tape method a little more difficult. See the issue? 

So I got the top on and painted it black before lunch. After lunch and a nap, I taped off the top and foiled the Ford lettering and small Galaxie 500 XL lettering on the front fenders. So now its about 4.30 PM and I need to get paint on it before I lose daylight. So I painted two coats of Tamiya Maroon and 1 coat of clear finishing about 5:15 PM. So here's the results. Finish is pretty smooth and should rub out well. I'll probably give the top a light coat of clear later. I removed the paint from the foiled lettering with some lacquer thinner and small Tamiya cotton swabs. Thanks for looking! 

[StevenGuthmiller]

Looking good so far John, but if I may make a suggestion for future projects?

 

Whether using tape for the top or some other method, you might want to more closely investigate the placement of the top seams.

As a general rule, the seams should be placed much further "outboard" than what you have done here.

In most cases, the seams are placed within a few inches of the corners of the glass, front and rear.

 

Not meaning to be critical, but I find it very useful throughout the course of my builds to receive a bit of constructive criticism or suggestions.

I don't know everything, (far from it) so I am always open to any help that others can offer for my projects.

 

I hope I haven't stepped on any toes here.

If so, forgive me.

 

I wasn't able to find any clear photos of the seams on the '65, but these from a '66 would have been placed in roughly the same vicinity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

 

 

[Matt87]

Looks good. Nice paint job. I have always liked these Galaxies.

[bobss396]

My aunt had a maroon '65 LTD 4-door, an awesome car. I forget if the top was black or a darker maroon. The car later got rear-ended and was destroyed, hit so hard that the back doors popped open and had to be torched off so it could be stored before disposal.

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Steve and Matt! I appreciate your comments!  Steve, your comment is very well received. I, too, am always open to constructive criticism.  My method is always the product of math when it comes to the vinyl top. The top is 2 1/4" wide so I first went with 3/4" wide across the top. That didn't look right so I then measured 5/8", 1 inch, 5/8" which made the center actually 1 1/8" so that I could have 1/16" overlap for the seam on each side. That's a lot of math at 7 AM while I am still drinking coffee trying to wake up. I now see I should have gone with 3/8", 1 1/2" (1 5/8"), and 3/8". That would have looked better, the 2" tape would still work widthwise, and it would have probably worked better with the square corners (less stretching). So in the future, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the comment, Steve!

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Bob! I just saw your comments as I was answering the other comments! I appreciate your comment!  Maroon was an exterior color for 1965. 

[doorsovdoon]

These '65 Galaxies are nice kits. Lovely colour and good job on the roof. 

[ewetwo]

looking good.

[espo]

Like the color combination. What color are you going to have on the interior? 

[bobss396]

Someone in my club uses black masking tape, he said he has had the roll forever. Maybe Ace Hardware has it? I'll have to look,

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Gareth, David, and David! I appreciate your comments!  David, I am going with a black and white interior. 

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Bob.  I have a roll of 1" black masking tape but that won't work for vinyl tops. It has to be two inch tape. I haven't seen any in black but it might be out there somewhere. 

[slusher]

Beautiful color choices for your 65 John!

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Carl! I appreciate your comments! 

I started rubbing out the body and noticed that I was exposing too many edges and the overall appearance of the paint was a bit fuzzy or grayish. Maybe it was too humid when I applied the clear and it blushed. Maybe I didn't get enough paint on it either. So I needed to give it another coat of paint and clear. But first, I had to make a french fry tray hat to cover the vinyl top. You remember the french fry trays that they used to use at the A&W Root Beer stands and other car hop drive-ins. You can't find them today and neither the Sonic drive-ins or the Dairy Queens use them today. I built one but it is probably smaller than an actual french fry tray but it will serve the purpose.

Today, when the humidity was below 40% ( I haven't seen that in a long time) I gave it another wet coat of paint, removed the paint from the chrome foiled letters, and then gave it two coats of clear.  I also added a couple of passes of clear to the top after removing my french fry try hat for the top. Now, I thin I can work with this body to rub it out properly and get some foil on it. And now I have a hat for the next model that has a vinyl top or a different color on the top! Thanks for looking! ?

[ModelcarJR]

This one is not working out.  I have just finished three with on problems and I try to paint the same way every time. But it seems that about 1 in 4 just don't work out. The finish is just lumpy in places and the edges are still being exposed too easily. So this one is in the oven cleaner to be continued later. ?

[mrmike]

Sorry to hear of your problems with this build.  Set it aside and think on it for a little bit and then get back to it.  BTW, I have a similar kit of the '65 Galaxie to build, but that will come about much later.

[slusher]

I can’t speak for anyone else but I have never been able to go back and repai on the body after a small period of time. I just never had any luck Lacquer or enamel. Sorry about your bad luck John.

Edited December 10, 2023 by slusher
Typo

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, MrMike and Carl! I appreciate your comments! 

Well, Carl, I normally don't have a problem removing paint and repainting but this one is testing me. I don't know what was wrong with that Tamiya Maroon paint (and I never have any luck with Maroon paint) but not only did it not go on well but it has been almost impossible to get off. I think I it in multiple oven cleaner baths for at least 10 days. Finally, I had to pick and sand off some of the paint. But I think I am close now. Its in primer and I have worked through a couple of rough spots. The Galaxie 500 XL scripts, especially on the right side have lost some definition. But I will this one a shot and this time I am going to use the last of a can of Dupli-Color Dark Toreador Metallic. I am also going to skip the vinyl top this time so that I can get this painted tomorrow before it starts raining through Christmas. Thanks for looking! ?

 

[slusher]

Sometimes it’s tough to strip paint. I use super clean and have used easy lift off from Testors..

[Maindrian Pace]

Tamiya is synthetic lacquer, use denatured alcohol to strip it. Super Clean and oven cleaner generally don't work well on it.

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Mike and Carl! I appreciate your comments!  I'll try denatured alcohol next time. Oven Cleaner has always worked in the past but not this time. 

[TransAmMike]

Well John looks like it cleaned up nicely and the primer looks good.  Keep her rollin'?

[Zippi]

I can't tell you how many times I've been in your spot and it seemed to work out in the end.  You'll get it worked out.

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Mike and Bob! I appreciate your comments! 

Well, in the beginning of the end, I think it turned out pretty well! Although the humidity didn't get below 60 today, I managed to get two coats of Dupli-Color Dark Toreador Metallic and two coats of Krylon Clear Lacquer on it today and it looks pretty good. I don't know what it is about this color but it always turns out nice. And I have had two 1st places and one 2nd place with cars painted this color in two different contests. The Galaxie 500 XL lettering on the right side didn't turn out too good, as I suspected, but the rest came through pretty well.  The left side just needs a touch of lacquer thinner re-applied as the clear ran some of the paint over the lettering.  So I will rub it out tomorrow and see where it goes from here. At least I have something to work on while its raining for the next few days. Thanks for looking! ?

[espo]

Paint color and finish look great. Only one person's opinion but consider leaving the roof to match the body.