1955 Ford T-Bird

[MrObsessive]

Why this car has been ignored as a kit is beyond head scratching, and the 3D models I've seen of this car have been-----less than desirable.

So, even though I built one of these years ago from a Monogram '56, I decided to jump in and create a 3D file of this car. I got some very good orthographic pics of the car, and then there's of course my own model I can look at to straighten out certain details.

Some pics of the WIP, and I'd like to eventually format this to print, run it, and see how it compares to the one I did some 25 years ago. This is scaled to 1/24 BTW, so I can use the Revell kit as a donor.

Thanks for looking!

[LennyB]

It is odd that the 55 has always been overlooked.  Especially since the differences are so minor you would have thought someone like AMT would have put out a 55/56 kit like they did with the 39/40 Ford inaccuracies and all.  The biggest difference between the two is the switch from 6 to 12 volts.  

[Rob Hall]

8 minutes ago, LennyB said:

It is odd that the 55 has always been overlooked.  Especially since the differences are so minor you would have thought someone like AMT would have put out a 55/56 kit like they did with the 39/40 Ford inaccuracies and all.  The biggest difference between the two is the switch from 6 to 12 volts.  

Cosmetically the big difference is the rear bumper w/ continental kit and porthole roof on the '56 and absence of those on the '55.   I like this really clean '55:

[LennyB]

16 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

Cosmetically the big difference is the rear bumper w/ continental kit and porthole roof on the '56 and absence of those on the '55.   I like this really clean '55:

Yes, which are just bolt on items that are easy to swap out as some owners did. I have never been a fan of continental kits.  You also have the air vents on the fenders they added because the early ones ran hot. So it would be easy to model one kit to cover both years. 

[MrObsessive]

1 hour ago, LennyB said:

Yes, which are just bolt on items that are easy to swap out as some owners did. I have never been a fan of continental kits.  You also have the air vents on the fenders they added because the early ones ran hot. So it would be easy to model one kit to cover both years. 

There were some other changes, some that weren't readily seen from '55 to '56. The area just below the trunk was completely different due to the new exhaust for '56. Likewise, the rear part of the chassis/floorpan area was changed to suit the new exhaust.

The interior had a different seat pattern although slight, and the dashboard top is a bit different along with a new steering wheel.

I'm not a fan of Connie kits either, as some cars just don't look right with 'em on, and I did create a print file of the '57 a bit ago, just haven't printed it yet. I don't like AMT's '57 at all. It never looked right to me, especially the hardtop, and I swear that thing is smaller than 1/25 scale.

[espo]

An additional reference for the '55 Thunderbird can be found in the June 24 issue of Hemmings Classic Car magazine. The owner bought it as his first car over fifty years ago. Besides the great story of his ownership the car has won many awards from several judged national car shows. 

[LennyB]

8 hours ago, espo said:

An additional reference for the '55 Thunderbird can be found in the June 24 issue of Hemmings Classic Car magazine. The owner bought it as his first car over fifty years ago. Besides the great story of his ownership the car has won many awards from several judged national car shows. 

Haven’t read that one yet, I’m a few months behind reading my issues.  I’ll have to check it out?

[Kenmojr]

Superb modeling.

[MrObsessive]

A bit more work to the T-Bird done as I get near the finish line at this designing phase. Since I last posted, a number of items have been created. A soft top, grille shell, front and rear bumpers, and soon the taillights and lenses will be on deck to be done in Blender.

A number of pics...............probably within the next week or so this'll be all done, and then the next phase will be wall thickness established for print.

Thanks for looking!

[slusher]

Nice too see you working o something Bill..

[Slotto]

Outstanding work Bill