Monogram's 1955 Lincoln Futura Concept Car: Finished

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

The Lincoln Futura Concept Car by Monogram. This is a 1:25 scale model of the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car. Though not completely accurate and a little oversimplified it does have the advantage of being the most readily available representation. And it is a good representation.

This kit turned out to be quite a chore to build. It's a simple kit but the multipiece body and age of the molds created numerous challenges. For those who are interested in all the gory details, here is a link to the build thread I did.

 

That being said... On with the show!

After more than six months and almost 52 hours, The Lincoln Futura Concept car is done!

 

 

One of the most unique and recognizable automobiles in the world.

 

 

This car is the source vehicle for the George Barris Batmobile from the 1960's TV show.

 

 

I know that the original car was pearl white. The scales of thousands of fish were ground up to make the paint. Quite an extravagance if you ask me. I'm also aware that the pale green color often associated with this car is due to an error in how some of the photos were rendered.

But still, in my opinion the green is a much better color for this car. Which is why I opted to use Tamiya TS-60 Pearl Green.

 

That's all for this round. I like to upload photos in small blocks of no more than 5 or 6 at a time. Any more than that just seems like too much all at once.

As always, thanks for taking a look and please feel free to post any comments or questions you may have.

David G.

Edited November 5, 2024 by David G.
typo

[Mike 1017]

I LUV IT.

[Falcon Ranchero]

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE concept cars wow. The Space Ship on wheels.

[ncbuckeye67]

That's beautiful! I happen to love that Tamiya green pearl.

[Ragtop Man]

That is amazing looking - to get an incredible build out of a relatively crude kit. Nice work, and I agree 100% on the paint color! 

Was this mostly box stock, or did you have a lot of scratchbuilding work to get to this point? 

[Phildaupho]

Great to see. Very nice. Well built.

[Hi-Po]

Knowing what you started with, that turned out really nice and the color choice really sets it off!

[lordairgtar]

This is awesome. You sent me down the rabbit hole where I had to  read the entire build post. Great work trying to correct it's flaws. Awesome work. The figs remind me of Ricky and Lucy, or maybe Debbie Reynolds and Spencer Tracy from the movie with the red version.

Edited November 5, 2024 by lordairgtar

[bh1701]

David,

That turned out really well! I was following your WIP thread, and all of the effort you put into this kit was well worth it!

Bart

 

[70 Sting]

You’ve done an excellent job on this build. ?

[David G.]

20 hours ago, Mike 1017 said:

I LUV IT.

Thank you Michael.

 

19 hours ago, Falcon Ranchero said:

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE concept cars wow. The Space Ship on wheels.

One of my favorites too, thanks Nathan.

 

19 hours ago, ncbuckeye67 said:

That's beautiful! I happen to love that Tamiya green pearl.

Thank you Jeff, it is a good looking color, isn't it?

 

19 hours ago, Ragtop Man said:

That is amazing looking - to get an incredible build out of a relatively crude kit. Nice work, and I agree 100% on the paint color! 

Was this mostly box stock, or did you have a lot of scratchbuilding work to get to this point? 

Thank you Bob. I didn't have to do much scratch building but there were a lot of alignment and casting problems that I had to correct. And... the sink marks!  ?  This thing had almost as many dimples as a golf ball!

Check out the build thread if you get a chance.

 

18 hours ago, Phildaupho said:

Great to see. Very nice. Well built.

Thank you very much Phil.

 

17 hours ago, Hi-Po said:

Knowing what you started with, that turned out really nice and the color choice really sets it off!

Thank you Terry, I'm glad I went with that color too.

 

12 hours ago, lordairgtar said:

This is awesome. You sent me down the rabbit hole where I had to  read the entire build post. Great work trying to correct it's flaws. Awesome work. The figs remind me of Ricky and Lucy, or maybe Debbie Reynolds and Spencer Tracy from the movie with the red version.

Thank you Gregory, I'm glad you liked the build thread. Yeah, I could definitely see Ricky and Lucy in those figures!  

 

12 hours ago, bh1701 said:

David,

That turned out really well! I was following your WIP thread, and all of the effort you put into this kit was well worth it!

Bart

 

Thank you most kindly Bart.

 

5 minutes ago, 70 Sting said:

You’ve done an excellent job on this build. ?

Thank you Harry, I appreciate that.

 

Thanks again to you all, I have more photos coming soon.

David G.

 

[espo]

Beautiful looking paint finish and a agree with you on the green color being the best looking. With the smooth body lines, you would never realize all that had to be done to get them that way.  Great looking body and window trim. 

[Rattlecan Dan]

That color looks great on this way ahead of its time concept car. Nice job.

[David G.]

15 hours ago, espo said:

Beautiful looking paint finish and a agree with you on the green color being the best looking. With the smooth body lines, you would never realize all that had to be done to get them that way.  Great looking body and window trim. 

Thank you most kindly David.

 

8 hours ago, Rattlecan Dan said:

That color looks great on this way ahead of its time concept car. Nice job.

Thank you Donato. I always thought of this car's design as outside of its time rather than ahead of its time; yet still a reflection if its time.  Sort of a Contemporary Retro-Future style.

Any wat you looks at, it's beautiful and unique. Which is why I wanted one in my collection.

Thanks again,

=D-

[Jonathan]

Absolutely beautiful work on this ancient kit!  And I agree, the green is perfect. 

[Bullybeef]

I enjoyed the build thread immensely, the finished product lived up to the care and attention to detail. 

[ZIL 111V]

WOW! stunning, very well done for such an old basic curbside Revell 50s kit. Marvelous!

[PappyD340]

Super nice build, well done!

[Kah puts]

You’re paint work is deep and luscious, you’re execution of this historic and challenging kit is true and gorgeous, it brings a smile to my face, thank you ?

[ChrisR]

Looks great.

[David G.]

19 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Absolutely beautiful work on this ancient kit!  And I agree, the green is perfect. 

Thank you Jonathan.

 

18 hours ago, Bullybeef said:

I enjoyed the build thread immensely, the finished product lived up to the care and attention to detail. 

Thanks Bil, I appreciate your comment and your following the WIP.

 

14 hours ago, ZIL 111V said:

WOW! stunning, very well done for such an old basic curbside Revell 50s kit. Marvelous!

Thank you most kindly @ZIL 111V

 

12 hours ago, PappyD340 said:

Super nice build, well done!

Thank you Larry.

 

8 hours ago, Kah puts said:

You’re paint work is deep and luscious, you’re execution of this historic and challenging kit is true and gorgeous, it brings a smile to my face, thank you ?

I'm glad you like it Glen, thanks for letting me know.

 

3 hours ago, ChrisR said:

Looks great.

Thanks Chris.

David G.

[TooOld]

Not the easiest kit to assemble and you've done an excellent job !  I agree with your choice of color .

[David G.]

16 hours ago, TooOld said:

Not the easiest kit to assemble and you've done an excellent job !  I agree with your choice of color .

Thank you kindly Bob.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Here's the next set of photos for the Futura. 

One of the many minor modifications or corrections I made was to place vertical dividers into the exhaust ports in the rear bumper. For whatever reason Monogram didn't include them in the original bumper casting.

 

 

The tail lights needed extensive filing to reduce their size and thickness so they would fit into the openings in the tail fins.

 

 

The body side moldings and bumpers on this car were a nightmare! I ended up using BMF on the side strips after smoothing them out as much as I could.

 

 

The multipiece body was a celebration of sink-marks. Every panel had multiple examples and needed much filling and smoothing.

 

As always, thanks for taking a look and please feel free to post any comments or questions you may have.

David G.

[XYHARRY]

Great job on this truly iconic concept, in more ways than one. You need to do the Barris Batmobile next as those two models next to each other would look fantastic. Really well done David. 

Cheers, 

David M.??