Dave Darby Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 (edited) Finally finished this one, after 41 days on the workbench. Paint is Testors One Coat White Lightning Pearl. Lucas "Flame Thrower" headlights from the AMT 55 Nomad kit. Custom Lenses from the 53 Studebaker kit. Scratchbuilt steering column and turn signal lever. Shifter made from a straight pin. Bucket seats from the AMT 53 Corvette. Vertex magneto from the 57 chevy kit, Plug wires have correct firing order. Scratch built fuel log and gas line. License plate made in Photoshop that says "Cristi" - my wife's name. And yes, she is quite pleased with her belated Christmas present. Off the bench and on the shelf! Since I'm in here, a few new bonus photos... Here is a link to the build process... http://www.modelcars...o=new_post&f=18 Edited June 22, 2021 by Dave Darby Broken image links Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 VERY cool Thunderbird Custom. That paintjob is great, and body modifications look good. Especially I like that grille. Engine is really nice too, and detailing is great all over. Thanks for sharing this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I like this one a lot. Very classy in that white color. Goes to show what great results you can achieve with the early T-birds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 a very classy bird indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Teresi Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Dave......beautiful show piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modlbldr Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Dave- It turned out beautiful. I'm sure your wife will love it. (If I'm not mistaken you said you built it on her request). I really love the colors and the custom touches. BTW- Did you still decide to mail that stock seat? Later- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Kren Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 great job!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Goschke Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Beautiful job, Dave! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lownslow Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 nice i dig mild custom bird gonna have to look into one, is this the AMT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Smith Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Really nice, clean build. Very attractive car. Nice job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Clean Build ! ! ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Models by Bear Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Very nice Classy and clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixties Sam Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 An elegant looking custom - love it! Just enough customizing, not overdone. The white with red interior looks good! Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62rebel Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 great work; i wish i'd snagged one or more of these kits when they were widely available, but i was unsure if they were like the '57 promo type kit.... lots of neat touches and very clean work. well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfjunke Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Very nice clean work. Beautiful mild custom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 That is a super nice looking Thunderbird Dave! I really like all of the subtle custom touches you've done and the paint suits it perfect. Great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainAhab Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 nice job. Head lights look right at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominik Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 What a beautiful T-Bird! Clean and very nice built Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathskull59 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 a very nice t bird kustom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darin Bastedo Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 there is only one small detail I would change... it's location. This is a beautiful model. I love the engine, and the subtle re-styling. too often people go too far and lose the essence that makes the original car so cool. Your mods took the original styling one step further and made it your own. Bravo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave B Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 That looks trick Dave, beautiful build Dave B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwit Pushin Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Awesome job!! Love that it's not an over-the-top custom, but rather has a very subtle, yet very different look. A bit of European styling as well. Nicely done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Darby Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 Thanks for all the great comments, guys. This is the first all new model I've done in quite a few years. It was a labor of love, and Cristi and I had fun exploring all the options as we were 'designing' it. Cristi wanted it pearl white, with a red interior, and she wanted a custom grille. In many ways, this build actually brought us closer together, and she got to see firsthand what it takes for us guys to do something like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscool Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 I keep going back and looking at this one again and again. It's perfect in concept and execution. gus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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