56 Chevy Bomber Class, 1966

[Brian Conn]

  Question: what did you use for paint on the exhaust manifolds?  ...I really like the look

[Maineboy]

I was quite pleased by how that looked in those pictures, pretty realistic looking for old chevy manifolds. It was Tamiya Flat Brown, XF-10. Took two coats with a brush to look like that. I have all other browns and red browns I have fooled around with but that seems the best. I have read a person who said it worked better if thinned out some.  Just happens to look about right when it flattens out real good.

MB

[Fordguy01]

This great stuff MB, you have really captured my attention.  Very interesting story to start out with and to keep everyone tuned in.  Thanks.

Al

[Maineboy]

Fordguy,   

Thanks for the good words. I love to talk and listen to others talking on my favorite subjects.....which don't include women as I have not done well in that regard. I would rather be assembling a killer 301 Chevy engine, about which I know more than I will ever know about women.

Trying to make a silly little joke there. Actually I like history, it's one of my favorite topics. When I was sneaking looks at this forum, long before I joined, I loved seeing the "how to" builds that took one from beginning to end of a nice model, especially when they incorporated some history of the real car in their stories. I have not really seen that anywhere else. In these days of no magazines to read anymore we are on our own. This is a nice little group of guys assembled here and I am glad to be among good talented people now where a guy can learn something every visit to STM.  I noticed in my early looks that many were sorry that there did not seem to be more people posting. I thought about that a lot, and most all the models that replicate cars that actually existed at one time, and realized that all of those cars had a history. Where we are lucky photographs survive, some good enough to build a replica from. And all those 1:1 cars had people that built them and people that crewed on them and people that not only drove them but others who competed against them. That is  a lot of stuff to write about and you know what?

Every bit of that had to do with cars that actually existed and had fame to one degree or another. And even if it only had "local" fame, it still was important to those areas of the country and the people who built them, drove em and cheered for, or against, them. I encourage others that want to do so to weave any history they have knowledge of into the stories and how they relate to certain cars. Just from reading STM for a few months I have learned quite a bit about racing cars and their drivers and builders, that I did not know existed.

So build on guys, and if you are creating a replica to honor some once great racing machine, tell us all you can about it's history. The background is just as important, and fun to talk about, as is the real car. Life is a learning curve and we never know what we will learn tomorrow......until we get there.

MB

[Fordguy01]

Good morning MB, more truer words have not been spoken about this wonderful sport we all covet so much.  BTW you're not the only one not having too much luck in the woman department, I'm not either and that's okay it allows more time for my street rod and modeling.  You guys have a great day.

Al

[Maineboy]

Fordguy, 

 Pretty sure I am not alone in that. But like you I find I can spend more time dreaming and building models and reading. Life is what we make it.

MB

[Maineboy]

Finally getting a bit of time to work on this. Lost one of my 2 dogs Monday and there is some sadness associated with that. Late fall usually sees me doing all kinds of outdoor chores to get ready for winter. I burn a lot of wood and there is quite a lot of work in that.  Got a bit of snow now and more weather tomorrow night. Should be used to it by now I guess.

I am interested in HO gauge model railroading and do a little work in that. I have not done much dry brushing but have tried a little bit by using finely ground pastel chalks to age railroad equipment. Never done anything like that on a car but nothing to be lost by giving it a shot I thought. This car was a street car in Maine for 10 yrs anyway and saw sand and salt on winter roads. So I wanted to make the model like it had indeed done just that if I could. Gloss would have been way out of reality for this car. I remember that it was anything but gloss underneath.  Sprayed the undercarriage with Rustoleum "hammered" satin black. When dry it looks a bit like rust pitting. Got some cheap Testor's craft paint at the hardware. Took a wide stiff bristled brush and went for it. 

Looks like this.
DSCF0008 (6) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

And this was what I used to do it.
DSCF0009 (7) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

For a guy who did not really know what he was doing I kind of surprised myself. Don't think it looks all that bad for a beginner in that tactic. Think I might get some more suitable brushes next time. But it sure brings out the details. Going to flat coat it to kill what shine is still there. But I consider it a start at least.

What do you guys think?   And advice for a guy wanting to learn from others how it could be made better?

MB

[TarheelRick]

That is a fine-looking chassis.  Just wondering if there might not be some rust through after that many years of road miles in salt. Still looks very presentable and gives me some ideas, when/if I can get back to my bench (basement is too cold to work in).

[Brian Conn]

What do you guys think?   And advice for a guy wanting to learn from others how it could be made better?

MB

So far so good
  The '55 Ford Custom that I finished a couple months ago was my absolute first time weathering.....going to pass along some advise that was given to me...
  Start subtle and gradually build up till you have your desired look... its a whole lot easier to add more than to try and  remove too much.

  Continuity is very important.....examples, you cant have the bottom 1/2 or 3rd  of the body dirtied up, damaged and the rest clean....the inner wheel wells/fenders cant be clean if your showing weathering anywhere near the tires/wheels, suspension etc. etc.

  Avoid the urge to use any gloss paint, unless your going for the effect that the body was recently clean and free of dirt, rust, etc. and now has been dirtied up, damaged, etc.  I laid down one of my best two tone paint jobs using gloss paints on the '55 Ford Custom only to weather it...got the effect that I was after (mid season, after a race.
  Use dull coat...as many coats as it takes to knock the shine down, especially on parts like the engine/tranny, suspension and fuel cell/tank if visible. You cant have a bright, shiny engine if the rest of the bay is weathered and visa versa.
  Earth tone chalks are a little more forgiving if you make a mistake verses paint.  Even with weathering use a Black wash on surfaces like door seams, between hood and trunk lid and the body.  I used a Black wash on the engine and trans. on the '55 Ford build.....a couple of coats really made a huge difference.

  Your frame and bottom floor pan looks like it needs to look for an asphalt car....a right balance of weathering and if you choose to add some small areas of stains from fluid leaks or exhaust carbon, it will only enhance what you have done to this point of the build.
             

[Maineboy]

Brian, Thanks much for that advice. I was just looking at the body a few minutes ago and thinking about where else I have to do this too in order to all match up. The photograph of the original car, back in 66 or so was taken only 2 or 3 days after the blue paint was applied, so that could look very shiny, until it got to the track anyway. I have read a bit about weathering model railroad equipment and your advice is what I have seen there. Start lightly and work it up. Just my little bit of experience here shows me that it does not take a lot to have a pretty good effect. I have my trusty can of flat clear and will knock that shine off just as soon as I get weather to paint it in. Can't paint in the house due to wife issues with alergies.

I am trying to make it look like I remember it as best as my memory serves me and am having fun learning knew stuff to that end. The original car was green and white so the inside of the door frames and other stuff may have to show some very worn out and dirty old green. The dash was entirely green except for the chrome part in the center.

This model thing can get tedious often but some times it can just be fun. I had some fun just trying to do something I had not done before. I try to keep the shine down on race cars, as you say. At Speedway 95 in Bangor every spring they have "parade night" when everyone struts their shiny new cars with the fancy paint jobs and all. That does not last too long after.

We had another #56 2 yrs after this one, that car was a 4 dr hardtop. I have a pic of that to put on here someday and you talk about battle damage . The entire front sheet metal is missing on that one. That will be hard to model as I don't know of anyone ever making a 4 dr hardtop model kit.

MB

[Maineboy]

Got up this morning and it was snowing some. Didn't want to go out and work or drive in it so thought it was a good day to work on this project. Worked on the body work mostly. Finally kind of mocked it up to see if things would fit OK. Found out the air cleaner is too high and can't put the hood on. Also think I will have to cut the sheetmetal in front of the radiator saddle mount in order to get access to the frame. We had a strong support to protect the radiator and it had braces going down to the frame in that area. We also had smaller bars that came up from that in order to support the front fenders and stuff. Trying to remember how we did something, over 50 yrs ago, is not easy. There is a lot more to this project than I thought but having fun with it, that's what matters I think.

DSCF0011 (7) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

DSCF0012 (7) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

MB

[Maineboy]

This is getting frustrating. Trying to build it as I remember it and ending up trying to get things too fine if you know what I mean. I am getting near the end. Get finish paint on the body, build the cage and do the lettering. Hopefully not too much longer, got other things I want to work on.

Underside
DSCF0004 by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

Body in primer
DSCF0009 ( by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr


Interior, not fancy at all
DSCF0008 (7) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

The cage is going to be the hardest part I think.

MB

[TLouis]

Lookin' great, love the back story, too!

[Maineboy]

Finally......I have reached the end of this project. I found that one of the things about trying to build a model of a car you actually had in full size can be exhausting as you try to replicate everything the way you remembered that it was.  So I reached a point where I decided I just had to let some of those things go. What mattered in the end was that I hope I captured the essence of the original.

First pic is the original 1:1  car, in the spring of 1966.

56chevy1 by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

Tried to get something similar to the angle of the original pic to this one of the model.

DSCF0004 (3) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

When you take the close up pics you see all the mistakes. Left out the seat belt. My mother did the bookkeeping for a local oil business. Behind their office was the lovely junkyard just full of nice stuff left over from WWII. The seat belt we had came out of an airplane of that era. The gas tank was rectangular and came out of some other museum piece.  Pipes for the cage were gathered up from wherever we found them. That windshield was a side window out of a 47 Chevy school bus, the first bus I ever rode, which had found it's way to the junkyard. Still love those kind of places today.The blue paint was a mix of several the local body shop had leftover in cans.....mixed all together. Think I came fairly close.  Left a lot of flashing on that rear window opening. Oh well. Sure not going to redo it now.

DSCF0001 (10) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

DSCF0002 ( by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

DSCF0008 (6) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

DSCF0009 ( by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

DSCF0010 (6) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

DSCF0011 (6) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

DSCF0013 (6) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

I think the most nerve wracking part was painting the numbers and the name. My hand was pretty shaky back in 1966, as you can tell I was not a sign painter. Never improved a bit in 56 yrs, but got it done anyway. Original car was green and white so got the interior of the model pretty good, even getting some blue overspray like the original as we didn't tape anything up then.

Just glad to have it behind me now. Next up is John Beauchamp's 60 Chevy. Got the motor painted yesterday so that one is underway.

MB

[TarheelRick]

Excellent build. Love the '56 Chevy, my first was a 150 3 on the tree, 6 cylinder.