1956 Ford Victoria Hardtop

I first built this kit in the late 1960s. At the time I remembered it being a really nice kit and building it a second time only confirmed this. There is a good parts count with custom, stock, and drag versions, with only molded in exhaust on the chassis spoiling things. There are well-fitting opening doors, a nice Y-block V8, good engraving, and not too much flash. The pad printed whitewall tires and M&H slick are very nice. The stock wheel covers are well done, but the other wheel options are a letdown. The nice looking 12 spoke Radirs are too wide and the open wheels lack detail. I’ve been doing a lot of NASCAR builds lately and built mine as the Holman-Moody built Curtis Turner Sunliner, which shares the swoopy side trim with the Victoria. I glued the interior bucket to the body before sawing off the roof and then glued the right door shut. I lowered the ride height at the front by mounting the backing plates (parts 31) in such a way that it created a dropped spindle. The kit supplied open wheels lacked detail, so I replaced them with a better looking set from the AMT Jolly Green Gasser 1965 Galaxie. The kit windshield would likely be acceptable for a coupe, but the fit was not acceptable for a convertible. I replaced it with one made from thin, clear plastic harvested from some old packaging. The rest of the kit went together well. I built a tonneau cover from sheet styrene and straight pins, and used Bare Metal foil and aftermarket decals to complete the model. One thing that I missed in my build was the large gap between the hood and cowl. Some strip styrene added to the rear hood edge would have closed it up. This was a fun and satisfying build.