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Second Line.

The New Vicky Model

red vicky art (25K)

The new version of the Club Vicky will, hopefully, exhibit substantially improved skills and craftsmanship to distinguish it from the original 1978 model. In fact, I hope to push the boundaries of scale vehicle construction as far as possible based on skill sets I�ve developed in the last 30 or so years. Specifically, there will be substantial hammered brass panels (doors/hood/trunk panels) and parts (frame, suspension components), a lot of photoetched parts created by Bob Wick and produced by Fred Hultberg, many machined parts produced by a master hobby machinist, and decals sourced, hopefully, from the artistic mysterium of Mark D. Jones.

This new Club Vicky project will be aided by a lot of comparisons between my real Vicky, and the AMT kit upon which this project will be based, in part

MEASUREMENTS1 (53K)
as well as actual measurements taken of details of my car. My father, Dean L. Gustavson, FAIA, has been a great aid to me in taking measurements. DLG MEASUREMENTS (30K)

It�s important to note here that my new Vicky project won�t be a replica of my 1:1 Club Victoria. Rather, my car will be used as a resource for mechanical and related detailing. The new Vicky project will represent what might have been the car I would have ordered in back in the day, painted in a preferable scheme and outfitted with mechanical equipment that I would have selected back then. First, the car will be painted Flame Red and Colonial White, with a red and white interior.

COLOR -- FIRST PAGE (27K) IMAGE014 (31K)

Second, rather than the prosaic 292 2-V installed in my car, I�ll build the supercharged 312 V8 fitted to the column-mounted, factory three-speed with the optional overdrive. While building this engine will be quite an effort, there�s plenty of research available for both the T-Bird and Ford McCullough superchargers (the supercharger was mounted on different sides of the engine in both of these cars).

I0009947F (29K)IMAGE026 (45K)

I will also feature a few options, like the radio, the rear package tray speaker, REAR WINDOW SPEAKER (26K) heater, and maybe the �hockey stick� moldings that were mounted to the bottom of the front fenders and along the rocker moldings. ROCKER MOLDING (18K) I will probably avoid the vulgar temptation to install the very rare, operational spotlights mounted to the front fenders with the handle protruding inside the car.SPOTLIGHT (31K) BACKUP LIGHTS (7K)REAR DECK ANTENNA (10K)

However, I will install backup lights and the rear deck antenna to mimic the first Vicky model.

Here are a few of the general details and features I plan to present in this model which, again, will be based upon the original 1962 kit:

 

 

 

  1. Cast in brass the plastic frame based on the part from the AMT �58 Edsel (which is basically essentially correct for the �57 Ford, with modifications correcting vehicle-specific differences);
  2. Remove the front clip, doors, and trunk from the vintage AMT body;
  3. Hammer the doors in .020 brass, and create brass hinges mimicking the 1:1 versions;
  4. Hammer the trunk in .020 brass, create correct hinges, and build the torsion bar trunk hinge setup;
  5. Build the door jambs from brass and bond the same to the plastic body. This will permit a stable door opening shape as well as permitting the installation of a reliable latching system;
  6. Build a brass bulkhead and firewall, and bond that assembly to the inner cowl, to which the brass door hinges will be bolted;
  7. Correct the basic floor pan from the 1958 AMT Edsel kit (again, modified as required) and install it into the body once the headliner is built and painted (and masked);
  8. Retain the services of Bob Wick (artist) and Fred Hultberg (photo cutter) to create a wide array of single and double-cut photoetch items;
  9. Retain the services of a master machinist to create a series of parts (link to machined parts list to be supplied) essential to a high-caliber model;
  10. Retain the services of Mark D. Jones to create the decals for this project; (link to decal parts list � to be supplied)
  11. Create the rear quarter panel trim from strip brass, then chrome plate the same;
  12. Polish and chrome plate the brass-cast bumpers, and the front grille (already made); (New Vicky Model � Front Bumper, and Rear Bumper)
  13. Create a �see through� front grille based upon the cast �surround� that�s already made, coupled with photoetched insert grille work soldered to the surround;
  14. Source some parts from Danbury Mint�s magnificent �57 Retractable: hood and trunk emblem, exterior door handles and a few other parts that would be prohibitively expensive to create.
  15. Build the super charged 312 engine with all of the details.

Again, my goal with this project is to build a model that pushes boundaries by mixing scratchbuilding, outsourced parts, hammered brass, plating and the like all to create a replica of a 1:1 Fairlane Club Victoria that I own. It will be an interesting experience to �return to my roots,� essentially, by disciplining myself to replicate, in scale, a �real� car. Building this model will be distinctively more difficult than the cheerful anarchy of building a custom.

Also, as I did three decades ago, I�ll build a �customized� version of the factory stock Vicky � it won�t be detailed, but will be offered only as a styling studio on the production car.

Hopefully, this model will mark a substantial improvement of a model built more than three decades ago.