The kit comes with an outrageous double-blown hemi for building up a Bonneville Salt Flats laker, but it also comes with some very tasteful custom grilles and bumpers, so that is the path I am taking. It will be basically box stock with a few mild custom items; a day's work has gotten it to this stage.
The engine gets a pair of 4-bbl carbs from AMT's Ford Starliner. Interesting these two cars had the same name; I guess Studebaker was gone by '66 and wasn't in a position to complain... but I digress. Yes, the Ford is a 390 big block, and the Stude is a 232 small block, but this is the modeling world where it is as much about possibilities as realism. The stock 2-bbl and air cleaner will go to the parts bin.
A bit of digging online revealed that the Stude 232 engine was actually painted a light olive green, not semi gloss black as in the instructions. Tamiya's XF 26, Deep Green, is pretty close.
The heads have molded-in spark plugs, and finding big enough tube to make boots that fit over them was a chore. The boots are way too big but fit nicely over the plugs, so I'm OK with it. Plan B would have been to shear the plugs off and drill through the head.
I've shaved all the emblems off the body to go with the very classy front roll pan, but I'll leave the door handles on. A very clean shape, with minimalist fins.
Paint will be a '50s pastels, probably in a two-tone scheme. These two options make sense: Tamiya TS-41 Coral Blue (blue-green on the left) or TS-58 Pearl Light Blue (purple-blue on the right); the Coral Blue is a nice peppy '50s colour but the Pearl Light Blue is closer to Maui Blue, an original Studebaker colour. Decisions, decisions.
Either way the roof will be TS-26 Pure White which is whiter than the creamier TS-7 Racing White. Stay tuned!
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