Kit: No. 72172
Scale: 1/25
Manufacturer: Lindberg, Craft House, 328 N. Westwood Ave., Toledo, OH 43607-3343, &419-536-8351
Price: $14.95
Comments: Comments: Injection molded, 140 parts (4 vinyl), decals.
Ford Motor Company celebrated its 50th anniversary in the 1953 model year, and the Crestline Victoria was its flagship. It was also the last year of the celebrated "flathead" V-8 engine, first introduced in the 1932 Model B.
Except for a few heavy mold-parting lines and flash, Lindberg's Vickie is well molded. The engine and under-hood items have good detail, with separate inner fender walls and accessories. Upper and lower radiator hoses connect the flathead with the radiator. Detailed front and rear suspensions accompany a fine frame casting.
Chrome parts include side-molding strips, and the clear parts are distortion free. Decals provide logos, license plates, and dashboard instruments. Optional fender skirts and a "Coronado" continental kit are provided. Plastic wide white inserts fit well into the black vinyl tires.
The 19-step instructions are generally easy to follow, but several parts are incompletely labeled and it's sometimes difficult to determine the exact positioning on the small diagrams. For example, in step 2, the oil filler tube (not labeled but shown) goes into a small hole on the intake manifold behind the upper end of the breather tube (No. 44). Under-hood and dashboard decal locators are vague, and I've got my doubts on the overall interior color recommendation of green and the engine block gray.
I had no problems assembling the kit. Fit is good overall, but you may want to attach the radiator hoses with slow-setting cement so you can adjust the fit between the radiator and engine.
While Lindberg suggests Testor paints, no specific colors are recommended. Red is the only body color called out in the instructions, and that's the way I painted mine (Testor Model Master guards red with a classic white top). Several other two-tone combinations were available for the 1953 Crestline, according to Motorbooks' American Automobile Paint Code Interchange Manual 1945-1995 by Peter C. Sessler. I painted my interior gray, but photos of restored '53 red-and-white Vickies in the February 1990 issue of Collectible Automobile show ivory upholstery with a red dashboard. The center of the continental kit should be chrome.
While I painted the window trim with silver enamel, self-adhesive foil would have looked better. A few of the raised logos on the body are duplicated on the decals; if you try to place the decals on the raised detail, you probably will have trouble. Either shave off the detail and use the decals or paint (or foil) the raised logos.
I like the look of the finished Ford. If I were to build another, I'd look further into the proper interior and exterior colors. Since it is such a smooth building experience, beginners should find it enjoyable. I spent 17 hours on my Crestline, and I look forward to future fabulous '50s cars from Lindberg.
- David Ligman