1964 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk.

[Mark Crowel]

I am currently making a kit of a 1964 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk for member Fishcarver. This thread will document the alpha build, to make sure everything fits. Scale is 1/24th.

I find it's best to cut out the windows before separating the body panels from the sheet on which I drew the parts, to keep from tearing the thin window pillars.

Shown are the center body panels, side pontoon panels, center body strip for hood and roof area, and interior strips, in white and red.

 

[cgutzmer]

Good tip on the cutting! Watching the progress
Chris

 

[Mark Crowel]

June 8, 2009.

A little more work on the alpha build. The center body strips are glued, edge to edge, to one of the center body panels. I use writing tablet cardboard as backing for the paper or cardstock parts. It's thick enough, and rigid enough, for the strips to be glued edge to edge to the panels, rather than requiring flaps.

 

[Mark Crowel]

July 6, 2009

Back to work on this thing. The dash and firewall piece was glued to lightweight cardboard, and then glued to the inside of the body half.

Same process with the floor, front seats and seatbacks. After the dash and seat assemblies were glued into the body half, I realized that I forgot to make the interior door and roof panels. Oops.ops:

Held the body/interior subassembly face down on the red construction paper, and traced around the dash and seat assemblies to make the interior door panels. Traced around the roof section to make its interior lining. I will copy the interior panels for the other side, before glueing them in, and then they will be glued to the inside surface of the other body panel before glueing it in place.

 

[Mark Crowel]

July 6, 2009, continued.

Also shown is the March 2008 issue of Turning Wheels magazine, the official monthly publication of the Studebaker Drivers Club, to which I subscribe. One does not have to have a Studebaker in order to join, only an interest in Studebakers. This particular issue has in depth articles about the 1962-64 Gran Turismo Hawks, with excellent color photographs. These photos are my references for this model.

 

[armchair]

Studebaker GT Hawk

Studebaker always had outstanding designs, and the Hawks were the tops. Sort of what a fast family (?) car should look like. Never had one but do drive a 1980 Datsun 280ZX. Love to be different.

Glen

 

[doctormax]

looking good, yes the more sources of good pictures the better.. Never seen this car you doing.

 

[Mark Crowel]

July 12, 2009.

A little more progress. The interior is complete, the clear plastic windshield and rear window are installed, and the interior roof panel is glued in place to secure the windshield and rear window.

 

[Mark Crowel]

July 18, 2009.

Glued together one of the side pontoons. I use what I call "strip-and-panel" construction: a strip of cardboard joining two profile panels, to form a body section. After I glued the strips edge-to-edge around the perimeters of one panel, I folded up some strips into "W" shapes for braces, and inserted them throughout the inside of the section. They don't have to be glued in place. When the other panel is glued to the rest of the pontoon, those braces will stay in place, and give an amazing amount of strength to the pontoon.

Also painted the windshield frame silver.

 

[Mark Crowel]

Making a wheel.

For each wheel, I use two 1 and 1/8th inch diameter cardboard discs, joined by a 1/4 inch wide "tread" strip of cardboard, glued edge to edge to the discs. A coiled 1/4 inch wide strip, placed within the circle formed by the completed tread strip, provides backing when the second disc is glued in place.

A 1/8th inch diameter hole is punched into the center of one disc, to receive the axle. The axle is a Q-Tip swab, three inches long, just right for a model car that is six scale (1/24th) feet wide. The cotton is removed before the axle is glued in place.

 

[Mark Crowel]

Wheel mounting.

It's best to mount the wheels before glueing the side pontoons in place, because of the semi-skirted shape of the rear wheel cutouts. After the wheels are mounted, put glue along the side of the center body section, slide the pontoon down the side of the center body section, over the wheels, and press the pontoon against the center body section.

 

[Mark Crowel]

Back to work on this model.

It's been much too long since I've worked on this model, but I've started working on it again.

I'm rebuilding the side pontoons. They need to be taller between the sill line and the rocker panel. This time I'm using three layers of corrugated cardboard covered with lightweight cardboard. It's faster.

I cut a double sided strip of silver-coated cardboard for the trim strip that will be glued on its edge along the top of the fender, door sill, and rear quarter.

The wheels are each made of two corrugated cardboard discs, with 1/4" wide newspaper strips around the corrugated edges, to provide a glueing base for the lightweight cardboard strips that followed. Colored paper was used to decorate the wheels.

To represent the vinyl sport roof, two layers of black construction paper were used, and three layers of cream manila paper were used for the rear portion of the roof. Silver-coated cardboard trim will be applied later.
The top rear edge of the roof has just the right amount of overhang above the top of the rear window.

 

[Mark Crowel]

Improving again.

I want a more accurate shape for this model, so I'm making new side pontoons.

Graduated layers of differently sized corrugated panels are used to shape the foundation for the curve in the pontoon's cross section. The edges of these pieces are then flattened by my thumbnail to round them, and to provide a glueing base for the lightweight cardboard covering.

The lightweight cardboard covering is done in two pieces, to simulate the real car's compund curve along its length.

A silver-coated cardboard strip was glued to the top edge of each side of a piece of construction paper, which was then glued between the two center layers of corrugated cardboard.

 

[Mark Crowel]

Now for the corrugated cardboard hood structure, over which the lightweight cardboard covering will be shaped. I want to approximate those compound curves.

 

[Mark Crowel]

Partial covering with the lightweight cardboard and colored paper. The color is being changed to dark green.

 

[Mark Crowel]

Final version.

Dissatisfied with my previous attempts at this model, and losing my patience, I finally built this simple model that captures the look of the real car quite well.

As for the kit I made for member Fishcarver, it was of the same type as the cream colored Hawk with which I started this thread. Fortunately, he was pleased with it.

There are a few refinements I want to make to this red one, but for all practical purposes, it's done.

 

[Mark Crowel]

The Process.

I will now post the build photos for this red Hawk.

First, here are the parts sheets. The gray parts are applied to the cardboard first: they are the base for the "brightwork" and windows. The red parts that are then glued over the gray surfaces are trimmed to expose the desired gray areas.

Also shown are the patterns for the lightweight cardboard parts.

 

[Mark Crowel]

The entire trunk was built and colored as a unit, because it was easier to glue it between the two side panels that way. It was first glued to the center strip, all of which was then glued between the side panels.

The color was easier to apply to the inboard surfaces of the rear quarters before assembly.

You also see color being applied to the front of the car.

 

[Mark Crowel]

Here are two more photos of the model on its way to completion.

I am also adding layers to the surface of this model, to represent sculpturing and depth. I hope to be showing you those photos this weekend.

 

[Mark Crowel]

Final photos of refined model.

I added layers to the model for a sculpturing and depth effect. At last, after two major changes on a project that started in 2009, it's done.

It was a learning experience. After 30-plus years of building my own cardboard model cars, I'm still in the process of discovering what works best for me.