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This is an article we were working on that ended up with no place to go. Even though the midgets have been well covered by others we thought you might enjoy seeing what we've been up to.
Len C.
Four Midget Race Teams
By Len Carsner and Bill Coulter
Models by Glenn Day, Skip Samples, Len Carsner and Bill Coulter
Revell’s new 1/25th scale Kurtis Kraft Midget Racer kits have certainly struck a common cord with model car builders of all stripes. Who might have guessed that these jewel-like, very delicate and accurate vintage oval track, open wheel miniature racecars would have launched such a building frenzy?
It would seem that whether your model building comfort zone leans toward replica stock, muscle cars, drag cars, NASCAR, or vintage and classic cars, the new Revell Offenhauser and Ford V-8 60 powered midget racer kits seem to have sparked a degree of enthusiasm like nothing we’ve seen in years.
A few short years before WW II, Frank Kurtis started a company with the vision to design and build “midget” racecars (smaller versions of the venerable sprint car racer). In something less than two decades, Kurtis Kraft had produced over 1,100 midget racers. Five hundred units were turnkey ready to race with the remainder sold to eager customers in unassembled kit form.
The midget craze literally swept this country like a firestorm. On virtually any night (and maybe two or three times on a nice weekend) midget racing was taking place 24/7 on mainly dirt tracks at local fairgrounds and occasionally on larger capacity paved venues. American race fans couldn’t seem to get enough of it.
Midget racing wasn’t limited to the US as the infectious form of wheel-to-wheel racing action spread to far-flung places like New Zealand. Midget racing attracted the entry level competitor as well as racing icons of the day. Most of the top American drivers (especially Indy) had a well appointed midget on a compact trailer attached to the back bumper of a wide variety of tow vehicles.
In-the-day, the primary choices for midget power came from either the venerable Ford flathead commonly known as the little sixty V-8 or the pure race bred Offenhauser four cylinder double over head cam (DOHC). If you could afford the best you went with the pricy Offy. If you were racing on a budget, the little Ford FH V-8 was your weapon of choice.
Presented here is the work of four builders, Glenn Day, Skip Samples, Len Carsner and Bill Coulter. Of these four midget teams, there are three Fords and one Offy. The following comments reflect the views of each builder on this new model car kit phenom.
Glenn Day - #8 Smitty’s Muffler Shop Kurtis Ford/1948 Ford Woody
I like this kit a lot, there is no doubt that this model has to be kit of the year. Once I decided on the color scheme for the car, I painted the nose and top half with Testor's #28131 white lacquer. After that was dry I masked off the top half with Tamiya 10mm masking tape, then shot the lower half with Tamiya TS-54 light metallic blue. Once that had dried I masked off the light blue and the white leaving a thin strip of white exposed. I then shot the exposed portion with Tamiya TS-8 Italian red. After completely drying I pulled the tape and light sanded the painted edges with Micro mesh to take the ridge down left from the masking. Then I applied the decals and shot the whole body with Testor's 1834m wet look clear lacquer. Once it had fully cured I sanded it down with Micro mesh 8,000 grit followed by 12,000 grit. Then I finished it off with Tamiya polishing compound. The frame was done in Tamiya Italian red and the interior was Testor's flat red with a shot of Testor's semi-gloss over it. The wires for the gauges and spark plugs that were all left over pieces from other projects. It took awhile to mask and paint all the colors but was worth it in the end. I just really wanted to get it done so I could see the finished project. I had to be patient, which was hard because it's been awhile since I've been this excited to build a kit like this one. The photo etch pieces, along with the rest of the kit fit and went together great. I had fun building this one and want to build the Offy midget soon. Also I would like to say the whole model was done with rattle can's. So either way rattle can or airbrush I don't think there's a wrong way to build this kit. Just build the kit and have fun after all that's what modeling is supposed to be - FUN and this one is that and more.
Skip Samples - #27 Marck Motors Kurtis Ford/1940 Ford Sedan Delivery
I used Tamiya Clear Red over Tamiya Silver Leaf, both spray paints that were decanted and shot through an airbrush.
I learned a lot from this build that will help me with the next few I plan to do.
Luckily, the instrument panel came loose so I glued it into the proper positions, and I think that helps it look a little better.
Here are a few other things I'll do in future builds:
Drill out the holes in the engine a little to make it easier to locate the headers.
2. Drill out the axle holes both front and rear to make it easier to slide the axles in.
3. Strip all the chrome from everything. Then assemble the little fiddly assemblies like the front and rear nerf bars, front axle, rear axle, etc. and clean those joints, then paint them glossy black and hit them with Alclad Chrome.
4. Drill out the hole on the body for the drag link a little bigger.
5. Follow the instructions! The building sequence for this kit is a pretty good one but I managed to get off track a little and messed myself up, not bad, but a little. If I had followed the instruction sequence properly, I would have had fewer problems, not that I had many anyway.
(continued in next post)
