1/25 AMT 1927 Ford T Vintage Police Car

[Casey]

Box art for the forthcoming 1/25 AMT 1927 Ford Model T Vintage Police Car kit reissue:

[Danno]

Any new parts or decals?

Will it have the CB radio and first aid kit/base station radio and all the guns from the Monaco/70 Ford kits?  ?

[DukeE]

Cool Casey.This issue is the only one with the side curtains. Still has Frontenac in it, some police stuff. Doubt it'll get the push bar or light bar from the Mopar

[Mike999]

5 hours ago, Danno said:

Any new parts or decals?

Will it have the CB radio and first aid kit/base station radio and all the guns from the Monaco/70 Ford kits?  ?

Old-timers know this already, but for those who've never seen this kit: it already has great vintage police gear. A sawed-off shotgun, a big chrome flashlight, 2 vintage police helmets and 2 nightsticks, a megaphone, a hand-cranked police siren, etc.

As I've mentioned before, the kit is pretty fancy for a 1927 police car.  As the box art shows, it has extra-cost options on it like bumpers, wind wings and wire wheels.  IMO, a cop version would look more realistic by deleting the first two items and adding wooden spoke wheels from the '25 T kits.

For those who build Model T's, either AMT or the earlier-version ICM kits, there's another neat little surprise in the box:  4 running-board step plates with a tiny oval "Ford" logo. These were available from the early days of the Model T and many owners added them. Unfortunately, each plate also has 2 ugly pin marks on it. I can't figure out a way to remove them. May have to cover them with a little mud or dirt.

[CabDriver]

Any Coke decals? ??
 

Jokes aside, I’ll be picking one up - I’m glad to see any of these rod kits get reissued!

[Jim B]

This might be worth while picking up.  Should be interesting.  Is there a Tommy gun in the kit?

[Mike999]

1 hour ago, Jim B said:

This might be worth while picking up.  Should be interesting.  Is there a Tommy gun in the kit?

Nope, not unless Round 2 adds the guns from the '78 Dodge Monaco. The '27 T kit does have a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun, though.

The Monaco has a Tommy gun with the stick magazine. The old MPC Gangbuster kits had the earlier "Roaring 20's" version with the drum magazine and front hand grip. Those kits also have an 03 Springfield rifle, Colt M1911 pistol, a couple of revolvers and even a switchblade knife and blackjack.

Comparing the Monaco and Gangbusters Tommy guns is a fun exercise.  They're not even close to the same size. The one in the Monaco is much bigger. 

[Jim B]

No Tommy gun!  How can they expect these guys to go bust up a Speak Easy!  ?

[Dave Van]

I have one of the Stevens version but I'll get another......

[Russell C]

Was the very first I built entirely on my own in 1972 or 3, brush painted the whole thing yellow using a couple of those little Pactra bottles, and the wheels rolled fine so I could play with it in the carpet. I think I still have the chrome star rattling around somewhere in my parts boxes, from the headlight brace. Didn't think of it 'til just now, what police department would have a cruiser painted like a taxi?

[Mike999]

8 hours ago, Russell C said:

Didn't think of it 'til just now, what police department would have a cruiser painted like a taxi?

Maybe a precinct in 1927 Chicago, that wanted to give Al Capone's boys plenty of warning that they were coming? ?

Besides that bright yellow paint, as I wrote upthread, the AMT kit has extra-cost options like bumpers, wind wings, a nickel-plated radiator shell and wire wheels.  Those were not likely to be ordered on a cop car. That's sort of like a 1970 Ford police car with a vinyl top.

Here's a 1919 Model T restored as a New York State Police car. No bumpers, no wind wings, plain black radiator shell and wooden artillery-spoke wheels.  This is probably what most Model T police cars would have looked like.  And IIRC from reading Model T sites, the wheels would have been painted black from the factory, not varnished like in the photo.  Those Model T sites are a great source of information, and there are MANY of them. 

[Jim B]

That's a good reference pic, Mike.  Those wheels shouldn't be too hard to find as they are in the 1925 Model T kits.  Whoever has built the 1925 ad a rod should have the wood wheels as spare.

I kind of like the varnished wood wheel look.

Edited January 16, 2020 by Jim B

[stavanzer]

I've seen Factory Spoke Wheels on T's in both plain varnished and black.  Not sure what triggered the difference.

As for online pics of Model T's, be sure that you distinguish between 'restored' cars and actual vintage survivors. Many, restored T's are now 'over-restored'. They look great to modern eyes, but are not authentic to the real cars. Instead, they look like what several generations of 'experts' have deemed to be authentic. Many 'stock' Model T's today have been restored two or three times in the last Hundred or so years. Even the subject of this kit is 93 years old!  The ICM T? 106 years. Hard to believe.

[Eric Macleod]

3 hours ago, alexis said:

I've seen Factory Spoke Wheels on T's in both plain varnished and black.  Not sure what triggered the difference.

As for online pics of Model T's, be sure that you distinguish between 'restored' cars and actual vintage survivors. Many, restored T's are now 'over-restored'. They look great to modern eyes, but are not authentic to the real cars. Instead, they look like what several generations of 'experts' have deemed to be authentic. Many 'stock' Model T's today have been restored two or three times in the last Hundred or so years. Even the subject of this kit is 93 years old!  The ICM T? 106 years. Hard to believe.

Guilty as charged...and proud of it. My '26 Touring is what some may say over-restored. I respond by saying it was done properly. Here are a few reference photos of the car that almost certainly is the best restored 26-27 Model T Touring extant. Close inspection of the car reveals concentric depressions in the doors,  rough spots in the castings and so on...all factory. I hope these help some builders with this kit.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Eric Macleod
Clarification

[Mike999]

3 hours ago, alexis said:

As for online pics of Model T's, be sure that you distinguish between 'restored' cars and actual vintage survivors...

All good points.  For anyone else building the ICM kit, here are a couple of photos of a real Model T Commercial Roadster survivor. Notice the rear fenders laying on the ground behind it.  Since all the paint is worn off the hood, we can see it's aluminum, as it should be for circa 1912. This one still has its removable storage box and "mother-in-law" seat, which often disappeared.  The triangular bracket on the driver's side fender is where the carbide tank should go, but it's missing. 

About the wheels...your guess is as good as anybody else's.  On the Model T forums, as soon as somebody says "Ford didn't do X in 19yy," somebody will post pix of a car built in 19yy with X on it.  Old Henry was notoriously stingy, and if he had parts left over at the end of the year, he used them next year. 1927 seemed to have a lot of weird things happening, since it was the last year of Model T production.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Mike999
omit2

[Jim B]

Eric, that's a nice looking T.

[stavanzer]

Eric, what a beautiful T!!

My '26 Speedster never looked that good.

[Eric Macleod]

2 hours ago, Mike999 said:

All good points.  For anyone else building the ICM kit, here are a couple of photos of a real Model T Commercial Roadster survivor. Notice the rear fenders laying on the ground behind it.  Since all the paint is worn off the hood, we can see it's aluminum, as it should be for circa 1912. This one still has its removable storage box and "mother-in-law" seat, which often disappeared.  The triangular bracket on the driver's side fender is where the carbide tank should go, but it's missing. 

About the wheels...your guess is as good as anybody else's.  On the Model T forums, as soon as somebody says "Ford didn't do X in 19yy," somebody will post pix of a car built in 19yy with X on it.  Old Henry was notoriously stingy, and if he had parts left over at the end of the year, he used them next year. 1927 seemed to have a lot of weird things happening, since it was the last year of Model T production.

You are right. Henry Ford was known to be thrifty but he definitely was not cheap, nor was the Model T.  Inexpensive,  yes; cheap, no. Having worked on many of these cars over the years, I have been repeatedly amazed by how well engineered they were and by the continious quality improvement program that was in place at Ford. While they rarely threw out older parts, literally nothing from a 1909 would have been a correct replacement for a  '26-7, and visa versa. 

When teaching a student driver about the car,  I tell them you have to look at the car in context.  When it was introduced in 1908 (as a 1909 model year car), the Model T was the iPhone of its time. To that date it was the single most important, and successful, commercial product ever. It got that way because it was affordable and of tremendous quality, not because it was junk. They endure for that reason as well as an intangible factor...they are a hoot to drive.

[Eric Macleod]

2 hours ago, Jim B said:

Eric, that's a nice looking T.

Many thanks. There was a LOT of blood,  sweat and tears in that one.

[Eric Macleod]

2 hours ago, alexis said:

Eric, what a beautiful T!!

My '26 Speedster never looked that good.

Thank you! I like speedsters a lot too. I'd love to see yours!

[stavanzer]

So would I Eric! It was stolen in 1992.... Never was recovered. I'll hafta try and find a pic or two of it.

White Rootlieb body, Red-Orange Wire Wheels. Totally stock motor. Was a "Looks Only" car. It was my only car for a two years before it was stolen. Imagine a Model T Speedster as your only car for 22 Months. Grocery Shopping was really fun.  So was the 3 months of Hand Cranking when the starter broke, and I had to save up for a new one. ( I was Young and Broke at the time)

[CabDriver]

On 1/16/2020 at 12:44 AM, Russell C said:

Didn't think of it 'til just now, what police department would have a cruiser painted like a taxi?

The NYPD has for years!

I’ve seen a few of these around - they’re somewhat easy to spot because they usually have two big guys in Mets hoodies sitting in the front ?

Slightly off topic I know, my apologies

['70 Grande]

Might hafta build one of these and quickly show it to my mother. She hated these '27 T's as my grandfather drove her to high school every single day in his old 1:1 in the mid-1950's!

Grandpa was frugal, and my mother would say he thought he was "wise" too because who "would wanna date the girl that comes to high school everyday in a nearly 30 year old "T"!

Funny thing was my dad told me that brought alot of attention my Mom's way... and it worked on him!

[Mike999]

CabDriver said: "Slightly off topic I know, my apologies ."

No need to apologize. Now we all have another build idea for those Lindberg or Revell Crown Vics we've picked up over the years.  One version of the old Revell Police Caprice even came with taxi parts and decals. Hmm...a back-seat floor area half full of empty paper coffee cups and fast-food wrappers...some random police gear from MasterBox 1/24 scale figures, like the "Ashley" figure shown below...who could even be converted to a plainclothes undercover officer...drat, I just went even more off-topic...

Edited January 20, 2020 by Mike999
goof

[Jantrix]

Stricly a stock kit or does it have hot rod parts?