1993 Ford F150 XL

[Metalbeast]

Hello everyone! My personal saga of unboxing and going through my old models continues! 

This is sort of a replica of the 1993 Ford F150 XL I used to own. I think I built it around 2007. I bought the real truck from Vanderhyde Brothers Ford in 1999 and drove it until 2012. It was a special order, bought new by a little old lady and it had 95,000 on it. I think she traded it in on a Taurus because it was getting too hard for her to climb in and out of a truck. I remember that but I can't think of the salesman's name now. I went through  many sets of tires and tuneups, one clutch, a set of front suspension bushings, the rear fuel tank rusted and was replaced, same story for the rear spring shackles. But in all honesty for the amount of time I had it the truck never owed me a dime. The air conditioner still blew cold right up to the very end. Probably the most useful and trouble free vehicle I've ever owned. And this is a former Toyota Camry owner talking!  And one of the few I wish I hadn't sold even though it was pretty beat by the time I sold it. Mine had a 4.9 straight six and a five speed stick. Really should have kept it but it was really getting rough.  That truck alone pretty much made me a Ford devotee. 

I said its sort of a replica because its a combination of two looks. Original it had the silver steel wheels and small hub caps. Later on it had some  XLT alloy wheels I ran in summer, and a set of Winterforce tires went on the XL steel wheels for winter driving. Before I had those tires put on I had the steel wheels blasted and powdercoated black. I'd use the chrome lug nuts for the alloy wheels and leave the caps of because I thought the truck actually looked pretty good that way! But I've never seen a good set of '90's F150 steel wheels and dog dishes for a kit and just using the nice AMT kit's XLT wheels would have been too easy I guess. but the truck was getting rusty by the end and the powdercoat was getting scuffed. I eventually sold off the alloys and put a set of '92 Crow Vic wheel covers on the original steel wheels just to snazz it up a bit. I used a set from the Linberg cop car. The truck also had a Penda bed liner and plastic covers over the bed rails, along with tie-down eyes in the stake pocket holes. I ended up removing those a year or two after purchase. It also had a set o those lovely Yosemite Sam back off mud flaps. Those got pulled off within a week of me taking it homw. So here is how the truck would have looked in 1999 if it had those covers on it at the time but didn't have the bed liner or covers. I think the color was called Twilight Blue and I'm certain I used Plastikote from a ratlle can. It's the snap together AMT kit with a shortened chassis some parts from the glue kit short bed mixed in where needed. I'm so glad AMT included the cab running lights like my truck had! I also modified the height because I always thought the AMT kits don't sit right compared to the real ones.  I had to add the cargo light, and that might have been my first use of a photoeched part. I think it's an old Accupro part. It came on a rubber sheet with no skeleton to cut. Just peel if off and place it on. Nice! I filed off teh side trim and dechromed a lot of the parts as mine was an XL and not an XLT like all the kits are. I think the cab corners and rockers were rusting when I built the model but I'm not much good at making things look rusted, and I wanted the truck to look as good as the day I bought it. Even though it probably only looked that good for roughly a week, lol!

No engine or trans but I added a floor shifter from a Ranger and did some slight of hand with a paint brush to make it look like it has a clutch pedal. I couldn't find any 4.9 straight six engines in scale so I decided not to add an engine. I think the interior is the blue plastic from the snap together kit with some dash and door details painted black. I do remember being pretty impressed how close the blue plastic in the kit was to the blue plastic in my real interior. Except this has a metallic tint to it which the real truck did not.

I added a tail pipe I made from plastic rod with one end drilled open. The real trck had a Reece hitch so I eventually made one from Plastruct a few years after I built the rest of the model.  No idea where I got the Michigan plate but I was still living there when I got the truck so it needed one. Someday I might build another version with an engine this time. Sorry for the word soup here.  I have an awful lot to say about this very simple model I guess! I still remember working on this for a few late nights after work, while It's Always Sunny or reruns of Hill Street Blues played on the TV by my work table. This model is one of my personal favorites too. Maybe it's the memories of the real truck? 
 

[espo]

Nice story, helps give your build a little more personality. I don't recall seeing many 1/2 tonners with the roof lights, but as you said it was a special ordered truck.  

[Rbray47]

Nice truck! 

I had thought of doing a similar project. Not because I owned one, but because I tend to like lower trimmed trucks. 

The only thing that's kept me from it so far is the crazy intake on the 4.9. 

[Metalbeast]

On 3/1/2020 at 5:05 PM, espo said:

Nice story, helps give your build a little more personality. I don't recall seeing many 1/2 tonners with the roof lights, but as you said it was a special ordered truck.  

Thank you! Yeah. I always thought it was odd she ordered it with stuff like the running lights, but not the hitch. The hitch was an aftermarket Reese that didn't look like it had been on the truck very long when I got it. 

On 3/1/2020 at 6:01 PM, Rbray47 said:

Nice truck! 

I had thought of doing a similar project. Not because I owned one, but because I tend to like lower trimmed trucks. 

The only thing that's kept me from it so far is the crazy intake on the 4.9. 

Thanks! I won't drive anything but a lower trimmed truck. I see trucks as work vehicls first and foremost. Maybe I'm old school. I just don't get why you'd want to spend 60 grand on a truck with all the trimmings of a Lincoln when it's just going to get used up and dirty. I still might try that crazy intake, lol! I'd really like to do a model of my '93 with an engine some day. There was no 4.9 six in a model when I built this, but a couple of the Moebius kits have a 240/300 that could be updated to what I'd need. Theoretically at least, lol!

[av405]

Nicely done! How did you turn the bumpers into the XL style? What paint did you use on the bumpers?

[gatorincebu]

 

   Kevin ,

            Interesting back story . You did a great job on this . Paint looks good . I like it !

 

   Be Well

     Gator

[slusher]

Very nice Ford!!

[Metalbeast]

On 3/6/2020 at 2:18 PM, av405 said:

Nicely done! How did you turn the bumpers into the XL style? What paint did you use on the bumpers?

All I did was take off the chrome and use a file and sanding to remove the rub strip from the front bumper. I think I used Testors silver enamel with a dull clear coat.