Anglia105E

I am really pleased to hear that Len . . . Now I can feel a whole lot better about my ' scale ' flow painting, so thank you . . . David

Cheers David G., . . . The precise fit of these parts by ICM is excellent, and quite often you don't even need to apply glue to hold them together, but of course I do use glue . . . Last night I applied Humbrol Matt Black 33 enamel paint to the seat, and as usual the finish is not ' Matt ' at all. So far this past year, I have not achieved a matt finish with this tin of paint . . . No problem in this case, because the satin black finish is exactly what I needed for the leather look of the seating. Previously, with the Rolls-Royce Phantom III, it was necessary to apply Humbrol Satin Cote over the colour for the seats, but for this Model T this will not be necessary . . . David W.

Thank you Len . . . A misnomer indeed. Maybe if I had applied this paint with a brush, and as a thin coat, then ' Quick Drying would be more accurate . . . As things are, the painted parts can now be handled after 6 days drying time. The finish is actually very good, although not strictly speaking scale thickness. David

The replication of the Ford flow painting process in 1:24 scale seems to have turned out much better than I dared to have expected . . . However, the body parts and wheels have now been drying for 5 days, and the Jet Black paint is not quite fully dry yet. The paint is only very slightly tacky, so I reckon the parts can probably be handled after around 7 days drying . . . The temperature in my loft workspace has been averaging between 16°C and 20°C during the drying period, and while I was not able to touch those painted surfaces, there were plenty of other assembly tasks that I could deal with . . . The canvas top has been sprayed with a black paint that is intended for full size car bumpers and plastic trim, the seat has been painted matt black enamel, two of the four wheels have been tidied up, and tyres have been fitted to the two wheels. The rear window glass has been glued into place at the rear of the canvas top. The firewall is assembled and partly painted Burnt Red acrylic, and this will have further painting to simulate cherry wood. With the windshield still on the sprue, I have glued the window glass in place . . . This evening I assembled one of the two American Motorists figures by ICM, which is the gentleman driver for this Model T Ford. Progress is generally pretty good on a daily basis, and I am enjoying this build immensely . . . David

I agree with you Zack about Mchook and his Model T . . . and thanks for looking at my scale model build of a Model T topic ! David W.

That is a really nice looking Model T Ford that you have there Mark . . . Your photo is much appreciated as further reference for my scale model project, so thank you for that . . . Yes, the ICM kits from Ukraine are all impressive for their quality and accuracy. The Miniart kits are also excellent, and they are from Ukraine too . . . If you get chance to build one of these kits you will not be disappointed. ICM produce the Tourer, the Speedster, Fire Truck, Ambulance, Roadster, Light Delivery Car and Commercial Roadster versions of the Model T . . . https://icm.com.ua/catalog/?type=technique David

Very impressive gold paint for the script at the front of the hood David G., . . . Mr Color used to be a Gunze Sangyo product I believe? This build of yours is turning out really nicely, and you must be well pleased with the result . . . Not an easy subject by any means ! David W.

Cleaned up both halves of the carbide generator and glued the parts together. This will have a pipe coming out at the back, which will then go down through a hole drilled in the running board on the driver's side . . . The carbide generator, as you probably know already, supplies acetylene gas to the headlamps, using a process where water is dripped from the top section of the generator onto carbide rocks inside the bottom section, producing the gas. Test fitted the front and rear axles to the floor / chassis / fenders part and examined the fitting of the exhaust system for later. Almost ready to experiment with the ' flow painting ' technique, which is something that I have never tried previously . . . The plan is to empty the 300 ml can of Paint Factory Gloss Jet Black paint into a plastic measuring jug, and then to pour the paint slowly all over the surfaces of the body parts, which will be arranged inside rectangular plastic containers. The excess paint will drip into the containers as the paint is self levelling (hopefully) . . . The body parts have all been given a coat of Tamiya Fine Surface Primer Light Grey, and allowed to dry overnight. This will be my attempt to replicate the flow painting process, as used by the Ford factory back then in 1913 . . . The only difference will be that I shall leave the paint to dry over a 24 hour period, as opposed to being oven dried . . . The plastic parts might not survive a trip to the oven ! David

Some really nice work going on here David G., . . . Someone mentioned your tendency to pick simple kits and then make them complicated, but I would agree with your philosophy actually . . . Take for example, the 1:24 Minicraft kit of the 1962 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, which only has between 26 and 30 parts inside the box. Both you and I have enjoyed endless hours of model building satisfaction while going to extreme lengths to ' complicate ' that very simple kit . . . David W.

Yes Kurt, I can see there is a certain amount of skill involved to drive a Model T Ford properly, and safely . . . Not for the faint hearted. Sort of like an auto transmission and a tractor . . . with a twist ! David

Many thanks Len, and the best is yet to come! David

Thank you Topher, and I am beginning to understand how small this one is . . . ! David

This 1:24 scale kit from ICM is recognised as a particularly high quality model of a truly iconic American motor car. The history of Henry Ford's Model T is well known by most automobile enthusiasts, and of course scale model car builders . . . During the period between 1908 and 1927 just over 15,000,000 of these cars were manufactured, and remarkably huge numbers of them have survived to this day, many of which are displayed in museums and even more are driven on the roads all over the World . . . I became fascinated by the mechanical engineering details for the Model T Ford, and also how the original design idea was put together in those early years. This 1913 example is from the ' brass ' era and it has a two seater roadster body, a four cylinder flathead engine developing 22.5 horsepower, also a planetary transmission with two forward gears and a reverse gear. There was an ignition system that utilised a magneto between the engine and the transmission and four trembler coils that were housed in wooden boxes under the dashboard inside the driver's compartment . . . The road wheels were of wooden construction and the paint finish was mostly flowed onto the car's body panels, rather than being applied by brush. Henry Ford managed to create a motor vehicle that was cheap to produce and easy to maintain for the owner drivers of the day. This was before the days of paved roads, so the Model T was able to negotiate the dirt tracks, much like an agricultural tractor would have done . . . I have started the build one week ago, so it is early days yet . . . Having spent the previous six months building the 1:16 scale Rolls-Royce Phantom III, this 1:24 scale car has fewer parts, and they are significantly smaller parts as you would expect. Already, I have various sets of ICM figures that are intended to compliment the Model T, such as the Henry Ford set of three figures, the two Gaseline Loaders, the three American Lady Mechanics and the two American Motorists from the 1910's period. Later, once this model car build has been completed, I shall create a small diorama around the car to provide a platform for my usual photo and video ventures . . . Here are a few photos to show the early stages of this new project as it materialises and I do hope that you fellow model builders will find the build interesting. David

Your dioramas take realism to another level Charles . . . This is by far the best work of yours that I have seen so far . . . There are several photos that you have posted where you would not know this was a scale model diorama . . . Wonderful to see. David

Okay, I see . . . I presumed (wrongly) that you had moved your model building space out to the heated building from your basement corner. David

That is precisely the sort of outdoor building I would like to have as a model car building workshop, and yours looks great . . . Having built the 1:1 scale version of the workshop, I am sure that you can replicate this structure in 1:64 scale . . . David

Thanks David G. . . . The composition is now in need of further imaginative thinking on my part ! David W.

Yes, I would agree Paul . . . and the fourth shot by comparison shows that the additional lighting from the passenger side of the car is unecessary from a realism point of view. Thanks for the comment, and I shall continue to explore the possibilties with this composition . . . David

Due to a recent spell of bad weather here in UK lasting five consecutive days, which prevented me from flying the drone, I found time to clear some space on my workbench . . . This enabled me to experiment further with the 1:32 scale Hooper & Co. diorama. I have moved the lighting source behind the position of the building so that the camera is shooting towards the light. The 1:16 scale Phantom III model car is in the foreground, along with the Arthur J. Webb figure . . . There are lights on inside the Hooper showrooms, as well as having the Phantom III headlights switched on. Here are four B&W photos and two colour photos, showing the changes made to the lighting setup . . . David

Yes, I can understand why there are as many folks who don't like drones as there are who do like them . . . You have the seriously bad use of drones, such as in the Ukraine - Russian war, and then you have such good uses as finding lost people or locating criminals. My drone cost me £14.75 on Ebay, which is only US$ 19.49 and free delivery too. I cannot afford to pay £359.00 for a real DJI drone ( US$ 474 ) David W.

Well David, like you I am hovering between two or three different projects at the moment . . . Your Aoshima FX-4 build is very interesting, and some time ago I attempted to convert an FX-4 London Taxi Cab into an ealier FX-3 taxi cab. This was using a 1:24 scale Tamiya Toyoda kit, which is surprisingly similar to the FX-3 taxi cab, here is the link https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/24339/index.html . . . That particular build fought me all the way for too long, and I gave up on it, eventually abandoning the whole idea . . . I find your Black Widow build interesting also, because alongside my model cars and dioramas projects I am playing around with a drone project. This is a cheap and smaller copy of a DJI Mavic drone, and I am curious about the technology, so learning to fly the aircraft as well as understanding how it all works . . . Using a local sports field that is only five minutes walk from my home, I have managed to enjoy some good flights, and during the process I have lost the drone three times now. Each time I was lucky to recover the drone, thanks to flashing white LED lights on the front, and a flashing red strobe light on the rear . . . See photo below. David W.

Thanks David G., and I agree that for 1938 it is a good idea to go with B&W photos . . . May I ask what are you working on yourself at the moment ? David W.

Returning to the workbench, I spent some time moving things around and taking a fresh look at the composition from a photographic point of view. The first of the two following photos is the colour version and the second one has a B&W filter applied . . . My feeling is to go with black & white. Thanks for stopping by guys . . . David

Here is a link for you Harald . . . I thought you would like to see this short piece of film, at Monza in 1955. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRgkiYdqJ2U David

Sorry guys, but due to recent illness this project has unfortunately stalled . . . Pending ongoing recovery, I shall try to get back to this diorama . . . David