OldNYJim

Good eye! A few people on my Instagram said the same thing - thanks for the confirmation! Yep, you’re 100% right…I did some pretty lengthy research on the Ford Trucks forum…seems the consensus is that the BEST way to lower is the ways you said - I guess a 57 year truck axle has more drop than the earlier years plus some aftermarket springs make it easier too (or, less desirably, remove some leafs…) My goal for this build was something maybe in the early to mid sixties era of hot rodding - I THINK all the parts I’ve used so far (besides that rad) would have been available in this time frame and I’d bet more than a few people tried this technique on their 1:1s. I think steering geometry would be the toughest hurdle to cross, plus maybe notching the frame if this were a 1:1. Mine has about 1.5 scale inches of travel right now so I’ll probably grind a notch in there just to add a little extra feasibility. Thanks for the feedback!! A little bit of progress today…had to print the headers for my Flathead so that I can figure out engine placement, but in the meantime… Ran to Michael’s AND Hobby Lobby for mold release spray so I could pour the second half of my tire mold: Hobby Lobby was $5 cheaper for the same spray, in case you’re wondering…we’ll see if I messed up this mold tomorrow - I never did a 2 part one before… While my mold’s curing and my printer’s printing, decided to tackle the front grille. Stripped the chrome (besides one stubborn spot that even oven cleaner wouldn’t remove) and cleaned up the obvious flaws: Then had a chance to use my new reciprocating sander… …to open it up: Nothing too complex about it…just sanded until it was see thru 😂 Quick mock-up: I did play with the kit front bumpers (there’s a drilled option and a stock variation) but wasn’t wild about either. You’ve got to figure that if someone in the early-ish 60s was hot rodding one of these they might just lose the heavy old bumpers and save the weight, but I’m still thinking on if I could do SOMETHING there maybe. Ive got a bunch of old late-50s and early-60s hot rod mags here; but it seems like if most people were customizing a Ford truck back then they were going more custom than hot rod so I may have to figure it out myself… Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Thanks fellas! Me too - need to pick up some mold-release to stop the second ‘pour’ sticking to the first one… Meanwhile, a little progress at least… Modified that Revell 9” axle rear axle and started building some leaf springs and shackles: Mounts in the same spot, just lower…for the front end I flipped the front axle to be on top of the springs rather than below it and that seems like it will work pretty well (and is a trick used on 1:1s): Here’s the stance with the axles in place - I think it would be fairly feasible for a 1:1 build to have it sit like this without major frame or suspension mods: I wanted to switch out the molded-in rad for a separate piece - I have probably 20 of these puke-green ones that I got for a buck at a model show…not 100% certain what they’re from… But whatever it is, it fits in the space for a stock F100 rad just perfect: And, as you can see from that pic, I started mocking up the printed Flathead and seeing how it fits…this is an Arden conversion with a SCoT blower up top - nicely detailed files! I’m still very much in the ‘roughing-in’ stage but the list is getting shorter…tomorrow I’ll figure out filling that hole in the front clip, plus I need to work out what I’m thinking for the interior and figure out headers and exhaust. Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Agreed - and it looks surprisingly well done! Thanks for the heads-up on this!

Huh, I never saw a kit of one of these before! Cool! Is there any detail on the underside at all? Or just a flat plate?

Thanks fellas! Day two, and my attempts at getting a rough mockup of this thing continue… First up; dug some old AMT tires out of the parts box - the piecrust slick rears from the old 60s 32 Sedan kit (the one that came paired with a Willy’s Coupe) are nice and skinny, a little taller and a little more performance oriented than the kit tires. Problem is, I’ve had a few of them exhibit the ‘melty wheel’ effect that some of these vintage tires have, so I’m taking a shot at casting them: Tomorrow I’ll flip the mold and do the other side… For the fronts, I dug up some old Armstrong bias ply tires - I THINK these are from one of the Lindberg kits - they’re slightly smaller than the kit fronts which will help with my lowering mission: Now, I’m only just starting to figure out suspension and axles, but I wasn’t wild about the kit rear axle…I’ll clean up the Ford 9” from a spare Revell Deuce kit and adapt it to work: BUT, I know that with a notch in the rear of the frame I’ll be able to get the ride height something like this…and if I can get the front ride height somewhere similar I’ll be pretty happy: Excuse the gap under the bed…needs more pins, apparently… Oh, and I’ve been printing some upgraded engine parts all day, but more on that tomorrow: Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Got a few of these on my shelf, and had an idea for one of them (actually, ideas for like 25 of them…) for a while, so here goes nothing… The evergreen AMT 53 F100 kit: I’m thinking drop it a little, as much as you could feasibly lower one of these in real life without major modifications, slightly upgraded drivetrain and a classic hot rod paintjob (with a twist…) First stage was going to be a quick rough ‘n’ ready mock-up of body and wheels like I always like to do…but there aren’t super-positive locators for the frame, cab and bed to help you do that. Even a little tape didn’t exactly leave me with an inspiring starting point… So, first things first, and what ended up taking up most of today, let’s add a bunch of pins and get this thing where everything locks in place nicely. The floor (which incorporates the running boards) has a couple of locators but they’re pretty vague…added a couple of extras just for easy and consistent mocking-up: Did the same on the bed also, and then moved onto the cab. Tricky thing with the cab is that it locates nicely, but there’s a big ugly gap between the frame and the inner fenders on the body that allows for some vertical wiggle-room…no good. A little styrene shim helps hide that gap though, and stops the attitude of the nose being too variable… Fixed the gap, body doesn’t tilt nose-down anymore: Added little locators and more pins to help keep the body straight throughout mock-up (and to help during final assembly later): Repeated the same trick for the rear fenders (now we’ve got a solid locked-together basis for some mock-up fun tomorrow! Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

I’d like to see this one get some more love too!

Thanks fellas!! I haven’t had much to update on this one because I’ve been working through getting everything in primer….BUT, a little progress this weekend. Got all the leather stuff in primer, then shaded a little with some white acrylic: And I’ve been messing with a technique that figure painters use, whereby you introduce some depth to fabrics but washing with ‘glazes’ - basically over-reduced transparent topcoats. Mixed up a tan glaze, and stippled it on: The glaze will naturally pull away from the high spots, but they’re a lot thicker than a regular wash so it’s a little more controllable… After a couple of passes and some time in the dehydrator I highlighted the highlights with a little white artist’s pastels, plus a light pass around the edges with a white watercolor pencil: And then locked it all in with a coat of Createx semi-gloss: I haven’t totally mastered this technique yet, but I like the natural-looking effect you get from the stippled glazes followed by the highlights on the taut spots that the pastels bring…something to keep practicing. Tomorrow I’ll paint the red parts of the two-tone interior… Oh, and I found a ‘secret build option’ on the original kit’s box art while I was debating decal and graphic options (I’m not wild about the big cobwebs or spider graphics…)…I really like how this thing looks fenderless: I don’t like the graphics they chose for this one either, but I do really like how it looks without the fenders…maybe that will be the route I go with this one… Just a small update - thanks for looking! More soon!

Nice start! Looks like you nailed the color!

Ahh, I bet I have it in the archive!! Apparently read it, enjoyed it, forgot it and now get to enjoy it again! Thanks Tim!

Bumping an old thread here, I know Tim…but did this article idea ever see the light of day?

Something around a 36 Ford, maybe?

I didn’t even START mine yet! Bought like 5 different kits though 🤦‍♂️😂

I’ll be watching this! I’m going to Bigfoot ‘perform’ next month and I’ve been planning a build of my own…can’t wait to see more progress!

That’s really cool - nice work!

And when I say snow, this my wife’s Civic at the limits of it’s plowing abilities on the highway by my work… Weirdly, I’ve got THAT stuck before but not the Mustang (yet…)

Thank you!!

What material are the blocks? That’s a cool idea!

I drive my ol’ 2007 all year around, including right through the winter with the inches upon inches of lake effect snow we get here. Rarely ever even got it a little sideways when I didn’t intend to, even with the super icy un-plowed un-treated rural roads we get here. No traction control, no ABS, stick shift - gets me around just fine all year round. It definitely WILL get away from you if you’re not careful, even if the roads are just a little wet…so I drive to the conditions, and my abilities. Teaching THAT mindset is as important as whatever they actually teach on driving tests nowadays…

Tonight’s little bit of progress… The kit engine looks like it’s running the really early pre-ramhorn-style Small Block manifold, so I needed to recreate those for my printed block. The 1:1 parts: And my printed recreation: Note that the 1:1 parts have generator mounts, but I don’t need that, so that’s been ‘ground off’… Test fit to the block: And tonight I started mocking up the exhaust…not following the kit parts exactly here (not least because I don’t have any to reference) but when done I want the tips on the exhaust to line up with the z on the frame, and have them run the same lines as the rails, roughly like this: Just a small update, and I can’t see how it all looks right side up until the glue dries…but I think it’ll work! Just a little update…thanks for looking, more soon!

That sander looks super useful…I’ve got a project now where conventional sanding will ruin some surrounding detail, but this might be perfect for that - thanks for posting! Great start to this project - and nice spot on the master cylinder! I’ll be following!

Thank you! I’ve only really just started using it, but it does GREAT for a 60 year old kids toy - ha! Coupla minor updates this evening….picked out the worst dash of the ones I had, cleaned up the glue-blobs and drilled it so I can add gauges later: I actually needed to get this handed so I could figure out a steering column…if you ever have to figure out the place to drill a firewall, then a mechanical pencil with the tip clicked way out is a handy tool - makes it easy to see if everything’s straight, and the angle you’re trying to get: I pulled a spare column from my box of Revell 29/30 Ford parts…it actually fits about perfect: The driver’s side header needs to clear it, but I think I’ll be ok (and I couldn’t figure out headers under I’d done the steering column, hence the weird order I’m working on things here…) And finally for this evening because I had a couple of spare minutes left cut a little grooved styrene for a new wooden bed floor… Might use the same material to make some door cards to match the seat too… Thanks for looking, more soon!

Another semi-productive day at the bench… Got this thing on it’s wheels for the first time, which is always exciting: Need to do some work on a the roof to get the fit nicer, but the car sits about like I wanted…basically like the Black Widow! Next major part I needed to tackle was roughing in a floor. I need a little doghouse over the trans now that I added one…keeping the motor in the same position as Monogram intended means there’s no way around a slightly lumpy floor, but it’s nothing too ridiculous luckily… Mocked-up the floor shape and size with a little lump of prototyping foam where the doghouse will be: Fired up the Mattel Vac U Form and loaded up some original period-correct plastic (no, really 😂): A little heat and vacuum later: Couple of dimples to fill where I drilled the original piece for suction, but this part will be flocked with embossing powder anyway so no biggie: And the finished part in place…not super visible, but another piece of the puzzle done Next things I need to tackle are the dash, steering column, and figuring out how the rear fenders should mount (they’re mounted to the bed sides on the original but I’m wondering if I can do something a little better…) Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Agreed! I’m trying hard to keep that same look, even though there’s a lot I’d change to suit my tastes a little better…I’ve got an idea for a couple more of these…good thing I’ve got a few to play with! A little more progress this past few days… Figured out a bed…I was going to scratchbuild one, but the Monogram T bucket that comes with a trailer has an almost perfect, and much better separate bed that matches the Black Widow’s bed dimensions perfectly: Need to make the filler piece between body and bed still… While I was playing with the bed, I spun up some ABS bar on my lathe and printed a couple of mounts: And while I had the printer running, I printed out some replacement wheel backs for the rear wheels…I had one good one, but that’s ALL I had… And finally for today, working on the firewall…the kit piece only extends a third of the way down for some reason, so I laminated some sheet and started roughing in some extensions: Still some shaping and sanding and whatnot to add to that, but I’m very much at the “rough sketch” stage on this thing, just trying to get a basic version of it on it’s wheels… Thanks for looking…more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Huh, interesting! I didn’t realize that - thank you for sharing!