FenderMender

History of the Half Rat Half Rod The three parts shown below constitute what remains of the initial implementation of various customizing ideas for a street rod my late brother and I had toward the end of our modeling experiences as teenagers in 1959. He was off to college and I pursued high school sports, so our hobby went into a very long holding pattern for years. These three parts languished for at least 60+ years in a stash consisting of just a couple of barely-started hot rod bodies and scant parts. Finally I set my mind to building up the model street rod parts as a memento for old time sake. Hope you enjoy the before and after pics. Thanks for looking.... BEFORE the 60+ year old stash of hot rod bodies and parts with all three original parts: the modified body, the modified grille and the Corvette dashboard with modified grille unattached: with Corvette dashboard: [u rl=https://postimages.org/][/url] The completed Half Rat Half Rod (HRHR) represents what the original model was supposed to look like, sort of, except for the fact that at that time there were no "rat rods" to speak of and it would have been more refined and finished finer. Back then, pretty much all model building attention for us was focused on customized cars and cool-looking hot rods, as they were what was trending in popular culture. We were more into custom automotive concepts and ideas then, and suffered in the precise and exact execution of those. Ideally the HRHR was supposed to have been a highly customized hot rod based on a '32 Ford coupe, extremely low slung with massive rear slicks, blown engine, customized interior, side exiting header pipes, and especially featuring a rear body section and a frontpiece from some appropriate modern car or cars of the times. My memory doesn't recall what particular car or cars those two elements are from, possibly a Studebaker Avanti, or perhaps a stylized Thunderbird front end from a 3in1 kit. But in the end, our bold intentions for the final version of the model being built got caught up in the shuffle and never happened as time moved on and life circumstances changed. Fast forward to 2025. To complete the HRHR model, I had to build this as a "rat" rod due to my lack of sufficient and available parts and materials. Notice the rough, old and damaged front tires, the crudeness of the build and all the other inadequacies. I had no massive slicks to use. No interior floorboard or pedals. No firewall. No chassis. No suspension system. No rear or front axle. No window glass. Most everything was scratch built. Materials used included bamboo, plastic film, wooden toothpicks, metal wire, card stock, spackling compound, synthetic felt, aluminum, and clear tape. Even though it took much head-scratching to figure out how to construct, what materials to use, how to sequence building operations, and how to be patient in allowing time for things to cure and develop, there is now a genuine satisfaction knowing that the HRHR is finally complete. And it rolls. This is a special tribute to my late brother Ted. AFTER

The gold thing it is, although it will be quite a challenge. Both ideas and parts for it are quite scarce.

Thanks to all! Appreciate the interest. Here is what is left in the box of parts that contained old rat rod Potato Head truck, so these are "relatives" of his, so to speak. All the mods and parts are from the early 60s. Not much to start with but the parts are still cool after all these years. Problems are with no complete interiors, only one seat, one chassis, and no suspension systems. Probably can come up with some wheels and tires, and maybe a decent engine. Beyond that it looks like a lot of scratch building. Which one do you think I should begin with?

Thanks for all the positive feedback. I really didn't know what to expect as to the final look of this truck as the whole process was a trial by error affair. Now that it's "done", I just might try my hand at weathering it? Yes or no?

Someone appropriately described the cab as looking like a potato. So this collection of few 1960s parts became the Potato Head Model A pickup truck, also known now as "Yukon Gold". The project took quite a long time to complete as the builder is a rat rodder by "trade", that is, inexperienced. It is said of rat rodders that they really don't know what they are doing, but somehow they get a vehicle drivable and to roll. Such was the case with Potato Head. It might not be drivable, but it does roll. Many parts were scratch-built and they indeed look like it. The paint job is rough as are many other features on the truck. Noice the warped plywood bed. The radiator. The different "welds". All I know is that for as rough as it looks, it took an inordinate amount of time to "build" this model. If fit and finish were required, it would have never happened. It was lowered as much as possible. Scratch-built parts are: radiator and hoses, two spare tires, entire truck bed and tailgate, roof cover, some suspension elements, partial firewall, interior floor, dashboard, all three foot pedals, gear shifter, window glass, door handles, rear view mirror, rear taillights, and aluminum license plates covering "1940" on both bumpers. Thanks for looking... Potato Head: Early stages: "Finished":

Thanks for the explanations. I have been able to post again.

The panel lines were all filled in when this cab was modified back in the 1960s. I recently decided to build a pickup truck out of it and will scribe panel lines at least on the doors. That is why I ask the questions about which version to use, photo A or photo B. In photo A the panel line for the bottom of the door would be at or above the black tape. In photo B, could the panel line be just above the bottom of the cab and be realistic?

I will try and post a very simple sentence and see what happens. Thank you. It worked. I then amended the wording of my original post and was able to essentially convey my original thoughts. I had a similar problem on a British forum which kept rejecting my post for my having included the word "knob" as I had said something about a custom-made gear shift knob in the post. I kept trying and trying until a moderator said that "knob" is a no-no word on the forum in Britian- referring to a male's reproductive organ! I had no idea. In Arkansas there is a town Bald Knob.

Piecing together a bunch of old parts from the past to make a Model A pickup truck. Since I know very little about Model As in particular, I would like to be able to make this model appear at least somewhat authentic. Hopefully someone here can say whether photo A or B is technically correct. Photo B shows the model overlapping the frame; photo A has black tape representing the frame. In both photos, the cab is in the same position overlapping the frame and resting on it. Photo A Photo B The questions are: (1) are both applications technically correct (2) which version makes the cab look the lowest (3) which version would you select if it was your build??? Additionally, any comments concerning any aspects of this build would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I'm signed in and compose a post, but when I click to post it I get instead a notice that the page cannot be found. What is the problem?

Thanks Harry. Your build incorporates exactly what I had and have in mind; I just wasn't knowledgeable about how to achieve it, that is "low, full fendered, and still "drivable"."

Harry, I have a faint recollection of my brother removing details from the cab and painting it gold to see what it looked like, forgoing a primer. Don't have any recollection of what kit it would have been from. But the speculations of it being a Lindberg are probably the most accurate. In regard to channeling, would the fourth photo depict a 1:1 correct and authentic version of a channeled 30ish truck? I want to keep the fenders but am debating whether to fill the spare tire deep fender depressions. Having two spares on the fenders would definitely interfere much with running 4, 6 or 8 individual straight pipes out of the engine sides. Unless, I would do this:

Thanks Stu and Mark. You are probably right about it being a Lindberg cab, although I don't think I have any other parts from a Lindberg kit. Way back when this came into my possession as a teenager, my brother and I were getting bits and pieces from neighbor's kids who had glue bombed kits, got tired of a particular model they had made or screwed up, or just plain quit the hobby for good. So the pieces were random from different kits.

Thank you, Alan. I wasn't aware of the AMT or MPC kits. The cab is a stumper for me as well. However, it fits well over the chassis but covers the sides of the chassis all the way to the top of the running boards. From reference pictures, it should sit a distance above the sides of the chassis. That is, the bottom of the "door" on the model would be resting on the top of the running board. In photo, there is the black chassis below the bottom of the truck's door.

Too many years ago -help wanted In my very depleted vintage parts stash from 65 years ago are some random parts to a Model A Ford it seems. My brother and I built a number of the Revell 3in1 '32 Ford kits. However, some of the parts below do not seem to be from Revell kits at all. I cannot remember what brand kit or kits certain parts are from. If you know it would be a great help if you would identify the kit or kits. I potentially have some additional small parts that might fit or work okay, but it would be a real relief and blessing to see those kits' instruction sheets, parts, etc. in doing my research. At this point, I just don't know what kit or kits they are from. Thanks very much for your assistance. My intention is to make this into a lowered semi street rod pickup truck or a rat rod, depending upon what parts can be scavenged together. THANKS Really need help here to get the suspension correct Revell I believe tho not sure Revell I believe tho not sure