Art Anderson

Could it be that the kit had optional noses in it? Either that, or AMT tooled up the smoother nose as an insert into the tooling for that second release. Art

Well, A Duesenberg Model J at any rate. Numerous normally aspirated Model J's were "updated" at factory branches (sales offices) with SJ outside exhaust pipes and chrome-plated hood screens (and several J's were supercharged after the fact, both at factory branches and at some point in a restoration). SSJ refers to the two short wheelbase (125") SSJ roadsters which were built with the ultimate in SJ engines (dual stage supercharger, dual carburetors, and high speed intake manifolds) one for actor Clark Gable, the other for his friend and rival, Gary Cooper--both built in 1935. Art

Stevens is wholesale only, and as such, they do not sell directly to consumers. Art

All very interesting, and of course the provenence of this particular car is interesting--but nowhere in the text is there any mention of its having been raced on any of the board tracks, even though one of the most famous board speedways was at Allentown PA. In the field of antique car collecting, there have been almost innumerable references to this or that single, or two) seater "racing" car having been run on those board tracks. The legendary board speedways of the period between 1919 and the very early 1930's were the first true "superspeedways" (in fact, the inspiration for such paved NASCAR superspeedways as Daytona, Atlanta, Charlotte, even Talladega). They ranged in size from a mile to 2.5 miles, and race cars run on them were quickly capable of speeds higher than any Model T based engine likely could have attained. By the early 1920's, lap speeds upwards of 150mph were being attained, On the other hand, a car such as this very likely was a competitive racecar, but more than likely on dirt ovals. The legendary Frank Lockhart (winner at Indianapolis in 1926 in a Miller 91) cut his racing teeth on Model T dirt track racers in Southern California, for example--as did 3-time Indianapolis winner (and postwar president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway), Wilbur Shaw. Art

More like a sporty little T Speedster, but not really a race car. It's certainly no board-track race car, as the high speed board tracks of the 20's (when Avon was making those speedster bodies) was almost exclusively the venue of the legendary Miller and Duesenberg 122cid and 91cid single seat race cars, which of course dominated Indianapolis as well, from 1923-1929. Still a cool little car, just the same! Art

I can say this now, I think, as it is announced at iHobby, and will be announced this afternoon at the NNL in Sylvania OH: Moebius Models will be producing two cars that have never before been done in kit form. 1) 1961 Pontiac Catalina/Ventura 2dr hardtop, and 2) 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone hardtop. These are two very cool cars for sure--I know they sure did light my fire back in their day! Can't wait! Art Anderson

Not quite 1930's, but wouldn't a 3in1 '27 T Roadster kit be more than welcomed? Art

FWIW, I've never seen anything in an MSDS on styrene plastic pointing to any sort of chemical fumes coming from it, except when heated to teh point of giving off an odor, or smoke. And certainly, the fumes from BURNING styrene can be extremely hazardous. But at ordinary room temperature? I'm not the least bit worried. As for sanding the stuff--if one does that wet (wet sanding), simply by definition, there will be no dust coming up off the work--especially if one washes away the sanding residues. Art

There really aren't any logical places in a Model T Ford frame to add reinforcements--but then given the light weight of a T (stock touring car from the factory weighed in at about 1900lbs) and small size (a Model T road on 100" wheelbase with a 4' 8" track--same basic length and width as a VW Beetle) the frame really didn't need much added stiffening. As for reinforcement in mid-chassis, Ford pretty much took care of that by bolting the engine directly to the frame rails at the flywheel housing, a setup that carried through the Model T years, Model A and the very earliest V8 cars having their engines mounted thus. The front of the Model T engine was solidily fixed into the front crossmember at the centerpoint of the crankshaft. Model A and Model B engines mounted in a very similar layout, but with a spring-cushioned motor mount at the front (but still a single point of contact with the front crossmember). Model T frames were actually designed to twist a good bit in service--given the rather horrible roads of the time, but frame twisting was both limited by the use of center-anchored transverse leaf springs and the short overall frame length between the rear, solid engine mountings and the rear crossmember. About the only thing early rodders did with a T frame was to weld the joints between rails and crossmembers (they were riveted together at these points by Ford factory practice). Art

The Riley 2-port cylinder head came only in Revell's '31 Model A Station Wagon/Tudor Sedan kit. Their '29 Model A pickup kit had an aluminum high-compression flat cylinder head (which would be more in keeping with what a high school kid back then could have afforded to buy. Art

Back to your original premise: While of course, back in the early 60's, we then-teenagers readily took wheels and tires from our parts boxes, slapped them onto the AMT '25 T chassis and stock axles with careless abandon--but in real life it took a bit more than that! Fortunately, for your cash-strapped teenager from that era, old Ford parts were seemingly everywhere, most of which could be bought for scrap prices--which in those years was mere peanuts. Here's what would have had to have happened in order to mount steelies on a Model T chassis: All Ford wheel hub bolt patterns from about May 1928 clear through 1948 were the same (except for the "wide five" wheels and brake drums used at Ford from 1936 through 1939), meaning that any Ford 21", 19", 18", 17" and 16" would bolt up to any brake drum Ford produced from May 1928 through the end of the 1935 model year, and then again any Ford drum from 1940-48. In addition, Ford hydraulic brakes along with their hubs and drums from 1940-48 will bolt up directly on any Model A through the '32. With millions of Model A Ford front axles laying around in junkyards, and with the easy interchangeability of rear axle housings and the different lengths of driveshaft/torque tubes (and the relative ease of shortening a driveshaft and it's torque tube (only a few dollars worth of job for a local machine shop there!), the task of fitting up a Model A or later V8 rear axle assembly on Model T rear spring and frame was a pretty simple job--and with a bit of work (but not much money) a Model A front spring could be clamped into a Model T front crossmember, allowing the mounting of a Model A or any V8 front axle to the T chassis. All this happened a lot more than many people today might imagine, from backyard hot rods to several very famous late 50's and early 60's show cars--it wasn't all that expensive a proposition, and given that any high school boy back then had access to shop class--well the skills required were readily learned and kids got high school credit for it in the bargain. Art

Externally, the Ford Model B engine is virtually indistinguishable from the Model A, about the only visible differences being that where Model A's 4-banger had a 4-bolt water pump, the B water pump has but three bolts. In addition, Model A engines used an oiling system which required an external oil bypass pipe on the left side of the block, to carry excess oil from the valve galley chamber back down into the oil pan, where the B channeled all oil through the crankshaft for fully pressurized lubrication. The Revell '29 and '31 Model A engines have this external oil bypass pipe as a separate part, which can be left off, the locating holes filled. Other than these two differences, it's pretty hard to distinguish an A from a B engine, certainly in 1/25 scale. Art

"Future" is Future Floor Polish, which is a waterborne, absolutely clear liquid made for your kitchen floor, but can be used as a clear coat in model building.

It sounds like your model is a promotional model, and if that is the case, it's molded in acetate plastic. However, by 1959, AMT (and just about every other promo mfr) was using clear styrene for the window glass. You might consider this, however: Back in the day of that promo, tobacco smoke was prevalent in a lot of places where this promo model might have been displayed--in the dealership, or in someone's home. Tobacco smoke, along with the airborne fumes from cooking, can "yellow" plastics (and in many cases, literally "eat" the plating off chromed plastic model trim!). To check this, if you have removed the glass from the model body, look to see if there is a "shadow" effect where the clear part was hidden under the body itself (at the bottom of the windshield and back window, where it was "trapped" between body shell and interior, and on the area of clear plastic that joins the windshield and back window together as a single plastic part). If those hidden areas are still clear, then simply polishing the "glass" with say, Micro-Mesh polishing compound and their flannel cloth, on both sides of the glass should remove the yellow staining. If the entire clear part is yellowed, I know of no way to return that to clear, as most likely the "yellowing" is within the clear plastic itself--going all the way through the part. Many older AMT 3in1 kits, even though molded in white styrene, would yellow over time, but in my experience, that yellowing was just in the surface--whenever I would modify one of those body shells, the mere act of cutting, filing or sanding the plastic would expose white plastic beneath the original molded surface. If you cannot return the windshield and back window to clear, about your only choice would be one of the two: Find an AMT Craftsman Jr. '59 Buick hardtop which was molded directly from the promotional model tooling, or an AMT 3in1 customizing kit of the '59 Buick hardtop--both of these have exactly the same window glass as your promo. The '59 or '60 Chevy kit glass from AMT/SMP won't fit, due to those kits having a very inaccurate "arch" to the top of their windshields. Art

The parts tree pics on the bottom of my Round2 kit with the Tall T coupe body show it on the parts tree having the wooden keg halves on it. In my Round2 reissue "Double T 3in1 kit, the hot rod firewall is on a separate sprue all its own. Art

Yeah! Only problem is: Of course #1 would be finding one that hasn't warped. But, second, that promo is not quite 1:25 scale--the MkII is a very large car--about the size of a Buick (the Promo is definitely undersized). Art

The 1960 Thunderbird and 1956 Lincoln Continental Mk II are AMT promo's. The '59 Ranchero promo was made by Product Miniatures Company (PMC) as both an assembled acetate plastic promotional model, AND as a screwdriver-assembly STYRENE plastic kit. Art

Revell-Monogram first issued the '40 Ford Convertible about 2000. The '40 Standard Coupe is a modified reissue of that convertible (Revell neglected to do the proper "Standard" series dash and steering wheel for the coupe however (all '40 Ford convertibles were produced in the "Deluxe" series). I counted the bolts on the cylinder heads from the Revell '40 coupe kit last evening--came up with 24 bolts on one head, and 23 on the other, the "missing" bolt head being where Revell put the locating slot for the factory optional oil filter bracket. Art

Richard, I posted this above, on September 24 (did you read it?): <<Over 12 years, several thousand RTV rubber molds, all I used for a mold release (to prevent a second pour of RTV onto previously cured rubber) was ordinary Vaseline heavily diluted with ordinary Testors enamel thinner. In all that time, with all those molds, I NEVER, EVER had two halves of a mold, with that release agent on the mating surface, stick together.>> To elaborate on this, I cast in polyurethane resin, using silicone RTV (same type of rubber sold by Alumilite, although a different brand) and used the mold release agent I described that day for ALL two-piece rubber molds. To repeat: I settled, very quickly on vaseline petroleum jelly (brand doesn't matter, any drugstore generic brand of petroleum jelly will work, trust me on that one!). This I thinned by adding about half a teaspoon of the vaseline to 4 ounces of Testors Modelmaster Enamel Thinner (chosen because it will not attack styrene--but Naptha--an enamel thinner sold in paint stores everywhere works just as well and is less expensive). I had to stir and shake this mixture up quite a bit, but vaseline will dissolve in this solvent readily. I then brushed that on the "mating surfaces" (where freshly poured rubber will come in direct contact with the previously poured, and cured RTV) and allowed that to dry for a few minutes. Even after the solvent evaporates, there will be a thin coating of vaseline on the cured rubber part of a 2-piece mold, and vaseline ABSOLUTELY will prevent the fresh, still liquid, rubber from adhering to the previously poured and cured RTV--literally thousands of molds over 11-years of casting proved that to me--and being as I was in the business of resin-casting, I could ill afford to lose a master, or waste rubber. This material, and the method, will work to prevent fresh RTV from ever sticking to cured RTV--and it's less expensive, AND more reliable than any commercially produced "mold releases" in my experience. I used a lot of Price-Driscoll Ultra-Parfilm as a mold "barrier coating" on cured molds to delay the "leaching" of solvents and other components of liquid polyurethane resin into the cured rubber--that is all I ever used the stuff for--in production, that made my molds last a lot longer, and gave a much more consistent, smooth surface to the castings. Art

Just checked a Revell '40 Coupe, and it does have stock 24-stud cylinder heads (one head shows just 23 studs due to locating slot for an engine accessory. Art

Agreed that a 221-239cid Ford flathead V8 would have required a lot of reinforcing of the T chassis--however, the Ford V8-60 would fit the bill pretty nicely, and in the 50's, those were as cheap to buy as boat anchors, and there were hop-up parts readily available for them. As for the Model A 4-banger, those were always much more plentiful than the Model B (there was no such engine as a "Model C" in Ford's lexicon--the B 4cyl remained in production until midyear 1934), but the B was a better engine, with a counterbalanced crankshaft and improved lubrication (full pressure lube). Art

On the Model T (in fact, on virtually every automobile built prior to at least 1932!), fenders, running boards and the splash apron between front and rear were all separate stamped steel components. On the coupe and roadster bodies, the rear fender assembly was bolted to the frame by it's inner, or splash panel, and supported by a fender "bracket" just to the rear of the center-line of the rear axle (to keep the fender from rattling or literally "flapping"). So yes, what you want to do would be very possible on a 1:1 Model T. Art

That is a Ford flathead V8 converted to an air compressor--by no less than Ingersol-Rand. These were built back in the late 1930's and through WW-II. What you see is a V8-converted to 4-cylinder running, with 4 cylinders compressing air. I bet they sure ran rough though! Art

Those are 1959-60 Chevrolet "dog dish" hubcaps. I am pretty sure Modelhaus makes them. Art