Chuck Most

I found a photo of an actual 1967 Open Road on a Ford chassis on a site called Canadian Listed. The buyer unfortunately only put up two photos. I thought about painting mine like that one but the color wasn't exactly appealing... I briefly toyed with painting it copper but Coral Blue just kept calling to me so I went with that. Good luck with your Open Road, if yours is even 10% as warped as mine was, you're gonna need it. ? I would actually love to build an original issue of the Open Road. First, because of that old, rigid plastic. And second, it would cheese off the unbuilt kit collector types so bad. ?

Just from the pictures I can hear and smell what would be coming from a real F100 in this condition. (Mostly I'm hearing the clunk of bad radius arm bushings and smelling stray fuel and coolant.) ? The small mud guards are a really nice touch.

Can't even begin to articulate how much I'm not a fan of the new Bronco (or Bronco Sport) but man is that a nicely executed model. You did an excellent job on both. And it's a cool comparison next to the first generation.

My direct boss is American. Believe me.... I'm waaaaaaaaay more disrespectful to him than I am to the folks from Windsor. ?????

Oh, Canada. Always doing things a little bit differently than your perceived unstable hillbilly neighbors to the south. We have Starbucks, you have Tim Hortons. We have Five Finger Death Punch, you have Nickelback. We have a 50 caliber Browning for every day of the week, you have healthcare. You have maple syrup... well, I guess we also have that. And from 1947 to 1968, Canada had Mercury pickups. Change pickups to trucks, and Mercury had them up to 1972. Although the rest of the Mercury truck range went away in 1968, the C Series tilt cab was sold as a Mercury until 1972, for no reason I can discern. Something something something Ford's Canadian dealership network. As you might expect, they're mostly just Fords with different decorations. There are three quick ways to tell them apart if you're ever in doubt... 1. The badging (obviously). Earlier Mercury trucks had completely different grilles, but by the end, the difference amounted to badging. 2. The VIN/serial number. Again, obviously. 3. The accent. Tell the truck your home was damaged in a recent storm. An American market Ford will say "sorry about your house". A Canadian Mercury will say "soary aboot yer hewse". Thanks to Morgan Automotive Detail you can do what I did and bring a little piece of the Great White North to your display shelf with one of his awesome Mercury conversion sets. Not that I have to... I work for a Canadian company, on a clear day I could probably see Ontario, and I've seen every episode of Trailer Park Boys at least once. So I get more Canadian exposure than anyone this far from the border should. But I just had to build a Bumpside Canuk Merc. The 1967-8 version comes with a decal for the hood lettering, and resin tailgate, hubcaps, and cowl emblems. The basic kit was the 68 F250. I had planned to renumber the badges and keep the 3/4 ton specs but I didn't want to maul the nicely molded badges. So it's a half ton now. I used tires from an AMT Ford Courier, and lowered the front suspension a little. The 300 six has a turbocharger and conical air filter from Iceman Collections. Because why not. A cut down AMT 59 El Camino console houses a T handle floor shifter, and I used a later style Ford steering wheel. Why a turbo 300 six, you ask? Why not, I ask in response. Paint is Tamiya French Blue, hence the Quebec plate up front. I did the firewall, interior, and some of the underside in a darker blue to indicate that the truck was repainted at some point in time. On the real truck the vertical grille bars were blacked out. Instead I painted them in matching French Blue, just to do something a little different. I managed to get the Mercury hood decal slightly off center, and while talking the photos I noticed the paint on the left backup light is smudged. And I somehow completely forgot the rear cab cross member. I might fix that and the backup light, but I'm going live with the off center lettering. I worked on this while I was waiting for paint and adhesive to dry on the Motorhome I finished yesterday. Probably a big shock but I like these Moebius F Series kits.

I started this last summer, maybe the summer before. I began with the Moebius 1967 Ford F100 Service truck. It was basically built as a chassis cab, with Monogram dually wheels and a sixth tire from another Moebius kit added. I filled in the mirror locator holes, and whittled down the tailpipe so I could slip a length of K&S aluminum tubing to extend it past the camper body. Yes, the fender badges still say 100. I'm not gonna worry about it. ? On the back is an AMT Ertl Model King Open Road Camper. The Moebius Fords have a reputation for warped parts. This one had a slight bend in the hood. But the Open Road Camper? Reminds me of the Ministry song "Warp City". I managed to get it to more or less fit together, though the door and rear porch don't open and the theoretically removable roof panel is glued down. I did detail the interior a little bit knowing it was going to end up sealed up I didn't go nuts with it. A different number of shims on each corner got the lumpy floor to sit level on the Ford chassis. I lost the side step near the end of the project, so I fabricated a new one from Evergreen strip. Paint is Tamiya Coral Blue and whatever gloss white I grabbed first. The truck interior is a mix of Coral Blue and Black, while the camper interior is Revell brown and ochre, with white bedding. The seats are white with Coral Blue inserts.

When Cory's beloved 1993 Lightning was demolished in a collision, he decided to combine the salvageable stuff with what was left of his grandfather's old 1972 F-100. The engine, rear axle, rear bumper, wheels, seats, and center console were transferred over, and the truck also got a rear fuel tank, tonneau cover, and a Lightning inspired paint job. He did keep the 72s original four speed manual though. Kit is the Moebius Sport Custom, treated to parts from the AMT Lightning. Paint is Tamiya Pure Red and gloss Black.

Ford dropped the Lightning after the 1995 model year, but the ninth generation F-150 continued for one more season. The F-250 and F-350 got to stick around until 1997. I got to thinking, what if Ford had continued the Lightning for 1996, as a way of giving both the ninth generation half ton and the Lightning a proper sendoff? Base kit is the 1992 Flareside. It naturally has the Lightning front bumper. I also removed the cab steps and made rocker extensions from square Evergreen strip. The small chrome Lightning emblems came from a Rays Kits Decals North America F Series graphics sheet. Inside I updated the steering wheel to an airbag equipped version, stealing the wheel and column from a Revell 1990 Mustang. Under the hood I added a supercharger from a Revell Shelby. It sits on a modified dual carburetor manifold. The thought process was to bridge the gap between the real life first generation Lightning (naturally aspirated, Styleside bed), and the second gen Lightning (supercharged, Flareside bed). Paint is Tamiya Italian Red.

AMT reissue. The box says it's a 1994, but the non-airbag steering wheel says it's a 1993, so I'm going with that. The Budnik wheels, tires, and steering wheel are from the custom AMT 1967 Impala. I added a multifunction stalk and gear selector to the steering column. The engine was converted to look like a Clevor (Windsor block with Cleveland heads) with AMT NASCAR Thunderbird heads and valve covers. The custom intake comes with the Lightning kit. The truck is lowered a bit and painted with Testors White Lightning. The Ford oval on the tailgate and F-150 fender badges are from Rays Kits Decals.

Orange one represents a 1981 model and has a Rupp mini bike, an AMC 401 V8, and a '32 Ford front suspension. The green one represents a 1973 model and has a Chevrolet 454, Rat Roaster wheels, tires, rear axle, and complete front suspension. The grille is a DJ that I bought from Motor City Resin Casters probably more than a decade ago.

Extremely nice! May be your first model in a while but you certainly didn't ease back into the hobby. ?

Love it. Bonus points for keeping the straight six. ?

I started this back in 2019. It just kinda languished until I wrapped it up this weekend. The idea was a rod built up around various cast off items found on or around a farm. The body, dash, and pickup bed came from the AMT chopped coupe. Various 1930s Ford components make up the front suspension. Rear axle and springs are 1953 F100. The Mopar flathead six... Let's say it's an industrial version taken from a Massey Harris combine... Wears a finned head from The Parts Box, a scratch built intake and header, and a smashed mailbox as a scoop. It also has a Morgan Automotive Detail prewired distributor. The Cockshutt tractor grille and cast iron style tractor seats came from Maple Leaf Model Parts (?) on Shapeways. Rear wheels and tires are Scenes Unlimited. The bed is filled with a beer keg turned into a fuel tank and milk crate from Iceman Collections. The business end of an old manure spreader was scratch built and added to the back.

AMT body and interior on a chassis from the AMT 1965 Rat Packer Nova. This is the third in a series of "let's use this chassis from a Nova kit under something besides a Nova" projects. ? First was a 1960 Ranchero on the 66 Pro Street chassis, then the 1962 Oldsmobile F85 on a Moebius 65 Nova gasser chassis, and now this. I built the Hudson 308 engine years ago for a rat rod that went another direction, so it finally got used here. The 8 bolt truck wheels with floating hubs were from Scenes Unlimited. Paint is Tamiya Park Green, same color I used on the engine years ago, except that was airbrushed from a jar and the body is rattle can. I stole the side mirrors from a 1970 Super Bee. The side pipe is from a 1953 Ford F100 flip nose.

Local radio station used to do something similar with an old Ford sedan delivery.

Though I included it in the post but here's the real life inspiration. I took a few liberties but this is where I got the idea...

Loosely based on a local bit of land. Main attractions are the AMT 1972 Chevrolet C10 and the body and interior from the AMT 1966 Chevrolet Nova Pro Street kit. Various shrubbery and whatnot came from Woodland Scenics, JTT Scenery Products, Bachmann, and Gamer Grass. This is also something of a practice run for a small rural salvage yard idea I've had in mind for a while. The mailbox was scratch built. Also never mind the fact that the Woodland Scenics flags are blowing into the wind, as indicated by the wind turbines in the background. ?

Foil over the emblems in the raw plastic, prime, and GENTLY sand off the primer. Repeat the process for paint. Depending on how well defined the emblems are that's about it. I burned through the foil on a couple corners and touched it up with paint from a Molotow chrome pen applied with the point of a toothpick. I tried the same thing on the little round emblems on the C posts but they are too faint so they were foiled after paint.

When Moebius announced the 1965 Nova Gasser, I couldn't wait to get one. Because my first thought was to stick a Johan F85 body on it. It took me this long to make it happen but here we are. The chassis is more or less out of the box, with the firewall modified to fit against the Cutlass cowl. The Johan interior tub has the floor cut out, and I used the tach, aux gauges, wheel and column from the Nova. Seats came from a Revell Rat Roaster, because the Nova seats were too wide for the Johan tub. The engine and transmission are AMT 1969 Cutlass, the blower came from a Revell 41 Willys. I used the small block headers from the Nova even though they don't even come close to matching the Olds exhaust ports. I had to move the electric fan up front because it's tight in there! Paint is Tamiya Pure White outside and Italian Red inside. The Rocket Man decals came from a Gopher Racing sheet. A 1962 Michigan plate from Three Inches Under is the finishing touch.

Oldest custom car trick in the book... Swap on the grille and/or complete front end sheet metal from a newer, fancier, or upscale vehicle. Basically that's all I did here. Basic kit was the new AMT 1992 1500, and the nose from a 2005 Escalade was grafted on. I also used the Escalade side mirrors. At one time there was a kit that provided bespoke fenders and a few other doodads to enable you to fit a GMT800 Escalade front end to a GMT400. My "DIY" example doesn't exactly match those but I think it works well enough. Wheels and tires are from the AMT 1998 Chrysler Concorde, paint is Tamiya Brilliant Orange, and the Cadillac style taillights are just foil and clear red. The tonneau cover and roll pan are .030" plastic sheet.

A year and a half or so ago, I built a stock-ish 1961 Ranchero, with door graphics for a "Quality Automotive Chemicals" business. I had the notion of this company running a fleet of red Rancheros, and even though the company is long gone, a few of their old runners are still around in private ownership. With that in mind, I built a 1960 version on a modified AMT 66 Nova pro street chassis. It's painted the same red as the 61, and has a dual quad 302 from an MPC 1988 Mustang. And of course it has the Quality Automotive Chemicals logos on the doors. And it's in it's own post but since I'm too lazy to look for it, here's the 61.

All you need is the GMC grille emblem from the AMT Sonoma for the grille and a decal for the tailgate. But yeah, would be a nice little twist to get a box stock, factory stock GMC variant.

Minor correction. The 3500 with the GMC grille has a tonneau cover, not the shell. The shell is in the 1993 Chevrolet C1500 extended cab long bed Snapfast Plus kit. Stock green truck on the box. The shell isn't shown or mentioned on the box but it's in there.

Yessir. The original 1996 dually was part of the Snapfast Plus line. Basically an unassembled dealer promo. There was a Brickyard promo that was a short box regular cab, but I think this is the first time AMT offered this configuration as a curbside kit (they did a 454 SS kit but it was full detail).

Spoiler alert... The dash snaps into the interior tub. The tailgate snaps in at the hinges but won't stay shut without glue. The grille doesn't technically snap in but there's enough of a tension fit you *might* be able to get away without using glue. ? But yeah, Easy Build just means Easy Build for these kits and I'm happy to say they're exactly as described in that aspect.