Chuck Most

Thanks guys! I think the next one of these I build will be a bit more extreme, but also a bit more "traditional" in style, for want of a better term. Kind of a mid-to-late '50's period piece. With a mostly stock engine and a full exhaust this time. Foiling the '52 and '53 kits is the only thing I don't like about building them (Convertible aside,that one is much easier to foil detail, for some odd reason...). The '54's simplified greenhouse and side trim are downright pleasant to foil- compared to the '52/3 kits and in general.

Also... the resemblance to the '53/4 Ford (or more specifically, '52... we'll get to it in a second) is not accidental. When Hudson chose to "reskin" the Step Down for '54, they had originally planned on something that was radically different from the previous models. Trouble was that a guy named Jim Moran, who owned the largest Hudson dealer in America (in Chicago) did not like the look. He suggested the design should take cues from '52 Ford. His logic was that he got a lot of these in on trade, and he could always get a good price on them when he sold them. Now, it might seem weird- if people were trading in Fords for Hudsons, you'd think that meant they liked the Hudson better, so making it look more like the Ford would be counter-productive, but he may have had the Ford's high resale value in mind. This input was used on the full sized Hudsons an and the new-for '54 Jet compact car... which is an even sadder story but I'll nip that so I won't ramble too much! Between that, and the fact that Hudson had all but bankrupted themselves developing the ultimately-unsuccessful compact Jet, they opted to go with Moran's idea.The '54 still had the '48 vintage Step Down chassis and body structure, but all the external sheetmetal from the window sills down was new, along with pretty much all the trim and the dashboard. Not everyone was thrilled with the '54's "playing it safe" design. In late '53 one of Hudson's major shareholders actually took a new '54 to a custom shop and had it restyled more along the lines of what Hudson originally had in mind. That car still exists today. http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_car_photos/customcars_i_like/hudson_custom_cars/1954-hudson-hard-top/

Thanks guys! Here it is finished (though I'm STILL toying around with the idea of sticking a flasher on it somewhere). I made a few small strips to cover up the mounting pins for the mirror arm. Somehow, I didn't notice that I never painted them until I looked at the pics. So... those are painted now, and the engine bay was given a grimy wash. I'm happy enough with it now.

That's one plant though- it may have varied. For instance- in 1948 the Windsor plant built 32,388 Ford trucks and 10,073 Mercury trucks for example, which would be a pretty generous number of Mercurys for the year. From what I've seen, the number of Mercury trucks built in a given year would still mean your odds are much better of finding one with Ford badging, even if there are more Mercs than you might be led to expect.

I know I've said it more than a few times.

Well.. not getting respect on the HAMB isn't a big deal when you consider the average diehard HAMB member. "I built my car the exact same way they did 60 years ago." Yeah, because sixty years ago guys were buying "period correct" parts on ebay and craigslist (or hopping into time machines to get things that didn't even exist then, like Vega steering boxes and single-wire 12-volt alternators), assembling them in fully-equipped home shops with hoists, digital readout TIG welders, and plasma cutters, and then posting their progress pics on the internet for all to see. Yep, exactly the same. And don't even get me started on that worn-out, idiotic "build not bought" crapola that a disproportionately high number of them like to spout...

Nice! I had an girlfriend with one that (probably) looked just like this when it was new, just add about 16 years of Michigan winters and general wear and tear. Oh, and a stack of multicolor hair scrunchies around the base of the shifter.

I'll be watching- and taking notes.

If you want to use the warped parts to your advantage and do it as a very high-mileage beater, here are a few pics I took of one at a demolition site a few years ago- http://public.fotki.com/ChuckMost/truck-photos/gmc-box-van/

This is a reissue of the Honcho ('90's black plastic), with the plow from the '77 GMC reissue, 6-bolt wheels pirated from a Datsun 720, and the inline six from the MPC '78 Pacer, I still might grunge up the engine a bit, and maybe add a few more rust spots and perhaps some mud, but it's close enough to call for now.

A few observations (sorry if I'm repeating anything here)- I like the way the windshield fits in- it basically installs from the outside- there is a lip at the top you need to slip up into the roof first, but you don't need to push it through the opening, which greatly reduces messing up the foil on the surround. Also, big bonus points for the separate quarter glass and backlight- the one-piece backlight/quarter glass unit was one of the things I didn't like about the '52/3 kits. The '54 includes the side-exit exhaust from the '52 NASCAR kits- not sure if that was intentional or not, but a nice little bonus. There's also a leftover '52/3 dash, as the '54 dash is on a separate sprue with the hood and fuel door. The "Twin H Power" script on the deck lid stands out quite a bit more than on the '52/3 kits. Since the chassis is carried over from the earlier kits, any tricks/techniques you've used to build/modify those kits are still valid here. Same goes for the engine. The wire wheels are one-piece, but they have to be among the nicest looking wire wheels I've seen in a plastic kit. About all they need to look really good is a dark wash on the spokes. Hood fit is better- no need to sand around the outside edge so it isn't such a tight fit after paint. Everything fits together nicely- it seems like Moebius tweaked a few of the mounting holes for better fit. All in all, this would be a great one for one of those "24 hour" or weekend build projects. Between the good parts fit, and the fact that this kit is much easier to foil than the earlier Hornets, you can get a little instant gratification out of this one. I did one as a mild custom over the course of two days.

From what I hear, they were seldom seen even when new.

Got this kit Saturday morning, and decided to make a weekend project out of it. This is the 12th Hornet I've built, but the first '54. It's also the second one in a row to be painted Revving Red and fitted with large-diameter wheels, for what it's worth. Much of it is box-stock- I modified the front spindles to accept the custom wheels (from a Revell '57 Chevy), used a Morgan Automotive Detail (MAD) finned cylinder head, air cleaners from a Revell '49 Merc, and some shorter rear tires from the parts box. The side-exit exhaust from the NASCAR variants is still included, but not mentioned, so I used that instead of the stock exhaust. The body is entirely stock, though I just had to lose those clunky ornamental stone shields- a few minutes with a file and sandpaper took care of those. I sanded off the engraved "Hudson" and "Hornet" scripts and used the decals instead. Looks like I'll need to touch up the foil on the side trim, but other than that I'm fairly pleased with it. Not too shabby for a 48-hour project, I guess

Current trend? They've been doing it since the early '90's- the original Revell Caprice cop car had stickers instead of decals. I have no idea why- I personally find waterslide decals to be easier (and more forgiving) to apply, not to mention more realistic. I just can't follow Revell's way of thinking on including sticker graphics on snap kits.

Very cool! I do like the color of the wheels, just not the design- but that's GM's fault, not yours. Having them painted (even in a 'loud' color) tones them down a bit.

People still post on The HAMB?

I think this is, by far, the coolest re-interpretation of this kit I've ever seen. Very cool!

If you just so happen to have a Revell AG Vanagon laying around....

Could be. The 2003 Johan reissue suggest using the windshield from their '56 Pontiac as the rear window for a sedan conversion, IIRC. I thought there were some in-progress photos of the '56 conversion, but I couldn't find them, so he well could have done something similar.

Juha Airio (Pretty sure I bungled the spelling) did a conversion- not only to a sedan, but backdated to a '56. http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/model_cars/model_cars_from_others/models_by_juha_airio-1/1967_rambler/

I once saw a sign that read something like "Make sure door is open before attempting to enter." I actually lost a bit of faith in humanity when I saw it.

Assuming nobody actually did stop and offer help (since the vid cuts off just after the car does its impersonation of The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay).... 1. The guy hit the gas and took off at a rather high rate of speed- he was doing a pretty good job gaining on the traffic in front of him. I'd be willing to guess he just blew through a red light. 2. He was passing on the right. That's just plain idiotic in pretty much any circumstance. 3. He didn't have enough sense to make sure he had the little things taken care of... like a properly installed rear axle, for instance. So, in short... stopping to help someone like that would be interfering with natural selection.

So... 1:24 scale ("the wrong scale" for quite a few annoyingly-outspoken types, never mind all the old Monogram NASCAR kits were 1:24 and nobody complained), snap kit, no engine, and pre-printed graphics. Uh oh. Better put on a NASCAR spec helmet and fire suit, because I have a feeling this might get ugly... That being said, I'm up for a couple, and I'm not even a NASCAR fan. I actually like how the Fusion "stock" cars look, and I can wait for the decal guys to come out with some different graphics. I'd love to have a Toyota or two as well, just because the presence of Toyota in NASCAR irked so many hillrods... which is always a good thing if you ask me.