mrm Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 This is a model which I have bought numerous times in the past in various reissue variations, but have never actually built one. EVER! I always thought it had the only really modern hot rod independent suspension front and rear, which is why I have bought it in the past. But I never came around to actually using anything from the kits. So this past weekend I got one cheap and decided to actually build it and see how the suspension looks like once assembled and judge its potential from there. So, here is what I am starting with. Few things jumped at me right away as very outdated. The tiny doors and the way they were molded, the double windshield, the hight of the roof and the interior. So first thing to do was to rescribe new door lines and remove the raised old ones. The "new doors" are longer, closer together and go all the way down. In other words they are bigger. I think this way they will give the body a much more modern feel to the body, while still keeping it traditional. Next, what grabbed my attention were the running boards, which have that weird texture to them, that just looked wrong to me. So I smoothed them to go with the more modern look The body was then glued to the fenders and all the joint lines and holes were filled and puttied The double window had to definitely go Now this created more issues with the roof than anticipated. Obviously, the top had to be chopped , but once I did it, the bottom was too wide and also the front edge of the top hung too much on each side of the windshield. So I figured if I pie cut the top in the middle it would take care of it. And it did. It only required the windshield the be leaned back a little, which I liked anyway. The plan is to have everything dechromed except the suspension, keep the engine from the kit with a different intake, paint the exterior a cool metallic blue, the top in matching flat blue and scratch-build the interior in a nice contrasting color. Thanks for looking and stay tuned. 1
JTalmage Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 I have this one I bought as a rebuilder off ebay... Giving me ideas Keep up the good work!
afx Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 And I have one up for trade- your making me 2nd guess trading it. Nice work so far.
bobthehobbyguy Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 Nice start. The changes really suit the car. Changing the door lines makes a big difference.
Spex84 Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 The new door cut lines make it look more like a '30. Cool! Molding the fenders on was an interesting decision. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
mrm Posted June 17, 2015 Author Posted June 17, 2015 Thank you guys for all the positive comments. I really love how detailed the frame is on this model. One thing I did not like about it is the way the cross members are made. They are tubular and are molded half way and need to be glued in the middle. I decided that it would be stronger, better and way easier to just replace them with styrene tubing. The way the transmission is molded it leaves a huge hole, where it connects to the engine, so I filled this with sheet styrene. It was then attached to the engine block and the intake from Revell's '32 3 window was used instead of the kit's one. At this stage I feel like I am ready for the first round of primer. Just need to smooth out the hoods. Thanks for looking and stay tuned.
Harry P. Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 I've never understood why model kit manufacturers put out kits with the door lines depicted as raised ridges rather than recesses. Nice work so far.
bobthehobbyguy Posted June 18, 2015 Posted June 18, 2015 I've never understood why model kit manufacturers put out kits with the door lines depicted as raised ridges rather than recesses. Nice work so far. Harry in this case the raised edges are right. Its the way the came from the factory.
Eric Macleod Posted June 18, 2015 Posted June 18, 2015 I can explain why the raised edges on a Model T are there. That is the way the real car is built. There is a raised molding around all of the doors and at all of the body junctures. Just the way Henry did things. Inelegant but effective. Now, as for the raised edges on the '36 Auburn Speedster by Pyro....laziness.
bobthehobbyguy Posted June 18, 2015 Posted June 18, 2015 Yup easier to do a raised panel line. A normal panel line requires the mold to have a raised line in the mold.
misterNNL Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 FYI that "weird texture"on the running board was the diamond plate textured step plate that Ford added for safety resons.A smooth wet steel plate right where your feet go for entry and exit from your car was not very safe. Also not very early model T's had doors on both sides of the body and actually did have have only a raised panel line where the door would be.
Zarana-X Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 Yeah, the Model T had tiny doors with the raised edge. The texture on the running boards is also stock. Fancier cars had rubbery mats over them. My dad's 33 truck's runnign baords look like this.
mrm Posted June 19, 2015 Author Posted June 19, 2015 Thanks for all the info guys. I did not know that the T had "dummy doors" on one side. I did however know about the stock texture on the running boards. When I said they had weird texture, I meant how it is represented on the model. Did not look convincing at all. Plus I am going after a cleaner look.
Eric Macleod Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 The "dummy door" on the American made T's started when my '13 was made and carried on through the 1925 open bodied cars (runabouts and tourings). In 1926 American made cars joined the Canadian cars and added a door on the driver's side. They were so small that someone like me with size 13 feet cannot get through the door opening. Oddly, on my '26 fordor (no, that is not a spelling error) sedan it is pretty easy to get in because there is more space between the parking brake and the door opening as they have shorter cowls. I have to tell you, I really like what you have done with this model, which has always been one of my all time favorites. The lines are a really nice improvement and would lend themselves nicely to a 1:1 car. I will be curious about your color choices as we go forward.
mrm Posted June 19, 2015 Author Posted June 19, 2015 Since I have always had a desire to build this model exactly because of the box art and also because of my kids advise, I am keeping it blue. Not as blue as on the box art, but Blue Herra, which is a very fine and darker metallic. It is a Lamborghini color I have from another project. I want the top to be as close of a shade of blue, but flat. For wheels I am thinking about the really big and really littles from Revells '32 Roadster. They are very modern , or should I say timeless, and will give it a nice rake. I don't really want to get carried away with this one, as it is just a fun exercise to see how the suspension goes together.
DumpyDan Posted June 20, 2015 Posted June 20, 2015 Cool build, gonna keep watching. I have a few of these my self
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