'32 Vicky Survivor Resto/Rescue

[Snake45]

Couple months ago I bought a big box of model car parts that turned out to have, when sorted out, 13 more-or-less complete old models. One of them was this AMT '32 Ford Vicky, which might be an original issue (it's molded in black). The only parts missing were one valve cover, one carb horn ball, and the right custom bobbed rear fender.

I decided to do a straight-up restoration as much as possible, to honor what it once was, 55 or so years ago: some kid's carefully crafted pride and joy. Only made a couple minor changes. Since the right rear fender was missing, I pried the left one off, and then carefully cut/scraped/sanded/polished the glue damage off the body. I didn't like the tall, skinny tires, and they were eating into the wheels anyway, so I replaced the fronts with some vintage AMT 1966 Firestone Supreme whitewalls, and the rears with modern AMT parts pack pie-crust slicks with white and red stripes. This change improved the “sit” of the model from slightly nose-high to pretty much level. I know from previous experience that it's difficult to pull off an all-black model, so I painted the interior seats and sidewalls with Walmart gray primer just for a little contrast, which really helps.

Other than the tires, and adding a valve cover from a Vicky kit in the stash, everything else here is original. I was able to get the interior out of the body, but not the windows. There were a couple scratches or scuffs on the glass, which I was able to polish out in place. I couldn't get the engine or radiator out of the chassis without risking breakage, so cleaned everything up by soaking in dishwashing soap and washing under warm running water with a wide soft paintbrush. There were glue boogers all over the place. I don't know what kind of glue it was, but it had sort of a maroon color in places, and it didn't eat into the styrene as deeply as most old glue I've seen. I was able to carefully cut or chip about 90% or more of the visible excess glue away, and covered it with black paint in a few small spots. I got the intake off the engine so was able to remove the molding marks from the carbs, paint them Testor Steel, and touch up the missing chrome on the carb horns with Silver Sharpie. The missing chrome on the headers was touched up with Molotow chrome. The grille got a wash of thinned flat black acrylic paint.

I filed away the tire-melted plastic on the wheels, trued up the rims, painted the spokes and inner rims Testor Steel, and then re-chromed the rims with Rub N Buff.

I deepend the door lines with the backside of an Xacto blade, and removed all molding lines on the body. The body and radiator shell were polished with Trim fingernail polishing sticks. The ancient AMT black styrene polished up magnificently, giving a shine that rivals a really good black paint job with a fraction of the work and none of the risk. I left the original license plate decal in place, just trimming off the excess clear surrounding film and then polishing around it.

I like the way it turned out. The tire change and improved “sit” seem to update the thing from about the 1961-63 timeframe to somewhere maybe in the '64 to '66 era. The gray interior subtly sends the message that yes, this is a “finished” model, even though almost everything you see is raw black plastic. I think the Original Builder would be pleased with what I've done with it.

 

Here it is with a '32 5-window I threw together in the early '90s. Old school hot rods! As always, comments welcome.

 

[bismarck]

Nice save on the Vicky Snake! It really has the " look" of a vintage hot rod. Love It?

Edited October 28, 2018 by bismarck

[Spex84]

Nice save! Looks much better with the new tires.  It's still one ball short, though   Gives it character!

[cobraman]

A world better looking. Good job !

[Zoom]

Nice and well done!

[1930fordpickup]

Well done

 

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Sharp!

[Oldcarfan27]

Looks good, it's a very contemporary build and still looks as good today as it did back then. Too bad you couldn't have saved the decals, they fit the theme of the car.

[David G.]

Well done on the rescue and resuscitation!

David G. 

[donb]

Looks great Snake. Nice work! 

[TooOld]

Great save of a very cool Vickie survivor , finds like this deserve to be saved !  I'm sure the kid that built it was smiling just as much as we are now . 

[Hmann68]

Came out beautifully Snake, that’s a tough looking old hot rod!

[ewetwo]

Cleaned up nicely.

[slusher]

Wow, Snake looks like a totally different model!  Looks great friend!

[Snake45]

On 10/28/2018 at 11:58 PM, Oldcarfan27 said:

Looks good, it's a very contemporary build and still looks as good today as it did back then. Too bad you couldn't have saved the decals, they fit the theme of the car.

Thanks! If I could find another set, I'd give consideration to using them. 

[Snake45]

On 10/29/2018 at 11:25 AM, TooOld said:

Great save of a very cool Vickie survivor , finds like this deserve to be saved !  I'm sure the kid that built it was smiling just as much as we are now . 

Thanks, that was kind of the idea. 

[Buffs Fan]

Great save on the Vicky!!! 

[Deuces]

Nice!