'11 Ford Model T Touring

[Eric Macleod]

Because life has been happening it has been some time since I have worked on a model of any kind. With the final Toledo show coming up I thought I would take a crack at this kit in the out of the box guise.  I will change some of the glaring errors and will explore what can be done with paint alone. Here is my start but already I have painted fenders twice and have a part line on the transmission hogshead and inspection cover to fix. 

[randyc]

Good luck - I'll try to keep up with this one especially because it is different.  

[retired & glad]

I have a lot of experience with life things. I have just recently come back to building myself. I enjoy out of box but like to play with paints. I painted the inside of one Sunday and let it sit overnight. Ugly color, so it went into the pond and it came out back to plastic. 

Welcome back Eric

[Mike999]

Here's a link to a build article on the ICM 1913 Model T, at the IPMS website.  The author knows a lot about real Model T's and I found it very helpful when I was working on the ICM '13 Speedster. That project is currently "on hold."  Not because of anything wrong with the kit, just my own goofs and mods I wanted to add.

One of the trickiest parts I found:  because of the assembly sequence, that beautiful brass radiator has to be painted BEFORE attaching it to the front axle, then attaching that assembly to the fenders/frame.  The very fragile headlight brackets also have to be painted brass and ICM would have us attach them pretty early.  Better to put them on after everything else is done.

Like many parts on this kit, those headlight brackets are only attached by a butt-joint with a very small gluing surface.  And they're almost too small to do the drill-and-pin-with-wire trick. The best fix for this might be a Five-Minute Epoxy.

Overall it's a fun kit, and nicely detailed. 

https://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/1913-ford-model-t-roadster

[misterNNL]

So what kit are you actually building here? The fender assembly looks like the Tognitti T kit.

[Eric Macleod]

I am building the ICM '12 T Touring ( I accidentally called it an '11 in the title). That review was quite helpful Mike999, especially the part specific to the manifold.  My car will have a few differences to make it more '12 than '13 and I will get rid of some of the excess brass "bling" that was never on the car. I think it will be a fun model.

[dimaxion]

I am watching his with appreciation . I am building (ambitious) string of Model T's . The Tonka '11 is more like the '14 MY with little Brass .  In 1913 , the "any color as long as it was black" started in the New Ford factory . Prior to that , the Body was available in the Blue carried over from '11-'12 .  The Fenders etc. Black . The MY 1911 and all other Model T's had a removable center in the Oil Pan to facilitate Bearing replacement without removing the Engine . IIRC the IMC Kits lack his . Yes , I'm retentive    I , over the last few years bought 3 Model T Books . I do use Snydsers and have since the 80's for information . IIRC .. The '09-'11 had exposed  Valves , not cover as depicted in the Pic you have here . I could look that up . Thanx 

Edited June 18, 2019 by dimaxion

[heyjohnxx]

Glad to see you building again. My friend Stephanie saw you and Mrs. Eric out in the T a couple of weeks ago.

[Mike999]

2 hours ago, Eric Macleod said:

I am building the ICM '12 T Touring ( I accidentally called it an '11 in the title). That review was quite helpful Mike999, especially the part specific to the manifold.  My car will have a few differences to make it more '12 than '13 and I will get rid of some of the excess brass "bling" that was never on the car. I think it will be a fun model.

Glad it helped.  All that brass "bling" is no problem with the ICM '13 Speedster kit.  It doesn't have any plated parts.  The "brass" sprue is the same gray plastic as the rest of the kit. The Speedster seems to be discounted more than the other ICM T's, for some reason.  I've seen them as low as $19.99, which is a great deal.  That kit has a nice oval gas tank with "Ford" script, a "monocle" windscreen, and other parts that could be used on Model T hot rods.

Here's a trick I used for the complicated tail-light. It's brass, with a round blue lens on each side and a red lens in the middle.  I did not want to try hand-painting those lenses. Michael's and Hobby Lobby sell tiny, round self-adhesive gemstones.  I painted 3 of those with Tamiya Clear Blue and Clear Red, painted the whole tail-light brass, then stuck the lenses on. It worked great.

[Eric Macleod]

Thanks to both John and John. Because this is a '12 the closed valvetrain is correct. And you are correct,  it will be a very dark (almost black) blue body over black fenders. I am using a local car (in this case an '11 Torpedo,  but close enough) as a reference for colors.  It helps when they are closeby home.

[Eric Macleod]

33 minutes ago, Mike999 said:

Glad it helped.  All that brass "bling" is no problem with the ICM '13 Speedster kit.  It doesn't have any plated parts.  The "brass" sprue is the same gray plastic as the rest of the kit. The Speedster seems to be discounted more than the other ICM T's, for some reason.  I've seen them as low as $19.99, which is a great deal.  That kit has a nice oval gas tank with "Ford" script, a "monocle" windscreen, and other parts that could be used on Model T hot rods.

Here's a trick I used for the complicated tail-light. It's brass, with a round blue lens on each side and a red lens in the middle.  I did not want to try hand-painting those lenses. Michael's and Hobby Lobby sell tiny, round self-adhesive gemstones.  I painted 3 of those with Tamiya Clear Blue and Clear Red, painted the whole tail-light brass, then stuck the lenses on. It worked great.

This also helps. I am curious where you found the speedster for $19.99. I would be interested in picking up a couple of these. I had a thought that I could build a Torpedo as seen above out of one of the speedster kits.

I really like the tail-lamp idea, though to be correct one lens should be clear (the one that illuminates the license plate), one blue (to the side) and one red (rear facing). The clear blue and red would help a lot. I have been wondering about adhesive for the headlamps and windshield and think 5 minute epoxy may be my best bet. Evidently I need to get building and post some updates.

Does anyone out there in the model car building world know if spark plug wires are allowed when building for the out of the box class? I am probably calling that the wrong thing, so I hope you know what I mean.

[Mike999]

47 minutes ago, Eric Macleod said:

This also helps. I am curious where you found the speedster for $19.99...

I had to go back thru my "Stuff I Bought" list to find the Speedster.  The price was $19.95 at Freetime Hobbies during one of their sales.  But that was over a year ago.  Freetime is now showing it as "out of stock." Their regular price for that kit was $25.79.  HobbyLinc has it in stock for $23.12.   

You're right about the tail-light. I just found a photo of a 1913 light, showing the clear lens.  I believe the instructions told me to paint both lenses blue. Oh well, easily fixed. I'll just pop off the blue lens with a hobby knife and replace it with an unpainted gemstone.  They're a reflective chrome which should pass for clear.  Or paint it white.

[dimaxion]

I thank you for the Blue Lizzy Pic .. I am stumped trying to find that shade of Blue for my '13 Build .. a similar Green for the '12 .. the Browish Grey for the '11 . The rear Fenders for the '09/'10 have me hung up too . I plan to make the Two Stick ('09) two pedals  . Thanx 

 

[Eric Macleod]

I did quite a lot of detail painting this evening.  Just before calling it a night I caught a glimpse of the passenger side splash apron (part of the fender assembly) and there it was, a nice big ole run in the paint. Guess I am glad I caught it now. Oh well. Here's the progress for the evening. 

[Mike999]

8 hours ago, Eric Macleod said:

I did quite a lot of detail painting this evening.  Just before calling it a night I caught a glimpse of the passenger side splash apron (part of the fender assembly) and there it was, a nice big ole run in the paint. Guess I am glad I caught it now. Oh well. Here's the progress for the evening. 

Here's something else I learned.  Hopefully I can explain it without too much confusion.  If you've studied the instructions, you know that the exhaust manifold/pipe/muffler are installed very late in building - after the engine is in the chassis.

After that, you have to glue on 4 tiny "wing nuts" that hold the exhaust manifold to the engine.  You almost have to stand on your head to do this, and there isn't much space to work between the front fender and the firewall.  The locator holes for those 4 nuts are just shallow dimples in the engine block.  With the engine painted black, they are nearly impossible to see.

So before installing the engine, I drilled out the four "dimples" for the wing nuts, exposing the original gray plastic.  After attaching the exhaust manifold, I carefully glued in each wing nut using tweezers.  Because of the drilled holes, the wing nuts stayed in place.  I was pretty sure they'd be falling out if I hadn't drilled those holes.

Speaking of holes...you probably noticed that the end of the exhaust pipe is molded solid.  It could be drilled out, but it's pretty small and I always seem to goof when drilling small holes.  I cut the exhaust pipe to a short stub, filed it down thinner, and slipped a piece of plastic tube over it.  That gave a nice open exhaust pipe, with just a few minutes work.

[Eric Macleod]

4 hours ago, Mike999 said:

Here's something else I learned.  Hopefully I can explain it without too much confusion.  If you've studied the instructions, you know that the exhaust manifold/pipe/muffler are installed very late in building - after the engine is in the chassis.

After that, you have to glue on 4 tiny "wing nuts" that hold the exhaust manifold to the engine.  You almost have to stand on your head to do this, and there isn't much space to work between the front fender and the firewall.  The locator holes for those 4 nuts are just shallow dimples in the engine block.  With the engine painted black, they are nearly impossible to see.

So before installing the engine, I drilled out the four "dimples" for the wing nuts, exposing the original gray plastic.  After attaching the exhaust manifold, I carefully glued in each wing nut using tweezers.  Because of the drilled holes, the wing nuts stayed in place.  I was pretty sure they'd be falling out if I hadn't drilled those holes.

Speaking of holes...you probably noticed that the end of the exhaust pipe is molded solid.  It could be drilled out, but it's pretty small and I always seem to goof when drilling small holes.  I cut the exhaust pipe to a short stub, filed it down thinner, and slipped a piece of plastic tube over it.  That gave a nice open exhaust pipe, with just a few minutes work.

These are all very good suggestions. I will go ahead and steal all of them!

I was looking at the spark plugs which may need to be a touch larger to be detailed enough to be noticeable. The correct plugs for one of these cars are really quite large both in terms of length and diameter. I wonder if the car ICM used for dimensions had a set of the newer plugs in place instead of a correct set.

This kit is an interesting mix of obsessive detailing and baffling omissions. As an example, that ICM skipped the drain cocks for the oil (a part that is 1" long and perhaps 1/2" in diameter) is forgivable as it is such a small and relatively unimportant detail. On the other hand, omitting the entire gas tank and shut off (in 1:1 very prominent large aspects of the car -2 feet long and 10" in diameter) is puzzling. The only explanation I can come up with is they were planning the speedster a long time before the first kit was released.

Either way, this is proving to be a delight of a project.

[Eric Macleod]

I didn't get a lot done in the last couple weeks. I'm waiting for a second round of the purple pond to do its job on the fenders. I have largely finished my work on the engine. Spark plugs still have to be painted. I also painted the fan belt and put the first coat of flat white on the muffler. 

I have decided to keep calling this an '11 as it is a closed valve engine (can't be a '10),  but has no front doors (can't be a '12). This is a very nice model. The slow pace of the build is a result of my own ineptitude with painting, and making some fundamental errors. 

[Eric Macleod]

I have been rather distracted again.  The washing machine broke, went out of town  etc. After 5 attempts and three brands of paint I have a coat of black on the fenders that I am semi-happy with. I also had an epiphany about the radiator alignment and decided to line it up just as I would on a 1:1 car, using the hood to decide where the rad should go. Here's the progress.