Tom Geiger Posted September 30, 2019 Posted September 30, 2019 Yes, I'm on the roll of finishing long languishing projects! And we can call this one done! Started in 2004 from someone else's unfinished project, I got the idea for an island tour jitney bus from our vacation in St Thomas. The trucks performing this duty then were current Ford trucks with locally produced bodies, but that got me wondering what that would look like in the 1950s. So here we go.. I'm pleased with the results. I made the body behind the cab. It is on a stock wheelbase and fender unit. The passenger body started out with sides from the Tom Daniel Paddy Wagon. The roof is all basswood, and yes I cut all those shingles! I made all the decals on my inkjet. I also made the US Virgin Islands plates from Internet images. The "T" on the plate is for St Thomas. "C" is St Croix and "J" is St Johns. Rear view. The two sides rear sides of the bed are panels cut from kit tail gates to get the embossed Ford emblems. The steps were scratch built from Evergreen plastic as were the seats. Engine is the kit's flathead V8 with wiring. Nothing special under the hood. The driveline is all kit stock The side bands were printed in yellow on white decal stock. Seat cushions were cut from basswood and all the corners rounded off like cushions would be. For fabric I went to Joann's Fabrics website. They literally have thousands of patterns. I entered "tropical" and there were probably hundreds! I chose the palm tree motif. You may never see it, but the headliner is done with this pattern as well. No major trick here. I took their pattern and created an array of it to get the size I'd need to wrap seats. I scaled it to size and then printed it on my inkjet on regular paper. I coated the cushions with good ole Elmer's and wrapped them in the paper tight. I was careful not to let the glue moisture bleed through to the ink side. I'm pleased with the cushions! There is a little message up inside the roof. And that makes for a trio of 1950 Ford pickups on my shelf. None of them would be confused with one another! Thanks for looking!
Goose1957 Posted October 1, 2019 Posted October 1, 2019 That turned out great. I was following your build thread and wondered how it turned out. The colors really make it stand out and say "tropical paradise". Would be a fun tour of the island. I only wonder if your message inside would be "period correct ". They would probably hand out packs of cigs to tourists back in the 50's, lol. Jeff
average_joe Posted October 1, 2019 Posted October 1, 2019 That is truly amazing work, Tom - I want to jump in and go for a tour! Beautifully done and the details are outstanding!
David G. Posted October 1, 2019 Posted October 1, 2019 Excellent work all around. The cushions are especially cool. David G.
Tom Geiger Posted October 1, 2019 Author Posted October 1, 2019 Thanks Everyone! It was fun and I'm happy to say it matches the image I had in my head! I'm pleased to have it done and on the shelf!
ewetwo Posted October 1, 2019 Posted October 1, 2019 I love it Tom. I like the whimsical nature of your builds.
BIGTRUCK Posted October 2, 2019 Posted October 2, 2019 That's really a nice one Tom, good color choices. Whats the deal on the little blue hot rod with what looks like a falcon rear?
Tom Geiger Posted October 3, 2019 Author Posted October 3, 2019 1 hour ago, BIGTRUCK said: That's really a nice one Tom, good color choices. Whats the deal on the little blue hot rod with what looks like a falcon rear? Thanks Ken! That's the "Scary Little Rod" ! It has an Under Glass thread of it's own!
spencer1984 Posted October 3, 2019 Posted October 3, 2019 Very nicely done, and a great collection of Fords you've got there!
Fairfax Posted October 7, 2019 Posted October 7, 2019 Great job. Very nice and a good idea. All three are the right vintage ! :-)
Sixties Sam Posted October 8, 2019 Posted October 8, 2019 On 10/1/2019 at 7:33 AM, David G. said: Excellent work all around. The cushions are especially cool. David G. Yes, I agree! Very nice, creative work, Tom! Sam
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