1930 Model A Ford ice cream truck

[alan barton]

This was a quick, almost box stock build of the Aurora "The Wurst"  hot dog truck.  The original kit was the Hot Surfer from around 1963 and "The Wurst" was a modified re-issue from 1969.  It was purchased as a partially assembled kit, which is why the windshield frame is not dead straight - anyone who has worked with Aurora kits would know how brittle their styrene is and I wasn't prepared to risk breaking it if I attempted to straighten it up!

I had an almost empty can of Testors Hot Magenta and figured there was enough paint in it to cover the limited bodywork of this model.  The finish here is straight off the can and came out beautifully - I never understand the negativity I hear on here about Testors spray cans and I really miss them now that they are no longer available in Australia.

Now I don't have much colour sense myself - I can look at a cool colour scheme and think, "Wow, that is great" but I am not that good at coming up with them myself.  I asked my wife what colour I should do the vending body section of the model and she first suggested white and then corrected that to cream.  I had Tamiya Racing White, a creamy colour in the rack so that was easy.  And then it struck us both - ice cream truck!  Here in Australia, the dominant brand of ice cream trucks in the 60's and 70's was Mr Whippy and their Commer vans were always pink and white. so it was a natural.

From there my wife got very involved and wanted to know what bits I had to create detail in the kitchen area.  I gave her a box of jewellery items and also some small domed aluminium discs that a friend of mine gave me many years ago. The three dispensers are made out of the clear protector from one of her folk art paint brushes. The base of the drink dispenser is the cap of the end of an old automotive fuse. The base under the  gob-stopper jar is a bead. My wife also carved the ice cream cones from a toothpick and tinted them with acrylic craft paint. After we applied a selection of decals from my stash, she also hand painted the ice cream cones that you see on various body panels of the truck.

My wife also added various items onto the shelf and used the discs to make covers for the ice cream storage.  It was only when I took these close up photos that I saw just how much detail she painted onto the items that Aurora moulded onto the shelf. Further testament to her accuracy is how amazingly sharp the panels that she masked on the umbrella came out.

The rest of the model is box stock except for the addition of a blower and belt.  The scoop came with the kit but was meant to be glued direct to the manifold with no attempt at a carby or fuel injection of any sort - very odd!

We took just under two weeks to build this start to finish and I am chuffed with how well it came out.  It was the last of my seventeen Aurora rods to be completed and the first one where I attempted to add extra detail. 

Cheers

Alan

 

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi Alan!

Very unique and appetizing build, truly!

We often heard of father and son modeling teams... but husband and wife is not as frequent! Extend my compliments to your wife for her many good ideas and execution. 

CT 

[Dave Van]

WOW!! VERY 1960s showrod....nice!

[stitchdup]

Cool, the mr whippy vans in scotland were all bedford ca's, the commers rusted too fast here

[Zippi]

I really like the Model A ice cream truck.  Nice job.  Don't know why but it reminds me of the Fiat Jolly.

[ChrisR]

COOL!!

[espo]

Models done like this always seem special, and this one especially. The fact that your wife became so involved just adds that much more to this build. The kitchen area looks very realistic.  

[bobthehobbyguy]

Wonderful job. Really cool. The added details really enhance the model.

Hope you will be able to do future builds with your wife collaborating.

[misterNNL]

Found objects can add tons of interest to our builds as this model illustrates.

[cobraman]

Nicely done !  I'll have a chocolate cone please.

[PappyD340]

Very nice!

[alan barton]

Thanks everyone for your comments! I have shown them to my wife.  We don't always see eye to eye on our projects but we seemed to have a nice bit of ying and yang happening on this one, the first time she has ever actually worked on one of my cars.  My wife is a very talented folk art painter, patchwork quilter and bricklayer/landscaper, to name just a few of her talents.  Modelmaking is not one of her hobbies as such but she does support me in everything I do.  She did scratchbuild two magnificent (and quite large) diorama modules for our club's annual display, one of which can be seen here.  Recently she produced another thirty or so figures so I will get some new photos organised to showcase her work.

Cheers

Alan

 

[carrucha]

Neat build.  Nice to see an ice cream truck build.

[MeatMan]

Very well done!

The paint color is very suited to the theme, and the detail is awesome.

[mchook]

Great model you two! The only problem with it is now I want some ice cream, and I really don't need any ice cream.?

[happy grumpy]

Beautiful build and the color is perfect for that . The pictures are clear and well composed. Thanks for sharing

[Oldcarfan27]

Tasty!!