AMT ‘53 Ford F-100

[Smoke Wagon]

With the BRAT finished up and done, there was about a square inch of bare space on my work bench, so I figured I’d remedy that and start another project while working on the other ones. Jokes aside, my intention with multiple projects is to not get burned out focusing on just one. 

This kit was the Trophy Series reissue that came with the Wildkat decals and mini box. This is a great kit despite its age, the only gripe I have is with the interior, but the frame, engine(s), and detailing under the bed floor more than make up for it. 

I chose to make it stock, but not a Deluxe, so I hallowed out the grille and took out the Deluxe grille teeth. The grille will be painted a warm white, and I’ll be using Goof-Off to get rid of the white wall pad printing on all of the tires. I modified the driver side rear fender to accept a side-mounted spare after I saw how good an image of it online looked. I also made some tailgate chains out of jewelry chain and electrical tape, we’ll see if those work out or not. 

[NOBLNG]

Nice job on that fender mod. For mounting the chains, I’ve used pins and made U bolts from wire, but the best so far is to make “eye” bolts by twisting .011” beading wire. 

[espo]

I like how you're doing the side mount spare. I had a 1:1 '56 with this option many years ago. At the time it was not considered to be a desirable option. The attachment to the bed was done with round stock between the side of the bed and a flat plate to which the tire was mounted using three lug nuts.  Being a standard model, it may not of even had a hub cap or any other type of dress up. 

[Zippi]

This is going to be pretty kewl.  I'll be watching this one.  

Edited January 2, 2022 by Zippi

[Smoke Wagon]

Thanks for the tip Greg. Beautiful clean work there. I’ll have to do that from now on, what I did on this one was glue styrene pegs to the bed and tailgate for the chains to mount onto. 

[Smoke Wagon]

6 hours ago, espo said:

At the time it was not considered to be a desirable option. The attachment to the bed was done with round stock between the side of the bed and a flat plate to which the tire was mounted using three lug nuts

My guess is that a side mounted spare doesn’t lend itself gracefully to custom culture and from a practical standpoint blocks a lot of access to the bed from the side step in front of the driver side rear fender. It does look good on a stock pickup though, and one advantage is that you don’t have to crawl under the truck to retrieve it. As for mounting, was the round stock welded directly to the bedside? 

[Smoke Wagon]

Starting to look the part now that we’ve got some paint laid down. 

[Zippi]

Riley that paint with the white Grille just looks really sharp.  Looks just like the color on a 1:1.

[Smoke Wagon]

Thanks Bob! For the grille I used Tamiya TS-7 racing white over red rustoleum primer, it gives it that warm shade of white that the 1:1s have. 

[crazyjim]

Gonna be a cool build.

[Zippi]

51 minutes ago, Smoke Wagon said:

Thanks Bob! For the grille I used Tamiya TS-7 racing white over red rustoleum primer, it gives it that warm shade of white that the 1:1s have. 

I really like the Rust-Oleum primers.  They lay down about as good as any primer I've used.  I'm planning on painting a model this year with the Rust-Oleum red primer and clear it with a gloss.  

[espo]

Your color selection for the grill looks just as I remember the stock trucks. The Red body paint looks good. 

15 hours ago, Smoke Wagon said:

My guess is that a side mounted spare doesn’t lend itself gracefully to custom culture and from a practical standpoint blocks a lot of access to the bed from the side step in front of the driver side rear fender. It does look good on a stock pickup though, and one advantage is that you don’t have to crawl under the truck to retrieve it. As for mounting, was the round stock welded directly to the bedside? 

Your correct about the style of the time, and I didn't have the money to try and find a used fender and I still would have had to fill the holes in the side of the bed. I think this type of mount would work best for a truck that saw a lot of use in muddy terrain where you wouldn't want to lay in the mud to get the spare out from under the bed. In my case I did get a real nice dark Metallic Green paint job with a work trade out with a body shop. The color was supposed to be a Thunderbird color. I painted the wheels in a Hammer Tone Silver which was a style often found on Winston West Cars. Big and little red line tires and a spare done to match. Pep Boys Baby Moon hub caps. Turned out pretty nice for a budget work truck.  

[Smoke Wagon]

12 hours ago, Zippi said:

I'm planning on painting a model this year with the Rust-Oleum red primer and clear it with a gloss. 

That oughta come out nice. I’m sure the red primer would be useful for weathered builds too, sand through the color coat and the primer is a nice oxide color. 

11 hours ago, espo said:

Turned out pretty nice for a budget work truck

I bet David. Those touches you put on your pickup sound like they all tied together nicely. 

[Smoke Wagon]

Got the flathead finished and wired. 

[Zippi]

Looking pretty nice there Riley.  The ole Flatty is looking nice.

[MeatMan]

Awesome work!

[espo]

I like the realistic finishes on the engine. 

[Smoke Wagon]

Thanks guys! AMT made it pretty easy though, they got engine pretty spot on. 

[Smoke Wagon]

Got most of the trim work on this knocked out. From what I’ve gathered, I think these pickups had body colored trim in between the boards in the bed, so it won’t be 100% factory stock. Although I think I’ll go through my parts and use a single round mirror on the driver side rather than using the west coast mirrors that come in the kit. I’m also leaning towards black bumpers. 

[Straightliner59]

This is just right! I love the white grille! Black bumpers will look good, but, I would probably do white. No matter--this is going to be a beauty!

[Zippi]

Yeah I'm like Daniel.  I think the same white as the grille for the bumpers.  Black would look kewl as well.  How did you get the black around the windows so nice and neat looking?

[Smoke Wagon]

I’ll take white into consideration, most I’ve seen have black bumpers though.

As for the window trim Bob, that’s just brushpainted on. I did use masking tape for around the top and sides of the windshield though. The side windows and rear window were easy, just paint the trim black and then wipe a Q-tip over the parts that need to stay body color. Since the trim is recessed, straight lines are easy to achieve.

[Zippi]

2 hours ago, Smoke Wagon said:

I’ll take white into consideration, most I’ve seen have black bumpers though.

As for the window trim Bob, that’s just brushpainted on. I did use masking tape for around the top and sides of the windshield though. The side windows and rear window were easy, just paint the trim black and then wipe a Q-tip over the parts that need to stay body color. Since the trim is recessed, straight lines are easy to achieve.

Thanks for the info Riley.

[Smoke Wagon]

Sure thing Bob, I’ll PM you a video of the process here soon to better explain what I mean. 

[Scott8950]

You definitely captured the look . Very nice job