The Tale of Two T's

[JTalmage]

I rescued these two original issue AMT 1925 Model T built up's, separately from each other, from different people, years apart, because they were going to be thrown away. They sat on my shelf for a while collecting dust. Some model building friends and I occasionally get together and go somewhere for the day and get lunch. We chose a return trip to the Model T Museum in Richmond, Indiana. We'd been there before but we wanted to see if they had anything new going on. So one day a couple weeks before we went, I looked up at my shelf and saw those two Model T's stacked on top of each other collecting dust and said you know what I'm going to do something with those and so I took em down, dusted them off, and proceeded to figure out where to start. One of the T's was brown and black, like someone painted it brown and decided later to paint it black. I thought it was funny because that's legitimately what someone would do back in the day in real life. The other one was an old mostly complete unpainted build up. I wanted to give these T's somewhat of a backstory to explain their looks. By doing so they took on their own names. 

So the half repainted one became known as "Rolly" and the unpainted one would become "Rusty". So here's the tale of Rusty and Rolly:

Rolly the T had been used regularly by a small town Indiana family since new, and at one time painted brown... all over... even the wheels. Rolly fulfilled it's uses and was sold to another family in town for their young son in the 50s, It was driven home, but abandoned sometime thereafter during a black repaint with a roller. You might say it's owner was taunted by the fins and chrome of the era, and was struggling to get the old T running right, so they abandoned the job mid-repaint. Left the roller on the rear fender, bucket of paint on the running board, and paint tray on the trunk. Deciding instead to go get a newer, more reliable car as a first car, instead of fixing up the ole T. So it was left in the shed out back and forgotten about. 

I used Modern Masters rust antiquing kit to add some details of rust on this car on the brown areas. The black areas I did have to repaint/retouch because they reacted with the rust solution once sprayed on. I suspect because it was old lead-based Testors. I scratch built the roller, bucket, and paint tray. The bucket and paint tray are made out of a pop can and the handle on the can was silver wire. The roller is silver wire with a paper towel wrapped around and super glued, then dipped in paint. The paint tray and bucket both have paint in them as well. I made an Indiana License plate for it and added it to front and rear. I think the year is 1954, but now it's too rusty to tell. Haha! Unfortunately I was missing two of the hubs for the wheels. Forgive that omission.




Rusty the T was the family vehicle on the rural Indiana farm from new. It's seen it all and been through it all and was well used. By the time Rusty was 11 years old it had already fallen into disuse as cars were much more reliable and easy to drive, and those new 1936 Fords were just too nice for the now well-to-do farmer to turn down. The ole T was used around the farm for a short time before being put in the barn. The owner's son needed a vehicle to drive in the early 1940's and was given the T. The new owner put plates on the T, however while he was trying to get it fixed up, WWII broke out. The T's new owner had to ship off to war. Leaving the T to rust in the barn where it sat on blocks. Thankfully the T's owner returned at the end of the war, but a young war hero couldn't be seen in a rusty old Model T trying to impress the ladies. So a '46 Ford was bought. Rusty the T stayed in the same spot in the barn for many years, but was always kept in the family.

Rusty is covered in Modern Masters rust antiquing 2 part system, (think sophisticated finishes) and several colors of Vallejo rust washes and black washes. Also several colors of Tamiya weathering powders. I used a piece of masking tape for the top, and shredded it up with an xacto knife. License plates were made by me, and I think this one is an Indiana 1943 plate. I couldn't seal any of my weathering, or take down the shine on the tires because it was January here in Ohio, and too cold to spray a flat clear down. When I get them back I will. The tools and tooboxes were parts box items I dug up and weathered. The hand crank on this one was scratch built with silver wire, with a superglue blob as the knob/handle. 

One thing I forgot to do, after taking these pictures, was actually prop the hood up. Because they wouldn't sit like that on their own. I also added some "barn bird poo" on the back of it by flicking white paint on with a paint brush. So here's that pic. I used a piece of styrene carved randomly to look like a stick that was a Y-shape, found somewhere on the ground and used to hold the hood up. And some white testors paint splattered on it w/ a paint brush to look like birds in the rafters were leaving some presents. 





Here's both of the cars at the Museum after I donated them temporarily for display, sitting with some other die-cast T's.

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by JTalmage
forgot some details and pics

[oldscool]

Cool models and interesting back stories.

[ChrisR]

Cool!!

[Modlbldr]

Very nice details on Rusty and Rolly. Great backstories too. A theme always helps make the build. Great work!

Later-

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

I like the patina. I don't think paint rollers existed in 1925, but whatever, nice work.... -RRR

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Made me smile right away, very nice to see these versions and it looks like you had a great time. 

[spencer1984]

Excellent work on both of these!

[JTalmage]

4 hours ago, Rocking Rodney Rat said:

I like the patina. I don't think paint rollers existed in 1925, but whatever, nice work.... -RRR

Well, I would think they would have been by the 1950s at least. Thanks