A Trust In Rust (‘25 T rat rod)

[Smoke Wagon]

I was thinking of things to do with the rod parts that came in AMT’s Chopped T kit, and I figured it would be a great test bed to try out the salt technique for weathering and to develop a better eye for kitbashing. I’m pretty set on using the Cadillac 331 engine from the Revell ‘49 Mercury kit, I shortened the transmission down and extended the motor mounts to make it play nice with the rest of the chassis. I made a new, flat firewall for the body. The body’s turtle deck has been hacked off, and a filler panel has been Barrised in to fill the hole. In the turtle deck’s place will be the short pickup box, albeit modified and prepared to accept a balsa wood bed floor. It’ll get balsa wood floor boards to match. The roof got an eviction notice as well. It’s like a T bucket but doesn’t use a roadster body. The roll bar has been repositioned to act as a tubular grab bar in place of where a windshield would normally be. There will be little to no chrome on the finished model. 

[Dragline]

Cool start. I have been loving rust more and more since I learned how.

I will follow along.

[Joe Nunes]

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Nice start. 

Joe

[Smoke Wagon]

Thanks gentlemen. Painted the body yesterday. It still needs to cure before more sanding and weathering, but most of the salt came off with gentle persuasion. 

[slusher]

Looking really nice Riley!

[Smoke Wagon]

Thanks Carl. Waiting on enamel paint to dry so I can get the wheels on and the chassis rolling.

As for the body, I broke through to white plastic in a few spots. Good thing I’m trying to emulate a crust bucket, I can just paint some brown over those spots.

I haven’t given names to my builds but I’ve got an urge to name this one “Leapfrog Lizzie”. That oughta be an indicator of how rest of the paint scheme will look.

[Smoke Wagon]

Quick chassis update, and an easy way to eliminate the need for running a metal rod through the front end assembly, something I’ve noticed a lot of folks grumble about when it comes to this kit.

I used the wheel backs and pins from the AMT 1993 F-150 Lightning kit, simply glue the pins onto the custom T chassis with the wheel backs in between the the pins and chassis. Then you can use whatever wheel faces you like. I opted for wheel faces from the AMT ‘77 Ford Cruising Van. The wheels have ample room to spin freely and aren’t pinched. 

[Smoke Wagon]

Chassis complete, other than headlights, still debating those. Time to turn my attention back towards the engine. 

 

Here’s a mock-up. 

[Smoke Wagon]

Finished the engine, save for upper and lower radiator hoses. 

[customline]

Hey, Riley, I like your idea for patina. There's just something about that shade of green ?. 

[Smoke Wagon]

Nice ‘29! Good on you for keeping it on skinny tires! 

[customline]

6 hours ago, Smoke Wagon said:

Nice ‘29! Good on you for keeping it on skinny tires! 

Tried to keep it "in era". Thanks, Riley.  Is that Krylon "Pistachio"? ? 

[Smoke Wagon]

4 hours ago, customline said:

Is that Krylon "Pistachio"? ? 

Crustoleum satin moss green. I can’t give it any high praise though, it was tacky and gummy for way longer than an acrylic lacquer should be. 

[customline]

57 minutes ago, Smoke Wagon said:

Crustoleum satin moss green. I can’t give it any high praise though, it was tacky and gummy for way longer than an acrylic lacquer should be. 

I'm seeing that a lot these days. Could it be that Rustoleum brands have cut back on an important ingredient?  You know, to cut cost? ? I seem to remember Krylon as a very fast drying paint. Maybe it's me, I dunno. ?

[Smoke Wagon]

Small update, getting closer. The bed floor will be trimmed flush and then stained/painted from there. I still have floorboards and a steering wheel and column to construct. 

[MeatMan]

Very nice!

[Smoke Wagon]

Thanks Dennis.