New Kit From Round 2 - AMT 1963 Ford F100 Styleside (Unibody) with Camper Top

[Sledsel]

Can't wait for these!

[tim boyd]

With Camper top and optional slot mag wheels....

Optional Y-Block supercharger install....

Interior finished in 1963 Custom Cab colors (door panel and lower IP match the exterior color).  Note interior locating tabs....snaps perfectly into the body.

 

 

Edited January 30, 2024 by tim boyd

[stavanzer]

2 hours ago, tim boyd said:

With Camper top and optional slot mag wheels....

Optional Y-Block supercharger install....

Interior finished in 1963 Custom Cab colors (door panel and lower IP match the exterior color).  Note interior locating tabs....snaps perfectly into the body.

 

 

Thanks, Tim!

Great Photos!

[drodg]

Thanks Tim

 

[stavanzer]

With these kits soon to be in the hands of eager builders, What are some kit bashing ideas for them?

Will the Camper fit both trucks?

How about the Fender Skirts on the '60, will they fit the '63?

Will the Stock Intake, Carb, and Air Cleaner from the AMT '57 Ford 500, fit the engine in the Trucks?

How about the odd little Supercharger from the '57? Or the Twin Carbs from the '56 Crown Vic?

Will the Intakes from the Revell '57's, swap too?

Since everybody has at least one set of the Chrome Stock Hubcaps from the AMT '57 in their Stash/Spares box, would those be a logical swap onto the trucks?

Will the Custom Grill surround from the '63, fit onto the '60, without Too much work?

Just lots of ideas percolating in my head tonight. These trucks really inspire my creative juices for some reason. They are clean, colourful, and just complex enough, without being "Uber-Kits". There is a whole lots to like here in these trucks. I cannot wait to get my wrinkled mitts on some.

[SteveG]

On 1/30/2024 at 11:40 PM, stavanzer said:

With these kits soon to be in the hands of eager builders, What are some kit bashing ideas for them?

Will the Camper fit both trucks?

How about the Fender Skirts on the '60, will they fit the '63?

Will the Stock Intake, Carb, and Air Cleaner from the AMT '57 Ford 500, fit the engine in the Trucks?

How about the odd little Supercharger from the '57? Or the Twin Carbs from the '56 Crown Vic?

Will the Intakes from the Revell '57's, swap too?

Since everybody has at least one set of the Chrome Stock Hubcaps from the AMT '57 in their Stash/Spares box, would those be a logical swap onto the trucks?

Will the Custom Grill surround from the '63, fit onto the '60, without Too much work?

Just lots of ideas percolating in my head tonight. These trucks really inspire my creative juices for some reason. They are clean, colourful, and just complex enough, without being "Uber-Kits". There is a whole lots to like here in these trucks. I cannot wait to get my wrinkled mitts on some.

The Camper will not fit the '60 as the roof is too tall, the same Camper top was also in the AMT '69 Chevy Fleetside Pickup so it should fit any of the 67-72 C/K kits.  It also fit my AMT 1978 Ford 4x4 pickup nicely.  It may fit a number of other long beds if you add some strip stock to the lower edges to raise it a little. 

The '60 fender skirts are for the much larger rear wheel openings, so probably not a got fit for the '63. 

The '60 and '63 engines are from AMT's earliest engine design, the heads and intake are one piece.  So, any intake swap will need matching heads too.   

The '63 Custom grille surround includes a protruding lower valance, I doubt it would be a good fit for the '60. 

If you notch the right inner fender apron a little, the '63 Supercharger set up should fit the '60 as it uses the same basic engine parts. 

The chrome open wheels in the '63 kit should look killer on the '60 with the wide whitewalls, especially with a lowered stance.  The tires for both kits are the same, other than the pad print.  Build tip: If you soak the tires in hot tap water for a few minutes to soften them up, they will slide easily over the wheel tabs. 

Put the '60 trailer behind the '63 F100 and add an early AMT Dragster or one the AMT A/FX Fords for a cool drag team. 

-Steve 

 

Edited February 1, 2024 by SteveG

[ChrisBcritter]

That convinced me! Got one ordered.

[stavanzer]

Thank You you very much for sharing your insights, Steve!

I'll keep them in mind.

I've already planned a full Custom '60, and a race team centered on the '63.

 Your news just firmed up the plans!

[wrenchr]

I'm very excited to get my paws on these kits.  

[Brian Austin]

I wonder how soon we'll see a re-tooled streamlined go kart?  ?

[garagepunk66]

16 hours ago, Brian Austin said:

I wonder how soon we'll see a re-tooled streamlined go kart?  ?

Steve G, this needs to happen on the next planned re-issue after this first run! Maybe we could also get the Triumph motorcycle re-tooled that came in the '63 C-10 and issue it with the Mueller-era '60 Chevy Fleetside 

[horsepower]

On 4/22/2023 at 7:24 AM, niteowl7710 said:

!Looks to me like the camper shell could be easily modified by taking the upper section off at the break above the window and using a fairly thick piece of styrene with a molded in panel lines or a Pebble grained one and shape it to roll smoothly into the sides of the kit shell. I think this would make it easier to fit on several other pickups with different heights and even different widths as fabricating a front section to fit different widths and a rear door with or without a window wouldn't be too hard for a builder with a little imagination and some knowledge of how the full size shells were built even adding a light to the inside of the shell would be a nice touch and would really be easy, especially if you used the copper tape for wiring since it is basically flat and a little flocking, pattern paint or even some light velour (velvet) or felt would make a good interior material that would efficiently hide any of the wiring (tape) and even some of the LED bulb to make it look a little closer to scale, I have several ideas for a switch of some kind for turning the light on and off without being really obvious and using a couple of tiny wafer type watch batteries to make it possible to remove the shell with everything intact would make it be a little more interesting to some people. Good luck and enjoy using your own ideas and maybe one or two of mine with some changes to fit your own build. I'm thinking of using some of my thoughts to make a red neck dog house like one my dad had for a couple of his fur babies, I fail to see how using a $1100 camper shell for a dog house is cheaper and easier than buying one of those Dogloos that are totally waterproof and easy to put a nice fur bed into.

[Rob Hall]

On 2/12/2024 at 2:05 AM, horsepower said:

!Looks to me like the camper shell could be easily modified by taking the upper section off at the break above the window and using a fairly thick piece of styrene with a molded in panel lines or a Pebble grained one and shape it to roll smoothly into the sides of the kit shell. 

Yeah, that camper shell just looks fake to me..don't think I've ever seen one made like that...I want to cut off the section that goes over the cab.

[stavanzer]

23 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Yeah, that camper shell just looks fake to me..don't think I've ever seen one made like that...I want to cut off the section that goes over the cab.

Not so much fake, as a very specific shell, that may have been unique to time and place.

I doubt that there were more than a couple hundred made, and the odds of any surviving are long.

I think that it is not a very useful shape, and I don't think it lasted for long.

The best place to look for ads for it would be the back section of Popular Mechanics magazine from 1958-1963.

[tim boyd]

3 minutes ago, stavanzer said:

Not so much fake, as a very specific shell, that may have been unique to time and place.

I doubt that there were more than a couple hundred made, and the odds of any surviving are long.

I think that it is not a very useful shape, and I don't think it lasted for long.

The best place to look for ads for it would be the back section of Popular Mechanics magazine from 1958-1963.

I think this may have been posted previously, but it is certainly possible this camper shell was an AMT Art/Engineering Department freelance one-off design.  Much of the staff there at the time was comprised of automotive enthusiasts, along with (so I hear) some moonlighting big 3 design department employees.  Not to mention that deer hunting in Michigan became highly popular during the 1960s. 

I can just imagine AMT's product development personnel riding along in their camping trips up I-75 from Troy to northern Michigan, watching all those ugly campers and shells on rag tag pickups, and sayiing "we can sure do better than that!".  And at least in my book, they did.  Of course, this is all conjecture on my part.....

Personally,, I find this to be a very handsome design and in the new kit, it literally falls together in a few minutes (though watch out for trimming those sprue feeds which need some love and attention for a good result).  But I also think the basic parts lend themselves to modifications along the line of the comments above.  And I am looking forward to viewing the first build that includes the rooftop observation deck option.   TB

[Brian Austin]

Camper shell looks odd on a pickup with a panoramic rear window.  ?

[tim boyd]

20 hours ago, Brian Austin said:

Camper shell looks odd on a pickup with a panoramic rear window.  ?

True...that.  And perhaps that oddity might have been part of the reason the original annual kit included a B-pillar extension among the various custom parts that did not make the new release (including IIRC rear fins, roof and hood scoops and a third custom version grille inspired by the 1955 DeSoto?)  TB

[leafsprings]

On 1/30/2024 at 4:54 AM, tim boyd said:

 

 

Interior finished in 1963 Custom Cab colors (door panel and lower IP match the exterior color). 

 

 

The '63 Custom Cab may be a little confusing, but here is my input from 4 decades of studying these vehicles.  '63's had gray steering column with black steering wheel.  All  Custom cabs came with gray vinyl upholstery and candy stripe cloth inserts.  Most '61-'66 Custom Cabs dash's were tu toned in white, however '63 was unique, the dash was  tu toned in gray. Door panels were also gray. If truck was white, than dash and door panels were tu toned in red ( bottom black-white photo taken when brand new in '63). One more tid bit, a black padded dash was available if the safety package option was ordered,  black padded dash became standard starting in '66.

Edited February 17, 2024 by leafsprings

[leafsprings]

22 minutes ago, leafsprings said:

   Custom cabs came with gray vinyl upholstery and candy stripe cloth inserts.  

 

Edited February 17, 2024 by leafsprings

[stavanzer]

2 hours ago, leafsprings said:

 

Wow!

What a Combo!

Thanks for the photo.

[mk11]

On 2/16/2024 at 8:11 PM, leafsprings said:

The '63 Custom Cab may be a little confusing, but here is my input from 4 decades of studying these vehicles.  '63's had gray steering column with black steering wheel.  All  Custom cabs came with gray vinyl upholstery and candy stripe cloth inserts.  Most '61-'66 Custom Cabs dash's were tu toned in white, however '63 was unique, the dash was  tu toned in gray. Door panels were also gray. If truck was white, than dash and door panels were tu toned in red ( bottom black-white photo taken when brand new in '63). One more tid bit, a black padded dash was available if the safety package option was ordered,  black padded dash became standard starting in '66.

You're right!  Pretty obscure info... never noticed the column difference for some reason.

[Brian Austin]

On 2/16/2024 at 10:23 PM, leafsprings said:

 

So how do you paint that in scale?  ?

[Luc Janssens]

6 hours ago, Brian Austin said:

So how do you paint that in scale?  ?

decal would be nice.

Maybe an idea for a "parts pack" decal sheet; upholstery patterns.

[leafsprings]

12 hours ago, Brian Austin said:

So how do you paint that in scale?  ?

Not easy. How about shrinking down a real seat cover to 1/25 scale. ? 1963 Ford F-Series Pickup Custom Cab Seat Covers – SMS Auto Fabrics .  On a side note, early production '63's came with white steering wheels and black columns, the practice used on '59-'62 Custom Cabs.

Edited February 18, 2024 by leafsprings

[64Comet404]

On 2/16/2024 at 10:11 PM, leafsprings said:

The '63 Custom Cab may be a little confusing, but here is my input from 4 decades of studying these vehicles.  '63's had gray steering column with black steering wheel.  All  Custom cabs came with gray vinyl upholstery and candy stripe cloth inserts.  Most '61-'66 Custom Cabs dash's were tu toned in white, however '63 was unique, the dash was  tu toned in gray. Door panels were also gray. If truck was white, than dash and door panels were tu toned in red ( bottom black-white photo taken when brand new in '63). One more tid bit, a black padded dash was available if the safety package option was ordered,  black padded dash became standard starting in '66.

How easy would it be to loft this instrument panel into a 3D rendering? This would be a great add for people wanting to build a more basic kit from the Moebius 1965-66 Ford trucks.