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Looking for the "best" '49-'54 Ford Sedan Kit


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Hi,

Driving to the store this morning, I saw a cherry '49 Ford sedan and it brought back an awful lot of memories.  Lots of stories here, but the bottom line is I want to build one - a '49-'54 Ford Sedan in 1/24 or 1/25 scale.  I see there are a few convertible kits, but I only saw two sedans.  What I want is one with a flathead V8, and I can build it as I recall the one I had access to way back when.

Obviously my question is, is there such a kit out there?

Thank you all!

 

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"Best" is a subjective term. Amt has a "49 Club Coupe, it has two complete engines, one being a flathead, and several nice custom parts.  Lindberg has a '53 Victoria Coupe, it also has a flathead, but can be built basically stock.  There are no sedans available in kit form in the 49-54 range.  You might be able to find a resin sedan body; Steve Kohler makes a really nice '53 Ford sedan body in resin and I believe I have seen a 49-51 sedan body somewhere.  Hope this helps.

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I share your interest in the year models of Fords you mentioned. As a young child I went with my father to pick up our families new '49 Ford Custom 4 door. Later in life I owned and enjoyed a few different body styles of '49 thru '51 Fords. The three basic kits mentioned by TarHeelRick would be the best starting point. The old AMT '50 Ford kit was offered and reissued several times as a convertible with a couple of hard top options in standard height as well as a chopped top version. The '53 Ford kit originally from JoHan and now round2 has been offered as a hardtop and a convertible body style. The resin models from several different places offer a range of options and with a little searching around you should be able to find something you might want to build. As far as recommendations go I have built a few and have been pleased with the bodies from Star Models and Steve Kohler is great to deal with and has always been very helpful in finding what I was after. Star Models offers a two-door sedan '49-'51 body that can be completed with either of the AMT '49 or '50 Ford kits. This body style has the Custom body trim and an additional version with the Crestliner body trim. He also offers a '51 2-door sedan which is a model like one of my own personal cars and I hope to build it this next year. Another option, and an included picture of the finished model, is a roof top conversion to make a 2-door sedan using the lower body from the '50 convertible or the '49 short roof coupe kit. There are others out there, but these are the only ones that I have had a chance to work with. Hope this helps you find what you're looking for. 

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Thank you all!

Every time I get stumped I come here and get inspiration as well as help.  I just ordered the AMT/Ertl '49 2 door Coupe, and it should serve my purpose.  As an aside....

My high school (Lane Tech - Chicago class of 1/62) had on site driver training, including a track where we practiced on '49-'50 Fords with stick shift.  I already knew how to drive when I took the course, but it really taught me the skill of starting/stopping with a stick.  The drill was basically go a distance around the track, stop, then start up and do that several times.  Woe be on to any kid that shifted into second.  They were immediately thrown out of the class and lost the benefit of the first part of actually getting your license.  On the indoor portion of the class, we learned the rules of the road and actually got to test reaction times.  I'm proud to say I was one of the 3 top times in the class - 1/4 second!

We also got to watch a few movies from the Ohio State Police, graphic accident scenes and the like.  One was of a young man who liked to drive with his arm hanging out the window.  He hit either another car or a wall, and his arm was no more.  That left on impact on me for sure!

Sorry to reminisce.......

Thank all,

Bill Anderson 

Spring, Tx.

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I don't know if "best" is the appropriate word as there is only one model kit available on the market for some of the years.
AMT did the 1949 Coupe (the Coupe has a shorter roof than the 2 and 4 door Sedan) and 50 Convertible, both seems to have hit the market in 1962, Lindberg did the 53 Ford Victoria in 1998, no Sedans for these years or 1951 or 1952 or 1954 kits  are made by the model companies so resin is most likely the only option.
There are also Pickups done for these years, Revell has a 1950 F1 originally issued 1995 and AMT did a 1953 F100 originally issued 1964.

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The 49er version of the AMT coupe is currently available. It has some nice whitewall tires but I would rather get the 90s reissue. Time has not been kind to the molds and the plastic being used now isn't as good as it was then. 

Both the 49er reissues I have feature a really nasty "dent" around the passenger side headlight opening. And for whatever reason support tabs were added to the windshield openings for the 2008 reissue. Those are still there and just as unnecessary. 

Look out for a slight twist in the interior tub. This kit has always had a thin floor and the plastic Round 2 has been using lately... Well, it leaves a bit to be desired. 

Like has been said, it's a kit from 1962, so it's not exactly state of the art, but it'll still build up to a nice model.

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