MPC Ford J Car 1966 Daytona Testing 1:25

[ea0863]

Hello All, life has been rather busy lately (isn't that just true for all of us? ), but I have been able to squeeze in a build I've been wanting to do ever since seeing "Ford vs. Ferrari". After the movie, I had researched a bit about the Ford "J" car, and realized there were a bunch of different iterations of this vehicle built in a very short time. The one I liked was an earlier version tested at Daytona in 1966 - and possibly driven by Ken Miles (?). Thus, I purchased an MPC "clear body" model which had been opened and started.

The model was missing the engine block, tool suitcases, and one side window, all of which I made from scratch (the engine pictured below was in the box, and clearly from some other kit). It was also missing the decals, but this wasn't a big deal since I wouldn't be using them anyway. The biggest issue was that the body panels were quite warped, and thus panel fitment was quite poor. I'm not sure if this was common for this kit, or due to the paint that had been used lo many years ago.

After a 24 hour soak in 91% isopropyl alcohol, I was able to get most of the paint off and start anew.

The chassis and engine came together nicely, and had quite nice detail. The only deviation from "box stock" was the addition of a 6-point racing harness.

As for the troublesome body panels, the best solution I could come up with was to glue the front clip and cockpit sections together, along with making internal gussets along the rocker panel area. The engine cover was able to remain openable with the addition of removable pins on each side going through the gussets. The trickiest part of build was the two tone Tamiya paint job which required very delicate masking with 2mm Tamiya Curve Tape. This was the first time I've used this tape, and although it is rather pricey, it worked wonderfully.

Overall, the kit was fun - albeit challenging - and looked very presentable when done.

The only addition to the outer panels were a pair of rear spoilers. These can be seen in the photo of the car being driven for testing at Daytona in 1966.

I found researching this vehicle rather difficult, and thus would like to thank three of our members who had been kind enough to post their findings and builds on this forum. Without their reference photos, I'm not sure I could have completed the build. Thank you @Mothersworry, @Gramps46 and @vamach1.

 

 

Edited March 1, 2024 by ea0863

[Jim B]

Great looking J-car.  Really well done.

[ea0863]

1 minute ago, Jim B said:

Great looking J-car.  Really well done.

Thank you kindly Jim.

[Gramps46]

Very well done.  Thanks for sharing with us.

[Chinacar]

Nice one, great save!

[ea0863]

18 minutes ago, Chinacar said:

Nice one, great save!

Thank you Alex

[Mothersworry]

An impressive replica, well done.

[ea0863]

22 minutes ago, Mothersworry said:

An impressive replica, well done.

Thank you Mr. Guy  

[Bainford]

That looks fantastic. Nice save on this old kit. Well done. 

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[VanSpence]

wow, really appreciate you posting this at this time. I am currently working on the IMC version of the J-Car and like yourself, have found it very hard to find a lot of information about it. From what I can gather is there were 2 different breadvan versions done, J-1 and J-2. It does seem both of these kits, the MPC and the IMC are not fully accurate to either version but seem to be a combination of the two. The MPC does look to be a lot more accurate than the IMC one but it looks like the IMC version is the only one that does not have the vents right behind the doors. There is also an Airfix version which looks to be the most accurate version with the correct front end that the MPC version is not quite correct. I think I ended up spending more time researching than I did any actual building. 

It would be amazing to see a company like Meng revisit this breadvan style of J-car and do a more modern take on this very important piece of history. 

Thank you so much for your post, it has helped me greatly in my own research and your build looks amazing. I completely understand the challenges of the body parts and I have not quite got to that point in my build yet but I do anticipate some difficulties getting it to all sit together properly in the end. 

[nickfzr61]

Really well done considering where you started from. Came out great. 

[TonyK]

This was quite a project you took on but the finished model looks excellent.

[PappyD340]

Very nice!

[ea0863]

10 hours ago, Bainford said:

That looks fantastic. Nice save on this old kit. Well done. 

 

4 hours ago, ChrisR said:

Looks great!

 

3 hours ago, nickfzr61 said:

Really well done considering where you started from. Came out great. 

 

1 hour ago, TonyK said:

This was quite a project you took on but the finished model looks excellent.

 

1 hour ago, PappyD340 said:

Very nice!

Thank you sirs for your kind comments.

[ea0863]

3 hours ago, VanSpence said:

wow, really appreciate you posting this at this time. I am currently working on the IMC version of the J-Car and like yourself, have found it very hard to find a lot of information about it. From what I can gather is there were 2 different breadvan versions done, J-1 and J-2. It does seem both of these kits, the MPC and the IMC are not fully accurate to either version but seem to be a combination of the two. The MPC does look to be a lot more accurate than the IMC one but it looks like the IMC version is the only one that does not have the vents right behind the doors. There is also an Airfix version which looks to be the most accurate version with the correct front end that the MPC version is not quite correct. I think I ended up spending more time researching than I did any actual building. 

It would be amazing to see a company like Meng revisit this breadvan style of J-car and do a more modern take on this very important piece of history. 

Thank you so much for your post, it has helped me greatly in my own research and your build looks amazing. I completely understand the challenges of the body parts and I have not quite got to that point in my build yet but I do anticipate some difficulties getting it to all sit together properly in the end. 

Thank you for your kind comments, and I will certainly be looking for your build as well!

[Phildaupho]

Very impressive build of a very interesting and significant car. Just a couple of days ago a friend offered me a J-car kit due to my current interest in the history of Ford GTs

[ea0863]

2 hours ago, Phildaupho said:

Very impressive build of a very interesting and significant car. Just a couple of days ago a friend offered me a J-car kit due to my current interest in the history of Ford GTs

Thank you. Nice friend ?

[Pierre Rivard]

You've made good use of that old/started kit and shaped it into a very nice replica of an important car. Thank you for sharing it.

[ea0863]

16 minutes ago, Pierre Rivard said:

You've made good use of that old/started kit and shaped it into a very nice replica of an important car. Thank you for sharing it.

Thank you much Pierre

[Sledsel]

Super job on this!!!

[ea0863]

5 hours ago, Sledsel said:

Super job on this!!!

Thank you much Andy

[Allan31]

Excellent finish. I have the MiniExotics resin version of this and do not know what they used to start with. I will do mine as tested at LeMans.

Again beautiful job, your build has inspired me...

[ea0863]

On 3/4/2024 at 5:54 AM, Allan31 said:

Excellent finish. I have the MiniExotics resin version of this and do not know what they used to start with. I will do mine as tested at LeMans.

Again beautiful job, your build has inspired me...

Thank you Allan, and I will be very interested to see yours when completed. I looked up the MiniExotics kit, and it looks to be a beauty!

[ea0863]

On 3/2/2024 at 3:52 AM, VanSpence said:

wow, really appreciate you posting this at this time. I am currently working on the IMC version of the J-Car and like yourself, have found it very hard to find a lot of information about it. From what I can gather is there were 2 different breadvan versions done, J-1 and J-2. It does seem both of these kits, the MPC and the IMC are not fully accurate to either version but seem to be a combination of the two. The MPC does look to be a lot more accurate than the IMC one but it looks like the IMC version is the only one that does not have the vents right behind the doors. There is also an Airfix version which looks to be the most accurate version with the correct front end that the MPC version is not quite correct. I think I ended up spending more time researching than I did any actual building. 

It would be amazing to see a company like Meng revisit this breadvan style of J-car and do a more modern take on this very important piece of history. 

Thank you so much for your post, it has helped me greatly in my own research and your build looks amazing. I completely understand the challenges of the body parts and I have not quite got to that point in my build yet but I do anticipate some difficulties getting it to all sit together properly in the end. 

Just watched the video on your J car build. Awesome job! I'm now looking to find the IMC kit, and also thinking of trying UV resin. Thank you for posting it.