Building the ORIGINAL oval kit - Monogram Midget

[OldNYJim]

Had an AWESOME weekend visiting South Bend Indiana…partly to visit family but secretly to check out the National Studebaker Museum - particularly because they have a Midget and I wanted to try and get some detail shots up-close:

Now, not everything about this car is useful as reference for me…it’s a different frame, different engine, I’m pretty sure it’s been restored…but there were some useful little details that I’ll get to later…

But, I came back excited to work on this build and, although tired from some travel, got a few little bits done this evening…

Started to scratchbuild a dash.  The kit part is fine, but I wanted to add a little depth to the gauges so I can recess the faces down and add some lenses…nothing too exciting:

I got a good reference pic of the brake lever and hand fuel pump of that 1:1 car today, so this evening I remade the kit parts…

The 1:1:

Side note: taking pics of this car were kinda tricky - it was behind ropes and signs and jammed in between other cars, but I got some semi-useful pics of about everything but the back.

New brake lever, with kit part below it:

The little button on the top of these levers is an engine kill switch - they’ll use that while racing to momentarily kill the motor to aid in cornering, apparently…

This part will nudge up closer to the body, but I needed to make sure it cleared the hand fuel pump also, so I made that next:

Now, I’m actually not matching the 1:1 parts I saw EXACTLY here, I’m really using them as a reference and mixing them with the kit part’s design, and like about every part on this build, still some shaping to do and detail to add, but a couple of mini-projects off the list anyway…

Oh, and here’s a bonus pic of my 1:1 reference from today next to a regular size car - he’s a cute little fella!

Thanks for looking - more soon!

Edited March 17 by OldNYJim

[OldNYJim]

Next couple of bits of progress on my Midget build…

I’m getting the last bits of construction done on the frame so I can get it cleaned up and prepped for paint, but I hadn’t figured out the little ‘luggage rack’ that holds the gas tank.  Why this little rack is used rather than bolting the tank direct to the frame, I’m not sure…protect the tank from damage and vibration maybe?

Regardless, here’s a 1:1 example, albeit on a pretty dirty and beaten up frame:

I tried bending up a brass wire version but it was tough…tried a few techniques, and I got a couple where the shape was good, but getting a tiny solder joint and smoothing it out nicely on in-scale wire was beyond my current skills…

So, I printed one…it’s REALLY delicate but it was the second best solution I could figure out:

I think that 1:1 frame in my reference pic has been lengthened a little in the back compared to the plans I have - my tank overhangs the back of the frame more, but it fits inside the body A-OK and looks about right to me…couldn’t find good measurements for these tanks so I’m eyeball-engineering a lot of this to get as close as I can…

In other news, I had already figured out the brakes once and resin cast some disks for all four corners, but when I was inspecting the original kit wheels the rears look like they have molded in drums…they could’ve easily made them look like disks if that’s what they were representing, but I think they’re drums.  

So, I pulled some pre-printed early-Ford drums (to match the early-Ford axle) and tweaked them to fit, and had my first chance at actually seeing this thing on all four of it’s wheels at the same time:

Actually, I didn’t fully re-assemble the front end for this pic, so it’s raked low in front, but it was exciting to see this cute little frame kinda-together!

Next job is brake master cylinder…need to figure out where IT should live and how it interfaces with the brake lever (remember, no brake pedal on this one)…and whilst I’ve been working on this I’ve been slowly printing parts for my (kinda) replica of the 60s 1:24 Revell Hot Shot…gonna build a couple of these at some point:

Soon as I learn some figure painting skills anyway…

Thanks for looking - more soon!

[BK9300]

Pleasure watching this little jewel come together - wonderful fabrication skills.

[OldNYJim]

On 3/20/2025 at 10:19 AM, BK9300 said:

Pleasure watching this little jewel come together - wonderful fabrication skills.

Pffttt, I’m a real hack compared to you…but thank you!

A little more hackery today…

Printed up a master cylinder, and made a linkage to the hand lever:

Now, reference pics of the master cylinder placement and type for a 1952 Midget are hard to come by, and this almost certainly isn’t accurate…but I think it COULD work and was the easiest way for it TO work, so I’m relatively happy.  Luckily, it’s almost completely hidden under the seat anyway, but I don’t want to have brake lines running to nowhere…

With that completed, the only major component left to test fit was the rear nerf bar.  I mocked up the kit piece and really couldn’t find much reason to completely remake it (for once - ha!) so I cleaned it up, drilled it for some pins to make final assembly easier and called it done:

Actually, that part caused me to do some deep thinking…really this part SHOULDN’T mount to the body, and wouldn’t on the real car…but my goal with this build was to build the best version of Monogram’s first car kit and not to build a perfect Kurtis Kraft Midget.  

I said in my first post I wanted to keep the essence of this kit, and I really didn’t want to spoil the pretty simple lines of the body by hacking away at a bunch of it to allow for mounts and brackets and stuff that WOULD be on a real car, but that would detract somewhat from this recognizably being a Monogram Midget.  This is a tribute to that early 50s car kit, and I’m allowing some intentional inaccuracies as compromises to achieve that.  Same thing with the frame - it’s not a perfect replica of a real one, but it’s the right style and fits around the constraints of the kit parts.

So, sticking to my original plan, we’re going to pretend that the nerf bar runs through the body to some hidden mounts on the frame that don’t interfere with the overall look of the car and still allow it’s clean lines.  I can live with that 🤷‍♂️

And, with that, time to strip it all down and REALLY get to work…time to start paint prep - the brass parts need a bath in a solution to stop the solder flux eventually ruining the paint and I started with the frame this evening:

Also started a little prep on the bodywork to get that in primer and see what all it will need…I’m basically at the stage now where I’m opening the box of this kit I’ve made, and now I need to see what prep and detail work the manufacturer (me) left for me!

Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Edited March 23 by OldNYJim

[Belugawrx]

Great work going on here Jim, can't wait to see it in primer and paint !

[OldNYJim]

6 hours ago, Belugawrx said:

Great work going on here Jim, can't wait to see it in primer and paint !

Thank you sir!  Me either!  Ha!

 

And, actually, that’s what I’ve been working on all week…getting as many parts prepped and cleaned up and into primer as I can so I can lay some color down.  I’ll be making extensive use of enamels on this one, so I’m trying to get some major components painted to allow for some decent drying times…

Body needed a couple of little fixes where I had messed with stuff, but a little 2-part filler fixes the flaws that are too small to fix with styrene:

And a BUNCH of other stuff has been in the booth:

Whilst that was happening, Dennis Lacy reached out to me and was like “dude, that master cylinder is WAY too modern for this build…which I wasn’t SUPER surprised at, but I couldn’t figure out what WOULD be correct.  Luckily, he knew, and recommended one of these:

So I started work on replicating the bones of one of those in styrene:

And then today, finally got some paint on the first parts!  Exciting!

Testor’s semi gloss enamel as a base on the frame, radiator and tires - I over-reduced it with Testor’s own enamel thinner and it shot nice…needed three or four light coats to completely cover but I didn’t want to build up a bunch of paint that would take until Christmas to dry…now those bits are in the dehydrator with the exception of the radiator which already had some drying time and then it’s MAIN color, Vallejo brass:

Now, I know I said I’m trying to use period-correct paints where I can (eg: mostly Testor’s enamels) but NOT at the expense of the build being as good as it can be…and Testor’s brass enamel has a pretty obvious flake in it and a more muddy brown color that I don’t like as much as this, so…broke my own rule already!

More rule breaking to come…thanks for looking!

[OldNYJim]

And…finally…paint day for the body!  I’ve been excited to get to this stage - and a little nervous.  I’ve got my REGULAR paint system pretty well dialed in with acrylics and lacquers but I haven’t shot a body with enamels for a little while.  BUT, I wanted to use old-school Testor’s enamel for this rather than a more modern paint system so here goes nothing…

Got the gray primered body into white primer.  Used Duplicolor white, which I rate a 1 out of 10 for being a product I like:

It laid down nice and smooth, soon as I got the can to stop spraying paint worms…

Then, mixed up a little of the Testor’s red with just a drop of thinner so I could shoot any spots that would be hard to reach, or where I want to make sure I don’t get thin spots later:

Then, after an hour in the dehydrator I mixed up some more of the enamel, but thinned a LOT more.  My goal was multiple light coats, hoping to avoid a sticky enamel-y mess that takes until I’m 100 to dry.  Just eased it on there gently, being cautious of drips, and gently built up probably 8 coats through the day:

Sure is a lot more work doing multiple cleans of the airbrush with thinner compared to my usual deal of rinsing it in the sink like I do with acrylics for most stuff now…I’m getting lazy, ha!

I’m thoroughly expecting this to not hold the shine once it has a couple of days in the dehydrator - I thinned the paint a LOT and I think that’ll take a lot of the gloss out of it, but I can deal with that - I have old stock enamel clear here ready to shoot, and I’m not going for SUPER glossy showcar finish anyway.  Not all orange peely and lumpy, but not dipped in syrup either - just a nice smooth gloss enamel paintjob.

Oh, and I started cleaning up a second body as a box-stock companion…filled some sink marks and added some putty to the driver’s arms so they weren’t hollow:

Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[Pierre Rivard]

Catching up to this build and a lot of beautiful work to look at. Classic building techniques and modern tech (3D print) are blended together beautifully.

[OldNYJim]

On 3/31/2025 at 3:01 PM, Pierre Rivard said:

Catching up to this build and a lot of beautiful work to look at. Classic building techniques and modern tech (3D print) are blended together beautifully.

Thank you sir!

 

Little more progress the last couple of days…actually I’ve been messing with this since Sunday because there were various painted layers to deal with and let dry…the leatherwork!

Started with a Createx brown base and locked it in with a couple of spritzes of clear lacquer.  Next up, I dabbed on some really subtle texture with a little artist’s oil paint - a much lighter shade to add some color variation on the high spots.  

Next up, I used a watercolor pencil to add some darker shading in the low spots, then a lighter pencil to get some night highlights on the edges and anywhere the leather would stretch. 

Finally, I added a really delicate wash of brown ink just in the creases to give them some extra depth and realism:

I’m still learning techniques for getting really good leather finishes, and I’m a long way from where I’d like to be, but I’m getting better I think…like all this stuff though, still plenty to learn.

Can’t wait to add the little metal poppers to the leather surround and figure out a lap belt to make these bits really pop…might do that next.

Thanks for looking!  More soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[BK9300]

Nice buildup of the leather seats - the lighter tones on the high spots sure looks like the real thing.

[OldNYJim]

Thank you!!  I’m still practicing with that technique, but it’s getting better…

This week I put in a tonne of hours on this thing and have barely anything to show for it…a LOT of prepping parts for paint, laying down primer, tweaking and fixing, laying down more primer and so on.  Got a BUNCH of the metal parts prepped and into paint though:

Trying to use enamels where I can, particularly if they were ones available 70 years back when this kit was first released…seems like the aluminum Testor’s WAS around then, so that was a natural choice for the block:

I was actually impressed at how easy a passable aluminum finish was to get with this…WAY simpler than my usual process with acrylics - maybe I learned a trick there…

I can’t figure out when the Testor’s chrome was first available, but I know it was around the in the 60s, at least, so I went with that for a lot of the shinier metal parts:

All of these will get additional stages of paint detailing before I’m done, but these being enamels I need to give them a few days to harden up…

Plus shot a few more parts with the Testor’s semi gloss black:

And used that as a base for some metal different metal tones (which, again, I’ll be further paint-detailing before they’re done):

I don’t know why, but it didn’t occur to me that Testor’s probably makes a steel finish enamel (which they do) so I went with a Vallejo acrylic on these - d’oh!  Actually, I used the gunmetal as a base and then added some highlights in various lighter tones for the parts above to give a little more depth and realism, but I wish I’d used enamels now.  Oh well…

By the way, that creepy shadowy figure on the paint rack there is for my box-stock companion piece to this build, which I’ve been working away on in the background…got the body straight and into primer this weekend:

Then shot it with the brightest yellow I could find…

I went with modern acrylic for this one…I’ve got some signwriting that I want to put on this one and it’s just easier to use the process that I’m used to to get the result I want…painting the driver is a fun new challenge - never did one of those before.  WAY harder than a glossy body…

Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!!

[OldNYJim]

Another busy week of painting - nothing super interesting to report besides having MOST of this build painted and ready for assembly now.  

I’m pleased with how the (relatively few) different finishes look together - but most of these have further detail painting and shading or washes to be added:

Couple of parts are getting a redo where there’s some little details I wasn’t happy with, but mostly pleased with the progress I made, even if it felt like it took forever…

Small side project; I’ll be putting this thing on a little wooden base when it’s done, and was going to have a little plaque engraved to mount on there, but then I thought back the little stamped tags the Kurtis cars had (often mounted on the dash, it seems like):

Made something inspired-by the look of those, but utilizing the hand-drawn ‘Midget Racer’ script that was on the original Monogram boxes:

P1 references this kit’s Monogram serial number - plastic kit number 1, and the address is Monograms factory in 1954:

Finally, started adding some glazes to some of the metal parts - a glaze is something used more in figure modeling than the stuff we do, but it’s a useful technique - it’s basically a wash, but with thicker clear medium so that you have more control.  I did a few of the metal parts for the front end…nice thing is, the acrylic glaze won’t bite into the enamel underneath too much, so if I decide any of it is OVER done I can easily remove or tweak it:

Just a small update - polishing out the body this coming week, then starting some assembly…more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[OldNYJim]

A little more (although I was down this week with the flu, so not as much as I’d like…)

Body polished out…I’m not going for SUPER shiny, this is a vintage racecar after all, but I didn’t want paint flaws either…

Shiny enough for a night at the dirt track anyway…

Started some assembly…working front to back so got the spring, axle and hairpins in place, plus a test fit of the radiator:

Added a FEW little photoetch bolts and details, but trying to only use them sparingly…not that you’ll see them when the tinwork is on there anyway:

And whilst some glue was drying, researched Midget lapbelts…I wasn’t going to have one, thinking they weren’t too common in this era, but the kit’s driver figure had one around his waist so I guess THIS car will have one.  

Turns out a lot of them were more like the belt that stops your pants from falling down than the kind of harnesses we see today - one strap with holes, one strap with a buckle; replicated that with some artist’s tape that looked suitably leather-y, a printed ‘buckle’ and some photoetch:

And, finally, I custom ordered a base for this thing from a guy named Bases by Bill…he does nice work - great price, looks cool, came fast (to the exact size I asked for):

Just a small update, but I’m excited to be doing some assembly…more soon, soon as I’ve done more!  Thanks for looking!

[James2]

This is looking really nice, your attention to detail is a reminder to not give up on the small stuff. 

[BK9300]

I’ll agree with that!  Really liking the level of detail - lots to take in and enjoy.

[OldNYJim]

Thanks fellas!

A LITTLE more today, although it was Easter so limited bench-time…

Installed some brass ‘poppers’ to the leather cockpit surround…they’re actually tiny brass rivets that look like this:

But I think they work for the look I was going for:

Quick test-fit to see how this part looks in-place:

I like it!

A little more assembly on the frame…

That banjo rear end has microscopic little photoetch bolts in all the places bolts should be, but they’re like flakes of glitter…I know they’re there though…

One of the challenges of using only a couple of metalizer finishes for the whole build was to stop everything looking too toy-like…the Testor’s aluminum I used on the engine turned out really great, I thought - but it needed some washes to add some realism.  Did a dark gray, really light, wash plus a darker one for the finned portions on the motor.  It brought out the detail a LOT I think!

Not quite done with that yet - I prefer to do a few layers in stages, but I'm happy with the first round.  That motor looks so huge in this little bitty frame 😂

And finally a real quick drop-some-parts-together mock-up for my own amusement…it’s starting to look like a thing!

Thanks for looking - happy Easter!

[BK9300]

So well done - looking terrific in the mockup!

[Pierre Rivard]

I am a huge fan of your build Jim. The frame, suspension and engine are so precisely made they look real. Your work with various washes make all these "metal" parts very lifelike. The polishing of the body done to achieve a period correct patina oozes realism. Did I say I'm a huge fan?

[OldNYJim]

Thanks fellas!  Pierre - I’m enjoying your Nova build!

A little more progress this week…printed some plug boots…I have a technique to make these with wire, but I haven’t got it down to where they’re perfectly consistent like the printer can achieve…
 

Some Vallejo tire-black is a really good finish for rubber parts like this:

And while I had a couple of drops in the airbrush I did a little shading on the tires to add some interest to the Testor’s black enamel that I had shot previously:

And then this evening, wired the engine:

Still need to plumb the carbs and add linkages, but there’s relatively few bells and whistles that I need to add to this engine to have it where it’s relatively accurate and feasible.

Meanwhile, speaking of fuel, finished work on the bare metal finish on my gas tank.  This is the largest metal piece bar the engine, and I wanted to give it a fairly realistic look despite the fact it’s virtually impossible to see on the finished car from about any angle besides upside-down.  Still, gave it my best effort anyway, and added a slightly-too-late-design Monogram logo, for my own amusement:

Another couple of evenings work, another couple of parts closer to being done (but my to-do list is still plenty long - ha!)

Thanks for looking - more soon!

[Pierre Rivard]

The fuel tank does have a nice metal motif. Your efforts to color/texture variations really works here. Double bonus points for doing that on a part that will be covered by the body.

[OldNYJim]

On 4/25/2025 at 6:41 AM, Pierre Rivard said:

The fuel tank does have a nice metal motif. Your efforts to color/texture variations really works here. Double bonus points for doing that on a part that will be covered by the body.

Thank you sir!

 

Some more progress this weekend…most of which was assembly so not a tonne of interesting processes to share - just don’t screw it up 😂

Spent the morning plumbing brake lines, adding fuel lines and carb linkages and all that stuff:

Now I don’t need access to the underside anymore I can fit the belly pan:

The tires got a very light glaze of Vallejo dust, just to get a little in some of the cracks and crevices.  Next up, wheels and tires attached…

…and then nerf bars to the body and frame - plus that hand fuel pump and brake lever:

And it’s ALMOST done!  Quick mock-up with the body in place…some more little details to add and I need to paint the plaque and do some touch-ups and then I can get this thing on it’s wooden base and under glass:

Thanks for looking - more soon!

[BK9300]

Wonderful craftsmanship - well done!

[Belugawrx]

Looks really good Jim !

[OldNYJim]

Thank you both!  

Mostly this one up last night…few little details added, painted the plaque for the base (same shade as the brass rad) and it’s ready for the display case:

And a few off the base:

Thanks to all who followed along…onto the next one 😂

[Pierre Rivard]

Proof that simple vintage kits can be shaped into wonderful replicas when creativity, skills and resolve are fully leveraged.

Fabulous effort!