'53 Hudson Hornet is coming....

[bluemoose]

Toro Red is best duplicated with Testors Gloss Red enamel, despite its appearance in the paint chips, it's actually a bit brighter. If you feel adventurous, you might add a TINY amount of black to the red in an airbrush bottle and airbrush it, but the Gloss Red out of the spray can will be a pretty good representation. The burgundy should be ordered from MCW or ScaleFinishes. It's a weird color and I can't think of anything that'll really duplicate it well.

Honey Cream can be dummied up reasonably well with Testors Light Yellow Pla Enamel. However, as it doesn't come in rattle can, you'll need to airbrush it.

Yellow with the green is actually a very nice color scheme, especially with a black roof.

Charlie Larkin

thanks,again1 That's exactly what I (and I'm guessing others) are looking for in these early planning phases

[mike 51]

leno has a couple of very colorful hornets check his site,go for a ride in one..

[Ddms]

I think Hudson's only customers were engineers who knew a good thing when they saw it. Hud's sons were the first NASCAR champs, but everybody else thought they looked stodgy.

I want a '52 convertible in Symphony Blue Green Dark with a beige interior and wide whitewalls. Did the converts have leather?

A junior high school buddy's dad was very proud of his Commodore Eight in metallic brown. It was a real Miss Daisy, but I thought it was way cool because he always kept it sparkling clean and you stepped DOWN when you got in. It was sort of... channeled.

[charlie8575]

Hornet Convertibles all had leather interior. Usually, at least from what I've seen, it only came in red. I don't think I've ever seen another convertible interior color during the Fifties. Brown or blue might have been available, too. I'll see what I can dig up.

Hudson's customers were actually quite diverse. Teachers, engineers, bankers, tradesmen, and the list goes on. Hudon's primary competition was Buick, Olds, DeSoto and the more expensive Mercurys. Buick, in all reality, was their biggest target for price-point, but the "engineering" people- those that wanted features in their cars that usually went for an Olds or a DeSoto were also a considerable number of sales.

Charlie Larkin

[Ddms]

I ordered one yesterday from my LHS, Burbank House of Hobbies. They said we were lucky to get cars from Moebius, since their quality is so good. For a model on that level, the price is very reasonable too. Alas, he said they don't expect product until January.

I can't wait, I can't wait!!!!

[Art Anderson]

I think Hudson's only customers were engineers who knew a good thing when they saw it. Hud's sons were the first NASCAR champs, but everybody else thought they looked stodgy.

I want a '52 convertible in Symphony Blue Green Dark with a beige interior and wide whitewalls. Did the converts have leather?

A junior high school buddy's dad was very proud of his Commodore Eight in metallic brown. It was a real Miss Daisy, but I thought it was way cool because he always kept it sparkling clean and you stepped DOWN when you got in. It was sort of... channeled.

Just to clarify here: Hudson, from 1939 on, all the way to the end of Hudson production as an independent company, were unit bodies. Hudson called them "Monobilt" as in "built as if all one piece". Unlike today's unibodied cars which are built on a large stamped floor pan, a Hudson Monobilt car was built like steel railroad truss bridge, complete with steel beams in the A posts, roof sills, B-post, and C-pillar, all constructed on the fullest of full perimeter framing beneath the floor pan itself (all welded assembly). No frame members, save for a crossmember or so, was bolted into place, everything welded up as a unit.

With Hudson, the rocker panels are those outboard frame rails, and you literally stepped over those, then down as the floor wells themselves are well below the tops of those side rails. Hence the term "Step Down". In a car with a body shell channeled down over a separate frame, you in essence step up to enter the car, ergonomically the opposite of the Hudsons of 1949-54.

Hudson built those cars with a lower stance than all the others as well, but a couple of inches or so. Couple that with the engineering that was done in design, angling the engine/transmission downward to the rear, then using a two-piece driveshaft with U-joint in the middle, after which it angled up slightly to the rear axle gave those Hudsons an even lower floor, all but eliminating the driveshaft tunnel. This much lower floor meant a much-lower-than-other-cars seating position, resulting in a very low body height, making a stepdown several inches lower overall than any of its competitors. That translated into a radically lower center of gravity, making the cars much better handling than anything else coming out of Detroit.

Art

[Art Anderson]

Hornet Convertibles all had leather interior. Usually, at least from what I've seen, it only came in red. I don't think I've ever seen another convertible interior color during the Fifties. Brown or blue might have been available, too. I'll see what I can dig up.

Hudson's customers were actually quite diverse. Teachers, engineers, bankers, tradesmen, and the list goes on. Hudon's primary competition was Buick, Olds, DeSoto and the more expensive Mercurys. Buick, in all reality, was their biggest target for price-point, but the "engineering" people- those that wanted features in their cars that usually went for an Olds or a DeSoto were also a considerable number of sales.

Charlie Larkin

By and large, Hudson attracted the more affluent buyer, much as with Buick, Oldsmobile, Chrysler, DeSoto, even Packard Clippers and Lincolns of the first half of the 50's. However, the Hudson buyer tended to be, just as with Packard at the time, older, more conservative, and contrary to some advertising, not many people with young children. One had to look past the burgeoning V8 craze of the times in order to appreciate the fine road manners of Hudsons, coupled with their more-than adequate power from engines dating back longer than the legendary Ford flathead V8. The flathead 6's used in Hudsons (308cid in the Hornet, a slightly smaller flathead 6 in the slightly smaller, lesser Wasp) were almost legendary by the early 50's, having a characteristic not seen in any other carmakers offerings: Built in piston slap. Under hard acceleration and at high speeds (say in passing on those 2-lane blacktop roads of the time), those engines had the most purposeful yet powerful sounding "thumping" which meant that the pistons were moving (albeit in a controlled fashion) sideways in the cylinders, given the relatively loose setup, which was done on purpose. With horsepower ratings on the 7X Twin H-Power reaching past the 170hp mark, they were up there in a rarified league, only Cadillac and Chrysler's still-new Hemi approached that territory.

Couple that engine with Hudson's step-down design, and careful suspension design, Hudsons were truly cars designed for the Interstate Highway System, before that was even a gleam in Dwight Eisenhower's eye, and equally at home on the racetrack.

The only real problem with Hudson was, a relatively small dealership network, and an equally small company itself. They built perhaps the penultimate family touring sedans, but in doing so as built, far too costly to just restyle, even to build up an all new, more modern looking car after interest in late wartime streamlined styling had cooled off.

Art

[Model Junkyard]

great kit! I want one too, where can it be ordered?

[drodg]

Dave I am in Valparaiso. When are you looking at the Hudson and Chrysler 300 being available?

[Art Anderson]

Dave I am in Valparaiso. When are you looking at the Hudson and Chrysler 300 being available?

Not Dave, but I would guess late November on the Hudson, Chrysler C300 probably in late December. Both are in tooling right now, but there's always the test shot phase to go through before everything is finalized.

Art

[drodg]

Not Dave, but I would guess late November on the Hudson, Chrysler C300 probably in late December. Both are in tooling right now, but there's always the test shot phase to go through before everything is finalized.

Art

Thanks

[Eshaver]

Art, both kits will be a welcome additions to any Replicia stock and Diorama builders such as myself . I'm always looking for the unusual to staff my ever growing line of service stations . I've been wanting to do a model of a White Tower Hamburger store . Both the Chrysler and the Hudson would make welcome additions . Ed Shaver

[Dave Metzner]

At this time the Hudson is in tooling, and first test shots are due around the end of October....If and I emphasize IF everything goes to plan we should have kits shipping from the factory around the end of December..That would put kits in stores by the end of January or early February...

I say IF everything goes to plan because as often as not everything does not go exactly to plan...However I'm sure that we'll have Hudsons here early next year...

The C300 is running about 30 days or so behind the Hudson right now and the Lonestar is on the same approximate schedule as the 300....

Dave

Edited October 1, 2010 by Dave Metzner

[Eshaver]

Dave, I'm only aware of the Hudson and the Chrysler . Now you're refering to a "Lonestar" uh, whats that , a third kit? Ed Shaver

[The Modeling Hermit]

I hope the people at Moebius realize what they're going to do to my poor checking account. LOL As much as I want the Hudson and the Chrysler, it's the Lonestar that i'm really anxious for.

[Art Anderson]

Been groking the Moebius Hudson Hornet kit for the past hour or so, since the mailman dropped it off here! OMIGAWD! I am in love with this one! So much to like, even from test shots! More later, pics will follow as soon as camera batteries charge up!

Art

[S. Svendsen]

Just got a test shot of the new Hudson kit today. Here's the pics. The kit looks really nice. The tooling still needs some final engraving and adjusting, but it is very close to being ready. There are more pics at the link.More pics.

[Peter Lombardo]

OH Boy, I can hardly contain my excitement. I feel like a little kid again. This one and the Chrysler....can't wait. I may not get to build it until the year 2020, with the backlog I now have, but none the less, I want these kits.

[Danno]

OMG! What a beauty!

In a world of base-hits, this is a Grand Slam Home Run!! I just can't wait. I just can't wait. Holy mackerel, I just can't wait!

Thank you Dave Metzner and Moebius! Thank you!

[Peter Lombardo]

Just got a test shot of the new Hudson kit today. Here's the pics. The kit looks really nice. The tooling still needs some final engraving and adjusting, but it is very close to being ready. There are more pics at the link.More pics.

While looking at the "More pictures" I found a great drawing of the Chrysler 300 as a mythical Touring Car. Great concept, I really like it. I may have to build something like that....just for jollies. Did you post that car on the artwork tab???....I don't recall seeing it.

[Dr. Cranky]

Yes, please I'm already drooling and I haven't seen any pictures of the kit . . . .PLEASE.

[Danno]

Send the kit to me, Art! ASAP! I have batteries.

[S. Svendsen]

I did those sketches a few months back. It's for a future project I'm working on. Need to get these box art builds off my bench first.

[Art Anderson]

I think I can say it now with real confidence! Dave Metzner, whom I have known for nearly 40 years, and Frank at Moebius called on me to come up to Dave's home in Mishawaka in May 2008 to discuss possible model car subjects, and would I come up with a list of 25 possible subjects to consider. The Hudson was perhaps the top car on my list. I gave Dave and Frank my thoughts on each one (and for those who know me, I can be extremely loquacious--talkative!).

I sat on the deal for the next 18 months and when Dave told me about the pending announcement a year ago at iHobby, I was blown away!

Now, to see the final result (although it, as test shots, requires some tweaks) I am in love with this kit! Guys, if you love 50's cars, this one will be the quintescential kit, along with the '55 Chrysler C300! It is that good, in fact, it rivals the best of those that the vaunted, and often overrated Japanese companies offer--IT IS THAT GOOD!

Art

[Danno]

I think I can say it now with real confidence! Dave Metzner, whom I have known for nearly 40 years, and Frank at Moebius called on me to come up to Dave's home in Mishawaka in May 2008 to discuss possible model car subjects, and would I come up with a list of 25 possible subjects to consider. The Hudson was perhaps the top car on my list. I gave Dave and Frank my thoughts on each one (and for those who know me, I can be extremely loquacious--talkative!).

I sat on the deal for the next 18 months and when Dave told me about the pending announcement a year ago at iHobby, I was blown away!

Now, to see the final result (although it, as test shots, requires some tweaks) I am in love with this kit! Guys, if you love 50's cars, this one will be the quintescential kit, along with the '55 Chrysler C300! It is that good, in fact, it rivals the best of those that the vaunted, and often overrated Japanese companies offer--IT IS THAT GOOD!

Art

It's just superlative! Glad it's getting close but happier still that it is not here yet; I've got to cash in my 401-K so I can buy a bunch!

Did I mention, thank you Moebius, Dave, Frank, Art and everyone involved in this project? Thank you!