Some Vintage Models I am Restoring: AMT '34 Ford Pick-Up *Finished* 2014/01/29

minimagneto

Hi I'm Blake, from Montreal Canada. Still pretty new at posting here this is my third post on FSM, first one in Autos.

About two years back, I bought a lot of models on ebay. It was a bit of a long shot, I didn't know what I'd be getting too well but I saw there were some cool cars there.

What I received was a big box on models, none of them together at all. Just a giant box of tiny parts.  With loads of great stuff in it!  Didn't take long for my buyer remorse to go bye bye and for the fun to begin :)

I figure most of these models were built in mid 60's. Revell and AMT. I will probably never know by whom, but they did a really nice job, for the most part!  The wild colors have stood the test of time, and there is this amazing corduroy upholstery in a bunch of them.  Seeing this old collection really got me inspired!

I began by sorting through all the pieces of my antique parts lot and deciding what would go with what.  And I've just started building them up from there. I had to add a few parts from my own collection to replace broken ones in order to complete them. 

 

Here are a couple that I've gotten together thus far:

 

Hi Blake,

I know this is an old thread but do you know what engine (with the scoop)  is in the green coupe? I need this type of engine to recreate a specific rat rod a friend has.

Also, what size aluminum tubing do you normally use for engine stacks?

Thanks! 

Thanks for the kind words jetmaker! I've had a blast building and posting as I go :)

-Blake

Man, I had a blast just following along looking at the pics! Those intake tubes are sweet!

Finished photos!

-Blake

One more update before I finish up  I suppose...HEADLIGHTS!

Here is the original headlight set-up:

After searching high and low (for two years) I never did find that missing insert or and lenses. So I decided to use another one I found in the lot.  I also decided to go for it and install working bulbs.

A few holes are drilled and the headlights get added to the grill shell:

In past builds using operating lights, I took great pains to hide the switch and battery on the build. This time I've taken a different approach, which is to eliminate the battery and switch.  Instead, I've used terminals on the chassis.  These will have wires twisted on to provide power. Using this method will mean I can't just switch the lights on, but I can have them lit to take photos, and maybe way down the line hard-wire them into a display:

And here is the grill/light ready to wire to chassis:

Excited to get this one done soon!

Thanks for all the kind words guys. A little break from the bench and now I'm back...with some spruced up WHEELZ

Though a touch labor intensive, the Humbrol enamels worked great for whitewalling the tires!

As far as the brand, I just use Testor's Acryl. That stickiness is why I don't use an oil based Flat white.

It's good to see someone taking a wreck-scue build seriously. it'd be a pity that these builds might have ended up in landfill. Looks like you have the skills to make some seriously nice models out of them.

minimagneto

Corduroy is what Unknown Builder used

scary that i used to wear trousers made of that stuff!!!

They all look good. I especially like the yellow truck with the headlights. And I'd never thought of using corduroy for upholstery. I haven't built any cars in years. All my work has been on armor, aircraft, sci-fi and so on. But I love to build anything. I'll be visiting this section of the forums more and more to get ideas and inspiration for future car builds.

Hi Mark,

So now ya tell me, lol :)

I'd like to try an acrylic for this task, is there a particular brand you'd recommend?

Meanwhile, the Humbrol 1 has actually dried remarkably well on the vinyl (...or maybe it's rubber, these are really old).  I've given each tire the 'squish-test', no cracks in the paint!

Humbrol 1 is a weird and awesome primer, I find. It takes forever to stir, needs over night drying time, and still remains sort of tacky to the touch.  But it seems to have come through for me again on tires!

Best wishes

-Blake

Not that I'm a backseat driver, but acrylics are whats supposed to be used for painting whitewalls. Because of what the tires are made of, the regular oil based paints don't dry well and don't look very nice. Also, a circle template from a art supply store works well in aiding the painting of the whitewalls. Good Luck!

Wheels wheels wheels...

I have decided to stick with the spoke wheels. In a perhaps over-zealous moment I stripped the paint from them. I had had a mind to paint them black, this I have reconsidered and will be matching the orange instead. I any case, the paint on the wheels was not great. Unknown builder did not use primer, which they got away on the body but wheels were quite chipped up.





I had thought black because I wanted a contrasting color for the orange.  I guess because Hallowe'en is coming!  But the color I need is white, like the dash and seats.  So...white walls!

I am still in the trial and error stage with hand painting white walls. What I have done here is sanded the area to be painted with a sanding stick, then washed the tires well.  I have now applied Humbrol 1 primer, next will be to add 2-3 coats of Humbrol satin and matt white mixed.  This worked fairly well for me on another set, I'll let you know how it works out here:



Thanks for looking, feedback/comments always welcome,
-Blake

Exhaust system is now established. Decided to go with a funky side pipe set-up.  Bent, cut and drilled aluminum tubing for the pipes and heat displacers. Also bent a few parts lot pipes for the underside using a bic lighter.



will look like this:



More to come :)
-Blake in Montreal

Hi Allan,

Honestly I did not.  All I did was select balsa stock with a nice pronounced grain...

-Blake

Nice.  Looks like you stained it to emphasize the wood pattern?

Made a truck-box bed using balsa wood, and some Plastruct 1.6 mm styrene channel (painted with Humbrol 191).









So that lessens the 'too much orange' effect a bit :)

Thanks for looking more to come

-Blake

Thanks Allan!

That is just fantastic work, Blake.  Whatever wheels you decide on, this baby's gonna be a winner.

Used stock aluminum, sprue, small sewing pins, Pro-Tech hex nuts, a pin-vise and CA glue to build the wishbone, steering linkage and tie-rod.  Also started trying my trusty Humbrols to match the paint



Interior now detailed with Bare Metal foil, Pro-Tech photo-etched under dash guages and the sheep hide seat cover. Also made a new steering column bracket out of sheet styrene:




Engine is done!

Main thing was the carburetors.

I used stock aluminum tubing (my new favorite thing) cut 45 degrees in a mitre box for the pan-flute air scoops. Pro-tech throttle linkage, wire looms, line splitters, detailing wire and braided wire were used for that extra touch.  I also made a little return spring as well as a fuel pump.  

wow, thanks again all, glad you like the pics!

freem: cool you got your buddies box of teenage builds! They're out there...in boxes in closets :) hope you build some!

Duster Steve: Glad you like 'em, hope to see pics of that min craft dc 3. And wow...best emoticons ever :)

Allan: Glad you like them, thanks! Still have not made up my mind about those wheels, but there's no deadline :).  I will say: if I do chose the hot-rod wheels (which I'm leaning towards) the original old spokeys remain displayed with the model as truckbox cargo.  Also, the tires and mags shown in the last mock-up did also belong to Unknown Builder.  I'm also trying to think of ways to make a pumpkin as well for cargo...but keep that under your hat for now :)

rommelkiste: Seriously: THANK YOU. That was buggin' the carp out of me not being sure what this was.

AMT 1934 FORD

:)

plasticjunkie: Thanks!  There is no upholstery on the Orange 34 Ford, except my sheep hide seat cover I made, which is made out of real sheep hide...so I guess involves flocking, in one sense of the word :)

Unknown Builder used  scrap corduroy to do the upholstery, who woulda thunk it but boy is it nice.  The best is yet to come from that department...

I have not tried Alclads...yet.

You had a 55 and 57 Chevy? No kidding...coolest cars ever.  Hope you build the 1/16 scale and post pics...at that scale, with that reference material, you can cram every last detail there!

Cheers,

-Blake

Very nice work. Some of the older kits are worth saving and detailing. I'm an armor / aircraft guy but I have a couple of old 1/16  55 and 57 AMT Chevys I want to work on and since I had the real ones not too long ago I will be able to super detail them to the max. That upholstering job looks like flocking? Looks sweet! With the use of Alclad  metallic paints, the stainless and chrome finishes can be duplicated being an alternative to foiling.

Blake, it's good to see someone else that likes to restore old kits.  To help clear things up for you, the orange truck is a '34 Ford, from AMT.  I have built too many of those in my day but enjoyed every one!  Keep re-building and posting, nice to see some of these old kits.  

Wow.  Its like watching American Restorations in History Channel!  Love seeing restoration work!  Hmmm. Hard choice there on the wheels.  Id say use the originals.  But thats just me.

Hi all,

I'm glad that so many of you are enjoying the pics, and glad to hear about so many of you restoring models :) :) :P)

I got another one of these oldies out the box, this time that old orange truck on the middle of page one.  There I called it a Ford, but I'm pretty sure I was WRONG on that and this is indeed a Chevy. A 1933 Chevrolet. Anyhoo, it is now a work in progress :)





First things first, to get it rolling on four wheels.  As I've stated previously, Unknown Builder's forte was not wheels. These ones weren't so bad tho, I was able to pull them apart relatively easily and glue them down solid and get a rolling chassis going:




Unknown Builder didn't do any of that swell upholstery on this one, so I decided to add a sheep hide seat cover.  I made this using 1:1 scale sheep hide, scissors, and a Sharpie:



Next was the engine. I was required to go hunting for valve covers, exhaust manifolds and carburetors (I found them) Unknown Builder wired it, and did darn fine job on the belt and pulleys if I may say.  There is a big seam gap between the two halves of the engine, but if I want to keep this original 50 odd year old paint I'll have to live with it.



Speaking of hunting for parts, the biggest one was this dash. I hunted for DAYS, knew it was somewhere :) I'll add details before installing it. Like a steering wheel, can't drive without one of those:

.

So yeah, that's about where I'm at right now on this one. What else I've done so far is fix the grill using Bare Metal and flat black enamel, I cut a new windshield out of thin clear plastic, and have decided that she will be getting side-pipes of aluminum tubing.  I also found a different headlight set for it, with a horn that I've now hollowed out.

I guess the one complaint I have with this truck right now, as nice as the paint is, it's just really....ORANGE.  Needs some bling to break that up, maybe even some graphics. It is, after all a hot rod.  These old decal sheets may come into play, especially the Shell ones:



The other thing may be the wheels. Well, they're pretty nice, and they are the ORIGINALS, which is an important theme in this thread.  But at the same time I can easily imagine the old spokey's in the truckbox with some fat meats on the floor, I dunno, what do you think?



Cheers, more to come
-Blake

Nice work Blake. 

I'm currently "restoring" a Min Craft DC 3 that "followed me home" -so I kept it.  

It was glued together (fuselage, wings, empennage ) but(hear the strings?) the silver brush paint job was hideous -er-  not up to the standard of former owners seam work.

Plus, one of the propellers was broken and the other one was lost. Thankfully all the landing gear and windshield are there.

So after a paint stripping party  Not that kind of party!   Geesh.

I have gotten it  airbrushed with Alclad II  and have made two "spinning" propellers and I am about to get 'er done. 

Like you I'm trying to keep the good work done by the previous owner/builder and improve on that work.

Great looking rebuilds Blake!  I have a huge box of old car stuff a friend gave me when he cleaned up his basement and some cars and trucks I built in high school way back in the 20th century.  Always thought about doing something with them and I think you pushed me over the edge! An airplane guy I am but you look like you are having way too much fun doing this!

Freem

Hi Alex, glad you like the pics. I was lucky enough to get all this plastic in one big box! :)

-Blake

Blake nice collection probably some of them are hard to find thanks for the pictures.

Hi Bill,

Glad you like it!

Corduroy is what Unknown Builder used for the upholstery...simple and effective!

Cheers,

Blake