1909 Ford Model T Touring Car - 1/16th

This was a flea market find for $5 quite some years ago.  Since then, I've picked up another 8 of them.  Hudson Miniatures began in 1947 with it's 3/4 scale (1/16th) made of wood, card and some cast pieces.  In 1953 these wooden models ceased production, but the line of 1/32nd plastic Hudson Lil' Old Timers continued on until their factory caught fire in 1958.  1/32nd molds were sold to Revell for their Highway Pioneer series.

The plastic pieces are very brittle and suffer from warpage.  But they do include a good set of blueprints in scale.  Unfortunately, all the pieces aren't there, but I have a few 1/16th plastic Model T's in my stash - might be time to try casting some parts.  The paper card pieces might be replaced with styrene





Tried to flatten the dish on one of the wheels, but it snapped immediately.


Pieces of heavy card stock for the curved body panels.




Just like when I was a kid, cutting and gluing balsa wood planes together.




This one looks like a long term project to work on in spare time between other projects.
Mike

Fair play for starting it Mike.

A very interesting subject.

Sweet !!
What you are starting is the 1/16 scale, right?
Don't give up on it. I wanna watch !!!
Cheers,
Geezer

Geezerman wrote:Sweet !!
What you are starting is the 1/16 scale, right?

It uses the old terminology of 3/4 inch scale, meaning 3/4 inch to the foot, which becomes 1/16th scale.

Ha! I forgot, I have one of the never started "Hudson Miniatures" kits. Trying to combine wood, plastic and metal into a respectable model takes serious skill and a lot of patience. Good luck to you!

Excellent subject. I will be following along every step of the way.

Very interesting kit.

Wow, wood plastic and metal ... that sounds like more like a Tall Ship build. Looking forward to watching this develop

Making a little progress here between other projects.

Made up a carbide generator from brass tubing, styrene, wire and a fiber washer.
The one on the left is from an old Lindbergh kit.



The paper card supplied for sheet metal parts proves to be difficult to work with.  It doesn't hold a shape on it's own, so I think I won't be using it.  I picked up some flashing material from a dumpster when they were building a lot of homes in my subdivision, so it'll be put to use here.  It can be bent and holds a shape well.



Can't get the seatback to flatten out.


Traced the paper card piece onto the flashing, cut it out and bent it to shape. Looks much better.


Mike

This is really shaping up with your new parts.

Nice !

Looking good.

Further adventures...

This will be a curbside without engine, so I worked on bending some sheetmetal for the hood.



In the box for the plastic model was a radiator shell, paper thin and brass plated.  It wasn't a part of that kit, so it will be put to use here.



Made up a steering wheel from a rubber O-ring and sheetmetal.  Still looking around for a thinner O-ring, though.


Glued the seat bottoms into the body metal.  I'll leave them taped until I work on the seat cushion material.





Thanks for looking,
Mike.

This is outstanding Mike, really enjoyable.

Nice fabrication Mike.

Good progress Mike. CA glue works great for sealing the cut edges of the wood. Looking forward to the next update.

Finished rebuilding the broken wheel.  Finally found a use for those festive party toothpicks besides paint stirrers.  Now I have to redo the other 3 wheels.


Fitted the sheetmetal hood onto the body and added a few louvers made from styrene quarter round.


Mike

Nice work.
This is heading towards a cool model !

Great work on the wheel. This really is shaping up nicely.

This is all looking great Mike. Nice work. Love the new steering wheel spokes.

Wonderful work! The steering wheel looks fantastic already, good luck that the thinner O-ring. The sheet metal parts are great and that rebuilt wheel is as well.

Got two wheels finished and a third drying.  Mounted the rear axle on a homemade leaf spring.





Traced the rear fender onto sheetmetal and cut out.


When properly bent to shape, it looks like this.  A little filler required here.


Built a sheetmetal front leaf spring.


Mike