Post image for 36 Ford Hot Rod Junker 1/25 scale from AMT

36 Ford Hot Rod Junker 1/25 scale from AMT

April 17, 2011

This 36 Ford is based on the 3-in-1 AMT kit many of you know. It took me some time to figure out how I wanted to build this car – specially while thinking about the question “fenders / no fenders”. I went for “no fenders”, as you can see. I saved the fenders for the junkyard diorama, though. They will look great, all rusted through in a junk pile or so :)

36_Ford_AMT_JunkModelCar_2

I figured this car could be a “in-between-hot-rod-and-rat-rod-kind-of-thing”. The picture above shows a test fit assembly. I admit that the black paint didn’t turn out really nice, but as this car was to be a junker, I didn’t bother to repaint it – instead, I saved the finish with some weathering effects.  I went for a two tone combination to make the car look more unique. A plain red or yellow is just nothing new, plus a complete black would have made the car look too small. Note that front wheels are straight in this pic – I later decided to turn them, as you will see further below.

 

36 Ford AMT Junk Model Car With Scratch Built Seats

The engine features some special detail work. I took some time to look at junky flat head Ford V8s to see how they look like with missing parts. This engine features some details such as the cable tubes for the ignition cables, a carburator with a hole on the top and the fuel line along with the gas pedal linkage. Not visible on this pic are the holes were the sprak plugs would be (I left just one spark plug, including a cable) nor  the scratch built oil dipstick (in fact, you may see it right below the flat head).

 

36 Ford AMT Junk Model Car

I tried a few new things in this build, along with some other stuff I have been doing already. If you have been reading this blog, you know that I like to scratch build the inside of the doors with missing panels. In this case, I was pretty much forced to do so. The reason is that the kit had very poor door panels plus the doors were much shorter in the “interior tub” than what they are on the body… and I just couldn’t live with that.

New thing here is the seat. I wanted to scratch build the seat, showing the springs and the seat structure. Note that the cars from the 50 and up have a different kind of springs – the look like “snakes”, sort of. In the 30’s, the cars had round springs. Compare the two last pictures to see how the seat looks like unfinished and finished.

 

Lee Hartman April 17, 2011 at 1:16 pm

Iggy,
You just keep getting better and better! Love your work! That seat looks nasty! How about a tutorial on nasty seats!
Lee

Iggy April 17, 2011 at 2:30 pm

Hey Lee!

thanks for your comment and for your words of appreciation. I love doing junk model cars. I also enjoy sharing this with you and the other readers.

We are indeed working on “Underhaulin 2”, where we will show hot to make these kind of seats but also other tricks such as cracked paint and scratch building to enhance your kit (featuring my brohter’s 57 Bel Air: http://blog.modeljunkyard.com/2011/02/18/1957-chevrolet-bel-air-3%E2%80%93engine-compartment/)

Have a nice day,

Iggy

Rick April 18, 2011 at 12:49 pm

Too cool. I just love looking at your builds. I am (I hope) going to build a diorama and you are inspiring me. I am learning a lot from your skills. I hope I can only do 1/2 as good.

Take care,
Rick

Iggy April 18, 2011 at 3:34 pm

Hey Rick,

thanks for commenting! I am glad to know that my scale models inspire you! I am pretty sure that you can build them at least as good as I do. You just need to take your time. That’s what I do anyway. I made a few builds in a weekend or so, but some others, like this one, took me more time. Specially when I was trying new things, like the seat springs in this build.

Take care too!
Iggy

Don~~In Florida April 19, 2011 at 4:45 am

I love the imagination in this junk car building, keep it coming Iggy.

Iggy April 23, 2011 at 8:23 pm

Thanks Don!

Cara July 30, 2011 at 2:02 pm

I LOVE the seat in the36 Ford “rat rod”! Most of my problems are with interiors in my rusty car dioramas. I usually just end up removing everything and throwing it in a field or something-thanks for the great tips and inspiration!

Iggy July 30, 2011 at 2:07 pm

Thx for the comment! I’m happy to hear that you find this post useful. Stay tuned, my brother has just finished his own rat rod model car and you will surely find more inspiration there!

Jim Smith August 9, 2012 at 2:15 pm

Thanks for your great site. My wife is a retired rural postal carrier, and several years ago I built an old DJ-5 mail Jeep (2WD, Right hand wheel, 4 banger, etc.) from the Daisy Duke Jeep kit. I have always wanted to put it in a diarama with maybe a rusted out 40 Ford or something setting in a field beside a mailbox, and you have kicked me in the rear to finally get it going.

Iggy August 14, 2012 at 7:52 pm

Hey Jim,

thanks for your comment! I’m glad we got you inspired!

Iggy

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