Model T Model kits

[jiminbartow]

Many men from my generation, who grew up in the 60’s building models still enjoy building the occasional plastic model kit. Unfortunately, there are very few Model T kits that were made in America and most modern plastic model kits are the unrealistic snap together kind. I guess today’s model kit manufacturing companies want to protect the delicate boys from the model glue that is needed to glue vintage models together.

This evening, I was on eBay and happened upon plastic model kits that feature a lot of different styles of brass era Model T’s. The kits are made by ICM in Ukraine. If you want to have a look, search eBay using the key words “ICM 1/24 Model T kit”. Be careful though. There are several kits that have figures, such as shapely women mechanics working on a Model T. Another has a Model T driver and a back seat passenger and another has Henry Ford meeting with an engineer and a mechanic. Several of these kits appear to contain the Model T, but they only contain the figures, so read the description closely. The Model T’s are sold separately. They appear to be well made and reasonably priced, but they will need to be painted to look like the depictions pictured on the boxes. Jim Patrick

[jiminbartow]

[Mac the Yankee]

I'd love to see them do the WWI Ambulance in 1/24 as well!

[DanTreace]

Jim

Those ICM model kits of the Ford, and the characters are extremely accurate and with the most detail in scale I’ve used.

Did the 1912 Commercial and the Henry and company figures. Put Henry near my ‘27 touring.

[modeltspaz]

Whatever became of the rerealease of the Model T engine model? I recall several discussions on this subject a few years ago here on the forum, and I believe I recall someone said that the company that owned the tooling was holding off until they got more orders. There was an appeal to contact the company to assure them that people were waiting to order, but nothing became of it.

[perry kete]

If it were to prove cost effective it would be nice to see these models added to the inventory of the gift shop at the museum.

I too remember the engine model being discussed and wondered the same thing when I saw this post.

[John Codman]

I remember as a kid building the Revell Highway Pioneers series of plastic models. As was said earlier, the model builder had to (gasp) use Duco Plastic Cement. We can't allow our precious little boys to do that now. You also had to use a match to partially melt the end of the axles to hold the wheels on. Much too dangerous today.

[Rich Eagle]

This was one of my favorites.

I'm sure those hours spent on Models led me into bluilding the real ones.
Thanks for bringing this up.
Rich

[Mac the Yankee]

Some of the biggest issues today are the prices- $25 for a reissued snap together model is no way to get a kid into the hobby, and most quality kits are $40-$60.

[Kaiser]

Mac, here you go !

[Scott_Conger]

In 1965, I couldn't afford the $3.00 kit at all. The US inflation calculator places that same kit at $25.23 today, so if a kid can't afford it now, I say "welcome to my world". That's what fathers and grandfathers (or *gasp*, mowing lawns) are for. They don't exactly give away video games, and yet every child in America seems to have one. Choices.

[Erik Johnson]

When I was a kid in the 1970s in Minnesota, if you were under 18 you couldn't purchase Testors plastic model cement in the orange and white tube due to the "huffers" so my mom or dad would have to buy it for me.

Then, MPC introduced non-toxic "NOTOX" lemon scented cement in the black tube which had no such restrictions. It was terrible stuff that didn't work well. I got an AMT Wankel rotary engine model for Christmas and used NOTOX cement. Big mistake. All it did was make the polystyrene plastic permanently soft and it wouldn't hold anything together.

[speedytinc]

similarly couldnt buy that glue. My mom would write a "permission slip" for me to take to the drug store for the glue. They would sell it to me with the note. Oh what would the lawyers do today.

[DHort]

Best glue now comes in an orange bottle and has a metal spout. Made in Germany I think. Get at model train stores.

[dmdeaton]

Revell makes the 1917 ambulance also

[sweet23]

I built this one last winter. My hands & eyes dont work as good as they did 40 years ago, but it came out pretty nice.

[dmdeaton]

Looks pretty darn good to me!

[Rich Eagle]

I posted this in a "Miniatures" thread a while back.

[varmint]

I'm still looking for a '26 coupe that I can afford.

[Wayne Sheldon]

When I was a kid, I would pull weeds, pick up trash, rake leaves, or even cut a couple lawns to make the money to buy the model kits! The glue? In the early 1960s, they would still sell it to minors. However, I rarely had to buy any. A lot of stupid kids where I grew up. I discovered where they would go after buying the glue to sniff the glue (I considered them idiots even then!). After they were done, they would stagger off in a haze and leave the glue behind in the bag they had gotten from the store and used to sniff in. They usually poked a bunch of small holes in the glue tube. When I needed glue, I would wander over behind the strip mall, find a bag that the glue hadn't dried out too much and take it home. A little Scotch tape wrapped around the tube would keep it neat enough and last for the duration. After a couple model kits? Wander behind the stores again, and get another hole-poked tube. Hey, ten cents was ten cents!

[jiminbartow]

Whenever I need the Testor’s plastic model glue we used as kids, I go on line and purchase it on eBay. Costs a lot more than the 10 cents I remember it costing in 1965, but it can’t be beat if you don’t want your model to fall apart.

Here is an Entex kit I built 20 years ago of a 1913 van. It is so accurate, you could use it to make a set of plans and build a full sized version. Jim Patrick

PS Very ingenious Wayne.

[jiminbartow]

[Wayne Sheldon]

It looks really nice Jim P !

[Mac the Yankee]

Kaiser,

Thanks for posting the ICM Military versions- those are 1/35- I'd love to see them in 1/24 like their 'Teen T's

[Burger in Spokane]

Odd, but I never wanted or built plastic models - except for a trio of
WW2 warbirds that were given to me - I wanted genuine old stuff and
looked at the models my friends were building taking up a lot of shelf
space, and did not want that taking up space in my room. The airplanes
were built and hung from the ceiling on fishing line. I was a weird kid.

Still am.

[Roverdriver]

When I operated a hobby shop, I would buy a 20 liter drum of Methyl Ethyl Ketone (M.E.K) and decant it into 200ml bottles for sale to model builders. MEK (not to be confused with MEKP which is carcinogenic) is a powerful solvent that works well on plastic. Hold the two parts to be joined positioned exactly as wanted in the final job, then dip a brush in the MEK and brush it onto the joint. An almost seamless join is made- in fact it is a weld using chemistry rather than heat.

I closed my shop many years ago, but have recently taken up an old hobby of Model Railways. I needed MEK so hunted for a chemical company and found that the smallest I could buy was a 2 litre container. I bought that I have now shared with fellow enthusiasts. I strongly recommend MEK instead of tube or even liquid glue for models.

Because it is a solvent it can be used for quite a few other jobs, like cleaning the spray gun that has been used for enamels.

[modeltspaz]

I worked for Mattel Toy Company for 14 years as a Senior Prototype Model Maker and absolutely agree with what Dane said in his post above.
There was absolutely no "Model Airplane Glue" in the shop. It wasn't because it wasn't allowed, it's because it doesn't work as nearly as well as MEK on styrene plastic. MEK works as a solvent and literally welds the two surfaces together. The downside is, it takes a little patience because it's not instantaneous, and it stinks like hell. On the plus side, the bond is stronger and the MEK is water-thin, thereby not adding to the material thickness of the joint.
When it came to applying the MEK to the joint, we used either a soft model brush, as Dane mentioned above, or a small squirt bottle with a hypodermic needle adapted to it for a pin point applicator.
For acrylic, such as Plexiglas, we used the same methods to apply the solvent, but we used a product called LPS Weldon. Same rules as above, i.e. slow, stinky, etc., but again, actually welded the two surfaces together by intermingling the materials together.
By the way, Dane mentioned the other type of MEK, which is MEKP. Do NOT try to use that as a solvent for plastic. MEKP is used commercialy as a catalyst for polyester resin and reacts violently with oxidized metal, like rust and oxidized aluminum, and will cause instant spontaneous combustion (ask me how I know this). It's also in the same shipping classification as TNT. Nasty stuff to be sure.