Historic restoration...my Dad's AMT 1949 Ford

I got a parcel from my 82 year old model building Dad last year. In addition to some of the things I had purchased from the US, he added the remnants of the original issue 1949 Ford Coupe that he had built back in the 60s. Over the years the old glue had given up the ghost and bits and pieces had fallen off the car. The chrome had dulled and it was all a bit sad looking. Like this...

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...but I couldn't bring myself to just completely rebuild the car. Remember this is almost 50 years old. The engine wiring is cotton thread pulled through bees wax and even made the ties for the wiring. The chrome trim on the car is foil from a chocolate bar wrapper that he rubber cemented in place and apart from a small piece at the back of the car all the trim was still intact. The interior was upholstered with a brushed cotton...originally white, but more a cream after all these years. So I decided that I would dust it off...wash everything down carefully...rubbed back the paint a little, but not too much as it was pretty thin in places...break out the donor 1949 Ford Coupe sitting on my shelf and renew the chrome. This is how it came up.

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I touched up the chrome and tailights after these shots were taken. I left the original hub caps and trim rings on as they were solidly attached, but you can see how the chrome has gone off compared to the replacement parts. In the process I discovered that the bonnet is a different colour blue than the body. My Dad confessed he ran out of the Sapphire Blue spray paint he used for the body so did the bonnet in Testors No11 Blue, fogging it in to a pretty close match. Creative...and a bit cheap...I asked him why he didn't just buy some more Sapphire Blue, but he couldn't see the point of buying a whole new can just for the bonnet. I remember my Dad building this and thinking it was the coolest model around. Now that I have had the chance to restore I still think it is a great model especially when you think that he was doing stuff back in the 60s with detailing and chroming before the after-market parts started.

Thanks for looking. I am proud of my Dad and know he will get a kick out of his model being shown here

Thats great. I love that you carried out a sympathetic restoration.
Just goes to show that there IS a plus side to AMT repopping the same old kits time after time...

That's cool, nice resto. It's amazing to think how well this has held up, I can't imagine my models being around that long.

...Nice save!!!

Nice resto and tribute. I bet your Dad is tickled pink. Best to you.Bill

Ah the days of waxed thread for ignition wiring and cigarette pack silver paper for chrome. What a wonderful story - thanks for sharing. I can see you admire your father and the early days of model building. I was never able to get my son interested so you are very fortunate to take over from your dad. I'm so glad you restored the model - it is a fabulous piece of model history.


Tezza

Nice model, my dad had a train set, it was pretty cool but not as cool as a car model.