Finished Build: Custom 1953 Ford F-100 Pickup

Old-School Cool

If you read this earlier post, you will remember how much fun I had building the AMT Ford F-100 pickup as a tired, worn-out old work truck, and I said there must be so many more ways to build it using just the included parts. Well, I couldn’t resist building another one, and this time I used some of the custom parts to make an old-school custom truck.

The kit in question is again the Round2 reissue of the old AMT 1953 Ford F-100 Pickup, again purchased from Rochester Games & Models. I summarised the kit contents in my earlier post but I will say again that the sheer choice of optional parts makes this kit so much fun. Quality is OK - it’s not the latest standard in terms of fit and detail, but you shouldn’t run into any serious problems anywhere. The tyre whitewalls are also supplied ready-done, which is nice.

This time I built the kit to recreate a 1960's custom machine, representing somebody’s faithful pickup truck which they have decided to turn into an eye-grabbing custom car. Just like with new cars, which go in and out of fashion over the years, so it is with modified cars: the custom cars being created today don’t look much like the ones being created in the 1980's, which in turn looked different to what custom cars looked like in the 1960's. In 1960's America, deep metallic paint on the body and chrome on everything else was very much the order of the day, and that’s what I have attempted to recreate with this kit. All the parts used are included in the box, from the bullet-shaped over-rider bumpers to the lovely chrome dished wheels. I lowered the suspension by simply removing a chunk from each of the spring mountings, giving the truck a tough-looking low-down attitude. I fixed the bonnet/hood shut, saving the engine for a future project.

I spent a great deal of time on the paintwork of this truck, knowing that flawless paint is key to a good 1960's custom car, and to be honest the result is not what I intended. I began by priming the body panels in white primer, followed by a good smooth coat of silver paint which I gently sanded/flatted to provide a smooth finish. I then applied a light coat of Ford Pepper Red metallic paint over the silver, hoping that this would give a custom or ‘candy’ look, followed by many coats of lacquer. This done, I gently wet-sanded the lacquer and polished it with some G3 cutting compound, followed weeks later by a buff with some genuine Meguiars Gold Class car wax. The end result? Basically metallic red paint, pretty much as it would have looked straight out of the can and without all the fuss! In some places, thanks to all my smoothing and polishing, the red has rubbed through revealing the silver beneath, which is a shame. Still, at least it is pretty smooth and I think the Ford Pepper Red, despite being new, suits the old truck well.  

The interior was left simple, with just a coat of white primer for the bench seat and dashboard, and matt black to simulate rubber matting on the floor. Sadly I somehow managed to smudge the inside of the windshield, probably while I was fixing the rear view mirror in place, but it isn’t too noticeable. There is also a flashy chrome gear lever in front of the seat, a typical 1960s custom touch. The wooden pickup bed was simulated my simply rubbing a thin smear of brown oil paint over silver paint.

This is one of my rare attempts to build a custom car model, and though it has turned out OK I could do with a lot more practice! This build has given me a whole new respect for model builders who turn out smooth, glossy, flawless customs. But overall, it was 100% fun to build and it will sit nicely alongside its worm out twin sister. I recommend this kit to anybody who wants to build a nice, simple custom truck with lots of options and ‘Ol'-Skool' looks!