Hubley 1930 Ford Coupe Build Thread

[RSchnell]

Since I'm sidelined with Covid and have some free time thought I'd start a build thread. You don't see many of these old Hubley kits built anymore, they require filing and go together with screws. These kits hold a tremendous amount of nostalgia for me as I've built a bunch of them with my dad & grandfather, we had the 1:1 Model A's to go with the models too. I already have a pretty good collection of Hubley Model A's, some I customized to create cars that Hubley never made such as a closed cab pickup & A-400. Saw this kit at a local swap for $10 & couldn't pass it up. This is the first Hubley I've built in probably 20 years!

Tonight's installment starts with what you get in the box, The tools I'm using for this build are a set of files, some 320 DA paper on a sanding pad, cheap nippers from Harbor Freight to trim the flash off. I'm building this OOB so I'm not going to open up the bumpers or do any other super detailing. 

[RSchnell]

After an hour or so of trimming the flash and rough sanding/filing, it's starting to look pretty good. Looking at the colors for 1930, I'm going with Andalusite Blue which is a very deep dark blue- almost black until you get in full sun. I've painted a few 1:1 Model A's in this color and it's really a nice deep blue. 

[bisc63]

Looks kinda nice in bare metal!

[Paul Payne]

What scale? Anything available for parts swapping?

[maxwell48098]

I built everyone of those Hubley kits back in the '70's.  They were definitely different from a plastic kit, but with a little Bondo and tweaking, they could turn out very nice.  Unfortunately, I gave them all to my nephew who was about 8 at the time, and he played with them like they were toys until they were destroyed.  But I had a good time building them, and he had a good time destroying them.  So a good time was had by all.  LOL

[Bullybeef]

That is one of the kits that I remember so dearly from my childhood, my dad had one build in a nice dark green, it ended up being a toy for me, a learning ground if you will. But it also set into me that models should come apart and be remade occasionally lol.

[Oldmopars]

I love these, I also have a few. I also used to build these with my dad in the 1970's. He owned a body shop restoring Model A's, he even restored one for Tito Jackson. I got to meet the Jackson 5 at their home in L.A. 

Anyway, we would build these together and are some great memories of my father. 

[RSchnell]

It's cool to see so many others with similar memories as mine! Not much to report, a bit more filing & sanding. Screwed the chassis together and painted the wheels. The tires were rock hard and didn't want to risk breaking them or the wheels so I painted the wheels with the tires still attached. Humbrol 89 is close enough for Hessian Blue for me. May shoot some primer tomorrow and see how everything looks.

[NOBLNG]

Nice! They don’t make ‘em like that anymore I bet!?

[Sam I Am]

Ditto for building them in the 70's with my dad. Might even have a pic or two taken by my mom doing so. I have all the Model A's, a few 32 Chevys, Duesenbergs, Packard, and now a couple Model T's.  I should really rebuild one.  Definitely following your build.

[Eric Macleod]

I too have built all of yhe Hubley/Gabriel kits and added a Tudor sedan and a Cabriolet with dual sidemounts. I would be very interested in seeing how you built an A-400. I'll definitely follow this with interest.

[RSchnell]

Here's where I'm at as of tonight. Got everything primed, sanded the body & fenders, maybe I can spray tomorrow if the weather holds out. Got the chassis together and started painting all the little parts, seats, headlight bar etc.

 

[RSchnell]

On 1/23/2022 at 3:08 PM, Eric Macleod said:

I too have built all of yhe Hubley/Gabriel kits and added a Tudor sedan and a Cabriolet with dual sidemounts. I would be very interested in seeing how you built an A-400. I'll definitely follow this with interest.

A 68-B Hubley Cabriolet is on my build list(and a Sport Coupe). I've built a couple of 1:1's for customers years ago. One in Bronson Yellow/Seal Brown and the other in Andalusite Blue. Here is the A-400 and Closed Cab Pickup. These were built back in 1993-1994 so they are showing age and on the list to get freshened up. I used the Hubley Victoria, cut the rear section out as the Vicky has a bustle back and the A-400 has a rear section like a Model A Sedan. I used sheet brass to make the rear section, the apron that goes between the fenders, the bumpers, bumper brackets and luggage rack. Cut the rear quarter windows and reshaped them with brass rod and JB Weld. Once I got it roughed in, everything got a coat of Nitro Stan Putty. To convert the Victoria top into an A-400 top was pretty straightforward. I may just leave this one as is and build another one from scratch with more detail. The Pickup is the same sheet brass & JB Weld recipe. In fact the Pickup was practice for the A-400.

[Sam I Am]

I really like how you have modified the original kit so as to reproduce these other models. 

[Bills72sj]

Love the patina!

[Eric Macleod]

These are great. You have some real talent.  Here is the Cabriolet and the Tudor I did years ago. They have nowhere near the detail of your kits but convey the idea.

[RSchnell]

On 1/25/2022 at 7:24 AM, Eric Macleod said:

These are great. You have some real talent.  Here is the Cabriolet and the Tudor I did years ago. They have nowhere near the detail of your kits but convey the idea.

Those are great! My dad had a '31 Tudor in Chicle & Copra when I was a kid and my grandfathers A-400 was in Chicle & Copra also so that color combo remains a personal favorite after all these years.

[RSchnell]

Here's the final installment of this build thread, ended up going back to work so that cut my "covid quarantine build" short. Here's a few shots to bring it up to date. I used the kit windows as patterns to cut new ones from a fresh sheet of clear acetate and glued them in with Humbrol Clearfix. At this stage I have the interior done and painted window frames to simulate the original car even though you won't see much when the roof is installed.

[RSchnell]

This was my first chance to use a Molotow chrome pen that I picked up the other day. While it won't replace Bare Metal Foil I think it's great for small pieces and touchup where a chrome part gets cut off the sprue. I used the same Humbrol 89(close match to Ford's Hessian Blue) that I painted the wheels with to do the pinstripe. I couldn't find my box of real pinstriping brushes so had to improvise, but for a car that is going to sit on the shelf with the rest of Hubley Model A's in my collection it will be just fine. The brown Coupe is one my grandfather built in 70s. You can always spot a 70s restoration of an early 30s car-it seems 90% of that era cars were painted in two tone brown/tan with orange or red wheels when they were restored! 

After some cleanup and touchup I'll post the finished build in the Under Glass section.

[Phirewriter]

Nice build, turned out really nice. Thanks for posting your WIP. My father was a car collector and had several Model A's over the years. He was also a model builder and he had all of the Hubley metal kits in multiples including the Duesenbergs, Packards and '32 Chevys.

  As R Schnell and others stated, I too have fond memories of building these with him when I was young and thankfully still have them. I'm hoping to build a few more of his Hubley Model A kits. A few years before he passed he gave me his kit collection.

Edited January 30, 2022 by Phirewriter

[RSchnell]

7 minutes ago, Phirewriter said:

Nice build, was nice to see your WIP. My father was a car collector and had several Model A's over the years. He was also a model builder and he had all of the Hubley metal kits in multiples including the Dusenbergs, Packards and '32 Chevys.

  As R Schnell and others stated, I too have fond memories of building these with him when I was young and thankfully still have them. I'm hoping to build a few more of his Hubley Model A kits. A few years before he passed he gave me his kit collection.

I always wanted to build the Duesenberg Hubleys. I had a Hubley '32 Chevrolet Coupe on my desk when I had the resto shop. A customer bugged me about that car for 2 months. I ended up giving to him when he came to pick up the '55 Thunderbird I was working on for him. Come to find out his first car was a '32 Chevy Coupe way back in the day.

 Would like to build more of the Model A Hubleys for the second & third times, but I can't bring myself to pay ebay prices so I keep a look out at shows & model swaps. 

[Phirewriter]

I haven't paid attention to these on eBay, if they're getting expensive I have to admit I'm kinda surprised. I still see them at local shows for not too much money and have picked up a few here and there with ideas for modifying them, IF that time ever comes.

  My dad started a Duesenberg but never finished it for some reason, going to get to that soon hopefully. It's definitely much more involved and fiddly than the "A" kits. The A's seem to be the simplest of all the kits.

 The '32 Chevy he built was unfortunately damaged beyond repair after one of my young relatives got ahold of it at a family gathering years ago. He never had any of his finished builds in secure cases since even at a very young age I had respect for his stuff and he knew I wouldn't mess with anything. Some people's kids....

Edited January 30, 2022 by Phirewriter