My long-term (not by choice) project - 1963 F100 Unibody

[tim boyd]

Ever since I traveled the "thumb" area of Michigan (anyone remember the Ubly Dragstrip of the 1960's???) as the Ford Sales Zone Rep during 1979-81, I've been fascinated with the 1961-63 Ford Unibody F100 pickup.  So much so that I spent $40 (in 1980 Money, the equivalent of $146 today. the most I've ever spent on a model kit) on a pristine unbuilt AMT 1963 F100 customizing kit at the old Herb Jackson/Bill Enders store in Farmington Hills, MI.  I actually planned to build it but it never happened.  Probably around 20 years ago I bought a second kit -the reboxed 1964 release - in a partially built form with some body damage and the like.  

Sometime in 2021 I set out to actually build the second kit.  I'll save the envisioned build details for later, but the bottom line is this one has been a struggle almost from day one. 

I spent months fixing the damage, and more profoundly, fixing all the imperfections (sink marks, crooked side body molding, et al.) of the original AMT body shell.   Then the paint...including multiple mishaps that again I will explain later, most recently a severe case of orange peel from an application of Tamiya TS Clear over well dried Testors Coat Lacquer. 

I do still work on it from time to time, but guys this one has been discouragement city!  Anyway, shot a couple pix of it today in its current state.  

Thanks for looking and listening to the summary of my sad, sad story on this one!  Cheers...TIM

PS - and yes, there is a reason (to be revealed later, but hopefully not too far in the future) why I am showing this one at this time ..TB 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by tim boyd

[tim boyd]

3 minutes ago, tim boyd said:

Sorry, duplicate post; my mistake.  TB 

 

Edited April 5, 2023 by tim boyd

[stavanzer]

Beautiful Colour choice, Tim.

I hope it can stay that colour!

[NOBLNG]

It looks great so far Tim!? I have had that feeling that certain kits have a vendetta against me personally.?

[OldNYJim]

On 4/5/2023 at 6:47 PM, tim boyd said:

PS - and yes, there is a reason (to be revealed later, but hopefully not too far in the future) why I am showing this one at this time ..TB

I'm going to bet one shiny penny on this kit getting one of Round 2's retool / reissues, as a variation on the '60 truck that has already been announced. 

I will bet another shiny penny on Tim Boyd completing this long-term project by the time the reissue comes out....and I hope I win on both bets

[charlie8575]

On 4/7/2023 at 3:58 PM, CabDriver said:

I'm going to bet one shiny penny on this kit getting one of Round 2's retool / reissues, as a variation on the '60 truck that has already been announced. 

I will bet another shiny penny on Tim Boyd completing this long-term project by the time the reissue comes out....and I hope I win on both bets

Funny you mention that....I was just thinking the same thing.

Charlie Larkin

[Belugawrx]

Love your colour choice Tim

is that Medium Maui blue metallic..?

I've got my fingers and toes crossed for you on this one...

Cheers

 

ps. could you hurry this one along ...my toes hurt...lol

[tim boyd]

On 4/5/2023 at 8:35 PM, stavanzer said:

Beautiful Colour choice, Tim.

I hope it can stay that colour!

Hi Alan....thanks.....and that's my plan....TB

[tim boyd]

On 4/6/2023 at 7:13 AM, NOBLNG said:

It looks great so far Tim!? I have had that feeling that certain kits have a vendetta against me personally.?

Greg...ain't that the truth!   I guess I'd been really lucky over time, but recently it seems that vendetta has been catching up with me!   Thx for the comments!  TB 

[tim boyd]

On 4/7/2023 at 3:58 PM, CabDriver said:

I'm going to bet one shiny penny on this kit getting one of Round 2's retool / reissues, as a variation on the '60 truck that has already been announced. 

I will bet another shiny penny on Tim Boyd completing this long-term project by the time the reissue comes out....and I hope I win on both bets

Heh Jim and Charlie...either of those outcomes would be a big, big win for me personally, and a reissue/cloning project would be a win for ALL of us in the hobby in my personal opinion.  Given the way Round 2 is working these days, my takeaway is that as long as we keep buying their new cloning kits in big enough volumes, anything is conceivable over the long run!  

Edited April 17, 2023 by tim boyd

[tim boyd]

5 hours ago, Belugawrx said:

Love your colour choice Tim

is that Medium Maui blue metallic..?

I've got my fingers and toes crossed for you on this one...

Cheers

 

ps. could you hurry this one along ...my toes hurt...lol

Bruce....thanks.  The color is actually 1993 Ford Bright Calypso Green Metalllic (it was a special color for 1/1 scale Escort GT's IIRC), and this is the Testors  Lacquer spray bomb version (yes, I still had one can left that had not leaked out all its contents along the bottom can seal).  It went on a little rough....don't know if that had anything to do with the extreme orange peel reaction from the TS-13 Clear months later...

No further progress at this point, sadly.  Had another project to finish up for a magazine article, and seem to be awful busy on non-modeling toics these days for a retited person.  Gotta get that one back in balance somehow! 

Best...TB  

[wrenchr]

I have a rebuilder in the stash along with the 60 body. Looking forward to some progress Tim. 

I'm going to buy at least 6 of the 60 F100.  I'm trying to buy at least 1 each of the cloned kits as they are released. Might need more room in the basement.  

 

[tim boyd]

UPDATE 4-21-23:  Today, after finishing a couple of magazine contributions, finishing 2023 taxes, etc, etc, finally sat down and took to that orange peel with a brand new 2400 grit (yes, the really serious stuff) Micro Mesh sanding pad and soapy water.  Took a couple of hours, and avoided sanding through except the very top of the tailgate which was an easy fix. 

Just shot the Mr. Super Clear Gloss about an hour ago (8:10pm 4-21-23), appeared to go on without sags for flaws (except one small one on the hood that should rub out OK).  Last checked it was drying nicely.  Next step will depend on how much the paint shrinks as it dries.  Would love to straight to polishinng compounds, but that may be too much of a stretch.  Best...TB 

[Mercuryman54]

Tim, here’s one I finished not too long ago. I bought it new in the late sixties. It’s the second issue 63 kit. It was rough after my childhood modifications and sloppy paint. Luckily I kept it and my skills caught up so I could repair it. Yours looks great. 

[tim boyd]

9 hours ago, Mercuryman54 said:

Tim, here’s one I finished not too long ago. I bought it new in the late sixties. It’s the second issue 63 kit. It was rough after my childhood modifications and sloppy paint. Luckily I kept it and my skills caught up so I could repair it. Yours looks great. 

 

Dennis...that is one sharp build. 

Having worked many hours to fix the body issues on mine, I was highly impressed to see how you did yours. 

Then I saw those pictures at the bottom showing what you started with.  Pretty amazing stuff.  Big congrats from this corner!   TIM 

[tim boyd]

On 4/5/2023 at 7:47 PM, tim boyd said:

PS - and yes, there is a reason (to be revealed later, but hopefully not too far in the future) why I am showing this one at this time ..TB 

 

...and now you know what I meant (if you look at the new kit announcement news in the Truck Kit News and Reviews section of the forum) with the above cryptic comment.  And kudos to Jim King who figured it out....TB 

[Can-Con]

29 minutes ago, tim boyd said:

...and now you know what I meant (if you look at the new kit announcement news in the Truck Kit News and Reviews section of the forum) with the above cryptic comment.  And kudos to Jim King who figured it out....TB 

Tim, from your post, I figured there was about a %90 chance that this was being announced today.

Totally did not expect the Demon though. I have a resin Demon transkit and a '63 Unibody rebuilder but I'm happy to see both in fresh styrene.

[Mercuryman54]

On 4/5/2023 at 7:47 PM, tim boyd said:

Ever since I traveled the "thumb" area of Michigan (anyone remember the Ubly Dragstrip of the 1960's???) as the Ford Sales Zone Rep during 1979-81, I've been fascinated with the 1961-63 Ford Unibody F100 pickup.  So much so that I spent $40 (in 1980 Money, the equivalent of $146 today. the most I've ever spent on a model kit) on a pristine unbuilt AMT 1963 F100 customizing kit at the old Herb Jackson/Bill Enders store in Farmington Hills, MI.  I actually planned to build it but it never happened.  Probably around 20 years ago I bought a second kit -the reboxed 1964 release - in a partially built form with some body damage and the like.  

Sometime in 2021 I set out to actually build the second kit.  I'll save the envisioned build details for later, but the bottom line is this one has been a struggle almost from day one. 

I spent months fixing the damage, and more profoundly, fixing all the imperfections (sink marks, crooked side body molding, et al.) of the original AMT body shell.   Then the paint...including multiple mishaps that again I will explain later, most recently a severe case of orange peel from an application of Tamiya TS Clear over well dried Testors Coat Lacquer. 

I do still work on it from time to time, but guys this one has been discouragement city!  Anyway, shot a couple pix of it today in its current state.  

Thanks for looking and listening to the summary of my sad, sad story on this one!  Cheers...TIM

PS - and yes, there is a reason (to be revealed later, but hopefully not too far in the future) why I am showing this one at this time ..TB 

 

Tim, I thought I would show you a few pictures of how I repaired my Unibody pickup. I also have a mint 63 kit. So I made molds of the rear wheel openings and a mold of the hood. I reinforced the cut out areas of my original cut up body with wire melted into the opening with a soldering iron. The placed the damaged parts in the molds and poured in resin. It worked out well and hardly any sanding and filling. I also built a complete frame a body pan. I used the front and rear suspension from a AMT Thunderbird NASCAR kit. 

[tim boyd]

5 hours ago, Mercuryman54 said:

Tim, I thought I would show you a few pictures of how I repaired my Unibody pickup. I also have a mint 63 kit. So I made molds of the rear wheel openings and a mold of the hood. I reinforced the cut out areas of my original cut up body with wire melted into the opening with a soldering iron. The placed the damaged parts in the molds and poured in resin. It worked out well and hardly any sanding and filling. I also built a complete frame a body pan. I used the front and rear suspension from a AMT Thunderbird NASCAR kit. 

Very impressive work.  And that chassis/frame looks great!   TB

[foghorn62]

On 4/21/2023 at 8:53 PM, tim boyd said:

Just shot the Mr. Super Clear Gloss about an hour ago (8:10pm 4-21-23), appeared to go on without sags for flaws (except one small one on the hood that should rub out OK).  Last checked it was drying nicely.  Next step will depend on how much the paint shrinks as it dries.  Would love to straight to polishinng compounds, but that may be too much of a stretch.  Best...TB 

Hi Tim, is that Mr. Color GX100 Super Clear that you are using?  How do you like it?  What did you use for your base coat under it?  Did you use the leveling thinner?  I have some of that clear, and I struggled with getting it to go on wet enough to flatten out the last time I used it, but I think I know what I was doing wrong.  I had been spraying water base acrylics through the airbrush that I was using, and I don’t think it played nice with the clear despite my best attempts to clean the airbrush before switching paints.  I have been determined to use acrylics for all of my color coats, but I’m still using solvent base for clear.  I have since bought new tips for my airbrush that I use for acrylics, and a new airbrush to be dedicated to solvent base clears.  I really like the way the acrylics lay down nice a flat, and with the right clear coat, they look very nice.  I see that Createx has come out with a high gloss water base clear, but I haven’t tried it yet.

TS

[tim boyd]

Quick update....since the last pix above, I had given the body a serious round with the 3200 grit sanding pads, and then another heavy coat of Mr. Color SuperGloss.  After gassing out, the finish was still pretty heavily orange peeled. 

Gave it another week to dry, then last night it had an appointment with the 3600 through 12000 Micro Mesh pads, Tamiya Coase/Fine/Finish polishing compounds, and then The Treatment Wax.  Amazing transformation! 

Now glass smooth, without the unrealistic superglossy and superthick 2K clear affect (not to mention the serious health issues when used in anything less than a full 1/1 scale body shop environment including a separate fresh air supply face mask). 

No pictures yet but on to the next steps of this build.  Finally....after 14 months of effort!   TB 

[midlineqb]

I"m in process of finishing a 63 Ford Fleetside that I had put in a box probably 30 years ago. I've shortened the bed and am putting a Hemi engine in it. Also is going to have a custom interior with bucket seats. I don;t have any pics of it at this point in time, but will be posting some.

[thatz4u]

updates?

[tim boyd]

10 hours ago, thatz4u said:

updates?

Al....thanks for asking, but no further updates at this time.  Best....TB

[tim boyd]

Update 2-14-24:

Well now I can divulge in more detail that just two months after making some major progress on the project I started back in 2021 (so, about February or March of 2023) I got confirmation that Round was going ahead with a "clone" of the original kit (which you can now review in the new truck kits section of this forum).  That, along with the trouble with the paint as detailed above, kind of put a hold on the project. 

Nevertheless, over the last few months I put together a new chassis based on a shortened version of the Moebius LWB Bumpside series kits. While this is not 1/1 scale correct as the Moebius kit, of course, includes the Twin I=Beam suspension that did not appear on the 1/1 until the 1965 model year, it was envisioned as a way to get a detailed chassis vs. the one-piece promo style unit in the AMT kit.  (In retrospect, it may have been better (i.e. more feasible/correct to the 1/1) to use the Moebius chassis in combination with the front leaf spring suspension in the Revell '56  F100, but that ship (i.e. my build) has long since passed that decision.)  

As seems so common when looking at a conversion like this, what looks simple turns out to be more than a little complex, especially fitting the chassis with the Twin I-Beam to the front underbody of the AMT kit.  But now the chassis is done, along with a slightly dropped stance to the front and rear suspension.   

The interior has been modified to use the Moebius kit floorboard, but still needs to be painted and finished.  Still planning to use the FE engine from the Revell Foose F100 kit.  Had also planned to use the wheels and tires from that Foose kit but am waiting to get my hands on a second new AMT F100 kit and may use the steelies in that instead. 

Finally, I noticed not long ago that the rear window of the kit I used (remember, it was a rescue I bought on Ebay) is missing a small corner at the lower passenger side corner.  I was thinking of installing it anyway and tryring to bridge the gap with Testors Clear Window Cement or  MicroScale equivalent, but then I thought I'll just wait for the new kit and use that window.  Turns out the new kit window fits differently in the backlight (and to my thoughts, perhaps not quite as well), so we'll see on that one.  

Anyway, that's the update.  Hope to have this one done sometime in the first half of this year....thanks for your ongoing interest in the project...TB 

 

Edited February 14, 2024 by tim boyd