International Harvester Scout II

[Jonathan]

*warning* I am a painfully slow builder, easily distracted by the next project

My Brother-in-Law gifted me the AMT/ERTL Scout II for Christmas last year (2022).  

If you're familiar with the kit, it's pretty simple.  But, there's no other Scout kit available to my knowledge.  I was happy to get it.

Right out of the gate, I knew that the very minimum thing I would do would be to fill the large gaps between the chassis and the body.   

In picking a color, decided to go with Tamiya's Coral Blue

With a white top:

I had this surf rack from some old Japanese detail set that I picked up years ago.  I think this Scout is Beach Bound!  I also shaved the door handles and plan to use Fireball's GM Truck handles.  

More to come.  I hope .... 

[espo]

Like the color. Looks like they are including the V8 engine in this kit. Knew a guy who had one back when these were rooming the streets. His was the 4 cyl. What IH did was just like Pontiac when they did their 4 cyl for the Tempest. They both just lobed off the right cylinder bank from their V8 engines and that's how they created their basic 4 cyl. engines. 

[Jonathan]

7 hours ago, espo said:

Like the color. Looks like they are including the V8 engine in this kit. Knew a guy who had one back when these were rooming the streets. His was the 4 cyl. What IH did was just like Pontiac when they did their 4 cyl for the Tempest. They both just lobed off the right cylinder bank from their V8 engines and that's how they created their basic 4 cyl. engines. 

That's pretty cool!  I don't know a lot about IH, so I'm kind of winging it here.

[Jonathan]

Taking a clue from Dennis Ezmerlian's beautiful Scout II build and Tom Geiger's comments, I'm going to attempt to create a more pedestrian seat for my Scout using parts scavenged from an old Chevy.  But, as noted, I'm a slow builder and this will probably have to wait until tomorrow or this weekend.

The seat option given in the kit is a little too "sporty" for what I have in mind.

[kelson]

Good color choice,i'm following along.

[espo]

18 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Taking a clue from Dennis Ezmerlian's beautiful Scout II build and Tom Geiger's comments, I'm going to attempt to create a more pedestrian seat for my Scout using parts scavenged from an old Chevy.  But, as noted, I'm a slow builder and this will probably have to wait until tomorrow or this weekend.

The seat option given in the kit is a little too "sporty" for what I have in mind.

Another seating option might be found in either of the early 1950's Chevrolet or Ford pickup kits. Their interiors were mostly exposed painted metal and seating that you wouldn't want to drive more than a couple of hours on. Think of a very industrial and rugged type vehicle, along the order of a Blacksmiths Anvil. They were built to last, and they usually did. Just not built for the comfort that many take for granted even for the time. These were products of a company that built Farm Equipment, so they understood building a durable vehicle. 

[NOBLNG]

That color looks great on it, and I like your plan so far!?

[Jonathan]

It seems that August is pretty busy with everything except being at the workbench.  That said, I did manage to cobble together a 2/3 split bench seat for the Scout.   An AMT 1955 Chevy pickup donated it's seat to the cause.  One cut and a few odd bits of styrene later, and we have the basic seat.

Edited August 19, 2023 by Jonathan

[dragcarz]

I really like what your doing here, looks great,amazing detail.

[slusher]

Great color choices and the rack will be a nice touch!,

[dino246gt]

Looking good! I had 3 real ones! They had a 345 V8, and an inline 6 available, but the 345 is in the kit, just needs a bit more details. Here's what I did to my kit:

It's certainly not an exact replica, but it's more detailed than the kit offers out of box. PLUS, it was way more fun!

Edited September 6, 2023 by dino246gt

[Jonathan]

On 9/6/2023 at 11:54 AM, dino246gt said:

Looking good! I had 3 real ones! They had a 345 V8, and an inline 6 available, but the 345 is in the kit, just needs a bit more details. Here's what I did to my kit:

It's certainly not an exact replica, but it's more detailed than the kit offers out of box. PLUS, it was way more fun!

 

That, sir, is craftsmanship!  Wow!

[Jonathan]

On 8/9/2023 at 3:52 PM, espo said:

Like the color. Looks like they are including the V8 engine in this kit. Knew a guy who had one back when these were rooming the streets. His was the 4 cyl. What IH did was just like Pontiac when they did their 4 cyl for the Tempest. They both just lobed off the right cylinder bank from their V8 engines and that's how they created their basic 4 cyl. engines. 

Be cool if the kit offered more than the V8.  Or, frankly, any detail

On 8/10/2023 at 2:32 PM, kelson said:

Good color choice,i'm following along.

Thank you!

On 8/11/2023 at 7:11 AM, NOBLNG said:

That color looks great on it, and I like your plan so far!?

Thank you!  "Plan" may be too strong of a word for how I usually work!

On 9/4/2023 at 7:42 PM, dragcarz said:

I really like what your doing here, looks great,amazing detail.

Thank you!

On 9/5/2023 at 1:19 AM, slusher said:

Great color choices and the rack will be a nice touch!,

Thank you!  I hope so.

[Chariots of Fire]

I agree.  Nice color combo and the engine compartment is the beez neez!

[Jonathan]

8 hours ago, Chariots of Fire said:

I agree.  Nice color combo and the engine compartment is the beez neez!

Wish I could take work for the engine compartment, but that is the epic work of Dennis (dino246gt).  His Scout is amazing.  I'm just trying to make something decently presentable.

[Jonathan]

Some minor details.

Scratched up a roll bar, although it needs some tweaks for sure!

 

 

...and opened up the grill.  Not sure if I'll attempt to replace the headlights or just paint them.

and painted the dash.

 

Edited September 9, 2023 by Jonathan

[Jonathan]

Minor updates.  Added a turn signal stalk to the steering wheel and cleaned up and installed the CB (more of a blob in the kit, but with some filing and painting ...).  I also added "feet" to the rollbar.   None of the parts are permanently installed yet, but I like where it's (slowly) headed ...

 

Edited September 12, 2023 by Jonathan

[espo]

You will never guess what I saw at a local car show this weekend. A couple of pictures for reference. 

[Chuckyg1]

Just found this thread. Nice engine bay and dash detail.

[Zippi]

Great looking Scout II.  Nice detailing.  Coming along nicely.

[Jonathan]

On 9/13/2023 at 5:29 PM, espo said:

You will never guess what I saw at a local car show this weekend. A couple of pictures for reference. 

 

 

Cool!  Thanks for posting that! I've only seen a couple - ever.  There was one near me for sale - it was pretty ratted out, but it was gone in a few weeks. 

Once in a while, one shows up at our local cars and coffee. 

[Jonathan]

22 hours ago, Chuckyg1 said:

Just found this thread. Nice engine bay and dash detail.

Oh, I wish I could take credit for that engine compartment!  That's the work of Dennis (dino246gt).  His Scout is amazing - here is the link to his build.  Epic detail:

 

[Jonathan]

10 hours ago, Zippi said:

Great looking Scout II.  Nice detailing.  Coming along nicely.

Thank you - I tend to build in fits and spurts.  Lots of progress and then ... distraction.

[atomicholiday]

Just seeing this one for the first time.  You’re doing some great work with it.  Love your choice of colors.?

[Jonathan]

Some small updates, finally!

Added some odds and ends to the interior - cooler is from "Miniature Spice", which also supplied the surfboards.  These are small 1/24 detail sets from Japan, but I haven't seen any of them in a long time.  Milkcrate is from Iceman Productions, the gas can is from the spares box (It has straps and a mounting base molded on - not sure where it came from).  I scratched up the rollbar as mentioned earlier - only to discover that it's a bit too short.  I'm leaving it though.  The spare tire is from the Scout kit.  If you've built this kit, you know that the "rubber" part of the tire is incomplete and that part of the backing plate makes up the tire.   Weird.  To resolve this, I took two tires from the kit and cut the sidewall from one and glued it into another.  I took a spare wheel from my stash, drilled out the lug holes and pinned the whole assembly to the interior of the Scout.   Once assembled, I hope it looks ok.  

I also made a set of sunvisors and fashioned a rearview mirror to hang some fuzzy dice on - not pictured here.

I cut up and reassembled the axles and leaf springs (molded as one unit each) in an effort to work towards a slight lift.   I may have miscalculated ... but I think the front will come down just a tad once I start gluing things together.  Wheels and tires are from Fireball.