Hudson Hornet Barnfind

[Andy Oldenburg]

One of the things I havn't tried yet was a real dirty rust job. I was thinking of something old, but not necessarily going into the ´20s or ´30s. I discovered a ´52 Hudson Hornet convertible and the ideas came instantly, about how run down I could weather and age the open interior. I have built the Hornet before, but in shiny and clean, and the Moebius kits are a real good choice for fine mold engineering and good details. So far I have the engine finished and would like to show the building process and how I added AGE and grime.

I use several patina colors when making an object look old. Dirt and rust don´t have a standard color and applying a lighter and darker color next or on top of each other comes very close to a natural aged surface. The products I used on this build are AK´s engine grime, interior streaking and rust streak. On the exhaust manifold I added a slight dab of copper under the rust streak. Next to an old hair brush I am fond of applying patina with small rough sponges. Take anything you might have in your household and rip off pieces the size of walnuts or hazels. In addition, I added fuel lines, various cables and details to the carburetors.

I was not happy with my first idea of spark plug boots. I pulled out the first boots and slipped a slice of styrene tube under the vinyl hose to make it look like the spark plugs porcelain.

With every new part attached I checked if some extra rust or weathering might be necessary. The air filters received strips of grid metal for the air intake.

As usual, I deconstructed the belt part and prepared the pully wheels for a rubber belt. With the belt added, the engine is just about finished. The generator mount received some nuts and a last round of rust was needed for the fan and pullys. The cooling hoses are wire insulation stripped off the filament. I inserted a 0.6mm wire to bend it into place and added hose clamps.

One thing is missing though: DUST! After hibernating for decades in a barn, just about everything gets dusty. With an airbrush I added a very slight layer of sand colored dust.

I have started with the body today and hope to show the next steps soon.

Thanks for watching!

 

 

[LennyB]

Interesting project, you can never have enough grime.  

[Mattilacken]

Nice!

[Andy Oldenburg]

Being my first Barn find, I had to think about how heavy the "damage" and weathering should turn out. I did want my build to show some heart braking patina, if it were an 1:1. I started with making some major dents, heating body parts with a lighter and then pressing a tool to the surface. I made a test on an old model with a hot air pistol but the result was a too big area of soft plastic. This denting came after I opened the drivers door for hinging.

 

Next I worked several areas of the body with the grinding tip of my micro tool. Because the styrene has a reasonable thickness I grinded from the inside as well. Makes the holes look more like sheet metal.

After smoothening out the grinded areas the body received a first paint coat in a rust brown. It is quite refreshing not to going into every effort to get the body as smooth as possible. Scratches and marks, whatever. But of course the more effort goes into getting the body messy.

To cover the rough rust areas and the dents I stuck pieces of tissue paper with double sided tape. The ragged edges of the tissue comes very close to a rust blotch. To contrast well with the rust, I chose a light blue for the body.

Quite good for a start, but not yet what I am targeting at. Next I sanded more body areas with grit 240 and 400 to reveal more "rust" from the first paint layer.

After that, I sprayed a layer of flat clear paint on the body and immediately sprinkled fine salt from a shaker onto chosen areas, especially the existing rusty surface.

When the paint was dry I worked the body with my fingers to rub off the salt. This leads to different effects. First of all you get small dents in the paint surface, making it look like blisters. Second you rub off some of the top paint coating, so that more small rust dents appear. And while rubbing, the abrasive effect also leads to additional rusty spots.

Now comes the "enhancing" part. Equipped with AK "Rust Streaks" and "Interior Streaks", 2 old bristly brushes and an small rough sponge, I worked the rust areas. Keep the brushes dry and apply only a least amount of paint, switching from brush to brush and picking up and flattening the excess paint with the sponge. The deeper rust areas received a more darker tone. And in the end I further applied a few small spots of engine grime and spreckles of rust.

I like the look! Next up is the BMF, which will also need some weathering.

I have started with the interior while the paint layers were drying. The benches should get a REALLY worn look. I worked both benches to make then look torn open. I had some small springs that fit well into the opened seats and covered the inside with sponge material and styrene.

After a creme paint coat the benches received a heavy patina and the springs got rusty.

I gave the convertible top cover a work over too. The kit part is just too slick for a barn find. I covered the part with textile and added a metal bow breaking through the cover. After painting the top with anthracite it received a good weathering and rust for the metal.

Thank you for taking a look! Best wishes, Andy

[H.A.K]

Thats looking great.

[David G.]

Nice rust and distress damage so far. Good use of colors and salt technique.

The patina you created is very convincing.

The upholstery damage you made looks great! 

Please forgive the following unsolicited advice:

When modeling rust-through damage I usually start grinding from the inside of the piece to be rust damaged. Grinding from the inside surface gives better control over the amount of damage and produces "rust lace" and rust bubble effects.

Don't get me wrong, the rust damage you've modeled looks good and works well. This is just an alternate approach.

Please forgive me if I've overstepped.

Regards,

David G.

[Andy Oldenburg]

Hi David,

naaaah, don´t worry about overstepping! Since this is my first rust job, I had to figure out everything by myself or apply techniques I was familiar with from former crafting hobbies. So I grinded from the out- and inside. But I really appreciate your advice! And will remember it on my next rust build.

 

[ksnow]

The upholstery weathering is amazing, great work on that. 

The salt rust looks great, too. I am going to have to try that on something soon.

[David G.]

16 minutes ago, Andy Oldenburg said:

Hi David,

naaaah, don´t worry about overstepping! Since this is my first rust job, I had to figure out everything by myself or apply techniques I was familiar with from former crafting hobbies. So I grinded from the out- and inside. But I really appreciate your advice! And will remember it on my next rust build.

 

Thanks for your response Andreas. 

I don't recall if you were a member of this board back about a decade ago, but if you were I'm sure you remember all that nastiness we went through. 

Trolls... flame wars... usurpers trying to take control of the community for themselves... It was some rough fare at times.

There were policies enacted regarding, among other things, unsolicited comments. And even though those instigators and troublemakers are long gone, I still abide by those policies. They're good policies and they make sense.

Thanks again Andreas!

[espo]

For someone who hasn't tried this type of build before I think you're doing just fine. 

[Andy Oldenburg]

Hi everyone, thanks for your kind replies! Building something "dirty" is almost more fun than making a shiny build!

[David G.]

On 4/29/2024 at 11:17 PM, Andy Oldenburg said:

Hi everyone, thanks for your kind replies! Building something "dirty" is almost more fun than making a shiny build!

It's more fun and I think it's a bit more challenging too.

Doing a rusted, damaged and/or distressed build and having it come out well takes (at least for me) more planning and thought. 

I don't mean to belittle or dismiss anyone else's skills because they build one way or another. This is just an observation regarding my own experiences.

Cheers!

David G.

[Volzfan59]

This is some amazing work! Thanks for posting.

[OldTrucker]

Looks great so far!

Don't forget the usual rats nest on the engine!LOL

[Andy Oldenburg]

13 hours ago, OldTrucker said:

Looks great so far!

Don't forget the usual rats nest on the engine!LOL

Come to say, I am still thinking about something like that... First though was a birds nest on the bench. Have to check what a rats nest looks like!

[espo]

13 hours ago, Andy Oldenburg said:

Come to say, I am still thinking about something like that... First though was a birds nest on the bench. Have to check what a rats nest looks like!

If Rats are anything like Field Mice, they tend to have a bunch of dead grass and weeds built up in such a way that they can crawl inside to stay warm. Don't ask how I know this. They will even try and build a nest in a back yard Bar B Q. Disgusting find when you go out to fix some nice steaks for dinner.  

[Paul Payne]

Great job, looking forward to more!

[SpeedShift]

Fantastic work here, and a great tutorial,

[Andy Oldenburg]

Thanks guys for your positive response! Been moving on and everything is getting structure, but since I´m going on an holiday for a week I thought I might send the last images of my progress.

The undercarriage has received some heavy rust and weathering. On a rust colored base coat I dabbed matte anthracite and smudge with a worn out bristle brush and a rough sponge. On the side the various suspension and steering parts have also been weathered.

The transmission, suspension and the steering are attached. And yes, the exhaust pipe is broken in two. Must have been too much rust...

I wanted the tires flat on the drivers side. After pushing them on a wooden peg I heat treated them with a hot air gun for about 20 seconds and flattened them on the table top. One wheel is "wrong" also, with no hub cap.

This is the "stance" after connecting to the chassis. The interior floor is flocked with a dirty mix of grey and black.

In the end the bottom received a treatment with "dirt". Again with the old bristle brush I added a slight sprinkle of light brown for some realness. Also the brake and parking brake lines are attached and weathered.

A shout out here to Espo, who proposed that I add a rats nest to my build! Great idea, which I executed to the front floor. The nest is a ripped sponge shaded in different grey and brown tones. The rats butt is the end of a Q-Tip with a wire tail. The benches were too clean so I added foot prints and rat-sh..

The windshield is a broken mess. After drilling a small hole I just scratched the cracks with a scalpel and sanded the window to make it dull.

Bare metal foil is applied, weathered and rusted.

I had enough time to attach the engine and had to halt my building. My fingers are itching to move on and I can´t wait to get back from the Netherlands...?

Thanks for watching!

 

[Supernurd]

Looks really crummy just like it should! ?

[David G.]

All the weathering looks spot-on Andy!

Fabulous work so far!

Enjoy your time off.

David G.

[Andy Oldenburg]

So I´m finally finished with this build. Although this is my first rust job, I am not a newcomer to special paint effects. I have been crafting and painting all of my life, so I was able to employ some techniques that I was accustomed to. Plus many techniques that I have learned here on MCMF. Applying those things to a model was a VERY fun adventure and I had a wonderful time. I feel really happy with my worn out Hornet.

After installing the engine I added the radiator and connected the hoses. What really took time on this build was often weathering each part in a 2-3 step process. A rust streak alone won´t give a good enough effect, so an extra dab of grime or interior streak (or both) would usually follow.

The tires look quite new on the still visible top, but since they would be covered soon, I just sanded the bottom side. The rats nest received a bit more volume.

The bumpers received several layers of different paint. After sanding the edges and molding lines I started with a flat metallic, went on to rust streaks, to grime and back to rust again. I apply the paint with an old bristle brush, only applying a very small amount with a dabbing technique. Then I work the paint with Q-Tips, dabbing but mostly rolling the stick between my fingers. When the paint is almost dry, you can carefully work the surface again with a dry Q-Tip to get it rough.  

 

What I love about Moebius kits is that you can really rely on that the "big parts" engine, chassis and body will FIT. I had no problem with slipping the body over the interior and clicking it onto the chassis. No cutting or sanding necessary.  The bumpers, headlamps and taillights also fit perfectly. The cables and lines in the engine bay got their final connection and the I added the latch for the hood. After taking these photos I drilled and blackened the exhaust tip.

The gap on the rocker and the beside the rear bench were filled with thin styrene, painted and weathered to match the body and interior.

The dashboard was inserted after the body and chassis were connected. I reworked the sun visors with wire so that I could attach them in a lowered position. And yes, each part received some weathering and dirt.

Last thing to be done was "dusting" the build. A barn find may well be a rusty mess, but being untouched for decades also means that a certain amount of dust will have added up on every horizontal surface. I solved this step with a carefully sprayed thin layer of AERO color acrylic airbrush paint. I could have messed it, but I took my time and stopped at the right moment.

Now I have to build an appropriate diorama for my junk pile?. I am out of this thread and will present my Hornet on the "Under Glass" forum on a platform asap.

Thanks to everyone for watching and your kind remarks and input!

 

[espo]

Man, this has been a great journey watching your build. Your Barn Find looks beyond saving, just as it should.