Interesting video on YouTube - good history on the Aurora, Monogram and Revell plastic models.

[TAKerry]

I had the red baron, I went through a period of model building that I was doing that crazy custom stuff, Tijuana Taxi is one that comes to mind, I think there was a horse drawn hearse turned into a car as well.

[Oldsmobile 83]

Some very nice models being pictured here.

[Walt G]

I agree with Steve, Great Thread indeed!!  Like many here I too in my teens built models, have done a few over the past 5 years or so but none for the past 3 years due to recovery from surgery and commitment to writing and researching for publications as well as the local historical society I stated decades ago. My main focus now is in restoring pre WWII toys, I like the larger pressed steel stuff that is realistic looking - Graham, DeSoto, Chrysler sedans by Corcoran Co. and Lincoln sedans by The Turner Toy Co.  but they take up a lot of space compared to a 1/25th scale model!  I have also made/built some fantasy steel toy cars from parts of the remains of battered stuff that is beyond restoration. Won't show them here as I do not want to side track this thread.

[Guest]

Walt, please share a few pics. I'd love to see some of your collection!

[Brass is Best]

5 hours ago, Walt G said:

I agree with Steve, Great Thread indeed!!  Like many here I too in my teens built models, have done a few over the past 5 years or so but none for the past 3 years due to recovery from surgery and commitment to writing and researching for publications as well as the local historical society I stated decades ago. My main focus now is in restoring pre WWII toys, I like the larger pressed steel stuff that is realistic looking - Graham, DeSoto, Chrysler sedans by Corcoran Co. and Lincoln sedans by The Turner Toy Co.  but they take up a lot of space compared to a 1/25th scale model!  I have also made/built some fantasy steel toy cars from parts of the remains of battered stuff that is beyond restoration. Won't show them here as I do not want to side track this thread.

 

Walt, share some photos. It would not be a side track toys are scale models.

[Guest]

Well, Walt and I have been chatting over at the water cooler about toys and stuff so now I'm playing "I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours" with him. 

This is not an actual "model" but in 1964 when I was a kid, Marx came out with the Big Bruiser Tow Truck. I would watch their black and white TV commercials in awed silence, without blinking. Complete with a working crane, flashing red light, even another vehicle that could be "wrecked" and towed by Big Bruiser, this was the coolest toy known to mankind and I knew they had designed it just for me! 

For reasons beyond my comprehension, my parents were blinded to the absolute necessity of my need for this tow truck to complete my youthful identity. In short, I never got one.

Fast forward 40 some years and I stumble across one on eBay. Bought it and regained my position in society. It's not perfect but that makes it even better. The red light still flashes when it has batteries. I keep looking on eBay and eventually I'll find one of those little El Camino/Ranchero type cars that came with it.  It has been sitting in a closet collecting dust now for a long, long time. So I figured I'd dig it out tonight and shoot a couple pics and post it here. Yep, it's dusty but I'll bet I'm the only guy on the whole block who has one!

So before Walt brings out the really cool stuff and shows me up, here are my meager offerings!

 

 

Funny, while I was rummaging around in that dusty closet, I found two other models I'd completely forgotten about. I must have built both of these about 35 years ago. They are scale wooden ship models. Much more intricate than anything I'd built before. I believe they were imported from Italy or some other foreign land.  I think each one took me about 9 months of on and off work, plenty of yelling, cursing and spasmodic fits as it seems the directions were transcribed by the Wild Man of Borneo from Italian to English then revised by a blind Japanese, born and raised in Russia. This model was threatened with the fireplace many times before I finished it.

The first is the American built Flying Fish of the market schooner class, launched at Essex, Mass. in 1860.  For 20 years it was the fastest ship of the Gloucester fishing fleet. If you know your Kipling, then you'll know these schooners were made famous in his novel Captains Courageous. Though dusty and slightly wrinkled here and there, it was pretty detailed and fairly elaborate to build including the laying of each hull plank and hand tying all the rigging knots.  This model measure 30" long by 23" high.

 

 

The second is a cross section of hull and mast of the HMS Victory belonging to the Royal Navy.  A 104 gun "First Rate Class"  war ship.  This would be the equivalent of the British "Super-Dreadnought" class used in the early 20th century, so named because of their "superfiring" capabilities  where guns are mounted one line above (super) another and able to fire simultaneously.  Launched in 1765 and identified with honor as a "Ship of the Line",  Victory served under Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar where he was victorious over the French and Spanish navies but succumbed to wounds suffered on deck during the battle. (on a bizarre side note, my wife is a proven descendant of Lord Nelson, so take that Walt! ).  Still afloat today in Portsmouth, Victory is the oldest commissioned war ship in the world with her status listed as "active".  Rule, Britannia! 

This model is also extreme in detail with similarly lain hull planking and endless hand tied rigging knots. It measures 30" high by 14" wide and, I'm ashamed to say, currently has about a pound of dust on board.

 

 

Thanks for letting me share a little of what I used to like doing before the covid shutdown induced anhedonia set in.

Cheers, Greg

[JACK M]

6 hours ago, GregLaR said:

anhedonia

Had to go straight to my dictionary for this one.

I have that too and didn't even know it.

[Walt G]

OK here are some images of toys in my collection. These are the most realistic pressed steel toys made pre WWII , others may follow on a limited post as I don't want to get this "models" thread side tracked. The toys shown here were made by the Corcoran Co. of Washington , Indiana. Most of the times are referred to as Cor Cor toys because that is what is stated in raised letters on the tires. Both the Graham and Airflows ( Chrysler and DeSoto ) were available with headlamps and bulbs that worked off a battery in the chassis, The toys were made from the same grade steel as the fenders on a real car of that era. Size - the Graham is about 20 inches long.  Not a lightweight toy! Most of the time if you find one that needs restoration the bumpers , grille may be missing and tires may need to be replaced if missing as well. These are available from Thomas Toys in Michigan. Tires were all black wall but I like white walls and if the tires are original they accept paint - you can use one shot sign lettering enamel ( this is what pin strippers use to pin stripe cars) The trailer behind the silver Airflow toy was made by Wyandotte Toy CO. not Cor Cor, but is from the same era and I like the matching look.

I owe it to my great friend and mentor who lived about 12 miles north of me the late Gates Willard for showing me a Graham toy sedan for the first time. It became an obsession with me to own a few , I just love them.

The Graham toys were used by the Graham dealers in their showrooms! I have period evidence of this. Cost for a toy Graham new was $2.00. They do command more $ then that now. Hope this isn't to over the top for all who view it . The Airflow toys are about the same size as the Graham.

Edited September 19, 2020 by Walt G
added information (see edit history)

[ericmac]

I may have shared this elsewhere but this is my most recent model completion. It is literally a 40 year project that is a combination of parts from a distressed Automodello resin kit, multiple spare parts box finds and a lot of scratch building.  Unfortunately my pin striping skills are not up to the task of painting all the moldings on a Cord L-29.  

[Guest]

Excellent stuff Walt. The trailer is over the top!

I particularly like the blue sedan. I assume both sedans had headlamps at one time. Are they still available out there anywhere, or lost to the sands of time?

[Walt G]

The trailer is out there and easy to restore ( there were two sizes, this is the larger one and there was one half the size) , new tires are available and even the rear door if missing was available in rerpro form .

If the Graham sedans had headlamps you would see a round tab that was part of the front tip of the hood area on both sides, most didn't and that is what you see here, there was also a switch in the cowl of the Graham if they had headlamps to turn them on and off. . The Chrysler and DeSoto were the same, most without working lamps or provision for batteries. The ones I have with the tabs are original but I don't have working yet.  There was a Chrysler and DeSoto available with a clock work motor that you wound up from a hole under the right rear door. Often the motors are missing because they froze up because they were over wound by some kid.  The blue color is one I chose, was the color on the 1931 Franklin I owned and repainted and had a little bit of lacquer left over. Most of the Graham toy sedans came in red, light green, metallic brown from the factory as they meant to attract the kids , I restore the toys I have to what could have been factory or period car colors.

One more photo to contribute then I will leave this well enough alone - that will be for the Turner Toy Company 1929 Lincoln sedans they made, huge heavy toys 

[Walt G]

Ok, This model L Lincoln sedan toy was made by the Turner Toy Company from about 1928 to 1930. It was 28 inches long! Pressed steel. Very very heavy , no little kid could pick it up. Cost was $5.00 new - that is why few were sold. Only came in the sedan body style nothing else. Toy is very accurate and in proportion to the real car and was called a Lincoln sedan by the toy company. When I restored these I had the shell plated ( originally they were painted silver.) Many pressed steel  toy collectors consider this the 'holy grail' of pressed steel toys. Turner also made Lincoln pick up trucks using the same front clip and fenders and chassis.

The blue one I bought in the Blue Field ( where the ferris wheels are now) at Hershey in the late 1960s.  My good friend Jim Cox (Bev Kimes husband ) thought I was nuts to pay $60 for it , but he didn't collect toys - yet, I was a bad influence on him and Beverly and they started to collect toys - oh boy. the trunk and dual rear spares on it I added to further give the car a more "real car" appearance. The gray one was rough - not rusted , but was used for target practice so I had to weld up holes in the body ( both sides for the entry and exit of the bullet)  but only about 4 or 5.

So if all of you are wondering what I do besides research and write articles , and am not driving  my 40 Buick and 30 Packard - this is it. My one big vice in life. I live immediately next to a major horse race track ( my neighbor on two sides of my property) Belmont Park - and have never placed a bet - would not know how to, nor care to , rather buy rusty toys. 🙄

[Guest]

28 inches!

That is a monster-sized car for a toy.

[Walt G]

Other  dimensions for the Turner Lincoln toy: 8 1/2 inches wide 10 inches tall.  A small kid could straddle it and sit on it and ride it as he pushed it along with his feet.

Most of the ones you find now see the tab at the top of the radiator shell broken off , it was there to represent a motometer but with play wear did not last long before it was bent up and came off.

[JD in CA]

This post has really re-inspired me.  My completed kits have been in storage for over three years, so time to get them out into the light of day.  Glad I took the time to pack them properly, and not put something like a starter on top of the box...

 

Have to do some minor repairs, but shop is now open again.

 

I have owned the real car of each of these.  They all are the color of the car I had, each has a tiny printed out license plate with correct Numbers and letters.  If it was a Highboy, then kit made that way, if it was a roller, same thing.  Certain kits of cars I have had do not exist at all, or not in 1:24 scale which I prefer.  For  Cordoba Tan 1934 Ford Cabriolet is a five window kit cut down.  The 1969 Pontiac Tempest Convertible (my first classic car from 1994) is a GTO hard top kit.
 

I have many more to build, just can’t find kits for such things as a 34,35,36 Ford Phaeton.  But I am sure you can pick out the one that I did not own as a car...

 

so here is the list of what is on the table:

1969 Pontiac Tempest

1931 Ford Pickup
1960 Austin Healey

1965 Corvette Coupe

1963 Corvette Roadster

1950 Harley Servi Car

1937 Ford Coupe, black

1937 Ford Coupe, baby blue

1936 Ford Three Window Coupe

1936 Ford Five Window Coupe

1934 Ford Cabriolet

1941 Harley

1932 Ford Five Window Coupe highboy

1934 Ford Three Window Coupe, black

1934 Ford Three Window Coupe, roller

1961 Ford Falcon
1939 Ford Station Wagon

1932 Ford Three Window Coupe, roller

1981 Ford stepside pickup, bought brand new that year

1933 Five Window Coupe

1963 Volkswagen Beetle with 19k original miles, unrestored

1934 Ford Sedan Delivery

 

So thank you original poster for starting this.  Jd

 

 

 

[Billy Kingsley]

I didn't realize this was the Model Builders thread with the name change. 

 

I finished my 9th of the year tonight but as it's a race car I won't post it, doesn't fit the forum rules. Some of the decals I used for it are old enough for AACA eligibility themselves.

 

JD, I painted my first 36 Ford the same color, (gray) but it's not as nice because I was still brush painting everything at the time, even the bodies. I've since built two more, both convertibles, and have a couple more in the stash for some day. 

[Guest]

JD,

        That is a pretty ambitious collection!

[JD in CA]

Thank you.  I turn 60 in a few months, and sadly my eyesight makes it very difficult to do this anymore.  Especially at any detailed level.  Maybe I should drop down to the Snaptite line...

[Walt G]

JD - start to restore a pressed steel toy or two ( or three etc) they are larger and less detail but look great if painted in period colors and the pressed/raised accents/detail highlighted ( see the trailer behind the Airflow I restored)

Walt

[JD in CA]

Thanks Walt!

[John S.]

Brass is Best, really nice work on the Jeep. What paint do you use on the finish? thanks, John

[Brass is Best]

On 9/23/2020 at 8:33 AM, John S. said:

Brass is Best, really nice work on the Jeep. What paint do you use on the finish? thanks, John

 

John, I used a Testors Primer and then some Dupont Nason single stage enamel I had left over from a 1/1 scale 1936 Ford I worked on.

[Brass is Best]

Finished up a AMT Blazer recently. 1/24 scale.

[Brass is Best]

Here is a Revell 1/24 scale Land Rover. this is a very nice kit. Great instructions and a quality kit.

[Brass is Best]

Just finished this Polar Lights 1/25 scale 1959 Cadillac "Ghostbusters" Ambulance.

[JD in CA]

Thanks all.  Since I am now furloughed for at least a month, I have also got out my slot car set, several of my cars are from when I was about 9 years old, in 1969.

[chistech]

I have a few of the Gabriel metal/plastic kits to build. Most are the model A and 32’ chevy models in the 1/24” scale. They will be going on my garden railroad. Got to find some earlier era ones like Brass is Bests model T huckster. Problem is having the time to build them right now.

[Billy Kingsley]

Despite being in dozens if not hundreds of model groups, that is the first time I've seen Revell's new Land Rover completed. I need to get one of them at some point. 

 

I'm currently at 59 completed builds for the year, all but two being NASCAR builds. My all time record in a year is 60, I will break that record this year. I will finish one more today and will finish one more between Christmas and New Years.

[Brass is Best]

So I let this 1934 Ford follow me home from Hershey. It is hand made and steel. I couldn't leave well enough alone and have started to finish it. I am building it a new chassis and have found some wheels which are more true to scale. Then I will need to work on the body, Paint it, Make an interior, Fabricate some detail parts and who knows what else. The question that I haven't answered yet. Is this car going to be stock or a hot rod.

[Laughing Coyote]

So this is a frame off restoration? 

[TAKerry]

Looking forward to the restoration of this one. Must have been one of those cars for sale in England or the US, couldnt make up their mind which side to put the steering wheel, LOL. Nice Case, dont usually see them in a garage setting.

[Brass is Best]

3 hours ago, TAKerry said:

Looking forward to the restoration of this one. Must have been one of those cars for sale in England or the US, couldnt make up their mind which side to put the steering wheel, LOL. Nice Case, dont usually see them in a garage setting.

 

She is my garden tractor. Has lived inside most of its life.

[Brass is Best]

On 10/14/2021 at 6:07 PM, Laughing Coyote said:

So this is a frame off restoration? 

 

Started off as a frameless restoration. But I am starting to get there. The other challenge is that everything was eye balled and things do not match from side to side.

[Walt G]

The Ford roadster toy you let follow you home from Hershey is fantastic! Love it. Please give us a idea of size - length, width, height. SO COOL.

Walt

Edited October 16, 2021 by Walt G (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

14 hours ago, Brass is Best said:

 

She is my garden tractor. Has lived inside most of its life.

Very nice. Looking at the paint that thing has to be about 30yrs old. Great Shape!  I have had many pieces of Case iron. Loved them all. Def miss a couple that I had.

[Brass is Best]

On 10/16/2021 at 8:30 AM, Walt G said:

The Ford roadster toy you let follow you home from Hershey is fantastic! Love it. Please give us a idea of size - length, width, height. SO COOL.

Walt

 

Walt the Roadster in 32" long 14" wide and about 11.5" tall. 

 

I took it down to bare metal and did some body work. Of course I forgot to take a photos before I put it back to primer.

[Walt G]

Thanks for the update Andrew and the size, a lot bigger then I anticipated! VERY COOL INDEED.  Why is it that we have the space to accommodate Corgi or Matchbox size model cars but yet always seem to gravitate towards something that takes up enough room for 40 or 50 of the smaller scale ones?

With me it is not because "bigger is better" but I guess because it is easier to sit back and view like one does a full size car.  Smaller can be much better detailed in die cast, but the appeal of pressed steel - old or newer is just "there". Add the thought ( dream?) that assorted period colors on the same duplicate toys would be nice and that justifies (?) why I have 10 Cor-Cor Graham sedans with only 2 so far fully restored.

[Brass is Best]

I made some more progress on the 34 Ford over the last few days.

[8E45E]

AMT history:  

 

[Brass is Best]

Now it is starting to look like a car.