1934 Ford pickup (Lindberg)
Autumn time here in Australia, the chance for a colors of autumn post and cars with related colors to that season.
It’s funny living in a country without a whole lot of deciduous trees. From an early age you are aware of a discrepancy between the seasons in your books and the seasons out the window. It’s enough to make you wonder about the veracity of what you read. Or what people tell you. Can another part of the world really be so different from what you see?
Leaving aside the most major discrepancy – the purported existence in winter of a cold, wet substance known as ‘snow’ – the next most major difference the child of the Southern Cross notices is Autumn leaves. Or rather, a relative lack thereof. Children in books scuff through piles of the things, adults rake leaves up, and transfer them off the grass to somewhere where they can decompose undisturbed. Once upon a time they’d have been burnt.
If that child were to sit under a gum tree and wait for it to drop its leaves, he or she will be in for a long wait. It may well drop a branch instead.
‘Wagonrod’, a phantom woody hot rod based around 1939 Chevy bits (AMT). They made the body like this; I just painted it.
In Australia, few of our trees are deciduous. When white settlers came here, they brought plants (and sometimes animals) from home – which certainly changed the vista, but sometimes meant trying to eradicate some species forever after. And with the increasing popularity of growing native plants rather than non-indigenous ones these days, finding enough leaves to scuff through can be quite a job.
Beverly Hillbillies truck. Body seems mostly wood, but (as usual) it’s all painted plastic here.
When my childhood suburb of Elwood was laid out, the developer lined the streets with plane trees. I thought they were indeed plain trees, and wished for something more interesting. Still, they gave some nice large leaves to crunch, unlike where I live now. But the trees in my orchard are still in fruit: the stone fruit are in, but the apples, pears, and figs are still hanging on. It’ll be a while before they’ll be dropping their leaves.
Dirty old Model T Ford (AMT)
But for today I’ll imagine leaves turning colour on the trees and falling to the ground, in a variety of shades like these. Green through gold to brown, with a decent helping of red and orange.
1940 Ford coupe (AMT)
I’ll confine us to some pre-‘50 cars and light trucks this time. They’ll be a bit jumbled up; that’s life. And I won’t attempt to place the colours into spectral order; half the beauty of autumn leaves is in all their variation and randomness. We’ll just wander through the files and rejoice in the colours as we come across them.
Enjoy!
1930 Packard Speedster (Monogram)
1931 Cadillac V16 town car (Johan)
1932 Ford hot rod ‘Phantom Vickie’ (AMT)
1932 Ford tourer (AMT)
1937 Chevy coupe (AMT)
1937 Ford coupe (Revell)
1937 Ford sedan (Revell)
1937 Ford panel truck (Revell)
1937 Ford panel truck (Revell)
1939 Ford sedan (AMT)
1941 Plymouth (AMT)
1948 Ford custom (IMC)
1949 Mercury wagon (Revell)
See you next time.
Was that 1939 Ford model the one that you could also build as a 1940 just by changing the grille? Nice collection!
Thanks Lee. Yeah, that’s the one. It’s been in AMT’s lineup off and on since the early sixties, sometimes boxed as a 1939, sometimes 1940. Cowl-mounted wipers say the body is a ’40, whatever grille, hood and taillights you put on it! I prefer the look of the ’39, so…..
A great selection of Autumnal colours there, Peter. And great patina on the opening creation. Interesting to see how the eras of car styling changed so much from 1930 to ’39. That ’31 Cadillac clearly harks back to horse carriage days, probably intentionally, the retrospective equivalent of the bustle-back Seville (though likely coachbuilt).
Those late ’30s/’40s machines are all well rounded. Does that pose problems when air-brush painting? I’m thinking the areas where the wings/fenders meet the main body where they form a valley.
Thanks Bernard. That ’34 pickup is one of those models I’m not sure whether I could build again. I know how I did it, but I’m still amazed it turned out so well.
Yes, the Cadillac would definitely have been coachbuilt. I think all the Sixteens were Fleetwood bodied; I’m not sure whether you could take your chassis elsewhere. In any case, Fleetwood offered regular catalogued styles and a semi-custom range; this would definitely have been built to order, not an ‘off-the-rack’ style (so to speak). If by coachbuilt we’re thinking merely ‘wooden-framed’ rather then necessarily high-end, then all GM’s American cars were coachbuilt for a few more years yet.
The shape of the ’30s/’40s cars doesn’t form that much of a problem for painting as the wings and running boards are a separate piece from the body. Generally this is to enable you to fit the interior into the body, as bodies back then were often wider at the belt line than at the sills. The exception here is the ’41 Plymouth, where the body sides ought to taper in a bit more towards the bottom; the body sort of looks more squat then it ought to. I’d imagine this is a result of the moulding process.
Why do I all of a sudden have a desire for some milk chocolate candy?? LOL!! 🙂
Funny, that! The decals are intended for an HO railroad boxcar, cut and rearranged to fit the Ford body. Did you notice there were two different shades of brown on the body and fenders, representing two different types of chocolate? Does that make you want some even more? 🙂
Fantastic stuff. Wanted to laud a couple of them in particular. But the further I read, the longer the list got. Your skills are immense. Great post.
Hey, thank you F-85. It may have been especially hard because there are such a wide variety of building styles represented here.
I found this Olds the other day, and thought of you. Not an F-85 though; it almost fits our theme.
I love it. The colors are perfect. She’s gorgeous. Thank you!
Hooray for the earth tones! They can really work as a paint color of a car, or not so much. That 1930 Packard Speedster is particularly fetching in that shade of burnt orange. Beautiful models as per usual.
Thanks Joseph! I’ve always loved earth tones, especially tans and browns. That Speedster is a particularly fetching one, with that burnt orange/dark tan against chocolate brown fenders (Humbrol #9 and #10). It’s one of my early hand-painted models from the late seventies; they really work on that shape.
Just, _WOW_ ! .
Great stuff here Mr. Wilding .
I nearly deleted it sans reading, the Carson topped ’48 Ford is nice but not my cuppa tea .
The I saw the excellent ’34 Ford Vee-ate PEE-CUP and was hooked .
It’s interesting you’d have a Fall inspired article in Spring but your patina efforts are fantastic and remind me of how these looked as old beaters / work rigs / jalopies when I was young .
A few, the “T” Model Ford and ’41 Plymouth Coupe, ’39 Chevy woodie rod, all call strongly to me as does the (? scratch built ?) Beveryyl Hilbillies truck .
Keep up the good works and sharing too .
-Nate
(who thought the “Barrel Nosed” Ford Commercials began in 1938)
Thanks Nate. A lot to comment on..
A lot of things are reversed down here, including the seasons. It seems strange to me that you’re in spring right now. But there you are. And here I am. Some trees are beginning to change here, the weather is getting colder here. And the autumn rains have begun.
I’m still amazed that ’34 turned out as well as it did. Knowing how to do something in theory is one thing; it’s great when it turns out so well. That doesn’t always happen! I was inspired by childhood memories of prewar cars and trucks on their last legs.
Barrel nose Fords for ’38 had a properly oval grille surround. More barrel-shaped. The ’37 is much squarer in comparison. The ‘horizontal bars and one vertical bar’ motif continued from ’37 to ’38.
The Beverly Hillbillies truck was an AMT kit; there’s no scratchbuilding there, though I have seen one with a lot of extra luggage and stuff added.
Glad you liked all the patina. Here’s a bonus, newer one for you.