1931 Model 'A' Ford 2-Door Sedan Tudor

Brand: Minicraft Model Kits
Title: 1931 Model 'A' 2-Door Sedan
Number: 11238
Scale: 1:16
Type: Full Kit
Released: 200# New Box (1990's?)
Topic: Ford Model A (1928 - 1931) >> Cars (Vehicles)

Decal sheet from the kit. If you want and/or need a copy of this sheet, simply:

• On a PC, right-click on the image and select Save Image As... from the context specific menu (pop-up). Then select a location to save the file.
• On a Mac, Control-click and select the option to save the image.
• On a cellphone long tap and select Download from the menu.

Open the image in a photo editor and to keep the proper scale, the image should be: 60mm x 49mm, with a resolution of 300px x 300px.

These are the engine parts for assembly steps 1 & 2.

The left side of the engine block, head, oil pan and water pump.

Right side of the engine block, head, oil pan and water pump.

A hole needs to be drilled to fit a bracket, at least in this kit. The hole position can be seen, therefore, all I had to do was run a #61 (0.039") drill into the water pump housing.

I broke the dip stick while cleaning flash from it. I then made another one using 20 AWG (American Wire Gauge) soft drawn plated wire.

The frame consists of a multiple of pieces and must be assembled. The instructions state to glue the 'cross members' to one side of the frame and then glue the other side of the frame to the 'cross members'. That didn't make sense to me. How could you assure the frame would be square and not racked? Therefore, I inserted the front and mid 'cross members' and a 'coupling rod', then used a pair of clamps to hold everthing together and square while I applied some Tamiya liquid quick setting glue to the joints.

Before this photo, the rear frame cross member was installed as I told about in my YouTube video part 02.

This photo is of the front bumper supports glued and clamped until the glue dries.

All the engine parts are ready for primer.

Shown is an example of the wheels after having the paint stripped from them. I had them primed; however, the primer on some of the wheels did not seem to adhere well. I use acrylic, water based paint; therefore, I put the wheels in a bath of 95% IPA and the paint lifted off almost immediately. I then took an acid brush and lightly brushed all the paint from between the spokes.

The kit allows for one of two different left fenders; a plain fender, shown in this picture, and/or one with a well for a spare tire. I decided to use the fender without the well for a spare tire. This fender does not fill well and needs some work to make it fit properly.

The fender with the spare tire well is in worse shape than the one without. It is slightly warped and would need a lot of rework. This is not why I'm not using it. I simply prefer the look of the car without the spare tire on the side fender.

The head liner of the cab had two large injector pin marks that were deep pockets, too deep to sand out. I used Tamiya putty to fill-in the injector pin pockets and will then sand everything smooth.

I decided I want to do the body in two tone blue with the sides a light blue and the top a darker blue. I also decided that I didn't want to do the fenders in black, like most Model 'A's' seem to be. I decided I want to do the fenders in a very deep, dark purple/violet. This photo shows the colors I'm fairly sure I'll be using. They are a special mix as outlined below by number on the photo:

1. This blue will be used for the center portion of the body. It consists of: 1-part Tamiya X-4 Blue 3-parts Tamiya X-2 White
   
   
2. This is close to the fender color I'll be using. It may look black in this photo; however, it is a deep dark purple and consists of: 3-parts Tamiya X-16 Purple 3-parts Tamiya X-3 Royal blue 1-part Tamiya X-1 black 1-part Tamiya X-4 blue I will be tweaking this color a-bit.
   
   
3. The top of the body will be: 2-parts Tamiya X-16 Purple 3-parts Tamiya X-3 Royal Blue

The reason I'm showing the exhaust manifold is because I started by thinking I would paint it with Vallejo 77.723 Exhaust Manifold, which I did. However, I didn't like the look of it against the Olive Green engine. Therefore, I covered it with a 1:1 mix of Tamiya X-9 Brown and Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow. This makes it look close to the color that I've seen on actual Model 'A' exhaust manifolds.

The kit comes with two right fenders, one with a the spare tire well, and one without the the spare tire well. I was torn as to which one to use, although I was leaning toward the one without the spare tire well. However, the final decision was made for me when I was dry fitting the pieces. The fender with the spare tire had a slight twist to it and did not fit well against the running board. When formed to fit the running board, the finder had a slight twist in it and did not match and line up with the left fender. Therefore, I'm using the fender without the tire well, which is the one I really wanted in the first place.

The mounting holes in the fan belt pulleys were too small to fit over the matching pin on the engine. It was an easy fix, simply drill open the holes in the pulleys.

At first look it wasn't obvious; however when dry fittng the oil filler pipe in the location on the engine it became very obvious. The part of the pipe that is exposed has an angled base to match the slope of the engine block. I only mention this for anyone who might want to build this kit that they pay attention to this detail so the pipe properly sets against the engine block.

The wheels on many Model A's are, by Ford's definition, the color 'Straw'. I mixed my own color using 1-part Tamiya X-8 Yellow and 3- parts Tamiya X-2 White. I primed the wheels using Valajo 74.601 Surface Primer Gray. I waited 24-hours and applied a coat of my mixed yellow. It just didn't seem to cover, and in spots, it looked like the surface was oily making the paint puddle. I placed the wheels in a bath of 91% IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) and stripped all the paint and primer. I then washed the wheels with warm water and some Dawn dishwasher soup, rinsed them and let them dry. I applied another coat of primer, waited 24-hours and repainted the yellow. Some wheels were okay and others not. This photo shows that I had to strip two of the wheels again, and actually, if you look at the ones that are yellow, there are still some spots that I'm not happy with.

So...I don't know if it's the plastic, or the paint, or maybe a chemical reaction between the Valajo primer and the Tamiya paint. The last is what I'm leaning toward. Valajo paints are fully water soluble. The Tamiya paints are alcohol based. It's possible that the alcohol in the Tamiya paint is lifting the water soluble Valajo paint?

There is some sort of bracket on the side of the engine. I tried to find out what it's for; however, I couldn't find any information on it at the time of this writing. The bracket has mounting alignment pins that match holes in the engine block. The lower hole, shown in this photo and already drilled, was not originally drilled. I measured the mounting pin and drilled the appropriate size hole. The upper hole was also too small, so I drilled that one open too. The next photo shows the bracket mounted.

The bracket shown in this photo was installed in the holes I previously drilled open. At the time of this writing, I'm not sure what this bracket is used for. I did some research and looked at some old service manuals and could not find a purpose for it. I will keep looking.

Carburetor is mounted. Since I took this picture and labeled it, I found that the filter should be either white or off-white. I'll brush paint the filter. I also plan to install the fuel lines, choke cable and throttle linkage.

I dry fitted the engine to the radiator to insure the fan would not hit the radiator. Well...initially it did. I had to move the fan back closer to the belt pulley and then trim the shaft to make it shorter.

This photo shows the front wheels re-clamped, after having to re-glue them, along with an insert of the instructions I was following to assemble the front wheels.

The instructions reference how to assemble the front wheels. As can be seen, the two wheel halves are placed on the tires and then glued together. There is than a rivet that goes through the wheel halves and press fits into the inner wheel disk, which I assume is where the brakes would be. The rivet is to act as an axle for the wheel and allow the wheel to rotate. When assembled, if the inner wheel disk is held stationary, the wheel and tire will rotate on the rivet.

I had my doubts about this step when I saw the image of that hammer tapping the rivet in place. I tend to not include any size or shape hammer into my model building. As I use to tell my students, do not be a hammer mechanic.

Anyway...I knew the rivet was press fit into the hole and collet of the inner wheel disk, so I thought maybe I could press them together. The first thing I noticed was that the hole in the wheel halves were too small to accept the rivet; therefore, I drilled the wheel hubs out with a #44 (0.086”) drill. That allowed the rivet to pass through the wheel halve with just a-bit of resistance, but allow the wheel to rotate. I then try to press the assembly together, but that did not work. So...and with great care, I used a 1-oz. ball peen hammer and a 0.25-inch wooden dow as a spacer between the head of the rivet and the hammer to gently tap the rivet into the rear disk. That also did not work and only caused the glue bond on the wheel halves to break. Thank goodness that is the only thing that broke. So, I had to re-glue the wheel halves together.

While the glue was drying I measured the diameter of the rivet and notice that there was no way that rivet was going to go into the hole collet of the inner wheel disk. Therefore, I drilled the inner wheel disk with a #46 (0.081”) drill which is still slightly smaller than the diameter of rivet allowing for a press fit.

When the glue on the wheel halves was set, I did the assemble again, this time pressing the pieces together and all seems to have worked fine.

The next several photos will show the purpose for this inner wheel disk.

This photo shows the front and back of the front wheels inner disk (brake drum). As stated in the previous photo description, the hole/collet on the back side of the inner disk was drilled out with a #46 (0.086") drill. The original hole was way too small for the axle to be press fitted. The top side has groves where two pieces are glued containing the upper and lower steering and suspension bearings. Refer to the inset photo to see these upper and lower bearings with the steering arm and the front suspension installed.

The front wheel inner wheel disk (brake drum) are installed. The photo shows a pair of the upper and lower steering bearings, the front suspension bar and leaf spring and the two inner wheel disks for the rear tires.

This photo shows the front suspension and steering rod installed in the steering bearings and the bearings mounted on the wheel.

These three photos show the finished front wheel assembly before being attached to the frame.

The engine is mounted in the frame. There is some detailing to do on the engine, but the firewall needs to be in place first.

Now that the engine is mounted, I started getting the front and rear suspension to be mounted.

The front suspension, steering rod,tires, leaf spring and stabilizing bars are installed.

The rear axle, differential, leaf spring, drive shaft, drum brakes and stabilizing bars are assembled and read to be mounted on the frame.

This photo and the next few photos are views of the frame with the front and rear suspension installed.

This photo and the next few photos are views of the frame with the front and rear suspension installed.

This photo and the previous few photos are views of the frame with the front and rear suspension installed.

This photo is the left side view of the completed chassis. That center rail is not purple, it is a reflection from that pink/purple thing hanging on the wall in the background. The rear center hubs are not on the wheels yet and the engine is not wired or piped yet. That has to wait until the firewall is in place.

This photo is a top view of the completed chassis. The engine is not wired or piped yet. That has to wait until the firewall is in place. The exhaust will also be dirtied a-bit.

This photo is a bottom view of the completed chassis. The engine is not wired or piped yet. That has to wait until the firewall is in place. The exhaust and engine will also be dirtied a-bit.

These are test spoons of the body colors I'll be using. All three are custom mixed. Following is the color and where it will be used:

1. Light Blue for the bottom portion of the body, the engine shroud (hood), bottom of the doors and the body portion of the firewall assembly. This color is a mix of:
   
   1-part Tamyia
   X-4 blue
   
   3-parts Tamyia X-2 White
   
   
2. Dark blue for the top portion of the body, excluding the the vinyl part of the roof. This color is a mix of:
   
   2-parts Tamiya X-16 Purple
   
   2-parts Tamiya X-3 Royal Blue
   
   
3. Dark purplish/blue, almost, but not quite black for the fenders. This color is a mix of:
   
   3-parts Tamyia X-16 Purple
   
   3-part Tamyia
   X-3 Royal Blue
   
   1-part Tamiya
   X-4 Blue
   
   1-part Tamiya
   X-1 Black

These are test spoons of the body colors to see how they'll complement the interior colors. Following is the color and where it will be used:

1. Possible dashboard color?
   
   Tamiya X-19
   Sky Gray
   
   Krylon clear coat
   
   
2. Light Blue for the bottom portion of the body, the engine shroud (hood), bottom of the doors and the body portion of the firewall assembly. This color is a mix of:
   
   1-part Tamyia
   X-4 blue
   
   3-parts Tamyia X-2 White
   
   
3. Interior seats and door panels.
   
   Tamiya X-19
   Sky Gray
   
   
4. Dark blue for the top portion of the body, excluding the the vinyl part of the roof. This color is a mix of:
   
   2-parts Tamiya X-16 Purple
   
   2-parts Tamiya X-3 Royal Blue
   
   
5. Interior floor mat.
   
   Mission
   MMRC-010
   RC Grey
   
   
6. Dark purplish/blue, almost, but not quite black for the fenders. This color is a mix of:
   
   3-parts Tamyia X-16 Purple
   
   3-part Tamyia
   X-3 Royal Blue
   
   1-part Tamiya
   X-4 Blue
   
   1-part Tamiya
   X-1 Black

The fenders are painted. This photo shows the first coat; however, it looks pretty good already, except that there is a chip on the rear fender, and I ran out of paint, right at the end, so the right side rear fender did not get a good first coat.

The body parts are masked for the application of the light blue color. Click the the following links to see a larger version of each photo panel.

The lower parts of the body, the body portion behind the firewall and the engine shroud are painted light blue color. Click the following links to see a larger version of each photo panel.

The radiator dress frame is re-chromed using Revell Chrome spray. It works really nice. I see in the photo there is a little something going on, on the bottom, but I'll check it out and fix if necessary.

This is the first time I've ever used the Revell Chrome spray, and I must say, I like it. I primed the piece in gloss black before spraying the chrome.

The body, the doors and the gas tank are masked so the dark blue paint can be sprayed. The dark blue is a custom mix consisting of 2-parts of Tamiya X-16 Purple to 3-parts of Tamiya X-3 Royal Blue.

The Dark Blue portions of the body are painted and the masking is removed. There is a small amount of touchup to do around the rear wheel wells, along the bottom edge of the rear and the trim on the gas tank.

The body is being masked to apply Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black to the roof. The roof is not vinyl. It was made of something called Cobra Long Grain Leather. The leather was flat black. The gas tank is also masked to apply Tamiya X-1 Black to the firewall.

The body parts are painted. There is a small amount of touchup to do in spots, but nothing major.

The front door interior door panel is painted and the pouch is detailed. The panel is painted with Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey and the pouch is Tamiya XF-18 Medium Blue. The back seat interior side panels (not shown in this photo) are also painted with Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey.

The front seats are painted and assembled. The cushions are painted with Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey and the base and back leaner supports are painted with Tamiya X-1 Black. The back seat (not shown in this photo) is also painted with Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey. The pleats are highlighted with Tamiya Grey Highlight wash.

After installing the battery in its location on the frame, I noted that when the interior floor is put in place, the battery can not be seen. I cut the floor open to create an access port to the battery. A real Model 'A' has an access panel in the floor to work on the battery. In some years and in the pickup truck, the entire floor, in front of the front seats, can be lifted out to access the battery.

This is another view of all the body parts painted. I took this picture to be used for the video thumbnail for part 05 of the build videos.

This is another view of all the body parts painted. I took this picture to be used for the video thumbnail for part 05 of the build videos.

The battery is installed. I couldn't find any 1:16 scale battery cable lugs; therefore, I made my own simple lugs. I used K&S Precision Metals 898775 0.125"/3.175mm aluminum tube #5100. I cut two pieces to a length of ~1.0mm to 1.5mm in height. I than drilled open the ID of the tube to 1.0mm to fit the battery terminal. This tube was almost perfect to simulate the cable lugs.

The reason I show this picture is because the wire that I'm using is 24AWG (American Wire Gauge) Teflon® coated wire. The Teflon® insulation is very slippery and I've learned that Gorilla Glue (paste) does not securely hold the wire in place. The wire can be slipped out of the glue connection, even after several days of setting. It's true...nothing sticks to Teflon®. I roughened the end and reglued.

The battery is wired. I connected the negative wire to the started, (remember, Model A Fords are positive ground). I then used a small piece of 1mm wide brass strapping (actually used for beaded necklaces) from the positive terminal to the chassis. This frame connection is the location a real Model A would be using. The actual connection on the real car is either a copper strap or a braided cable.

The interior floor is installed on the fender assembly and the front and rear seats are installed. I took four different photos from different perspectives. Click on the links to view full size photos of any of the four:

1. Photo A - Interior floor installed on the fender assemble
   
   
2. Photo B - Front and rear seat is installed
   
   
3. Photo C - Another view of front and rear seat installed
   
   
4. Photo D - View of front and back seats with one front seat folded down

I started installing the rear interior side panels. You will see later that I had to remove them again. Also, I'll be painting the inner wheel wells with Tamiya X-18 Semi-Gloss Black.

The fenders and interior floor are placed on the frame.

Front view with fenders and interior floor mounted on the frame.

I wired the spark plugs with some 1mm wide copper beading wire. The Model 'A's did not use wire to wire the plugs to the distributor, they used copper straps. The 1mm wide beading wire is almost the exact scale for the copper straps that are used on an actual Model 'A'. The scale of this model is not correct in all places, and this was one of the places. The inner two spark plugs were not offset from the distributor; therefore, I had to bend the copper straps out and than back to the distributor, but that's Okay.

The glass that comes with the kit is too small to fit the openings in the body. The glass is the same size as the openings and allows no gluing surface. When the glass is placed in the correct location of the guides inside the body, there is a huge gap as shown. To fix this, I bought some Evergreen #9007 clear polystyrene sheet and made my own glass panes. Thankfully there are no bends and everything is flat.

After hours of struggling with the engine shroud side hinges, they are together, and as the next two photo shows, they actually work.

After hours, actually days, of sanding, filing, cutting, drilling shaping and sweating, the engine shroud side hinges are installed and working.

After hours, actually days, of sanding, filing, cutting, drilling shaping and sweating, the engine shroud side hinges are installed and working.

The top hinge of the engine shroud hinge are in terrible condition. As can be seen, parts J21, when on the sprue, looked like someone dripped hot solder on them. It's obvious the molds are very old and the chroming process was too thick. I spend hours cutting, sanding, filing, drilling, mumbling, and sanding some more to get them to look like they do in the inset of this photo. The idea behind this hinge design is that the length of part J11, J33 and the four J21's would be the length of the engine shroud. WRONG! Not even close. I didn't show part J34 because it broke while cutting it from the sprue, but a short piece of bus wire will work fine in it's place.

But the real problem is that the hinge, because of how bad it was on the sprue, will not properly install. My plan is to scratch build a new hinge using styrene and some aluminum tubing. But after all that work, I have to set it aside and do something else.

I started assembling the door hinges. These small parts were also molded into the sprue, but not as bad as the center engine shroud hinge. While the glue was drying I figured I'd start putting the body on the frame.

Before starting to put the body in place and because of the way the instructions tell you how to assemble the body to the chassis, I thought it would be a good idea to tape the engine shroud sides to the firewall, along with the radiator (not shown in this picture), to ensure everything would be in the proper position. But then it happened. With the left and right engine shrouds in place on the firewall, there is a HUGE gap down the center of the shroud. There is no way the hinge will fill-in that gap. Again frustrated with yet another major problem, I put it aside and continued with putting the body in place on the frame.

While attempting to install the body on the frame, I found it to be impossible to get the body over the back seat. As model builders we know that sometimes we have to pull the sides of the body apart to get it over the interior tub; however, I couldn't see any way this body was going to fit over the back seat.

I gently pulled the side panels of the body apart to get it past the rear seat, but as I spread the sides, I could hear the glue bond of the rear interior door panels breaking free, and with a lot of spreading to still be done.

During dry fitting, the body was a tight fit between the the rear fenders, but at that time I did not have the rear interior door panels in place. So...during dry fitting the body went into place, albeit with difficulty. But now with the rear interior door panels installed, I couldn't see any possible way this body would fit over the rear seat.

I took some measurements and in this photo you can see that the distance between the two rear fenders is about 71mm/2.795". The next photo show the measurement between the rear interior side panels to be 55mm/2.165". No way is this body going to fit over that back seat.

Refer to the description from the previous photo, but with the inside dimensions being 55mm/2.165" and the outside dimensions being 71mm/2.795", there is no way this body is going to fit without breaking something.

I AM DONE!!! I'm boxing this kit and calling it a failure. I already spent WAY too much time on it and I am now moving on to my next project. I may come back to it one day in the future because it really is a nice kit and I would really like to make things fit. But at this time I am too frustrated with it and after spending more than 6-months on it with every step having, not just simple issues, but major issues, I've had it.