The 1/6 Hawk 48 Ford Flathead - Built and Detailed

[hot ford coupe]

This is a re write of the original build I did when my computer went kaflooey. I’ve eliminated the first thread and substituted this one with the photos. Hope this helps some of you guys to choose whether or not to build this one.

Photo #1 shows the kit box top and the original color of the kit parts. The box stock build looks pretty good but it could use a little sparkle. Therefore this build shows how to make a good box stock model more unique and more superdetailed without resorting to the extreme detailism we’re familiar with. No special expensive equipment or supplies are needed that you can’t easily get at your LHS or the SMC parts store. There is still a lot more detailing that could be done here but in the long run, I think it would make it look overdone and much of the detail will get lost in the composition. This is a good case where less is more.

The first thing I did was to cement the block halves together. Since they're diecast, you cannot use styrene cement and because there are only three points of attachment between the two halves, I wouldn't even use CA. Photo#2. I feel it is too unpredictable and possibly too weak for the usual block handling during the build. I would use either Locktite metal cement or JB Weld. See Photo #3. I used the Locktite metal repair which worked beautifully and filled well where it was needed. Once the block was set and stable, I decided to change the color to the more familiar stock dark green. I did see pictures of the block painted in several other colors including green, blue and red but the green seemed to be the most common. I used Krylon Hunter Green over Krylon primer and treated the surface with a bit of texture to simulate the sand casting . After the paint was dry, I simply held the rattlecan about 2-3 feet away from the part to get the orange peel effect. Photo #4 shows the final result. A most important consideration here is you need to sand down the block so the new paint can get a bite into the original type of paint which is I haven’t got the vaguest idea. It’s actually best to remove all the original paint throughout the build but that’s just too dang much work. Make sure you scrub the parts well before painting and use thin mist and color coats. The original finish may interact with the solvent in the Krylon if you’re too much in a rush or spray too thick. It’ll result in a lot of fisheyes. You’ll then have to strip the part and respray.

Next, the valve covers had to be dealt with. I removed the molded lug nuts and drilled them for a 1-72 , 1/4 inch long bolt. The bolts were inserted from the reverse side of the part and 1-72 nuts were lightly tightened over them. You'll have to do a little cutting on the inside of the cover to make room for the bolt heads to go all the way in but that’s not extensive. Photo#5 and 6. If you have a 1-72 die, you can tap a piece of 1/16 inch thick brass rod, tap the hole with the same diameter then you won’t have to modify the covers.

One big disadvantage of this kit is that the valve covers are done in two pieces. You have the main part and then the water port. See Photo#7. At first, I used regular styrene cement like the instructions said after I scraped the paint off the gluing surfaces but it didn't stick well at all. That leads me to believe the plastic may be a lesser quality styrene than we're used to. I reglued them on with epoxy and then sanded them down before painting. The excess epoxy was used as the filler. Also, the two little spouts off of the main water port were incorrectly shaped. I reshaped them and drilled them out to look more realistic. I may do some "dirtying" of the bolts to make them look a bit more weathered, but that decision will be made later on. Photo#8. Here’s what the cover looks like after painting and addition of the 1-72 nuts. Photo#9.

I also started to fiddle around with the exhaust manifolds. The edges were a bit rough and there were several torn areas where someone casually ripped the parts off of their sprues. Also, the manifolds are not solid which is hard to see when they're tried on. It’s not much of a problem but if you want them closed, add a thin piece of styrene like you would box a frame and then gently smooth the edge off. When the exhausts are repainted darker and more textured, they'll look like they should.

The intake manifold was repainted Model Master’s buffing Stainless Steel to give the model a little contrast. I used 0-80 bolt heads and cemented the manifold. Photo #10. The front of the engine could also use a few bolts as shown.

The starter and the generator will be next. I cemented the parts with the epoxy , smoothed out seams, painted the starter flat black and the generator gloss black. The rest of the black parts are the original finish which is pretty good. I then added a few wires, one for the starter and two for the 3 for the generator. Photo #11 and #12 show how they look after cementation. The starter bolt was done by taking a long 00-90 bolt, cutting off the head, drilling a hole in the starter, threading or cementing the headless bolt, adding a thin wire and screwing down a 00-90 nut over the whole thing. The generator was done by drilling 3 00-90 holes and threading in two hex headed bolts, thin wires and a 00-90 screw in the third hole. Finally, you can drill 3 holes into the base of the model and thread the wires into the base for a nice and neat wore solution. Photo #13.

For a bit more contrast, I changed the black spark plug wires to green. You can use any color wires you want here. The last couple of pictures were taking of the finished model. The rest of the wiring and plumbing were straight out of the kit.


Well gang, that's it for this episode of the HFC Model Improvement show.. In the mean time, have a great modeling day and don't forget to visit our sponsor, SMC, the best in quality auto parts.

[hot ford coupe]

Here are the rest of the photos.

[south pier garage]

thanks for the information; it has prompted me to order one of these kits. i think it will help me greatly understand the workings of the engine for all of my modeling projects.

any chance you could post a single photo with something in the picture to give an idea of the size of the completed engine?

and what would be a good way to finish the back (flywheel?) of the engine. no, i won't attempt a scratchbuilt transmission without a tutorial....

thanks again

[hot ford coupe]

Hey south pier. I'm glad to see you ordered one of the kits. I don't think you'll be disappointed with it. I ought to contact Hawk and get them to give me a commission. HO HO. If you find some difficulty or come up against a problem, don't hesitate to ask me. I wrestled with the kit and it almost won but I managed to get it to submit. I'll go ahead and take a good shot of it with something in the background for you. It's 4 times the size of a 1/24 scale engine if that helps somewhat. It's a good size but I originally wanted the 1/4 scale kit from Lindberg. I haven't been able to find one yet.

As far as the back of the engine, one thing you can do to finish it off is to weather the flywheel to look like you just pulled the tranny off the thing. I was thinking of doing the same thing but I decided to leave the engine clean and do the weathering later on with the engine assembled. We've got a few tutorials on weathering but if you run into trouble, just ask and we'll get you the info. We've got a few weathering experts on the site who'll be more than happy to help.

Welcome to the site. Enjoy.

[RonOC]

Hey Hot Ford, them ain't valve covers, they're cylinder heads.

The valves are in the block.

Great job!

Ron

[Don Garrett]

Ron, do they not cover the valves? Perhaps Jeff should have said piston covers....

[RonOC]

Found this site for info on the Ford Flathead engine.

Flathead Specifications: 1938 to 48 V8

Ron

[hot ford coupe]

Valve covers and heads. I never seem to get those two terms right. Let's just call them the flat things with all the nuts and bolts.

Well, not only have I made the mistake of not knowing valve covers from my heads, I also made a huge boo boo in my color choice. The 1948 Ford WAS dark blue and not dark green. It was the 1949 Merc engine that was dark green. To all those who pride themselves on the accuracy of models, including myself, I apologize deeply. Thanks Guido for sending me that page on the flathead. That's where I discovered my boo boo. Now that that's over, I feel better. I think I'm going to build something this afternoon. Ah nertz, I like the green better than the blue anyhow. Nany nany boo boo.

[Don Garrett]

Long as you're havin' fun......some guys build for dead nut accuracy and scale while others just put 'em together and grin. If it works for you.......mission accomplished and well done.

[hot ford coupe]

Thanks Don. Glad you like the engine. To me, the engine looks a lot better in the green along with the brass nuts and bolts. It tends to give it the old classic look. Besides,my the finish looks a lot more authentic than the kit finish. The black parts in the kit however had a fantastic finish. The big air cleaner looks great the way it is. Some other parts had to be resprayed to cover up the seams. Other than that, the kit went together really well.