When I was a kid, I spent more than a few hours assembling plastic model cars (generally rather badly). When I had a kid, I helped him assemble some of the same kinds of plastic models (he was better at it than I was). Now, with my kid grown, I find myself inclined to play at that old pastime, indeed, developing a sort of passion for it. Mine is not the sort of passion that purchases air-brushes and sprays or devours model magazines or attempts perfect reproductions. Mine, instead, is the sort that sits down with a kit or resin model, paints, brushes, and glue and attempts to add one more item to my collection. The cars are almost all from the fifties and earlier, vehicles I would have seen on the road as a child. I'm much more interested in ordinary cars than fancy items, and delve only occasionally into creating custom items. I find myself wishing for more Plymouths and Dodges to augment my collection of Fords and Chevys, but I buy mostly the available kits, supplemented by a few resin items off the market.. Here are some of the results (good enough, and reflecting only the most modest sort of concern about detail and authenticity). All items are handpainted - no spray or airbrush; that would ruin the fun.
The Collection -- click the cars (above) or the live links (below) for pictures and details |
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| 1932 Ford | 1950 & 51 Ford Convertibles (both in car lot) |
1956 Mercury |
| 1934 Ford Stake Truck (in field) | 1951 Chevys (convertible and 'turtle-back') (turtle-back in car lot with cat) |
1957 Ford (at gas station) |
| 1938 Ford Pickup | 1952 Ford Wagon (in car lot) | 1957 Chevy (on road) |
| 1940 Fords ( two standard coupes,one in junkyard) | 1953 Ford Convertibles & Hardtops (one in car lot; one in junkyard) |
1957 Ford Thunderbird |
| 1941 Chevy Pickup | 1953 Ford trucks (pickup and home-modeled semi-cab) (semi-cab with low-boy and racer) |
1957 GMC pickup (on road) |
| 1941 Ford Woody Wagon | 1955 Chevy BelAir | 1960 Ford Flatbed Truck |
| 1948 Chevy Panel Truck | 1955 Desoto Convertible | 1962 Ford Falcon Ranchero |
| 1948 Fords (Woody and Convertible) (on road and at corner of car lot) |
1955 Fords (one with sunroof) (sunroofed one in gas station) |
1964 Chevy Pickup |
| 1949 Mercury (Wagon and scrap custom) (scrap model in junkyard) |
1956 Ford Thunderbird | 1966 Dodge Cab-over Semi with Trailer |
| 1949 & 50 Ford Coupes ('50 on road) |
1956 Chevy Wagon | Shelby Cobra |
| 1950 Ford pickup (with winch, in front of car lot) and phone-box truck |
1956 Fords (convertible, 2 dr. wagon, taxi, and custom racer) (wagon on road, racer on low-boy) |
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Enjoy the collection, even if you can build them better, create fancier layouts, or any of those other things that may matter tremendously to you. I just hope that, for those of you born anywhere in the range of my 1952, these pictures help you percolate your own memories of two-lane highways, summer pastimes, and the cars that lined your childhood streets.
BB,
Marty Price
feedback: email me, bertilack@gmail.com
last updated July 9, 2010