'67 F250 The Replica

I've restored or customized a few old matchbox cars in the past. None of them were anything special, and I never felt the need to add them to this blog. Until....a mate from BAMA gave me the truck below, which has been in his family for a long time. It was gifted to me since it is based on the exact model of Ford truck I own, with the suggestion that I use it to make a replica. This was a challenge I had to take on!

This is a decent example of Lesney Matchbox No 50C, Ford Kennel Truck in green with a green tinted windshield, which was modelled on Ford's 1967 F-series: 

The detail in the diecast model extends to the appropriate FORD logo on the tailgate:

The photo below shows how this toy was originally presented; the four plastic dogs and the canopy are long gone from my example.

My version has also lost both headlights and a chunk of the radiator grille:

Let's see what I can do with it! The first step is to drill out the rivet-style fasteners that hold the base plate to the body. I used a 1/4-inch drill bit for this operation. You want to drill away the absolute minimum amount of metal.

The windshield is attached to the underside of the roof with another stud which has to be removed the same way. This time extra care must be taken to just drill away metal; drilling into the plastic windshield will damage or destroy it.

The next bit requires some finesse. The two posts which no longer secure the base plate must be drilled out and tapped to accept 2-56 cap head fasteners, where 2 is the standard drill size and the bolt has 56 threads per inch. The closest metric size is probably M1. The tiny bolts which thread into these holes will secure the base plate when it is time to put the truck back together. Once the threads are cut, I leave the fasteners installed until I'm ready for reassembly. As well as preventing any wear, this stops the threads from being filled with paint.

Time to remove the original paint:

I'm using Aircraft paint remover from Klean-Strip; this is an older can from when the product contained methylene chloride (aka as DiChloroMethane, DCM or CH₂Cl₂) which is a toxic carcinogen and perfect for this application.

As I mentioned above, I'm converting this kennel truck to a replica of the F250 I own, so there is one feature I need to modify: the four-part divider in the bed needs to go:

The bulk of the excess material was cut away with metal shears:

Almost everything else was removed with the Dremel, and then I finished up with some hand sanding: 

My truck does not have a circular hole in the middle of the bed. I cut a small piece of galvanized steel from a bit of roof flashing...

....and used super glue to stick it below the bed:

Added some automotive body filler:

This is part way through the sanding process:

Sanding complete:

Applied a coat of gray Tamiya fine surface primer:

Ok, so that was the easy bit; I've done similar a number of times. The next step will be the first time I've attempted a two-tone paint job on this scale. I started by mixing up plenty of sort-of primrose/mustard yellow paint. I'm using Tamiya flat white (XF-2) and clear yellow (X-24) and the proprietary thinner, which is pretty much expensive distilled water.

It has been a few years since I used my airbrush, but I dug it out and it seemed to work fine:

After applying several coats of yellow I left the paint to cure for over a week - I was out of town, so it was easy to keep away. The next step is masking - I used some 1/16" wide tape for delineating between yellow and brown sections, and then all the bits I wanted to remain yellow were covered with wider pieces of tape:

Then another coat of yellow paint was applied - the idea is that there is always some paint bleed when using tape, and I want that bleed-over to be yellow.

The only brown Tamiya paint I have is X64 which was too dark. I added a cocktail of lighter colors to get the hue I was looking for, and then I applied a couple of coats with the airbrush. The problem with this type of "paint job" is that you end up with quite a thick layer of paint which obscures some of the finer details - Matchbox castings were well known for being extremely detailed.

I wanted to leave the brown paint for a few days to ensure it was fully cured. While I was waiting, I did a bit of work on the paint station. It wasn't quite as untidy as it looks in the photo below because I haven't mixed paint in ages, but it has never been the most comfortable workspace. This piece of furniture is the lower section of what was a huge cabinet for a massive CRT TV - i.e. the sort of television set that even all nine combined members of the Who and the Rolling Stones couldn't manage to throw out of a hotel room window. 

Obviously, I've never owned such an obnoxious piece of consumer electronics, but I did allow the previous owner of my house to leave his TV cabinet behind - it was mostly solid oak, and I've made loads of things out of the upper part. My main complaint is that the paint station is too low to stand up at, and too awkward to sit in front of. 

The first step of my "remodel" was to convert the cabinet at the left side to an open space where I can sit in a chair and get my knees under the tabletop. This required some cutting and strengthening and I had to build a central support which wasn't previously needed:

I installed a couple of parts cabinets that used to be in my garage, and pin-nailed together some shelves in the alcove between them:

After transferring all related tools, paint, parts and whatnot:

Next step: installing an outlet at this side of the partition so I can plug in my work light and use my Dremel without extension cords etc.

I'm very fortunate to have a huge 'shop space, but it is a multi-use faciality where a lot of dust is created. In spite of a decent vacuum-powered dust extraction system, anything that is not used regularly ends up getting coated. I don't really want the paint station to gather dust, so to speak, so I made an overelaborate screen from a piece of pine and some scrap plywood. This will hopefully keep dust off the paint and so on when it's not being used. 

After that was all done it was time to get back to work. I began by masking off everything except the truck bed. This round of tape was almost all applied to pre-existing tape. There is very little direct tape-to-brown-paint. Some parts of the model were wrapped with post-it notes which were then covered with tape to eliminate contact with the paintwork.

Back into the paint booth:

I'm using some rubberized coating for the truck bed which I found in the garage. I think it was left over from the Mustang wheel wells.

Post application:

The bedliner was allowed to cure overnight and then all the masking was removed and the chassis was treated to several coats of acrylic clear, which was applied with a rattle can. I did not bother with color sanding!

The wheelbase was in great shape. I gave it a very light coat of semi-gloss black paint, and I painted the wheels in situ since there was no need to replace the axels. The green-tinted windshield was also in good condition and just required some polishing.

The grille was badly worn (left below). Fortunately, I was able to source a NOS replacement (right below).

The grille on my F250 is a modern gray re-pro and I think the chrome bumper has also been replaced since 1967. The driver side fender and fender apron have definitely been replaced so it would make sense...I spray painted the replacement white grille/bumper with some Eastwood brake grey, and then hand painted Tamiya X-11 chrome gray onto the bumper.:

The windshield and grille are press-fitted at the factory, which cannot be easily replicated, so I secured these parts to the chassis with super glue. After complete re-assembly:

Below is how the "original" F250 looks on a nice day after being washed. It is worth noting that when it left the factory the truck was white with a beige interior!