WAPOL Cop Car (1910 style) ++ Finished ++

[CliffB]

Hi all.

For this year's Group Builds, I'm trying to build cars wherever possible (leaving my planes for the STGBs).  

 

Researching Australian/New Zealand opportunities, I came across this photograph of a Western Australia Police Force (WAPOL), Model T Ford and I was immediately smitten!

The P.100 registration number relates, I believe, to Perth - the location of WAPOL's HQ.

 

 

The photo comes from this forum, which explains more.

 

The Model T Ford was launched in North America on 1st October 1908 and exports must have begun almost immediately, as this WAPOL vehicle is either a 1909 or 1910 model (the differences being small).  Cars were exported to Austrailia in pieces (I believe from Ford's Canadian factory), which were then assembled by local dealers.  The first cars were LHD - this WAPOL is probably one the earliest RHDs.

 

For a kit, I shall be using this golden oldie from Airfix.

 

 

According to Scalemates, this particular packaging was used from 1959 to 1968.  It's clear from the staples, that mine's never been opened .

There are a few dispepencies between the bag illustration and the WAPOL photo, but nothing that can't be fixed.  The biggest issue is the style of windscreen.  Probably the kit is a simplification (it certainly looks that way), but it's also true that screens were an optional extra at that time and many cars were supplied without them.  In response to this, a range of aftermarket screens, of varying designs, became available.

 

There's also the issue of colour to consider.  The famous "any colour you want, as long as it's black" edict actually came into force in the 1920s - forced by a move to a new fast drying paint formulation that was only available in black.  My understanding is that this 1909/10 model would have been available in either black, red or green. Having said all this, I shall be going down the black route as it matchs my vision of what an old school police car should look like!

 

Cheers

 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

This is different ... Very good choice and A for effort on the out of the box thinking with this. 

[Black Knight]

If you can get the later Airfix 1912 Ford Model T you can use the better chassis parts (in black) on this 1910 kit (in red) as this kit has nowt but the axles / springs

 

Note the steering wheel on the car in your photo. The steering wheel was factory fitted that way up and is known as the 'suicide wheel'. Nearly all car owners turned it over so the rim was higher than the hub

The windscreen frame folds in half. The top part folds back and down. Airfix only gives you the bottom half. Again, the 1912 kit will give you a complete height screen frame

The folded hood needs some work to make it better

[CliffB]

13 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

This is different ... Very good choice and A for effort on the out of the box thinking with this. 

 

Thanks Dennis.  Part of the GB fun is searching out something suitable in your stash 

 

7 hours ago, Black Knight said:

If you can get the later Airfix 1912 Ford Model T you can use the better chassis parts (in black) on this 1910 kit (in red) as this kit has nowt but the axles / springs

 

Thanks for the tip BK.  I have got a 1912 T in my stash, so I can use those chassis parts as patterns for some scratch-built additions to my 1910 build .

I was interested to see that the 1912 is a completely different kit to the 1910 (unlike Airfix's two versions of the Morris Cowley, which share many common parts).

 

Cheers

[CliffB]

Morning all and it's time to make a start with this one.

So far, I've just opened the bag and looked at the pieces!

 

 

A little bit of flash and a few sink holes, but overall things look pretty good.  One half of the bodywork is warped, but as you can see this easily pulls back into shape .

 

I've got the traditional "Locate and cement" style of instructions, plus a packing slip which also provides an Airfix Check List.  Have you got them all yet?

It's interesting to see how significant the Railway and Figure items were to Airfix in the early years.

 

 

Cheers

[Col.]

The "MODERN CARS" mentioned in there certainly date it

[CliffB]

A quick update.

I've started with the bodywork and have spent a little time getting everything straight and sitting nicely on the chassis.  The butt joints between the two bodywork halves are quite difficult to get rid of - I've simply used filler where the joints aren't too visible, but elsewhere I've overclad with thin card (as the ultimate disguise).

 

 

 

I'm pleased to say that my earlier concerns regarding the accuracy of the windscreen have proved to be largely unfounded.  The part is much more like the real thing, than the inaccurate 'box art' would suggest .

 

As @Black Knight has pointed out, the kit's folded soft-top looks seriously malnourished.  It should extend much further upwards and backward.  I think I'll add one or two additional hoops from brass wire and then extra canvas using using tissue or foil.  I'll need to experiment.

 

Cheers

[Ted]

Good start. I love these 1/32 Airfix car models.

[CliffB]

On 2/3/2021 at 4:02 PM, Ted said:

Good start. I love these 1/32 Airfix car models.

 

Thanks Ted.  Yes, I do enjoy the occassional Airfix car kit.  The build process is very different to that used for aircraft models and makes a nice change.

 

Cheers

[Aidrian]

Oh... this looks like fun. What a terrific subject to pick.

[CliffB]

2 hours ago, Aidrian said:

Oh... this looks like fun. What a terrific subject to pick.

Thanks Aidrian.  There are quite a few 'car friendly' Group Builds this year and I'm hoping to take advantage of them all 

 

Meanwhile, I've been preparing the Model T for some paint.

Normally I would paint the bodywork and chassis separately, but in this case I've chosen to put everything together first in order to allow seams etc to be filled.

 

 

The car's pretty much all black which should help with painting, but I will be using various shades/sheens on different surfaces.

Underneath, I've added an approximate sump and transmission housing from various of bits of scrap.  The car sits quite high and on spindly wheels, so the sump ends up being more visible than you might think.

 

 

I've also prepped the remaining small parts.  There wasn't too much to do, but the spoked wheels required some patience!

 

 

I should get some primer on tomorrow.

 

Cheers

 

 

[Col.]

More tidy work Cliff

[Ted]

Fine work you're doing

[John Masters]

This is very fun.  Well done Cliff!

[CliffB]

Thanks for your comments @Col. @Ted and @John Masters 

 

I've finished priming now and started to get some colour on - one of the few parts of the car that isn't black!  I'll be adding some woodgrain effects later.

 

 

Cheers

[Black Knight]

But is the car black?

Black body was not an offered option on the early cars afair

I would suggest a Navy Blue

[CliffB]

14 hours ago, Black Knight said:

But is the car black?

Black body was not an offered option on the early cars afair

I would suggest a Navy Blue

 

Thanks BK.

You're correct, black was not offered as a standard colour in the early years.  However, during my earlier research I did come across a few web references that said that some 'non standard' black cars were indeed produced.   Unfortunately, I can't find all the references now and the one I that have managed to re-locate (the US Owners' Club), is talking specifically about the 1911 MY (my WAPOL car is a 1910).

 

As I understand it, Midnight Blue was not introduced until the 1911 MY, so if my WAPOL was not black, then it would have been Brewster Green (the standard 1910 colour).  Like the blue colour, this has been described as 'all but black'.  Here's a photo of a restored museum example in Brewster Green, taken from the Revs Institute website

 

 

I'll be painting later today (once I've taken my wife for her Covid jab ), so this will give me something to ponder while I'm waiting in the car park!

 

Cheers

 

[Black Knight]

Just trying to help

Just trying to keep you from falling into the proverbial of all Ts were painted black and looked like cartoon cars with wheels all askew.

 

Henry Ford didn't like things that upset his ideas or production lines.

He charged extra for non-production colours. He charged 2 x the price of the car for a non-standard/production colour, thats 2x plus the price of the car, eg car cost $400, plus $800 for the non-standard paint job = $1200

 

I had a friend who made his living servicing, garaging and re-building Ford Ts in Dublin up to 1995-ish. There were still plenty of Dubliners who used Ts as their daily drivers, The oldest car he maintained was  an '09, still in daily use. My friend passed the business to someone else when he drove a self-built Ford T cross country* to New Zealand and stayed there a time 

 

* From Dub, through Wales. England, down through France to toe of Italy, down from Libya to South Africa, across India, then across Australia and then down the two Islands of New Zealand, using various types of ships for the watery bits. Only breakdown was one broken half shaft, repaired by a local black-smith in Kenya.

[CliffB]

12 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Just trying to keep you from falling into the proverbial of all Ts were painted black and looked like cartoon cars with wheels all askew.

 

 

Thanks BK, I do appreciate your comments and in fact have now decided to go green with my one .  I'll make no promises about the straightness of the wheels though!

It's fascinating to hear about your mate's experiences with Model Ts, especially his overland trip.  I knew virtually nothing about the T before starting this build and was surprised to learn that it had a 2.9 litre engine (20 HP?), which I'm guessing must help greatly with its practicality today.  

 

Cheers

[CliffB]

Two steps forward and one step back....

Having painted the firewall a lovely shade of brown on Saturday, I then decided that I wasn't happy with its appearance.  No problem with the colour, but the whole structure was just looking too plain and slab like.

So I've now gone back to primer, scribed in some panel lines and added some connecting straps (made of brass on the original).  I think the changes should add some much needed visual interest (particularly when painted up) 

 

 

Please ignore the imperfections in the primer coat - it's still to be micromeshed 

 

I've also been pulling together a few ancillary parts.  I've scratch built some replacement sidelights (the kit's ones were unusable), and also cut down a spare exhaust from a 4.5 litre Bentley to give something vagely resembling the Model T's.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

This looks great , I have never seen one of these built before.  Like what you have done so far.

Chris

[CliffB]

On 2/16/2021 at 6:23 PM, bigbadbadge said:

This looks great , I have never seen one of these built before.  Like what you have done so far.

Chris

 

Thanks Chris.  It seems to be taking forever to build though - I can't stop fiddling!

 

The good news is that I've finally got same paint on. WEM RLM70 Schwartzgrun for the body and a nice glossy black base coat for all the brass bits (the rad on the back seat is an example).

The green looks really dull at the moment (it's a matt paint), but my earlier tests with a paint mule indicate that it should come to life once glossed 🙏🏼

 

 

Both paints were enamels, so I'll leave them for a day or two now to fully harden,

 

Cheers

[bigbadbadge]

Oh wow this looks great with the paint going on.

Great job

Chris 

[Black Knight]

Like it so far but you missed a trick on the lights; you could have used clear plastic for the lamp body then painted the corner edges for the frames. Thats how I do mine.

[John Masters]

Looks great Cliff.  Nice little details.