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AMT 1/25 Tall T Double Kit |
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Introduction
The Model T was America's introduction to affordable motoring, the brainchild of an enterprising American mechanical and business genius who put his fellow countrymen on the road by the millions with reasonably-priced, dependable automobiles. Over 15,000,000 would be produced from its model run between 1908 and 1927.
The T was also one of the original hot rods, with many aftermarket parts produced to really get these bone-simple little cars going. They raced sideways on the dirt tracks and straight ahead and fast-as-you-can on the salt and beaches. While the later Model As, Deuces, and 1933-34 Fords would supersede the Ts in popularity with rodders, in no small part due to their having engines with greater performance potential, they saw a vast resurgence in popularity in the '60s and '70s. Tommy Ivo's Nailhead-powered beauty and Norm Grabowski's famed Kookie Kar - named for the character who drove it on the television program '77 Sunset Strip' - marked the beginnings of this new trend, the birth (or rebirth, depending on how you look at it) of the T-bucket, often found in the form of "Fad Ts" - rods built starting with fiberglass bodies and prefabricated frames.
With this neato little reissue from AMT, you can have one of each: A stock original, and a Sixties-style rod. And what combination is chosen - stock tall T coupe, roadster, or roadster pickup; tall T competition coupe or a Fad T roadster in any number of styles - is entirely the choice of the builder.
The Kit
Upon hearing about this release from Round 2/AMT, the first thought was, didn't we just get this model with the other T double kit, albeit without the stock T coupe body? While this at first blush may seem to be the case - and these two kits are based upon the other - this is not how it is, at all. While the other kit offers the stock roadster variations and myriad other options using the roadster and heavily chopped coupe bodies - the rods one can build from this kit are more of a '50s flavor. What you get in the new kit is a very groovy little '60s-style approach to the T rod game - and yet more stock options, given the stock coupe body.
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Round 2 has done yeoman service in their custody of many of the old AMT tools. The two T kits they have produced are an excellent example, with their retooling new coupe bodies for each kit, faithfully reproducing the old kit bodies that had disappeared over the years and reissues. Each coupe body - the chopped one in the last release, and the stock-height one we have now - is a clean, fresh molding. In lieu of raised lettering molded into the bodies, Round 2 proudly gives all the pertinent information in printed form on the reproduced parts. By producing these new bodies, they have brought back classic old kits without anything missing. They are to be commended for this, because, for the price of tooling one item, they give modelers the chance to recreate old favorites without needing to wonder where that old part might be found. These revived AMT kits appear to be extremely popular, surely because of their being fully-renewed.
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The body is not one but two, with the roadster body shared between this and the other double Model T kit, and the newly-tooled stock-height T coupe body, with its integral trunk area. The roadster body may be mated with a turtle deck, stock pickup bed, or a vastly shortened pickup bed box, complete with separate tailgate. Additionally, there is a wooden keg-style tank that may be parked out back, complete with gas cap and keg handle. The roadster body seems to be suffering a bit from its age, as there is a thickening inside the left-side cowl that the modeler will want to grind out. The custom interior will not fit with this lump there, and it would prove unsightly on a stock version. The roadster body may be built with a stock-style down-top, or an up-top. Stock and custom firewalls are provided, as well as two different windshield frames for the roadster, one stock and one for the rod. There are two radiator shells, one of which is a chromed, chopped down unit; each has a separate radiator. Headlamps feature clear lenses. All of the kit's windows are offered in either standard clear or optional clear purple plastic. There is also a set of four cycle fenders, increasing your hot rod styling options, as well as a shiny chromed Moon tank with its own big knockoff fuel filler cap, chromed round taillights, an aerial, and some nerf bars, old-fashioned cowl lamps, and other accessories that may be utilized according to the builder's tastes.
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There are two engines provided, a stock Model T 4 cylinder, and a big Lincoln 430 V8. The stock engine is a very simple 6-piece assembly, consisting of two block/transmission halves, one of which has molded-in water pipe detail, oil pan/lower transmission, head with integral radiator hose, and a four-bladed fan. The assembly is very simplified, and anyone wishing for a more detailed unit for a stock build will probably end up scratch building most of it. Otherwise, paint it up and hide most of it beneath a folded stock hood and it will look the part.
The second engine is a different animal. While there is simplification here, as well, with starter and oil filter detail molded to the block/transmission halves, there are all kinds of speed goodies, including a three-deuce intake, Latham supercharger with sidedraft-type carbs, and the return of the 6-carb intake last seen in the '80s issue of the '25 T roadster. Big chromed venturis - up to six - are used on the carbureted setups, while four chromed bell-type air cleaners serve the Latham's sidedrafts. There is a separate lay-down magneto for the blown option, and a Spaulding Flame Thrower ignition for use with the six-carb intake. The mag for the 3-carb arrangement is molded at the back of the row of carbs, but how to build the 3-carbs engine is not so clear in the instructions. Fan and fan belt/pulley assembly are separate pieces, with a chromed generator, and the valve covers and oil pan are also found on the chrome tree. There is also a nice plated set of open hot rod headers. While not typical of the engines one would generally find stuffed between the frame rails of a '60s T rod, this will make into a great-looking hot rod engine, perhaps especially with the six-carb manifold that returns with this kit.
There are, of course, two frames. The stock unit is unsurprisingly a simple affair, with the exhaust molded to the frame. The front axle has a separate radius rod/tie rod piece, and the instructions note where your stock steering column will attach. The rearend has integral radius rods, plus the torque tube, and is hollow at the top. A separate transverse leaf spring joins the rearend to the frame. Straight metal axles are found front and back. To their ends attach multi-spoked Model T wheels, of the earlier wooden-spoked, steel-rimmed style, which fit skinny stock rubber tires. Paint it semi-gloss black, throw it all together, and you will have a reasonable representation of a Model T's undercarriage.
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The other frame represents a traditional z'd hot rod assembly. The front axle is a chromed dropped tube unit, with a separate chromed leaf-spring/shock brace/shock absorber piece that joins axle to frame. There is also an individual tie rod, wishbone radius rods, and a drag link, all of which are also chromed. Out back, we find a plated quickchange rear with separate axle bells. Rear radius rods are chromed, as are the leaf spring and rear shocks. Metal axles are also present here. While many modelers may wish to rework their front suspension to eliminate the front metal axle, some well-built versions of the earlier T kit have been seen with them in use, and they looked fine.
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This brings us to one of the kit's major selling-points, the hot rod tires. All six of these tires, four skinny ones based off AMT's old Firestones, and two of their now very well-known M&H Racemaster slicks, have a thin whitewall already printed on their sides. In this way, they will serve the modeler well as they endeavor to build their own very cool '60s-style T. No matter how one slices it, there are going to be extras, and these tires are great, so they will come in handy for all manner of projects. These tires mount to plated Cragar SS-style mags. The box-top art shows you just how groovy these tires can look on the finished model.
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There are several interior options. The stock interior features a bench-type seat, complete with under-seat fuel tank detail and separate seat-bottom, with factory-style rolls and pleats. There is a stock dash with somewhat faint gauge detail. The steering column has integral stalks, and goes through the firewall to the tie rod. A four-spoke steering wheel attaches to it. Some stock pedals, molded as a piece, and a handbrake round out the Spartan interior. A special note is in order: As it comes in the kit, the stock seat only serves the roadster-bodied variant properly. For the tall coupe option, there should be a package shelf present behind the seat. This omission is catered to by a cleanly-cast resin replacement part from Replicas and Miniatures Company of Maryland.
The rod interior takes several forms. For the roadster, there is a heavily-pleated bucket interior that fits the '60s theme quite well. It should serve a '70s-style build with equal aplomb. The coupe gets a full floorboard which goes from firewall to turtledeck, to which one affixes bucket-style seats with tight rolls and pleats, which notably work well as custom or competition seats. Optional plastic lap belts and shoulder harnesses are provided. The three-spoke deep custom wheel stands fairly vertically within the interior if used as designed. Chromed parts include the pedal assembly, a long shift lever, the separate face of the instrument panel, a roll bar, and a fire extinguisher. Both interiors are period-correct for the overall '60s theme.
In keeping with the Enhanced Retro nature of this kit, the decals have very complete markings from the past, with different nicknames and phrases to be put about the T's body and suspension, a "padded coupe top" decal made to represent lines and shadows in black, different speed equipment and racing association decals, classic AMT markings, including The Kat from AMT, competition numbers, and hot-licking cowl flames specific to the coupe or roadster body. There's even a big fat red racing stripe that could find itself used here or on just about any '60s-themed racing project. The 'Genuine Ford Parts' decals are doubtless meant for a stock T pickup build. These decals were obviously conceived with fun in mind, and are sure to provide it.
As an added bonus, as with many other AMT rereleases, there is a smaller version of the kit's box provided, which may be cut out and folded to display with your finished models. The box art for this kit is especially nice, so this small added feature is very welcome.
Conclusion
A good look at the box-top artwork made this kit a must-have. The rods of the '60s were so often things of beauty, an ever-increasingly wild bridge between the functional elegance of their '40s and '50s predecessors and the styling excesses of the 1970s. For those with an especial affinity for '60s rods, like this reviewer, this kit is a very desirable item. The terrific whitewall tires and return of the stock-height body might make the purchase of multiple examples a choice for many. Overall, this kit should provide hours of fun, and it is great to see how something old can truly become new again.
Review sample purchased at Overlea Hobbies, Baltimore, Maryland.
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