The Old Reliable Pickup Truck

There are a lot of stories out there on this unique little truck, so I decided to set the record straight and share some studio shots of the prototype I made for Franklin Mint during my time there.

When I first started at the Mint, there were many ideas floating around and they were just that, ideas. Some of the concept boards I saw were basically pieces showing cars in barns, old garages and such. At the time I was fairly new and I suggested that we do a rusty vehicle. We discussed several options like a tree growing out of the engine bay, beat up street cars and the like. Nothing had really gelled in those meetings. I had a concept in my mind and suggested that I take a model home and just make one. An exercise in opening the mind up and throwing out all those little details into a 3-D model. The ’40 Ford Pick Up was to be the test mule since it had been around for a while and I really wanted to show what could be done with existing tooling. I had a broken model in my office and it was begging to
be saved.

The truck was taken to my home shop where I took it apart, stripped off all the exterior paint and made it ready for it’s transformation into a pile of junk. The model already had a broken grille and to be honest, this was the deciding factor to use the Ford. The body was washed and then slightly distressed using a Dremel tool. I added dents, divots and other little defects. To simulate panel rust, I applied a bead of superglue and then added some baking soda to the wet glue. WOW! Was that an adventure! Once that mix fizzed up, the fumes lifted towards my face and my eyes watered for quite a while! I applied this around the top of the doors, lower door panel and around the lower parts of the fenders. In raw form it didn’t look like much and I honestly thought that I maybe made an error. I went ahead and applied the red oxide primer. Once in color, the decision was cemented (no pun intended). Flat black was then misted on in varying intensities to show dirt and grime. Using a Rust-All kit, I further rusted the vehicle. All the time, I had to keep in mind how this would be replicated in a production line setting. I tried to keep notes as to what I did and how I did it. I knew there would be some explaining to do later.