Model A Standard Phaeton (1930)

Published on
Review Author(s)
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$63.00
Product / Stock #
24051
Company: ICM - Website: Visit Site
Provided by: ICM - Website: Visit Site

From my new best friends at Wikipedia

The Ford Model A(also colloquially called the A-Model Ford or the A, and A-bone among hot rodders and customizers) is the Ford Motor Company's second market success, replacing the venerable Model T which had been produced for eighteen years. It was first produced on October 20, 1927, but was not introduced until December 2. This new Model A (a previous model had used the name in 1903–04) was designated a 1928 model and was available in four standard colors.

By February 4, 1929, one million Model As had been sold, and by July 24, two million. The range of body styles ran from the Tudor at US $500 (in gray, green, or black) ($8,872 in 2023 dollars) to the town car with a dual cowl at US $1,200 ($21,293 in 2023 dollars). In March 1930, Model A sales hit three million, and there were nine body styles available. [Authors note: ICM Holding also has an offering of the Model A with soft top (#24050).]

Model A production ended in March 1932, after 4,858,644 had been made in all body styles. Its successor was the Model B, which featured an updated inline four-cylinder engine, as well as the Model 18, which introduced Ford's new flathead (side valve) V8 engine.

ICM Holding continues to produce excellent automotive kits, and this latest offering just adds to their catalog. The Model A Standard Phaeton comes in ICM’s famous sturdy box and includes seven sprues of plastic, two of which are the clear parts for windows and such. Five poly-vinyl tires and a small decal sheet of license plates and instrument faces are also included. ICM includes parts for six wheels, so you'll have a spare wheel just in case something happens to one of the other five. The vinyl tires are sandwiched between the two-piece spoke wheels, which eases painting.

I would strongly advise you to watch the assembly/instruction video on YouTube for ICM's Model A soft top (#24050) before starting your build. While this is not a shake-n-bake kind of kit, it is not all that difficult to complete. The kit is molded in a light gray styrene, which I found to be on the "soft" side. But that softness does help when removing mold line seams and such.

Construction begins with the detailed chassis (frame rails, stiffeners, axles/drive train, etc.). Note the separate pieces for the flanges on the frame (parts# F59/F60). About the only thing missing, is some of the plumbing. ICM also provides a plethora of detail for the mechanical brakes with all the linkages and connectors. The linkage rods provided (parts #D2/D3/D7) are a tad delicate, and have multiple sprue attachment points. The best part of my valor was for me to switch those out for an Evergreen plastic rod. Another predicament I experienced was the placement of the steering box (part# F23). The mounting point on the frame rail was a tad too large for a precise fit, so I left that part off until the correct position could be determined. This was not the only “where does this part go again” moment that I had. Again, I suggest watching the video. Finishing the chassis, it was time to tackle the engine.

The oft used expression of “a kit unto itself” is apt here; everything but the fuel lines and spark plug wires are included. The spark plugs themselves are included as individual parts. [Pro Tip #6342: Watch it, just like Charlie Browns kit-eating tree, my carpet monster was lusting after those spark plug parts long before I got them off the sprue.]

Accomplishing the final work on the chassis, it was on to the Model A body. These parts are nicely engineered, which aids in the assembly and painting. The fenders/running boards are molded as a single piece, and these get attached to the floor pan. Interestingly, ICM would have you remove the textured detail on the running boards. Not all Model A cars had textured step areas on the running boards as most were smooth. I suppose quality control at Ford finally got the memo about the smooth step being “slippery when wet”. Still, it is a nice option for ICM to have the textured area available.

The front cowl, fire wall, and forward floor pan are next to be built with the dash and separate instrument cluster attached. Calling it an “instrument cluster” may be a bit of a stretch as the Model A only had two gauges, an amp gauge and a combination odometer/speedometer. Decals are provided for the instrument faces as well as the on/off switch and something that I was unable to identify, but you do get a decal for whatever it is. Additional decals are provided for the license plates with six different states being represented. It seemed to me that the carrier film was a tad oversize on all the decals, so you may wish to trim that down before application.

The side panels of the body are molded with exterior and interior panels. This configuration does aid with painting should you choose to do something a bit different from those suggested by ICM. The assembly instructions have three suggested color options. The instructions do provide color callouts throughout, but you will still need to cross-reference the color chart for whatever color 'Q' is (lime green, by the way).

Additional parts (foot pedals, starter button, ignition timing, parking brake, etc.) are added to the forward section of the body along with a fuel filter and what, I believe, is the magneto. Suffice it to say, ICM has provided oodles of detail in this kit with a modicum of parts. The total parts count is 195 for this kit.

The remainder of the body of the Model A gets assembled from this point. Again, the body panels are two-part affairs with some lovely, molded detail (door hinges, panel lines etc.). The inner panels have doorknobs molded onto them, whereas that detail on the outer panels is provided as a separate part [Remember modeling tip # 6342]. Most of the car’s body is assembled from the right and left sides along with a rear panel. Can a Model A pickup truck or Tudor (two-door model) be in our future? Tudor, could that be anything like 'Hodor' from Game of Thrones?

The interior is the next item on the agenda with front and rear bench-style seat cushions comprised of multiple parts. The seat backs are, fittingly, single pieces. Fun Fact, back in the day, you could upgrade your new Model A with mohair (goat) seat covers.

All that remains of the assembly process at this point is the addition of the windscreen, front/rear bumpers, spare tire bracket, and headlamp assembly (with separate clear parts for the lamp bulbs) [Modeling Tip # 6432 may be germane here]. There are paper templates for masking the windscreen (inside and outside) which you will need to fashion from your favorite masking material. The two-part soft top is depicted as stowed/folded. If you prefer a deployed soft top on your Model A, spend your money on the ICM Holding kit # 24050. There is also a neat two-part “Aoogah” horn included with the kit.

The Model A Standard Phaeton (1930s) kit from ICM is a fun, relatively simple build. With the convenient color callouts and rather clear, easy to follow assembly instructions, you should not have any trouble adding this scale model to your collection.

ICM Holding has added an important, early-day automobile to their catalog with this Model A kit. One can hope that subsequent releases of these molds will include a Tudor; however, a Model A pickup truck would also be cool.

My thanks to ICM Holding and IPMS/USA for the review copy.

Support Your Local Hobby Shop!

Cover image

Comments

Add new comment

All comments are moderated to prevent spam


This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.