Post by Keith Tanaka on Feb 2, 2013 15:29:15 GMT -8
While I'm waiting to receive paint for the '52 Hudson to arrive, I decided to start building another '50's NASCAR.
This time it's an unusual car which most people don't know.
Henry J. Kaiser (Kaiser motor co.) decided to market a small, inexpensive family car which he felt would be the Model T of the 50's as far as affordability was concerned.
The result was the Henry J car. It's small, cheaper than other cars of the day. It only lasted a few years before the public decided it was not worth owning.
As with all production cars of the day, some people wanted to race them. In 1951/52, there were at least 3 drivers who raced the Henry J in NASCAR. Reino Tulonen, Joie Ray and Wimpy Ervin. None of these drivers won a NASCAR race with the Henry J as it proved to be too slow due to it's small motor.
The real racing car wasn't much of a race car, but as a slot car it has some advantages: small size (3.75" wheelbase, lightweight body).
It will be fun to build this car as its totally different from the other 50's cars I've built so far.
The only model kit I could find was this one by Revell. Unfortunately, it's a drag racing version (no front/rear bumpers). The Henry J was/is a popular car for drag racing because of it's small size/weight.
The model kit body consists of separate parts: main body minus door panels, front right and left fenders, hood. Because of all the separate body parts, this car body will need additional bracing/glue to keep it together after some wall blasts. The body thickness is thin compared to the other 50's model kits.
Since the kit does not come with front/rear bumpers, I'll have to make custom bumpers which look similar to the real car.
Short wheelbase of 3.75" and narrow body (2.5") will result in a mini-stock car when completed.
I've built so many cars recently that I need to visit BPR again to get more parts to build this car. When you're in the mood to build, take advantage of it since you don't always feel like building. The cars I've built recently have proven to be good racing cars and are quite simple to build compared to some of my earlier hardbody models.
Keith
This time it's an unusual car which most people don't know.
Henry J. Kaiser (Kaiser motor co.) decided to market a small, inexpensive family car which he felt would be the Model T of the 50's as far as affordability was concerned.
The result was the Henry J car. It's small, cheaper than other cars of the day. It only lasted a few years before the public decided it was not worth owning.
As with all production cars of the day, some people wanted to race them. In 1951/52, there were at least 3 drivers who raced the Henry J in NASCAR. Reino Tulonen, Joie Ray and Wimpy Ervin. None of these drivers won a NASCAR race with the Henry J as it proved to be too slow due to it's small motor.
The real racing car wasn't much of a race car, but as a slot car it has some advantages: small size (3.75" wheelbase, lightweight body).
It will be fun to build this car as its totally different from the other 50's cars I've built so far.
The only model kit I could find was this one by Revell. Unfortunately, it's a drag racing version (no front/rear bumpers). The Henry J was/is a popular car for drag racing because of it's small size/weight.
The model kit body consists of separate parts: main body minus door panels, front right and left fenders, hood. Because of all the separate body parts, this car body will need additional bracing/glue to keep it together after some wall blasts. The body thickness is thin compared to the other 50's model kits.
Since the kit does not come with front/rear bumpers, I'll have to make custom bumpers which look similar to the real car.
Short wheelbase of 3.75" and narrow body (2.5") will result in a mini-stock car when completed.
I've built so many cars recently that I need to visit BPR again to get more parts to build this car. When you're in the mood to build, take advantage of it since you don't always feel like building. The cars I've built recently have proven to be good racing cars and are quite simple to build compared to some of my earlier hardbody models.
Keith