Tim Flock’s 1952 Hudson Stock Car Racer 1/25 Model King #1202 Review

RoR Step-by-Step Review 20120217* – Tim Flock’s 1952 Hudson Stock Car Racer 1/25 Model King #1202 Review
Click Here to Buy This Kit

Review and Photos by Michael Garrett  

The Hudson Hornet with its “Twin H Power” and step down design chassis was the car to beat in NASCAR competition back in the early 50’s and now Model King has reproduced the one that Tim Flock drove to the championship in 1952 for us to build. I sat down to give it a go recently and here is what I found.

 

The kit and parts

 

Step 1 Engine……

The Twin H Power Hudson engine is quite a nice piece, and makes a very presentable assembly straight out of the box. There is however a couple items to look out for. First in step 1A make sure the engine front cover (part #103) is aligned properly to the engine block or the fan belt will not set as close to the engine block as it should. Secondly many of the alignment holes will need to be enlarged slightly, most notably the holes in the top of the cylinder head that the throttle linkage (part # 88) mounts into. If the linkage is not mounted all the way down on the head the rear air cleaner will not mount properly.

 

I painted mine Testors gold and then gave it a wash with brown “The Detailer” to give it some depth. The air cleaners were done in Tamiya Italian red and all the other accessories were painted in various shades of black, silver, or grey.

I was quite impressed with the Hudson’s engine. The only suggestion I would have for the manufacturer would be to include a decal for the air cleaner element like the one AMT/ERTL had in there 60 Ford Starliner kit. I found a white decal with black lines in my parts box that I cut to fit into the air cleaner simulating the paper elements.

Step 2 Wheel and Axle…….

 

No surprises here, everything went together just as the instructions showed. I would suggest that when mounting the tires to the rim that you slide the tire over the front side of the rim to prevent any marks from the “ribs” on the wheel showing on the outboard side of the tire.

For the rims on my Hudson I used Testors silver with a light wash of black then covered with satin clear before mounting the tires.

 

Step 3 Chassis………

Upon test fitting the chassis to the body before any assembly work I noticed that the top of the frame is visible when looking under the hood showing the “open tops” of the frame rails. For a more correct look I cut some pieces from leftover sprue to fill in these spots then smoothed it over with modeler’s putty. After painting all the parts I began assembly.

The chassis does require a bit of care and patience to assemble, but after all this is a skill level 3 kit and you will find the results well worth the effort. This kit uses the same floor pan as the earlier released 53 Hudson and because of this there are 2 mounting holes used on that kit for the stock exhaust system that will need to be filled in before painting. I also opened the outlets of the exhaust pipe by sticking the point of a #11 X-acto blade in the center then rotating it till the opening was reamed out.

Be sure to lay the driveshaft (part# 26) in before installing the upper rear cross member (part# 29) as it will not fit afterwards.

The front suspension will need the mounting holes opened just a bit. make sure your lower control arms are all the way into the mounting holes and against the front cross member.

When I mounted the tire and wheels it just didn’t look quite right to me. I decided the rear track width was a bit too narrow and the front a bit too wide. To remedy this when installing the rear tires I didn’t slide them all the way on the metal axle adding about .050″ to each side. Using the opposite technique i shaved about .040″ off each front hub/stub axle to narrow the track slightly. The difference was really noticeable after the body was installed.

Step 4 Interior……

Next step was the interior. The dashboard has a very nice set of decals for the details and gauges which gives it a great finished look. I would like to see all kits include these.

The interior pieces went together without issue just as they should and make a very nice finished product. I used Tamiya blue and grey paints with bare metal foil for the bright work.

 

Step 5 Install engine…….

In this step there is one item that does require attention. The radiator will need to be narrowed some as it will not fit into the body as it needs too. Test fit and sand down the sides till it slides easily into the core support.

 

Step 6 body………

The Hudson’s body does have some mold seams that will need to be removed. take care when sanding near the trim. You will also need to carefully remove the back up lights and fill in the side view mirror mounting holes. I used styrene rod and super glue for that.

Hudson drivers of the day removed the fender skirts when the cars were set up for racing and you will need to do the same. The scribe line indicating the front of the skirt is placed to far forward in the kit and you will need to make your cut a quarter inch back from the line for the correct wheel opening.

Most of the pictures from the era show these Hudson’s racing with the side windows open so I removed them from the window assembly before installing it.

 

 

There seems to be some debate as to the correct color for Tim Flocks Hudson. Some say its a darker grayish blue while others contend its a light sky blue. I chose the light blue for 3 reasons. First at least 3 diecast replicas of this car are done in the light blue. Second the black and white photos of the car seem to show a lighter color. Third at least 2 full sized replica tribute cars are done in the light blue.

I used Testors light blue and Wimbledon white paint for my build.

Model King includes decals to do either the 1951 or the 1952 Hudson that Tim Flock drove. The decals seem to have a lot of “stick” to them so be sure to use a plenty of water and setting solution so you can position them.

 

Step 7 Final assembly…………

This is where you will be glad you trimmed the excess width from the radiator. The body will slide easily onto the completed chassis assembly now. My overall impressions of this kit are quite positive. A nicely engineered kit of a new and interesting subject matter that does require some care and patience but will reward your efforts.

*All Registered trademarks are the property of their respective brands.