Building A Scale Model of Tom Mix's 1937 Cord Death Car

No posts.

Tom Mix. (1880-1940). Silent screen western actor of early Hollywood.

Greetings ~

I have been building model kits since 1957. When I began, Elvis was a household name. I have built cars, trucks, ships, buildings, entire towns, motorcycles, trains and airplanes. I've built with plastic, wood, metal, etc. Every once in awhile, I like to build historic vehicles. And death cars are historic. I built Bonnie and Clyde's death car, John F. Kennedy's death car and a few others. This time, I'm going to assemble early silent film star, Tom Mix's 1937 Cord death car.

Mix was killed in a one-car automobile accident when he lost control of his Cord and it overturned. I found a couple of '37 Cord kits. Later, I plan to build Amelia Earhart's Cord. But, for now, it will be Tom Mix's car that I've decided to build.

At this point, I'm undecided if I'm going to build this model as the restored car or, as the wrecked car. I guess we'll see at the end.

So, without further adoo, let's get goin' on this project.

Total Pageviews

Hello! I'm Mr. Ed

Blog Created: 11-26-2024

Blog Updated: 1-6-2025

Followers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First, the original car ~

I found photographs of the original car both before, and after the wreck.

Tom Mix with the original Cord.

The car, restored and how it looks today.

The car at the crash scene in 1940.

After it was towed in to the shop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Opening the box ~

This kit was wrapped from the factory and has never been opened. At this time, it was 14-years old.

The bulk of the kit is molded in white. There is also chrome plated parts.

Painting the body ~

I begin by spray painting the body parts yellow. Testors paint #1214T.

For my spray painting, I have an old box that I cut years ago. I've done a lot of spraying with this paint booth.

All of the body parts are spray painted.

Next, I'm using Testors flat black color brush paint. It's paint #1149.

The frame of the car is painted with the flat black.

So is the cowl.

Also, the front end parts are painted flat black.

Next, I sprayed a second coat of yellow on the body parts and did both sides.

All of the body parts are painted.

I painted both sides of the fenders and other parts.

Tom Mix's car's interior was red.

The seats are painted red. I'm using Testors flat red, paint color #1150.

The interior side door panels are red also.

On the real car, the steering wheel's center horn button is red.

So, on the model it's red as well.

The dash on the original car is yellow with a chrome backed instrument panel.

Since the dash in this kit comes in chrome, I just needed to frame it out in red.

The engine in the kit comes chrome plated. I painted the engine block flat black.

The rear axle and all four inner wheels are painted flat black as well.

Also, I painted the engine fan blade and the radiator flat black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTE:

I came across something that is weird. I didn't notice it until now. This kit does not come with a top, neither up or down. I thought this was strange so I checked over the entire instruction sheet and no tops are listed. However, all photos on the box show the car with a top.

This is very deceiving since, 30+ years ago, I built this kit and it had a top. However, I think that the kit that I built back then was an AMT or other brand.

Luckily, I happen to have two of these kits. I am going to use the other one to build Amelia Earhart's Cord later one. So I went to my model kits rack and pulled the other kit down and opened it. That one is also factory sealed.

When I layed out all of the parts trees, there is no tops included. Also, the box cover photos show rear side windows and the kits do not include these either. And they are also not listed on the instructions.

In the second hit, however, I found there is two windshields. Another part that is not included is the front driving lights and bar. So, to make the Tom Mix car, I will have to come up with something. As far as the rear windows, I know the kit years ago had them. So, this Lindberg kit is very deceiving and if your building this kit and want to include a top, good luck! When I build the "Amelia" car, I have no clue what I am going to do. That car, in all pictures that I have, shows the top up. On the Tom Mix car the top is down. So, not having the top in this kit is not a big deal. But I still consider this a royal rip off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the inner doors, the window cranks are yellow plastic.

To do the window cranks, I sprayed some yellow paint into a cup.

Then I used a toothpick instead of a brush to apply the yellow paint to the circled window crank levers. The center "metal" strip of the window cranks I painted silver.

With another toothpick, I painted the outside door panels with Testors silver paint #1146.

I also painted the gas cap on the rear body panel silver.

Then O painted the radiator cap silver as well.

The horn ring on the steering wheel was painted silver.

The heater control panel on the real car is yellow.

The heater control panel on the dash I painted yellow using a tiny, tiny micro-brush.

Construction Begins ~

We start the model's construction with t he interior.

The last of the painting is done with the tiny buttons on the heater controls. They are painted black using the toothpick.

First piece to be glued in is the back seat.

Then the front seat is added.

The front seat backs are glued into place.

The steering column comes as one of the chrome pieces.

In the Tom Mix car, the steering column is yellow.

So, I spray painted it yellow.

Now the side walls and rear trunk section are glued on. These sections have spots to guide you. However, the fit is not good.

I had to use a small bar clamp to hold them for the glue to dry.

Next, the back of the back seat is glued in.

The body design is less than perfect so, once these sides are put onto the body, they do not match up with the trunk section very well. This leaves crack separations where the parts meet. There's no way around it unless you want to fill them in with something like model putty. I don't!

The two rear fenders does not want to line up properly either.

I ended up having to use the bar clamp on the rear fenders as well.

Next, I painted the gas, brake and clutch pedals flat black.

Transmission gear box on the steering column is silver.

The transmission controls on the steering column is painted silver.

After painting the pedals, they are glued into the firewall floor panel.

The firewall is now glued into the body section.

I still don't like these section cracks.

Now the dashboard is glued to the body cowl.

The steering wheel is glued to the steering column.

The steering wheel is put through t he hole in the firewall and glued.

Then the dashboard and cowl is glued into place.

Now I start on the front end.

There's four tires plus the inner wheels and the outer rims.

They did a lousy job chroming the rims. Two are not good. But I'm stuck with them.

The inner wheels were painted flat black.

I glued the inner and outer wheels and rims into the tires. They fit really well. If you don't glue them, you will have a good chance they could come apart later on.

Now the engine is assembled. There isn't very much to it at all. Actually, only four parts.

Now the engine and front axle are installed.

The engine is glued in place.

The engine is lined up so that the hole in the engine is inline for the front axle.

Both the front and rear axles needed to be trimmed so t hat the holes in the wheels would fit. So I had to use the razor knife to trims the ends. I did this with both axles.

Now the wheels fit nicely.

I went ahead and put on the rear wheels also to use later.

I also installed the windshield glass panel for later.

The front axle is put on.

Undercarriage assembly.

Front body assembly.

I do not like the 2-piece front fenders. Again, there is a gap where they glue together. Poor design.

Reader to put the front end together.

The windshield is glued on.

I had to paint the hood exhaust ports silver.

The front fenders are another sore spot for me. I don't like the cracks where the two parts meet.

Now the front cowl area is assembled.

The fenders are in two-piece each. So they leave a crack which is not good but not too bad.

We're starting to get down to the wire.

The kit should be done in a while.

The hood is now assembled.

The front end is all glued together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTE:

I tried to assemble the front end piece by piece, however, it will not line up. The fender supports do not line up properly with the hood housing. So, I have to assemble it all as one-piece and hope for the best.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The frontend is ready to go together.

Once the front end is put on, the wheel fenders are glued in place.

I had to use paint bottles to keep them in place until the glue dries.

While I wait for the front fenders to dry, I have to create the spotlight bar for the front of the car.

On the original car, there was a set of three front lights. Two driving lights and a single spotlight.

Of course, since these lights were not standard equipment on the Cords, they are not included in this kit. So, I have to add them myself.

The center spotlight is mounted on a triangle bar and the two driving lights, or fog lights are mounted to the bumper.

For the fog lights, I had to get into my stash of model car parts and I found amber clear lenses. I also found clear red lenses for the tail lights later on.

I also found a single headlight that I can use for the spotlight. Plus I found a couple of thin, chrome rods to use as the bracket.

The glue is finally set and dry on the front fenders.

Now I put on the chrome exhaust pipes. These have been the hardest parts to add so far.

Getting the pipes through the fenders and then through the sides of the hood is no picnic. Maybe I should have tried to do it before gluing t he front fenders on. But I managed to get it done.

The bumper supports are glued on.

The next step is gluing the front bumper support in place.

I had t o support the bumper bracket with my large tweezers until the glue dries.

Now the bumpers go on. I put the rear bumper on first. I had to hold it on with the tweezers.

The small paint bottle helped keep the bumper in place while the glue dried.

Next, the front bumper is added.

Once the glue is dry on the bumpers, the large spotlight is glued into place. I had to use the large chrome parts tree to hold the light while the glue dried.

Once the spotlight was solid, the two fog lights are glued on.

Now the front license plate holder is added to the spotlight rack.

I decided to add a rear view mirror to the driver's side windshield frame. The kit does not include any mirrors. I had this one in my parts stash.

The last steps are now at hand.

Next, I assembled the rear license plate holder to the license plate light and bracket.

I tried to use the license plate decal that came with the kit. But it was so old that, once I soaked it and tried to slide it off, the decal fell apart. Lucky for me, I had some in my collection of old decals that still work. I found a pair of California plates to use.

I put the decal plate on the rear as well.

I mounted the rear license plate bracket onto the trunk.

This model kit is officially FINISHED!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm so happy that it's finally done!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE FINISHED MODEL ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MY PERSONAL REVIEW OF THIS KIT ~

This kit was somewhat, fun to build. It lacked in several parts. The box cover shows a real car and some of the parts on the car shown on the box are not included. Parts such as the mirror, front fog lights rear fender guards, whitewall tires and the top are all not in this kit. That's a bummer!

The other thing that I was not pleased with was the body cracks. The rear section of the body does not fit properly with the side pants. It would be much better if the body would have been molded in one piece. Plus, the engine has no detail to it.

This may be an old kit from Lindburg that has been re-issued as the instructions and the kit itself reminds me of kits from the 1960s period.

If you want to build the Tom Mix Death Car from this kit, the fact that there's no top is not important as most pictures of the original car during and after the accident does not show a top.

At first, I was going to build this kit smashed up as Tom Mix's car was. However, once I got it painted and saw that it looked pretty good, I decided to build it as the "restored car" instead. When Tom Mix had his car, it was white. The restored car is yellow and looks much better.

I did add some of my own parts to this car such as the fog lights, front spotlight and the side mirror. All-in-all, the kit displays well and is okay. I do have the original AMT version kit that I build around 30+ years ago and it is much nicer. Plus the AMT kit includes the top. My AMT kit is packed away right now. Once I get to it, I'll add a photo of it here to show the difference between the two kits.

So if you are buying this kit or already have it, it's a good kit to build. It will take the experienced modeler about two or three days to complete only because some of the gluing takes awhile to dry. Good luck! Have fun! And, I'll talk to you on the next blog project.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To celebrate, I think I'll head outside and do some target shooting to relax.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Report Abuse

Awesome Inc. theme. Powered by Blogger.