THIS IS A NEAT CONVERSION from resin manufacturer Jimmy Flintstone Studios, based on the Moebius Models 1:25 scale1953 Hudson Hornet. This creates a Flower Car, a type often seen accompanying American funeral processions.
Mat Irvine: What you get in the Jimmy Flintstone box is a resin car body that replaces the injection styrene body from the Moebius kit. Everything else comes from Moebius, even the hood, and it is a perfect fit. There are only two modifications necessary to get the Flintstone bodywork to fit.
Jimmy Flintstone provides the resin body (below). Other parts, including the hood, come from the Moebius kit. Note the fit of the styrene hood into the resin body.
First, you need to trim the tops off the Moebius rear wheel housings, to allow a good fit on the new pickup bed. Second, the interior side panels need their rear sections removing. The rear seat isn’t used, and the kit’s windows require a bit of juggling to fit the resin surrounds, but as far as modifications go, that’s about it.
Modifying the kit chassis (below) allows a fit for the pickup section.
Dealing with resin, especially modern resin parts, is not that different to an all-styrene kit. The moulding is somewhat thicker, and occasionally you may get slight irregularities, maybe where a small air-bubble has got trapped. This is not apparent here though, as Jimmy’s moulding is very good.
The lower rocker panels on the body needed slight cleaning up, but these are very intricate with loads of fine lines. The resin needs to be de-greased, as resin parts usually have the remnants of a mould-release agent in them, and some of this can stay on the surface. A good wash with warm soapy water usually does the trick, or there are proprietary model products available, or white spirit or methylated spirits/denatured alcohol can be used. But take care - cleaners are flammable.
Marking out the interior side panels (below).
Use a good model primer on the resin surface, and with the hood in position you should soon end up with a surface that is indistinguishable whether it started as resin or styrene.
Test-fitting the interior (below).
Comparing the two bodies, the Moebius kit (below left) and the Flintstone resin flower car version. The bodies are the same length, but here the resin's weight of the resin has tipped it backwards, giving the picture a foreshortened effect.
Then add whatever top coat colour you choose. Here, to keep in the mood, I chose Testors Kandy Purple Pearl (52923) over a matt blue base. The interior was painted with Humbrol Gloss Purple (68), over which I sprayed Testors Flat Varnish.
Painting the resin body and styrene hood (below) offers no real problems. The wire carriers avoid any handling issues during the spray process.
After that, making the model was down to adding chrome trim, and being a 1950s-era car, there’s a lot of it. The rocker panels are aluminium not chrome, and Bare-Metal Foil makes a suitable material for this, as well as the more usual shiny chrome.
The finished model, complete with flowers. They would probably be arranged in a slightly neater fashion if the occasion was an actual funeral.
The grille and bumpers are taken straight from the Moebius kit and the fit is excellent - they drop into place, as they would with the original bodywork, even if they need an adhesive such as superglue to hold them in place. Resin is close enough these days to styrene, but it doesn’t attach well using liquid cement.
The flowers (below) came from this set made by JTT Trees, actually intended primarily for model rail layouts.
Assembled models of the Moebius Hornet sedan (below left) with the Jimmy Flintstone Flower Car version. Of course, you don't have to make funeral wheels - the body style is suitable for dozens of other uses. Beachside surf wagon, Auto accessories, Fire or Police Chief car, even a produce hauler used to take foodstuffs to a Farmer's Market.
Summation
The Jimmy Flintstone conversion allows for an interesting conversion, and is not difficult to use.
Scale stats
Jimmy Flintstone: 1953 Hudson ‘Flower Car’
Scale: 1:25
Parts: 1 resin
Assembled length: 120 mm (8 in)
Manufacturer’s ref: 246
Plenty of cool stuff at Jimmy Flintstone Studios here.
Flowers and other greenery from JTT here.