The Hornet's Nest

For many years, there were two big blank spots on my personal list of "cars I'd love to have as a 1:25 scale plastic kit". One is a bullet-nose Studebaker, and the other was a Step-Down era Hudson. By Step Down I mean a 1948-1954 model... it didn't even need to be a Hornet. And those were just on the car side of things... don't get me started on light trucks or heavy commercial subjects, I could go on all night. Yes, there were (and are) resin kits available in various levels of quality, but to me there's just nothing like a full-detail mainstream kit I can do anything I want to without fear of messing it up beyond repair and not having a Plan B. With a resin kit, if you bung something up, you can't just run out to the local hobby shop and buy a replacement. Especially if the resin caster you bought from has vanished in the time between your initial purchase and the incident leading you to require a replacement component from them!

In 2011, Moebius Models released their first-ever automotive kit, a 1953 Hudson Hornet Club Coupe. I got to be in on the pre-release action by building one from a prototype kit. Many variants followed over the ensuing years- '52 and '53 NASCAR variants, a '52 Convertible, and the most recent version, a '52 Club Coupe. The basic tooling also underpins the '54 versions of the kit. And I've built pretty much all of them at least once. So for me, yes, I'd say it was a good move on Moebius' part. I'm still waiting on a full-detail Bullet Nose Stude, but with all these Hudsons kicking around the Madhouse Warehouse, I'm not feeling nearly as much pain about that.

Here are my finished Moebius Hornets... all seventeen of 'em...

This is the Led Hornet... a play on "lead sled" and "Led Zeppelin". Maybe it was the Zep playing in the background that led me (no pun intended... maybe?) to build it as a '60's style custom with a bit of muscle car flair. This was built in the late summer/early fall of 2011 from a pre-production sample kit and was featured in Model Cars Magazine. It actually made the cover twice... there was a mix-up with the printer and it was on the cover as a featured article in one issue, but not actually covered until the next! Whoops! I also had a grammatical screw-up in the article that I didn't catch, but at least it was amusing (I thought). Let's just say I made it a tad too clear where the oil filter was mounted...

Fortunately the model itself was mostly free of screw-ups. I did misplace the firewall and made a new one from flat stock... the missing firewall magically reappeared from behind my workbench about a month after the model was finished. The car itself is mostly mechanically stock, but with a Pontiac 421 power plant. Since I built the kit a few months before it was out the pressure was on because I was going to be cutting it up a bit, which was another reason I kind of played it safe. I knew that Bill Coulter and Len Carsner would have the stock version covered, but I wanted to get people thinking of the possibilities beyond stock... both box-stock and factory stock. But not having the ability to secure any replacement parts tied my hands a bit- I was timid to do anything like chop the top, open any panels, or anything like that.

Some of the foil on the door posts ripped, I touched it up before taking finished pics but some of it tore again. Foiling all that delicate greenhouse trim is my least favorite thing about building a Moebius Hornet, but it's a necessary evil. I also totally missed the trim pieces molded to the windshield and back window- now I make a note to foil those areas. Speaking of... the model was on display at the local hobby shop for about a year, not in direct sunlight, but in an area where lots of sunlight was reflected. So now the windows are fogged, but strangely the paint and chrome are just fine. I thought about replacing the glass, but a few people convinced me to leave the milky glass in it, because that gives the model a backstory. I'm fine with that!

I had planned a much more extreme version, tenatively dubbed Led Hornet II, but as of 2018, that one is still in the "idea" phase. I'll get to it eventually.

The second one I built was from a regular production kit. I knew a convertible was in the cards, but I didn't want to wait. So I did what Hudson did at the factory... took an unfinished Club Coupe and whacked off the top! I also opened and hinged the trunk, and powered it with a Johan AMC V8. I also added some cruiser skirts in place of the factory flush skirts, and gave it a crusty "hornet theme" paint job... look closely and you can see traces of the "factory" green finish. A GM front subframe was used to bring down the ride height, and it rides on Corvette Rally wheels. There's a matching spare Rally with a skinny Firestone in the trunk as well. Also- I didn't forget to detail the trim molded to the windshield this time, but I painted it black to represent a gasket missing the chrome garnish.

And those were my first two. From here, I don't remember in what order they were built, so I'll just go through the others at random.

This was probably the closest to box-stock I ever built the kit. Even then, I swapped in some spoke wheels from the '54 Club Coupe, some fog and spot lights from the parts box, and the '54 antenna... even though it's molded way too thick, at least you can see it! Other than that, I just went with a teal and white color combo and tried to make it look like a nice restored cruiser. This one might get a window-mounted "swamp cooler" air conditioner some day.

When you like the basic design, why change much? This one has shaved handles, fender ornaments, and hood scoop. This started out as a NASCAR kit, so I kept the steel wheels but used some spare whitewalls from the Club Coupe kit. I also opted to repower this one with a Cadillac V8 from one of the old Revell Parts Packs. Hudson offered the GM Hydromatic transmission as an option, so many Hudsons that ended up hot rodded were powered by GM V8 engines.

Or leave that extra shiny stuff in place and lower it on some nice five-spokes! This is the '52 version, which has the triangular hood ornament shown instead of the scoop of the '53. And yes, the '53 scoop was actually functional... suck on that, Pontiac GTO! I kept the 308 engine in this one but added some carburetors with curved stacks from a Revell Tweedy Pie kit.

Then we have the modern take on that, with a simulated "aired out" stance and bigger-diameter wheels. This has had the 308 inline six hopped up with a scratch-built finned cylinder head. I got so sick of having to make a new finned head for hot-rodded Hudson engines that I made one good master and sent it off to Kris Morgan of Westland, Michigan. Now, you can buy your very own finned aluminum style Hudson cylinder head in resin from Kris' establishment, Morgan Automotive Detail.

By the time I built the "modern" '53, the '54 Club Coupe was out, so I tried a similar style on that one as well, but I went with big-inch plated steelies instead. It is mostly stock, though I did shave off the silly stone shields from around the rear wheel skirts. They're the one element of the '54 I'm not terribly fond of. Again, this one has a finned cylinder head, but I think used one I got from Kris this time!

Going back to the '53 versions...

The Handyman pickup was based on a few Hudson factory prototypes, as well as owner-fabricated pickup conversions. I cut away the rear of the roof from the b-posts back, as well as the trunk area, and added a modified bed from a Revell '41 Chevrolet pickup. I also "decontented" the car, for a low-line look. All chrome trim was removed, the bumper guards were filed away, and the chrome was stripped and sprayed in silver paint. I also modified the intake into a single-carb unit similar to the type used on lower-level Hudsons.

Hudsons weren't just NASCAR champs, many were still doing the roundy-round-gig on local tracks well into the early '80's. On this one I cut away the front fenders and fabricated door jamb detail, removed the skirts and the driver's side window frame, and added my own bumpers. "Small town" style sponsors were sourced from my spares pile, and I went with a somewhat garish-on-purpose yellow and blue paint job. I opened and hinged the truck and there's a fuel cell back there, unfortunately my amazing hand-built hinges jammed so I glued the trunk lid back into place.

I just HAD to try one as a Pro Streeter. I don't know why, but I had to. All of the trim was removed from the body except for the window surround trim and the new drip rails, which were added to replace the original molded ones that were lost when the greenhouse trim was removed. Wanting something different from a supercharged big block Chevy. I hopped up the 308 with a finned head and bigger carbs, and used the rear chassis section from a Revell '67 Malibu. Yes, it's pink, and I still might add some '80's style graphics to it one day.

Here we have the '52 "Hemi Hornet", which is what happens when you cross-breed a Hornet with a (1970 Super) Bee. There's a dual-carb 426 Hemi under the hood, a 9" Ford axle, bucket seats and a console with auxiliary gauges and a pistol-grip shifter, and some wide rear tires on five-slot mags. And the paint is Hemi Orange, because why not? People often ask me of all the Hornets I've built, which one is my favorite, and I usually think of this one when that question is posed.

I used the Jimmy Flintstone wagon body as the basis for this post-apocalyptic scavenger car. I used my imagination on this one and added some futuristic alternative fuel "doo-dads" to the engine, an elaborate roof rack, and various cast-off details in the interior. There wouldn't be too many two-door Hudson wagons prowling the wastelands, mostly because Hudson never offered a wagon (two or four door) during the Step-Down years. I have a friend who's really into post-apocalyptic video games. I don't remember the name of the game he told me about, but the story line is set in an alternate reality where The Cuban Missle Crisis (1961) actually escalated into war, so all the cars in the game are 1961 and earlier models cobbled up from spare parts and such. He said this car looked like something from that type of scenario, which is about what I was going for.

And of course, when the '52 convertible version came out, I had to get a couple. I'm not much into convertibles, but this is a Hudson Hornet too, and to me that overrides the lack of a roof.

This one was done in a WW2 aircraft motif and set up as a weathered cruiser with Olds Fiesta wheel covers. I actually stole the paint scheme from an M2 Mercury die cast I have. After seeing a 1:1 '52 Hornet convertible with a red interior, I sprayed the interior parts with Farmall Red and treated everything to a black wash... and it looked like a pretty good match! In addition to being lowered I also shaved the side spear trim, fender ornaments, and door handles. I'd planned to install an early Olds Rocket V8 but ultimately chose to retain the stock Twin H 308- which trounced early OHV V8's on the NASCAR circuit. The 308 Twin H, particularly when equipped with Hudson's infamous 7-X "Severe Duty" package, was a formidable performer. I might have to write something dedicated solely to that engine at some point.

For decades, many scrap yards would not take Hudsons because crushers couldn't compact their sturdy unibody husks. That meant that they'd often languish for years if nobody wanted to take a torch to them. This one represents a long-abandoned junker that's been picked of a few parts and used as a makeshift storage bin/dumpster. I still might add an up-top, or at least some rusty bows with some rags hanging from them, but overall I'm pleased with how it came out. This one might be my second favorite.

And now, we'll go back to the '54 versions...

A "lost prototype" '54 Handyman 4x4. I made up a "what-if" AWD Hudson chassis years ago and it languished until I decided to try a '54 pickup conversion. Much like with the '53, a Revell '41 Chevy bed was used, but this time I was able to retain the factory Hudson taillights. It has been repowered with a small block Ford V8- the idea I had was someone locating a long-lost Hudson prototype that escaped the crusher, and getting it back on the road with a modern power train swap. Unlike the '53 version, I also left much of the brightwork in place on this one... it's a "deluxe" version.

I'm really fond of my '54 Hornet Special gasser! It has an altered wheelbase, suspension components from the old Miss Deal Studebaker, wheels and tires from the Rat Roaster, and a fuel-injected, set-back Buick Nailhead from the Revell '29 Model A Roadster. Other than a chin spoler, an aluminum grille insert, and some general rust, the body is entirely stock. I also opened the cowl vent and added a screen to it to feed more air into the set-back engine's injector stacks.

I love the Hornet Special- the longer sedan roof just looks perfect with the '54's styling. I built the supercharged 308 engine a few years before the car and was just waiting for a car to stab it into. The idea here was a neglected old car that was given a mechanical refresh and turned into a cool cruiser. The chrome steel wheels and white wall tires are from the '52 Convertible kit, and the stock grille was cut away and replaced by a grille bar made from a skull and two camshafts. In hindsight I wish I'd chopped the top a bit, but I have another one I'm working on that'll end up getting the lid lowered.

So... I guess you can see where I stand on the kit and subject matter! That's seventeen finished models in the bag, along with at least as many in progress, and probably at least as many untouched kits. And I don't see it coming to an end anytime soon. By that I mean me building more, and Moebius bringing out new variants. When people ask me why I buy more than one example of a particular kit, I think from now on I'll send them a link to this article to show them why!