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This is the AMT kit of the Thomas
Flyer, the winner of the 1908 New York to Paris race. But a lot of
those race version kits have been build already, some of them are
really very good, and I was looking for something different to do
with this kit. As the race car was actually a normal Thomas, taking
from the production line a in a very short time converted to a car
ready for the New York to Paris race, I decided to convert the kit
back from race to stock version, a Runabout version to be precise. I good idea and it worked out fine at the end, but the time involved with the research how a 1907 Thomas Flyer Runabout would have looked like took a lot of time. Eventually I had all the information and started working at the most difficult thing, the stock fender assembly. I used pictures of original Thomas cars to get a period correct 'look and feel' of the fenders and running boards. Here are some pictures of an early mock up. |
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The dashboard/interior layout was also changed to get a more period correct layout. Here is a picture of the scratch build floorboard with pedals, gauges and ignition box. |
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I had to design a lot of other things, like what to
with the spare wheels, how to mount them. And the headlights, darn,
after I made the fenders I discovered that the original position
didn't work, no room. A lot of problems to solve, but I think the
result looks very convincing. |
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