mr.moto 96 #1 Posted January 31, 2014 Hello! I joined this forum pretty recently and I'm probably not the typical forum visitor. I build scale models - usually 1/25 cars - and I've been working on an Electro 12 model. BTW, many of the model cars that I build are my favorite car and another South Bend native - Studebakers. I found this site while searching online for reference photos and manuals. It's a great place with a lot of excellent resources. Reminds me a lot of the Studebaker Drivers Club forum where the members have always been very supportive of my model building. Makes me want to have a real Wheel Horse (and a Studebaker). Anyway, this is where it all started: Probably not many people are more interested in the Wheel Horse than they are in the Indy Car but I'm building the tractor and may never build the car. The tractor in the kit appears to be Charger but after looking over this forum for a while I decided to convert it to the Charger's cousin - a 1969 Electro 12. I had already built the engine as it came in the box but I realized it wasn't correct for this tractor. This is what the first build-up looked like: So I stripped the paint off and did a conversion: The next order of business was building a mower deck since the kit didn't have one and what good is a Wheel Horse without it! I downloaded the manual for a 5-1422 (Thank you, Forum!) and started scratchbuilding. This has been a lot of fun! Here are a few shots from the build-up and the finished mower: The paint is Duplicolor Bright Red which is a GM color. I bought some IH Red at Tractor Supply but didn't really like the drying properties of the paint. The GM Red matches it very well and in fact I brushed on a little of the IH color as touch-up paint in a few spots and can't see the difference. Duplicolor is my preferred paint. It dries fast and hard. There's certainly more to come. I hope you enjoy. Most of the other major components are under construction right now and will be ready to post soon. 31 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zanepetty 117 #2 Posted January 31, 2014 Wow. That is awesome! Great job! That took a lot of skill to build that. I used to do models. Boats. Not tractors can't wait to see the rest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bmsgaffer 2,043 #3 Posted January 31, 2014 Thats awesome! You are very talented. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chazm 412 #4 Posted January 31, 2014 WELCOME TO NICE JOB , Keep the pics coming Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brandonozz 168 #5 Posted January 31, 2014 Very impressive. Talk about busting out the eye glasses and putting down the coffee! Looking forward to seeing the progress. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fourwheels0 191 #6 Posted January 31, 2014 now that's cool. can't wait to see the progress. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vinylguy 4,666 #7 Posted January 31, 2014 Is the spec plate painted or a tiny chrome and black decal. Awesome job. Can't wait to see the next post. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
userj8670 68 #8 Posted January 31, 2014 That's awesome! What did you use to build the deck? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torino 14 #9 Posted January 31, 2014 Wow, can't wait to see the tractor build. Making that deck out of nothing at all is really amazing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squonk 38,913 #10 Posted January 31, 2014 That's awesome! My eyes hurt even looking at it on here. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wheel-N-It 2,967 #11 Posted January 31, 2014 Very impressive. Talk about busting out the eye glasses and putting down the coffee! Looking forward to seeing the progress. Ditto on that!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmaynard 14,893 #12 Posted January 31, 2014 Wow! What a great job you are doing so far. As others have said, I too am anxious to see the finished product. Your eye for detail is amazing. Awesome job. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmaynard 14,893 #13 Posted January 31, 2014 By the way, do you have any full size Wheel Horses? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SousaKerry 500 #14 Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) Great job so far and I hate to be a rivet counter on you but the Electro 12 had the solid state ignition coil on it that was not round, although a lot of them were converted back to points after the pricey coil burnt up. Here is a picture of one http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY4WDEwMjQ=/z/PJUAAOxyVaBSp4l2/$_57.JPG Edited January 31, 2014 by SousaKerry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-(Moderator) 1,127 #15 Posted January 31, 2014 Great job so far and I hate to be a rivet counter on you but the Electro 12 had the solid state ignition coil on it that was not round The 1968 Electro 12 had magneto ignition with no exposed coil. 1969 &'70 had breakerless ignition. The early-production '68 Charger 12 (what this model actually represented) had a starter/generator K301 ~ which were leftovers from 1967. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hodge71 663 #16 Posted January 31, 2014 That is an amazing mower and Im just baffled by your attention to detail and creativity Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dodgemike 52 #17 Posted January 31, 2014 Outstanding! I have a hard time working on a full size one. Sent from my SCH-S720C using Tapatalk 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 36,945 #18 Posted January 31, 2014 Some really nice attention to detail there. What else have you built? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pacer 3,159 #20 Posted January 31, 2014 Well now!! I am certainly glad you were poking around and found this forum and we can now share your adventure of doing a horse model... cause with this teaser of the engine and deck means we got a lot to look forward to --- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 19,539 #21 Posted January 31, 2014 Incredible work! One of those deck pictures just looks like a fullsize deck on a green showroom floor!! Mike.......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HorseWhisperer 243 #22 Posted January 31, 2014 Sweet talent ya got there!Now motorize that cute Horse and mow a pool table! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr.moto 96 #23 Posted February 1, 2014 Many thanks to everybody for the very kind words and warm welcome to the forum. I didn't expect all this! I hope to get a lot done on the weekend so this is probably a good time to respond to some of the questions and comments. Is the spec plate painted or a tiny chrome and black decal. It's a homemade decal using the computer and inkjet printer. I make most of my own decals (all of them for this project) based on images that I find on the internet. After printing the decal I applied it to bit of adhesive backed aluminum foil and then to the engine. What did you use to build the deck? The deck is almost all made from various shapes of styrene stock available at most hobby shops. It took sheet stock, rods, tubes and quarter round of various sizes. There's also a little bit of 1/32" brass rod used. By the way, do you have any full size Wheel Horses? No. In fact, my lawn has so many obstacles that using a riding mower might be more trouble than it's worth. On the other hand, I could ride around the neighborhood on my Wheel Horse if I had one. I love cool mechanical devices and it would be a lot of fun to have an Electro or something. I have a hard time working on a full size one. MIne only has to look like it runs! What else have you built? Mostly cars in 1/25 scale and a few 1/32 scale. I love Studebakers but build lots of others, too. Here's a few samples: I call that one the "Cowboy Cadillac". 1963 Studebaker Avanti 1953 Studebaker Commander Starliner Customized 1953 Stude The "Slant Six Slingshot" 1934 Duesenberg Okay, I'm not showing you the ones that didn't turn out so well! Thanks again, everybody. 8 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
groundhog47 347 #24 Posted February 1, 2014 (edited) Wow. That is awesome! Great job! That took a lot of skill to build that. .... Mr. Moto, totally agree with Zane...can't wait to see tractor. If ya ever plan a trip to Shreveport send a PM and we'll find some food or coffee or both somewhere. for sharing your expertise with us and :to Edited February 1, 2014 by groundhog47 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
meadowfield 2,545 #25 Posted February 1, 2014 Omg, that's awesome! :notworthy: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
