'27 T Highboy Roadster - Completed, Now Showing Under Glass

[Bernard Kron]

Ford ’27 T buckets are relatively rare in the scale model world. The main reason for this is because there are no kits and very few supporting parts for them. Virtually everything must be either kit –bashed or scratch built. This is ironic because resin re-pops of some mysterious and, as far as I’ve been able to find, undocumented donor model are commonly available from several different resin vendors. IMHO far and away the finest resin 27 T is made by Altered States Models: super crisp, styrene-like and with a very nice partial firewall detail. This is the basis for this project.

I’ve been wanting to build a ’27 T highboy for a long time. There are 3 influences that I’ll site, 2 I think are each exceptional in their own way, and one that is iconic and which I have never liked.

The icon is the George Barris Twister T, AMBR winner in 1962. For me this car is a bad dream with a sky high stance and countless details which crash into each other in a most unpleasant fashion. Unfortunately, like many bad dreams, this one remains firmly entrenched in my memory and has been since I was a boy. Making a list of what needs to be corrected on this car will lead to a very nice 27 T highboy indeed.

The Barris Twister T:

Most closely related to the Twister T, indeed in many ways the Barris car “done right”, comes out of Roy Brizio’s shop in the early 90’s and featured in Volume 1, No. 1 of The Rodders Journal. Classic Brizio in every way, and an indicator of what was to be the “TRJ Look” in the years to come, it’s immaculate, period correct, and tasteful. Built for James Stroupe, pictures of it are virtually non-existent on the web, so these are scans from my copy of TRJ.

The Stroupe ’27 T Hiboy:

And finally, probably my favorite, the ex-Dennis Lacy car first made known to me by Dennis a few years back with a magical photo of the car at Big Bear. The polar opposite of the Stroupe car, but a deadly serious period hot rod and no aRt Rod in any way. Loaded with authentic pre-’48 parts and a full house flattie, what makes this car special to my eyes is the perfectly balanced stance, a true highboy in character, but graceful and sleek nonetheless. These are the only pictures I was able to find remaining on the net that show the car to advantage. The stance of this car is where I would like to go, but perhaps with a somewhat later period in finish and detail.

The Dennis Lacy ’27 T Highboy:

So now to the job at hand. I’m trying not to let this project get away from me, so I’ve decided to let it’s Revell Deuce roots show through somewhat. The frame is Revell Deuce, and quite likely much of the suspension will be, too. The most difficult thing about doing a resin 27 T is that no interiors exists for the car. So if you’re going for a proper tuck ‘n’ roll interior you have a challenge ahead of you. In my case I’ve found a way to adapt the Revell side panels and bench seat from the original Highboy ’32 Ford issue. The chassis is z’d at the rear in an attempt to achieve some of the balance of the Lacy car. So far I have no wheels/tires or suspension on the build so we’ll see how that goes. I’m planning on a Deuce grille shell so my car will be quite different. I’m shooting for some sort of period OHV V8, probably with a fair bit of chrome to pay to my recurring Twister T nightmare. I’ve done a ton of Caddy powered rods so it will quite likely have to be something else..

Below are the initial build pics.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

Edited September 7, 2014 by Bernard Kron

[MikeBoyle]

Looking forward to seeing this progress.

[slusher]

Off to a good start. Cool subject to follow..

[Jantrix]

Looking forward to seeing more.

[wayne swayze]

I'm definitely going to be watching this new build. Love the look with the body on the frame rails!

[crazyrichard]

nice !

[johnbuzzed]

I'll be watching this one, too.

[southpier]

great historical research

[dragzz]

off to a great start cant wait to see more

[tim boyd]

Ford ’27 T buckets are relatively rare in the scale model world. The main reason for this is because there are no kits and very few supporting parts for them. Virtually everything must be either kit –bashed or scratch built. This is ironic because resin re-pops of some mysterious and, as far as I’ve been able to find, undocumented donor model are commonly available from several different resin vendors. IMHO far and away the finest resin 27 T is made by Altered States Models: super crisp, styrene-like and with a very nice partial firewall detail. This is the basis for this project.

I’ve been wanting to build a ’27 T highboy for a long time. There are 3 influences that I’ll site, 2 I think are each exceptional in their own way, and one that is iconic and which I have never liked.

The icon is the George Barris Twister T, AMBR winner in 1962. For me this car is a bad dream with a sky high stance and countless details which crash into each other in a most unpleasant fashion. Unfortunately, like many bad dreams, this one remains firmly entrenched in my memory and has been since I was a boy. Making a list of what needs to be corrected on this car will lead to a very nice 27 T highboy indeed.

The Barris Twister T:

Most closely related to the Twister T, indeed in many ways the Barris car “done right”, comes out of Roy Brizio’s shop in the early 90’s and featured in Volume 1, No. 1 of The Rodders Journal. Classic Brizio in every way, and an indicator of what was to be the “TRJ Look” in the years to come, it’s immaculate, period correct, and tasteful. Built for James Stroupe, pictures of it are virtually non-existent on the web, so these are scans from my copy of TRJ.

The Stroupe ’27 T Hiboy:

And finally, probably my favorite, the ex-Dennis Lacy car first made known to me by Dennis a few years back with a magical photo of the car at Big Bear. The polar opposite of the Stroupe car, but a deadly serious period hot rod and no aRt Rod in any way. Loaded with authentic pre-’48 parts and a full house flattie, what makes this car special to my eyes is the perfectly balanced stance, a true highboy in character, but graceful and sleek nonetheless. These are the only pictures I was able to find remaining on the net that show the car to advantage. The stance of this car is where I would like to go, but perhaps with a somewhat later period in finish and detail.

The Dennis Lacy ’27 T Highboy:

So now to the job at hand. I’m trying not to let this project get away from me, so I’ve decided to let it’s Revell Deuce roots show through somewhat. The frame is Revell Deuce, and quite likely much of the suspension will be, too. The most difficult thing about doing a resin 27 T is that no interiors exists for the car. So if you’re going for a proper tuck ‘n’ roll interior you have a challenge ahead of you. In my case I’ve found a way to adapt the Revell side panels and bench seat from the original Highboy ’32 Ford issue. The chassis is z’d at the rear in an attempt to achieve some of the balance of the Lacy car. So far I have no wheels/tires or suspension on the build so we’ll see how that goes. I’m planning on a Deuce grille shell so my car will be quite different. I’m shooting for some sort of period OHV V8, probably with a fair bit of chrome to pay to my recurring Twister T nightmare. I’ve done a ton of Caddy powered rods so it will quite likely have to be something else..

Below are the initial build pics.

Thanx for lookin’,

B.

**********************

Bernard....can't wait to see this one take shape. There was a simply killer '27 T Turtledeck at Goodguys Nats this weekend - not only that, it was Y-Block powered. YEA! It's not exactly what you are doing (for one, it doesn't have the '32 frame), but I do think it's in the spirit of those that you show above. Here's a look:

There's several more images at the bottom of this page of my 2014 Goodguys Photo Album - these are from the Host Hotel Party Thursday night, but I'm almost sure I took more shots of it on Friday at the main event as well; these would be much further along in the 2014 Goodguys folder (UPDATE - these Friday shots are shown in the next post below). Here's the link: http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/11-scale-automotive/2014-goodguys-colum/page5.html

I also built a couple of these myself - a channeled '27 T Turtledeck (with a Y-Block) about five years ago, and a '27 T Roadster pickup on the Revell '32 Frame about ten years ago.

The body that seems to show up most commonly among the resin vendors I think may have its roots in either a master from the late Ron Cash, or perhaps the master from Tim's Resin Rods (a NorCal resin vendor who was active around the turn of the century). But I guess I need to check out that Altered States body you mention, as the ones I have are not 100% correct as you indicate.

Anyway, great project and really looking forward to you applying your design talent and model building expertise to this subject.

Best regards...TIM

Edited July 15, 2014 by tim boyd

[tim boyd]

Here are the other shots of the car, during the main event on Friday.....

....plus several more closeups of the Ford Y-Block engine (which would be easy to duplicate using the unit in the Revell '57 Ford Custom Sedan kit and the tri-power manifold from Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland or the old AMT '57 T-Bird kit.... http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/11-scale-automotive/2014-goodguys-colum/page21.html

Best Regards....TIM

[Bernard Kron]

That ‘27T is just breathtaking, Tim! Of course it’s a LoBoy. I built a LoBoy ‘27T a couple of years ago. It was done in a late-50’s show car style, not the handsome Contemporary Traditional TRJ style of this one. Also, my modeling skills have progressed since then so I guess I’d better do another one…

Over on the TRaK board Dennis Lacy posted some comments about the origins of all the ‘27T roadster resin repops out there. In them he referenced an article you wrote around 1992. Here’s what he said:

The original body was made and sold by Ron Anderson's All American Models in the early 90's. I have an '92(ish) issue of Street Rodder magazine and in the Modeler's Corner column by Tim Boyd there is a picture from an NNL show, showing the body and describing at as newly available. It was in primer posed on '32 chassis. (Since then it has been sold by Altered States, Bandit, Jimmy Flintstone and maybe others.) I have studied it and the cowl/door area is from the AMT '27 Touring and the back may be modified from the XR7 (which was a '27 roadster under all that ugly) which came with the '27 Touring as a double kit in the first couple of issues. The body is okay but is more representative of a 1-piece fiberglass body and needs a lot of adjustment (mostly in the sides of the turtle deck) to look like one that came from Henry. It also shares the same problem with the '27 Touring in that the cowl top is flat when it should be nice and round. The Revell John Buttera '27 Touring body is much, much better in this regard.

He also provided some pictures he took on the last day he had his car before shipping it off to its new owner in Australia. They’re much better than the ones I found on line. He also posted some photos of the Coco Shimaya ‘27T roadster, a sort of upscaled take on his car.

The Dennis Lacy ‘27T on its last day in SoCal:

The Coco Shimaya ‘27T roadster:

[Bernard Kron]

The interior pieces are now completed. There’s still a bit of smoothing and polishing to do but I’m confident the fit is good and it’s time to move on to the stance and chassis setup so I can get an idea of what I have going on here.

The bench seat and side panels are Revell ’32 Ford Highboy pieces radically massaged to fit the much smaller ’27T interior. The side panels have been shortened, sectioned, curved somewhat, and trimmed to fit the sides of the ’27 properly. In the photos they’re held in place with tape so the fit, especially at the rear up by the top of the seat, is not as precise as it will be during final assembly. The bench seat had 3 pleats removed on each side and 1/8th inch half-round stock added and shaped to conform to the side of the cabin. The dashboard is the custom part from an AMT ’37 Chevy coupe kit, narrowed down and squared up to fit the ‘27’s cowl. Using a tuck and roll dash is an indication of the direction I’m headed in. I think I’ll be combining some of the early 60’s show car aspect of the Twister with the more conservative vibe of the Stroupe car but with the sleek stance of Dennis’s roadster.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

[slusher]

Interior is looking great...

[wayne swayze]

The Dennis Lacy roadster is so raw, yet traditional....I love it! Period hot rods are not only fun to build, but the research is truly educational. The challenge is to keep things period correct and to capture the "feel" ....not always easy. I believe from your previous builds, that you can capture the proper look, and this hot rod looks as you may be on your way to yet another home run! I'm going to watch this build all the way!

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx again, guys!

Wayne, your very kind. You might be interested to know that Dennis Lacy works with his dad in his dad's shop called The V8 Garage. They specialize in pure, period correct hot rods from the immediate pre- and post-war period. Dennis grew up around this stuff and built his '27T a few years back at the tender age of 25. Another HAMB member started his own version when he was 21 and Dennis contributed a post expressing how envious he was that that guy could start his "so young". I think it's incredibly exciting that these guys can create rods that so perfectly "get it" without all the "rivet counting" of slavish copies. I consider your comment a very big compliment because it addresses the very heart of why I build model cars.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Bernard Kron

[tim boyd]

Bernard....excellent progress....I've always loved that AMT '37 Chevy Street Rod gauge panel and I have used it countless times in my own builds...looks great here!

One other really fine '27 T (albeit with a sprint car nose) is the car Roy Brizio build for John Mumford that won America's Most Beautiful Roadster at the '13 GNRS in Pomona... here's a link to a Google Image photo

http://www.everythingsouthcity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/734072_10151313952484888_957672381_n.jpg

Another great example of the "traditional" feel that is so popular in the hot rod world right now. Glad to know so many of you "get" this...I was worried that maybe I was off in my own world on this subject...

One more thing....thanks for reminder about the Art Anderson (the writer was incorrect in his recollection of my article) roadster body. It too had its issues, but was good for its time. I could be wrong on this, but I thought that the Ron Cash body was a little different than Art's....they were friendly competitors at the time, IIRC>

What are you thinking at the moment for paint and wheels/tires? So many great choices here. MCW automotive finishes (www.mcwautomotivefinishes.com) offers most of the 1950's OEM Domestic pant color palette in airbrush bottles...as I'm sure you know, many hot rodders back then would choose a color from the current model year OEM paint offerings for their rods....and the Testors One Coat Lacquerr spray '62 Chevy Honduras Maroon has the exact same PPG formula code as late 1950's Buick Titian Red Metallic, which was frequently used by late 1950's hot rods....

Best regards...TIM

Edited July 16, 2014 by tim boyd

[misterNNL]

I hope all the followers of this build can appreciate the excitement obvious here between Bernard and Tim conversing and trading details and ideas.I was standing next to Tim when he took the photos he's posting and trust me when I say he was very impressed with this car we saw at Columbus last weekend including the"Ford in a Ford"part.

Great and very interseting build Bernard.I believe a lot of younger builders should gain some insight following this thread and seeing a period correct sttreet rod develop in your very capable hands.I know I'll be following along.

I'm trying to tell myself that I really don't need to buy one of these '27 roadster bodies.I told Mr.Boyd I already have more projects on tap than I have life left to build them.

[TFchronos]

Awesome progress!

[jbwelda]

tims resin still does business and can be found in person at the NNL West generally speaking. I think the body Tim referenced is still available or at least he had one or more last February.

I used the AAM 27 T for a build once, and glued the body, hood and track nose together into one piece. biggest problem with it was it was very uneven in thickness, one side was nearly a quarter inch thick and needed considerable thinning, and the other side was nearly paper thin in places and needed reinforcement with epoxy before much handling. still once it was stabilized it was very nice and I thought represented the subject very well.

Bernard your builds are always of great interest to me.

jb

[tim boyd]

tims resin still does business and can be found in person at the NNL West generally speaking. I think the body Tim referenced is still available or at least he had one or more last February.

I used the AAM 27 T for a build once, and glued the body, hood and track nose together into one piece. biggest problem with it was it was very uneven in thickness, one side was nearly a quarter inch thick and needed considerable thinning, and the other side was nearly paper thin in places and needed reinforcement with epoxy before much handling. still once it was stabilized it was very nice and I thought represented the subject very well.

Bernard your builds are always of great interest to me.

jb

JB - I would like to get a hold of anotherof Tim's Resin Rods '27 T's Roadster PIckup bodies (the one I based my article on that appeared in one of the other model magazine Contest Annuals (I believe) about ten or so years ago).

If you see him at the next NNL West, please try to get some contact info for me.

At the time, I remember his castings as being a little challenging to finish (seemed like they had excess release agent in the resin or something simliar), but I'm sure if the problem was on his end (and not mine), he's corrected it in the meantime.

He's also the only vendor I recall that has cast the '27T Roadster pickup body (as opposed to the several casters who have done the '27 T Turtledeck...) . His Roadster pickup also had a very nice interior bucket casting with tuck'n'roll upholstery.

Speaking of which...maybe I should dig out that model and photograph it....!

TIM

Edited July 17, 2014 by tim boyd

[tim boyd]

Here's a picture of my '27 Turtledeck from a few years back.

From memory...I used a Monogram "Little T" '25 Model T Roadster chassis (which was patterned after Model A frame rails),...and a thorougly kitbashed Ford Y-block engine (the engine in the new Revell '57 Ford Custom wold be a much better starting point these days...). The paint is '59 Buick Lido Lavender, although '55 Ford Regency Purple is also a very similar color...both these being available from MCW Automotive Finishes.

As you can see (reference Bernard's comments earlier about the difficulty of interiors for '27 T turtledecks), I cheated a bit here on my interior....

The body for this one came either from Tim's Resin Rods or the Ron Cash master, IIRC.

One of these days I'll get rid of the cowl racing windshield and install a proper '27T windshield frame...but only the lower half of it!

I don't want to divert Bernard's thread here by posting more pix, bu if you want more, see the bottom of the page at this link...http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/tim-boyds-124th--12/boyd-street-rods-ra/boydstreetrodsratro/

**************

Bernard...it would be way cool if we could figure out how to get our two models together for a comparo some day..yours on a '32 frame, mine channeled...and so on and so on. Even better if Tom Woodruff decides to build one as well (reference his post #18 above). And anyone else who might decide to join in!

TIM .

Edited July 17, 2014 by tim boyd

[johnbuzzed]

Tim- would you be able to do such a comparison via pictures? Figure out what angles, what distance, lighting, etc. you both should use to keep things similar, then post the results?

[Bernard Kron]

Tim, the interesting thing about the body shell you used is that it includes the correct panel detail below the lower edge of the turtle deck, something I haven't see anywhere else. On the other hand... it has a cowl seam just below the top door hinge, something which is not present in any of the 1:1's I've seen....

Your ,build is a really pure expression of the kitbash aesthetic. Very cool!

[tim boyd]

On the other hand... it has a cowl seam just below the top door hinge, something which is not present in any of the 1:1's I've seen....

Bernard...I noticed that too when I posted the picture and I didn't remember it from the build.

I think its a reflection/artifact from my lighting tent. <...pause...> Yep, just went upstairs and looked...there is no cowl seam on the model. Whew! Here's another shot where you can see better (kind of) the area in question.

And thanks for the compliment on the build! TIM

Edited July 17, 2014 by tim boyd