22 replies to this topic

[Bryce]

This is a project I’ve been working on for about 15 years - a replica of John Milner’s coupe from the movie American Graffiti. I know it’s been done a million times before but I tried to make mine as accurate as possible.

It’s based on the Revell ’32 roadster kit and uses a home made resin body I created by grafting the chopped AMT roof onto the Revell roadster body. The rest is either sourced from another kit or scratchbuilt.



















I’m a bit over this one and can’t really be bothered going into it, so here’s a link to a WIP if you’re looking for a bit more detail:
http://amcc.forum-mo...-coupe-t299.htm

[paul@detaildownunder]

Top build matey!!

[fordh8r]

Very nice! I barely remember the movie but I do remember the car.

[eburg_Dub]

nice work
i love that movie watched it few days ago for 100002 time

[RodneyBad]

Looks Awesome..
Nice build up ( I looked) and resin body..
15yrs for perfection..
Well worth the wait..

[KanelKustoms]

"Hey Milner- There's a very wicked '55 Chevy lookin for you."

Absolutly love the movie and love your model. Great work!!

[3men2s]

my favorite car movie and a very acurate build of the star of the movie,
yo need to do the slinshot of more american graffiti.

[Peter Lombardo]

I am as far away from an expert on that movie and the related cars as one can be, but your build certainly looks like the car that I remember. I know there is a lot of different ideas as to the "right" body and proportions, but this what I remember. I remember seeing an article in Scale Model about 12 or 15 years ago where a modeler from Japan (I think), had built all of the cars (this coupe, 55 and 58 Chevy's and the Merc) along with the figures. I remember being more impressed with the figure modeling then the cars, although the cars were great looking, the figures were spot on. Anyway, your coupe looks really nice and certainly worth the time you spent on it.

[MrObsessive]

I'm not much into street rods...........in fact I only ever built one, and that was over 20 years ago!

But I really like this one! The stance, the color, the cycle fenders..........it all comes together so sharp and clean!

Hmmm...............some inspiration I feel coming on!

[george 53]

G'wan Bill, You KNOW you WANT to !!! Jus let a lil o' that Obssesiveness o'yourn drible out onna po lil ol Mono/Revell 32 Ford SUMPTHIN! You know ya WANT IT, You've ALWAYS WANTED IT! Go DO IT, before sumpthin BAD happens!(or not!)

[Raul_Perez]

Very nice and highly accurate build, Bryce!!

The only thing you didn't show us a picture of is the glove box full of speeding tickets!!

I remember that movie VERY well. I was a senior in high school when it came out...and that's as far as we'll dive into that story on this forum...

Thanks for sharing,

[carrucha]

Excellent replica of a cool movie car. I have been working on and off on a model of Milner's coupe since 1999 so I know how much hard work you have put into it. You definitely captured "the look" of Milner's coupe.
carrucha

[tuffone20]

You can almost hear that thing coming down the street!! Very nice build for sure!

[Fletch]

Bryce, great build of what is the quintessential Hot Rod. If the Graffiti Coupe did nothing else it exposed another generation of people world wide to American Hot Rodding. Most any place in the civilized world knows about American Graffiti.

It's tough to build an Iconic model as everyone will be looking for any and every little flaw, always comparing it to the 1:1.

As always my friend a cleans outstanding effort netted you another winner.

[RodBurNeR]

Bryce, you know I love it!
I was showing it off to some guys last night in chat. One pointed out the body was too high.....I was like UGH....this guy doesn't build hot rods and doesn't know the real car very well.
I had to find pics of the 1:1 just to prove the body sat higher than the grille shell like your model does.
I bet there are some who thought the same thing and afraid to say it.
I wanted to post a pic of the real one so they can see the same angle on the rad supports etc.... AWESOME BUILD!

[Bryce]

Thanks for all the nice comments guys.

And thanks Bob for defending the integrity of my model!

For me it is just such a seminal car film, so I assume that if you’re into cars you will know and love this movie. Maybe not. So here's another comparison for those who may not know the movie as well as us die-hard hot rod kids:





Incidentally, I used the grill and surround from the AMT re-release of the actual kit version of this car and I think it does look a little low compared to the actual car. Maybe it's because the Revell body is correct height. It was one of the things that bothered me during final assembly, but as it goes with replicas, there will always be something not quite right and you can chase your tail forever trying to achieve perfection. I'm just glad to have it done.

Thanks again for all the nice words!

Edited by Bryce, 13 February 2009 - 01:48 PM.

[oldstyle]

A fantastic Replika of This Legend Rod

looks Realy nice

Uwe

[carrucha]

Which kit did you get the valve covers from?
Thanks,
carrucha

[Bryce]

Which kit did you get the valve covers from?
Thanks,
carrucha

Sorry mate - I've got no idea. I've been collecting bits and pieces for this one for about 20 years. Whenever I came across something that looked appropriate I just stashed it away for future use.

I used a lot of parts from the OLD Revell/Monogram '32 roadster - it is a good kit to buy for old school hot rod parts. I blended the chassis from that kit with the chassis from the Revell roadster to get something close to correct. The front axle and brakes are from the same kit, with wishbones added from a stock ’40 Ford or similar. The shocks are scratched as is tailshaft and the diff came from a Revell mid-fifties Chevy with scratched spring, radius rods and cross member. The engine is from the AMT 66 Nova kit. The manifold is a modified six carb from Revell Chevy and the carbs are from the AMT '57 Chevy kit. The intakes are modified from the old AMT stock roof height '32 five window coupe. The headers are modified from the AMT AG kit, as is the radiator/grill, cycle guards, rear fenders and headlight stands (that’s all I could salvage from that kit – the rest is absolute rubbish and bears no resemblance to the real car). Headlights are from my parts box. The interior is all Revell roadster with scratched dash. The rims are from the AMT ’51 Chevy kit - the best chrome reverse rims I know of in scale. You need two kits though as they only give you two widies. The front tyres are ’66 Nova and rear tyres are generic Goodyear Polyglas from any AMT muscle car kit. I used a piece of soft wire for the push bar at the back and a piece of aluminium tube for the front spreader bar. A friend made me some plates and the frames are from my parts box.

[carrucha]

Sorry mate - I've got no idea. I've been collecting bits and pieces for this one for about 20 years. Whenever I came across something that looked appropriate I just stashed it away for future use.

I used a lot of parts from the OLD Revell/Monogram '32 roadster - it is a good kit to buy for old school hot rod parts. I blended the chassis from that kit with the chassis from the Revell roadster to get something close to correct. The front axle and brakes are from the same kit, with wishbones added from a stock ’40 Ford or similar. The shocks are scratched as is tailshaft and the diff came from a Revell mid-fifties Chevy with scratched spring, radius rods and cross member. The engine is from the AMT 66 Nova kit. The manifold is a modified six carb from Revell Chevy and the carbs are from the AMT '57 Chevy kit. The intakes are modified from the old AMT stock roof height '32 five window coupe. The headers are modified from the AMT AG kit, as is the radiator/grill, cycle guards, rear fenders and headlight stands (that’s all I could salvage from that kit – the rest is absolute rubbish and bears no resemblance to the real car). Headlights are from my parts box. The interior is all Revell roadster with scratched dash. The rims are from the AMT ’51 Chevy kit - the best chrome reverse rims I know of in scale. You need two kits though as they only give you two widies. The front tyres are ’66 Nova and rear tyres are generic Goodyear Polyglas from any AMT muscle car kit. I used a piece of soft wire for the push bar at the back and a piece of aluminium tube for the front spreader bar. A friend made me some plates and the frames are from my parts box.

Thanks for your reply Bryce. Your building details have been very helpful. I have been looking for an accurate set of ribbed valve covers for my Milner’ coupe project for a while. Your model has inspired me to finish my coupe and hopefully I will finish it.
carrucha