alan barton

When everything had dried overnight I took a look at the car and it looked too fat, ie, tool tall in the height of the doors. Early Monogram kits were at best twenty footers - they weren't dead nuts to scale. After some serious eyeballing I elected to saw off 3mm or 1/8th inch from the bottom of the rockers and then replace the lower moulding, both sides, with 2mm Evergreen half round. I also rescribed the lower door line at this stage. After some more filing, sanding and puttying, it was time for the first coats of primer. So as of tonight, we have a mockup. The front wheels are resin versions of the Boothill Express front wheels and tyres form thepartsbox.com. The back wheels and tyres are Ice T but probably wont stay. It's looking pretty tough but there is a long way to go! Cheers Alan

The spare cowl from the box of parts was split and cracked and missing the windshield opening. After a bit of thought I decided to start with a windshield shaped hole in a piece of thick styrene! After finessing the fit for a while< then cut way the lower section that would not be needed and glued it, slightly oversize, to the body. Once again, plenty of filing, puttying, sanding and priming followed. About the same time I tackled the swage lines or body mouldings on the side of the coupe. I was originally going to use either flat or half round styrene to form these - that seemed pretty obvious. The more I studied it, the more I decided an easier was would be to first run the whole swage line from firewall to lower rear corner using one strip of 1.5mm quarter round. When that had dried, I ran a second piece above the first piece, tapering it off as it began to curve. Finally I took a third piece of 1.5mm half round and glued it upside down in the valley between the first two pieces. The main reasons for this long winded operation was that a) the thin strips were easier to curve accurately and b) there is quite a change in thickness of the body moulding over the length of the car. Another strip of 1.5 was used to make the wheel arch. You will see that I also cut a huge gaping hole out of the firewall and cowl - hey, it was already split and broken so no crime here! These models are approximately 1/20th scale which restricts the amount of parts available for a project like this. I did have a big ol' Hemi lying around from a Monogram Sizzler so that led me to choose an early sixties altered coupe as the them for this build.

So last week, I started thinking about tackling another build. The first issue was that the box had contained three left hand side panels and 1 right hand side panel - so in effect I only had 2/3rds of the second body. There are plenty of other parts missing but I figured there was no point starting to look for parts if I couldn't replace the missing side. I started by tracing the spare right hand side onto a sheet of 1mm white styrene. Before attempting to do any shaping, I began cutting out the windows. I started by drilling a series of holes in the waste area and then trimming them to size with a sharp X-Acto. The thing is, if I was going to duplicate the window mouldings, I had to cut the window opening to the larger size of the moulding. I checked regularly with the spare left hand side to see how I was going. When I was happy with the size I rounded the edges by sanding them smooth to duplicate the mouldings. Next, I cut a piece of styrene roughly the size the side window area of the coupe and then marked out the actual window openings, Again I used drills to hog the area out but I didn't trim them to the exact size. I felt it would be too easy to misjudge their size, shape or positioning. Tamiya liquid cement was used to glue the piece on the inside of the side panel. While this was drying I clamped it to the spare side piece to aid in achieving the correct curvature of the side panel. I was now ready to cut out the overall shape of the side panel and sand it to get as closes a fit as possible. Flat Evergreen strip was added along the top edge to form the basis of the gutter. The gutter would not be sanded to shape until the body was assembled. Small strips of flat strip were glued to the front edge of both side panels and the last step for this stage was to glue the cowl onto the body and clamp everything in position on the frame - a bit of a handful if I say so myself!

Finally, after a lot more fine sanding, it was painted in a Dupli colour Mazda metallic blue with plenty of clear. Considering that this is the only one I had ever come across for sale in Australia, I was very happy to finally park this one in my collection. These old Monograms are a great window into the history of modelling and I treat them as such - I see no point in attempting to super detail or accurize these models as there are plenty of far nicer examples of these cars in model form, especially the Revell version. Cheers Alan

It took a few rounds of putty/sand/prime before the body was ready for paint. Considering what it looked like when I started, I was pretty happy with these results. The front cycle fenders also needed a few telescoping sleeves of aluminium tubing to get them firmly located on the axle.

The chassis had a broken front crossmember that needed reinforcing. Otherwise all the parts were there to get it back on wheels. I considered fitting the original electric motor but decided it would only complicate things and left it out. I was missing some of the original wheelbacks so had to use short lengths of K and S aluminium tubing to make the replacement items fit the axle. Some of the tyres had handpainted whitewalls so I did the same on the replacement one that I used. Its a lot whiter but maybe it will yellow with age to match the others? Engine assembly went well and it was great to see it all together.

Some years ago I bought a box of gluebombed Monogram Sport Coupe parts for $25 in an Adelaide antique store. I figured there were enough decent parts in there to build one of my holy grails. recently I had another look in the box and figured I had enough to get another one out of those parts if I combined them with other parts in my stash. Before we start, for the benefit of newcomers to the hobby, this is NOT a model of a 1932 Ford Sports Coupe. It is a model of a five window coupe. The sports coupe had a fixed fabric top behind the doors, where the quarter windows are on a five window coupe. Just thought I would clear that up for those who weren't aware. The first photo shows the contents of the box. Plenty of old enamel paint, plenty of glue but the bones were there. Second photo shows the results of paint stripping in caustic soda. I got the basic body panels assembled although they needed a bit of tweaking. There were some broken pieces of plastic missing plus some fairly rugged glue joins to contend with.

Thanks, everyone. It was a fun build apart from the bodywork and it is nice to know that others enjoy it as well. Cheers Alan

Hi Brock, No, it wasn't that one but it was very similar in proportion - the B pillar extensions were not quite as dramatic as the ones on Blowback.' The HK ute was an old Jaymar fibreglass body. There is no nice way to say this - these are incredibly hard to build. The fibreglass will shatter and crack if you so much as look at it. You cant see it in the photos but the last thing I had to do to the HK was to use five minute epoxy to glue the dashboard in place. While holding it between my finger and thumb til it set, the bonnet split straight down the middle! I dont know if any Aussie caster does the HK ute these days but if at all possible get a resin one, not a fibreglass one. I have now built seven Jaymar models and they all caused a massive amount of grief because of the inherent brittleness of fibreglass and the extraordinary amount of clean-up required. Every single one of them split or cracked at some stage of construction and I would not call myself a heavy handed model builder. For my ute I made a vacformed copy of an original HK promo chassis - a very rare piece. thepartsbox.com makes a resin chassis and I think this would be your most economical choice. The chassis out of any AMT 67-68-69 Camaro should work as well. Alternatively, FullBore Models do a highly detailed 3D printed HT Ute if my memory is correct but it is a lot more expensive - they may sell the chassis unit separately as I have bought their excellent Holden independent front ends off them as stand alone parts. Hope that helps! Cheers Alan

My apologies to the hard working moderators here, not sure what happened but I managed to make a duplicate post. Sorry bout that Alan

I haven't been posting a lot in recent years as I was the columnist for Australian Street Rodding magazine's Scale Rodder column and it felt like a conflict of interest to be posting models that I was featuring in the column. Sadly that has all changed as next months #400 of Australian Street Rodding will be the last. Following the untimely passing of the founder and publisher of Graffiti Publications, Larry O'Toole, the family has decided that they will close the publication down while it is still going strong. It is very sad for all Aussie rodders and especially modellers as in recent years it has been the only printed coverage of the model building hobby available in Australia. This project would have gone in a future column but I will now share it with you all here. I was first inspired by seeing a similar conversion in the first ever Scale Auto Enthusiast contest annual in the early eighties. I recall that it was built by a Swedish modeller. I started it about four years ago when I came across a spare Monogram T bucket body and a spare Revell 27 T touring body. Some will notice that this body looks different to the real Big Tub from Monogram and there is a good reason for that. The Monogram '23 touring uses full doors front and rear. If I had attempted this conversion using two long halves of a Monogram T bucket body, the straight rear door line would have intersected with the radius of those big pie crust slicks. On the other hand the Revell body had the radiused door line that would clear the tyres. A further benefit was that the Revell body came with a roof that was a near perfect fit on this conversion and it also came with a full rear seat and interior side panels. I also used a second rear seat to create a front seat, using flat sheet and putty to fill in the missing areas. The frame was also modified quite a bit a the rear. It was extended about 1/8th of an inch and the Zee was pushed to the very rear of the frame to clear the rear seat. Extra crossmembers were added in a nod to engineering requirements. The engine is a Nailhead Buick from an AMT 40 Ford, just to be different yet era appropriate with headers from the Revell Model A hiboy kit. The grille is cut down from a Monogram 32 Ford. The colour is Tamiya Lime green pearl over white primer. Getting the bodywork tied up where the two bodies were joined caused me enough grief to put it away several times over the years but I finished it a few months ago and am very happy with the results. Cheers Alan

I almost never build anything stock - I've been a hot rodder since I was 10 years old. But seeing your 27 T and 29 A on this forum, I am beginning to question my life choices. These are simply magnificent! Congratulations on raising the bar for the construction of scale automobiles in their original glory. Cheers Alan

I've been a fan of dioramas all my life and this would be in my top three for sure! Stunning attention to detail. Cheers Alan

My first kit was an Airfix 1/32 scale 1910 model T Ford. Pretty sure Dad built it for me - I was probably about 7 or 8. This was followed by a 1904 Darracq which I may have glued a fe2w pieces to. The first one I built myself was an Airfix mini Minor, glued up windows and all. My first 1/25th scale kit was the original issue Trophy series 1957 Fairlane and I never looked back! Except that I did, because I now have a collection of over eighty 1/32 scale hot rods, plus replacements for those three mentioned above. Cheers Alan

That's a great concept. A very modern take on a classic without losing any of its character. Cheers Alan

Nice build Phillip! I finished one a coupe of years ago. It does require you to remember all your basic model building skills, and patience is a must, but I think it comes out as a great kit. I love your woodgrain dash and steering wheel! Cheers Alan

That is really impressive Jesse! I have some Aussie bodies in 3D printing to tackle myself and I expect this was a very challenging build to finish to this standard. David's photos prove how well you captured the original car. Cheers Alan

Like everyone else, I love the colour scheme. It looks so right for this car. Nice build! Cheers Alan

Thank you everyone for your very kind comments. The model certainly holds a special place in my collection. Cheers Alan

This model is a tribute to a every dear friend who passed way last year due to a sudden onset health issue. Larry O'Toole was the publisher of Australian Street Rodding magazine. I have been the columnist for the Scale Rodding column in this magazine for the last six years. I first met Larry when I drove my freshly minted 29 roadster across Australia in January 1985 to have a feature article done on my rod. We had been friends ever since. Larry was a hands-on hot rodder since he was old enough to drive and built a heap of cars during his lifetime. Most of the technical how-to's in the magazine for over forty years had been based on work he did in his own shed. The last one he completed was a red 36 Tudor and when his son, Al asked me to contribute to the issue commemorating Larry's life, I chose this car to model. It is a simple model which is just as well as I had less than three weeks to build it to meet the deadline. It is a resin body ( sorry, I don't recall the manufacturer but I have had it for close to 30 years) on the fenders and frame of an AMT 36 Ford coupe. Much of the interior was fabricated to replicate Larry's rod, including the pre-requisite right hand drive dash. To save time, I grafted the top end of a Revell fuel injected 302 Windsor engine from their 32 Ford series engine to the basic Pontiac block from the AMT kit. It worked far better than I expected and lets be honest, it is hard to tell that I had to resort to some sleight of hand to achieve the look I required. Colour is Tamiya Bright Red with Tamiya Gloss clear, all from the spray can and polished with Tamiya fine rubbing compound. In a few months the magazine will celebrate its 400th issue and the model column will be celebrating its 302nd issue. I suspect this might make it the longest running model column in a full sized hot rod magazine.... ever? My thanks go out to Larry for supporting our hobby for all these years, and to his son for continuing to run the column - Al has been the editor for many years himself now. I do hope you enjoy my tribute build to a true gentleman and a life-long hot rodder. Cheers Alan

That 32 windshield header panel conversion is a very neat twist on a traditional hot rod. The gold wheels are the prefect finishing touch! Cheers Alan

Bill, that is so smoooooth! I am in awe of people who can chop vintage rooves this nicely and get all the window mouldings re-joined without hiccups! I struggle on them every time - much respect here for your skill and patience. Cheers Alan

I've recently completed another five Switchers models . Truth is, you are way better off buying the Revell versions of any of these kits but as I am trying to assemble one example of every model hot rod kit produced, I had to do these ones! Like any kit, they respond to some love! OK, first up, the 32 Tudor that I chopped when I was seventeen but only recently finished. I also used an AMT radiator shell, grille and headlights as the MPC items are clunky. The firewall is a resin copy of a Rat Roaster firewall. I was after a San Diego Prowlers look. Next up, the Sedan Delivery built from the Coca Cola release. Close to box stock but I grafted the fuel tank and inner fender edges from an AMT Deuce to fill that annoying gap across the rear. Again used AMT parts up front. The lowboy tub has extensive reworking done to the top edge of the doors and tub, using Evergreen half round strip, to improve realism. The flathead and pipes are from a Monogram Pie Wagon and seats are from a Stone Woods and Cook Willys. The roof is the chopped version from the AMT phaeton kit. The five window coupe is surprisingly close to box stock. The frame was perfect for a gasser, including the not very dropped front axle and the over the fender headers. Amt inner fender and fuel tank modification at the rear. AMT tyres and Cragar rims. The hood does run downhill a bit but it needs more work than I was prepared to do to fix it. Finally, the 32 roadster uses a Revell orange Crate Olds engine and an AMT windshield frame because the Switchers one lacks any real detail, as you can see on the tub. The most recent re-issue of the roadster kit came with the chromed grille and I used an original AMT cutaway hood to give it that 50s vibe. The interior is from the current channelled version of the Revell 29 roadster. Amazingly, they all use the Switchers 32 frame which is nothing like a 32 frame! Like I said, with a bit of massaging and a bit of love, they scrub up OK! A current project of mine is to graft a spare five window coupe roof ( they are separate like Monogram 34 and 36 coupe kits) to an MPC 32 Chev cabriolet - I see a 32 Chev 5 window in my future. Cheers Alan

Nicely done - you don't see them built much, especially stock! Cheers Alan

Thanks for the very helpful information - I have a set of Fred Cady decals for the Ala Kart but didn't realise that's how they worked. Will definitely be trying that! Cheers Alan