alan barton Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I blame Greg Myers entirely for this one! Seeing that gorgeous pearl white AMT 32 custom Tudor in the General section got me thinking about the various bits I have gathered over the years. So now it looks like I'm starting yet another new project. First off, here's the chassis. I had paint stripped it years ago but I had to remove plenty of glue as well. It was fairly glue bombed (check that rear panel!) and had massive sink marks along the length of the frame but it wasn't badly damaged and didn't take more than an hour with putty and sandpaper to get looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 I didn't even know I had the rear end until I went digging and found this. I used an X-acto and sandpaper to strip this part because it let me massage the shape of the radius rods while I was at it. Had to re-glue a spring perch but otherwise it was good to go. I also scraped the humongous mold line of the main spring leaf and will replate it with my beloved Molotow pen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 The interior is complete including the instrument cluster not shown here. It appear to be brush painted with Humbrol Gloss Black so that is sitting in my caustic soda bath as we speak. I don't expect it to strip overnight - Humbrol black and yellow always seem to take longer to strip than other colours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 Digging through my Buick box I found the original engine - I must have had plans for it once before because I had already stripped and primed it. I still had the original spark plug covers but will general freshen it up with new rocker covers and oil pan form the Revell Model A Hiboy kit. I just rechecked Greg's Internet photo and I have a hunch I have the original carbs and ram horns somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 I found the original front axle but it is missing one of the torsion lever arms - shouldn't be too hard to scratch up a replacement. The original torsion bars are long gone but the ones from the Iron Lady 32 Vicky kit should do the job. The rear axle has come up nicely with primer and just needs some final fine sandpaper to be ready for paint. I thought I still had a full set of clean-ish wheels but found two reasonable ones and these two with red centres - thank goodness for Molotow! Round 2 AMT parts Pack tyres will be perfect for the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 So here's the catch. Over the last forty five years I have collected the parts of two of these models. Some parts I have duplicates of, others just the one set. Bottom line is that I have enough parts to build one complete car EXCEPT for the body!!!!!! Not that I lost them, but both have been built into finished models - the clean one became my black full fendered Tudor that I posted last year and a very tatty one became an early California Jalopy Association stock car. A great use for both bodies but now that I have this bug to build the original custom, I can only see one practical solution - do a Vicky! I have several spare Vicky bodies so there is no pain there. I considered a Revell body but I only have two of those and I already have other plans for both of them. I also considered an Orange Crate body but I think it would lose its identity - everyone would see the Revell kit, not the AMT. It does however come at a cost - I would have to carefully cut and shut the custom interior to fit the shorter Vicky body. The firewall and the fender running board units fit fine. I could also imagine cutting the roof insert open so that you could look down into the custom interior. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this idea. And yes,I have the original Ala Kart style nose - but I have to cut it off a very stalled custom 3 window coupe project. At least I had never got to the paint stage so I will think of something different for the nose of the coupe. Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 Great project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 Looking forward to seeing this progress. One suggestion would be to remove the cloth top so that more of the wild interior can be seen. Tim Boyd did a phateon with that interior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris chabre Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 (edited) you cant just stop here!!!!! I love that interior Edited January 5, 2019 by chris chabre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 Thanks for the interest , guys! I have been talking to Muncie who has been full of information and assistance and he told me that the original headlight bezels were in the Blueprinter Grilles Parts Pack. Opened it up and there they were along with an Edsel grille which is apparently slightly different to the Double kit unit. So I went looking for the original nose and as I expected I found it on this long stalled 3 window. This is the old Monogram Beachboy's coupe (I think Snake45 would call it a backbirth!) but it was the only thing available when I started it. It is intended to be an east coast show car. I will concoct something new for the coupe - I always thought the custom headlight units form the 66 Corvair would make a startling custom nose piece so we will see what happens there. Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Alan, have you perhaps thought about using an AMT Pheaton body? The interior should fit without any modifications and you could make the rag top removable or just leave it off for viewing the interior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 8, 2019 Author Share Posted January 8, 2019 Not a bad idea, Steve, but I have something in the wind that could be even better! I am going to keep working on the frame for now and will let you know when I have it. Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 Great stuff Alan! I will follow your progress on this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 9, 2019 Author Share Posted January 9, 2019 A little bit of progress last night. I got home from work and pulled the interior tub out of the caustic path and it was spotless! I was very impressed as black often is very tenacious and can stain the plastic - the fact that it had never been sanded would have helped a lot here. I can't get over how pure white the 50+ year old plastic is! I also cut some fine mesh to make a backing for the grille and I'm pretty happy with the look. I also got some gold paint on the engine and rear end and some white primer on the firewall - but that may change - stay tuned! Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milo1303s Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Can't wait to see how you cut the interior tub to fit the vicky I'v had the same project sittin on the back burner for awhile just to many other project to finish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Nice to see someone go through the effort to bring back a never-to-return oddball. Here's another beautifully built example if you need reference: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 9, 2019 Author Share Posted January 9, 2019 Thanks for the link Casey. Somehow I missed this one entirely ( and I never skip a hot rod post, not sure what happened there!) It is a beautiful model, a real inspiration and a great reference as well. Only problem is, I am now confused with wheels. I had intended to keep the kit wheels purely from an historical aspect but Monogram whitewalls and five spokes are my favorite wheels of all times and look killer on that Deuce. Ahh, decisions, decisions! Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Would there be a way to be able to switch between the two sets of wheels and tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 10, 2019 Author Share Posted January 10, 2019 Believe me Bob, I'm thinking about it! The AMT wire axles would make it fairly easy to do. I often build full bodied or full fendered cars with different wheels on one side to the other (I used to be indecisive, but now, I'm not so sure!) but fenderless cars, well, it's kinda hard to disguise what you are up to! I got the instructions off the Drastic Plastic website today and they show that I am looking pretty good as far as parts go. I doubt whether I have the taillight assemblies but there are many other options - 49 Merc custom units, C2 Corvette, Corvair, all could be made to work. I'm not pedantic about getting every single part as per AMT but I do want to maintain the spirit of the model. After all, it is no beauty queen but it does accurately represent an era in both hot rodding and modelling history - that's what I want to preserve. Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 Made some progress on the weekend with the frame. I fabricated a new torsion bar lever arm to replace the broken one - it's just bits of plastic. The engine is glued in so that I can start getting the exhausts repaired and aligned. I found a suitable replacement for the broken rear shock ( I was amazed at how similar it was!) and got the rear end in place. I still have to add some details to the front axle such as king pins and hubs and backing plates - it's just a bit toylike in that area. And just for giggles, I dropped the Vicky body on for a mock-up but this is only temporary - more news soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Metallic Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 Alan, this is looking great. I'm a big fan of this kit. You know what they say about great minds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 Hey Craig, that is absolutely stunning! Sorry for the tragically late reply, I have been focussed on some other projects, both 1:1 and !;25 and hadn't got much more done so just tonight I thought I would post something and I find your drop-dead gorgeous Vicky! I love the Radirs, I adore the recessed insert in the rear and I can't hep thinking there is something tricky going on with the grille. if I get anywhere near close to this high standard of finish I will be a very happy camper. Last time I posted I hinted that something was about to change my original plans. I really should have got back earlier but anyhow, one of our fellow forum members who goes by the name of muncie got in touch with me and generously offered me a near-mint Tudor body to help with my project. To say I was gobsmacked was an understatement, I mean, who gives up such a rare part? Steve, I am indebted, believe me. To further the surprise, when Steve's package arrived in Perth Western Australia he had also chucked in another grille, saving me from sawing off the front of my coupe! And some lights, and the original instructions. It just doesn't get cooler than this! Meantime, my work has had me travelling a lot so modelling has slowed down a bit but I wanted to show you how this old showcar is shaping up. I very gingerly removed the top insert and will be putting a narrow flange around it to allow a tinted roof insert to drop in place so that all those beautiful pleats don't disappear. I'm not sure whether I had trimmed my pipes as I once had them fitted to a childhood Paddy Wagon build but there seems to be a bit of conflict between the pipes and the frame so I will need to massage these. I am using pins to line them up with the heads so hopefully I will get everything where it should be without too much stress. Steve just proves how good people are and what a great place this is for like minded people to hang out. I'm not sure when I will get the next installment done but thanks everyone for following along this far and I hope I can do the old girl justice. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocking Rodney Rat Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 I'm liking this...keep at it!!! -RRR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 Thanks Rodney. It is a fairly simple build but there are some details that will take extra effort to get just right - and stance is a big one! For once bodywork should be the least of my issues! By the time I get the chassis squared away I'm hoping there will be some warmer weather for a nice day of painting. Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 rear fender running board has just elevated this! )) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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