1929 Ford Pickup 80's Contemporary Street Rod - A Tim Boyd Tribute!

[alan barton]

Thanks for your encouragement Tim, it means a lot, even more right now.

What a day!

I finished touching up the four bars today and then made an exhaust hanger to go under the Jag rear end.  Hope there are no speed bumps at the fairgrounds because I reckon it's only got two inches of ground clearance there but hey, ground clearance can be over-rated, right?

I then decided that I wanted to get the cab finished.  Turns out that with a bit of shaving of the door panels the doors will close without touching the dash.  This is a lot nicer solution than trying to cut the dash up.

I then added some carpet to the bottom of the doors and got the door handles glued on.  

There were marks I hadn't noticed before on the windshield so I made a new one and glued it in place.  There were some small glue marks on the rear window so all I needed to do prior to final assembly was clean those off and I could hang the doors.

And then it happened.  The windshield pillars collapsed.  Both of them.  I had polished the roof earlier today, being ultra careful and my efforts were rewarded.  And yet now, with only the tiniest pressure, everything has gone south.

For now, I have glued the pillars back together and will leave them overnight.  I hope to do some very gentle sanding followed by awkward masking and painting will get the repair as discrete as possible.

We used to have a phone company advert here in Oz where a clearly upset lady trying to be calm utters the phrase, "Not happy, JAN!"     That's me right now.

So here's a happier couple of photos of the interior, a pair of buckets from the Dan Fink Speedwagon and a console cut form the ancient AMT Mustang II interior. The dash is scratchbuilt with photo-etched instruments and pedals - yep, she's a four speed!

In the last shot, the left hand pillar is already glued back and the right hand one is hanging on by the thickness of the paint. We will see what I have in the morning.

Cheers

Alan

Edited March 28, 2022 by alan barton

[Kit Karson]

WOW! Kudos to everyone tuning in!!  We've seen some awesome things happening here in the "Trib" thread with now over 33K views over 20 pages of hi-test hi-octan pickups under construction from around the world!  Notable names sharing their collective talents for all to see!!!

Overcomers are a rare breed, and you can hang your hat next to a good one anywhere along in this thread.  This has become a novel idea @Dennis Lacya coffee table picture book of sorts... not for the faint of heart nor the prolific model builder, more of a Saturday afternoon matinee at the local neighborhood walk-in theater.  Episode upon episode from one character to the next with intertwined tips and how-to's.  Back when .35 cents would get you a front row seat and .15 pennies more would get you a bag of stale popcorn!  The better part of going to the show was walking past the Mom & Pop toy & hobby shop next door!  They'd let kids display their model cars that they had bought at the store and built at home.  Got more from seeing six or ten models all painted and lined up in the window out front than in the little pages.

Enough of the ol' days!  Heard from @Speedprothat more painting is going on up north and that he'd promised to share some in-progress pictures.  Until then, the current discussion between us is which one of us is going to assemble it when the paint dries?  My thought was flying back up to Montana and sit down together and finish the '29 Tribute PU & Trailer.

Glad to see the latest entry here... @foghorn62Tim, I've worked harder since retiring than ever before!  I thought working for myself would be a breeze... I'm a real hard boss to work for!  Wack to be exact!!  

Gotta keep encouraging everybody along the way as this has been an awesome challenge and thread to be involved in!  I'll talk to the throws to be and see if we can some coverage of the finished PU's in the Model Cars Magazine!?. -KK

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by Kit Karson
Text correction...

[tim boyd]

19 hours ago, alan barton said:

Thanks for your encouragement Tim, it means a lot, even more right now.

What a day!

I finished touching up the four bars today and then made an exhaust hanger to go under the Jag rear end.  Hope there are no speed bumps at the fairgrounds because I reckon it's only got two inches of ground clearance there but hey, ground clearance can be over-rated, right?

I then decided that I wanted to get the cab finished.  Turns out that with a bit of shaving of the door panels the doors will close without touching the dash.  This is a lot nicer solution than trying to cut the dash up.

I then added some carpet to the bottom of the doors and got the door handles glued on.  

There were marks I hadn't noticed before on the windshield so I made a new one and glued it in place.  There were some small glue marks on the rear window so all I needed to do prior to final assembly was clean those off and I could hang the doors.

And then it happened.  The windshield pillars collapsed.  Both of them.  I had polished the roof earlier today, being ultra careful and my efforts were rewarded.  And yet now, with only the tiniest pressure, everything has gone south.

For now, I have glued the pillars back together and will leave them overnight.  I hope to do some very gentle sanding followed by awkward masking and painting will get the repair as discrete as possible.

We used to have a phone company advert here in Oz where a clearly upset lady trying to be calm utters the phrase, "Not happy, JAN!"     That's me right now.

So here's a happier couple of photos of the interior, a pair of buckets from the Dan Fink Speedwagon and a console cut form the ancient AMT Mustang II interior. The dash is scratchbuilt with photo-etched instruments and pedals - yep, she's a four speed!

In the last shot, the left hand pillar is already glued back and the right hand one is hanging on by the thickness of the paint. We will see what I have in the morning.

Cheers

Alan

Alan....oh man, so sorry to hear this.  BUT!  Given the position of these breaks, and the apparent repair of the left side, my bet is that you can glue these back in place and the breaks will be virtually unidentifiable to all but those hard-core modelers still reading this thread.  In any case, you've got way too much time and effort invested here to not finish the project, warts and all.  Sometime I should put together a list of all the warts on my projects that no one has ever ended up seeing....a "true confessions" of sorts?  Anyway, all my encouragement to keep at it and bring in home....TIM  

[tim boyd]

13 hours ago, Kit Karson said:

Gotta keep encouraging everybody along the way as this has been an awesome challenge and thread to be involved in!  I'll talk to the throws to be and see if we can some coverage of the finished PU's in the Model Cars Magazine!?. -KK

 

Kit....yes, I've also pondered the thought that with as many views as this thread has generated, some sort of mention in the mag's section on ModelCarsMagForum subjects might be merited.  Certainly, some very cool subject builds here to look at!  Good luck proposing that idea to the "throws" (like that term, too!).  Cheers....TIM 

[foghorn62]

17 minutes ago, tim boyd said:

Alan....oh man, so sorry to hear this.  BUT!  Given the position of these breaks, and the apparent repair of the left side, my bet is that you can glue these back in place and the breaks will be virtually unidentifiable to all but those hard-core modelers still reading this thread.  In any case, you've got way too much time and effort invested here to not finish the project, warts and all.  Sometime I should put together a list of all the warts on my projects that no one has ever ended up seeing....a "true confessions" of sorts?  Anyway, all my encouragement to keep at it and bring in home....TIM  

Warts Tim?  You?  Come on!  I thought I was the only one that considered a build done despite a few warts.  But then, my builds don’t go any further than a display cabinet in a corner of my basement, and some photos online.  Yours go on display for thousands to see!  Amazing what you learn about people you thought you knew 😉. As for Alan, you can do this man.  I cringe when I see this, especially since I have drastically reduced the thickness of the same pillars on my build in order to accommodate a flip out windshield frame, and as I write this, my cab is soaking in the Purple Power soup after a failed paint attempt.  If it comes out with those pillars in tact, it will only be by divine intervention.  Sigh, If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Right?

TS 

[alan barton]

Thanks guys, I am not giving up!  Progress today has been OK.  The pillars are glued up and I am using sanding pads to bring the muck around the joint back down to level.  Then I will mask off all but the windshield area, paint it and quickly (and carefully!) remove the tape so that hopefully the paint edge blends in as it dries. It will be what it will be. I did get one door hung but wouldn't you know it, a plastic pin broke -surprise, surprise - so I drilled out that hinge and put a steel pin in to replace it.

Meanwhile I got the exhaust hanger glued in place and the exhaust headers painted and glued to the block.  They are modified hemi ones, from the 53 Ford F100  I think.

I don't think I showed the underside of the fender unit but I tried something new that I am really happy with.  The bottom of that fender unit took a LOT of bodywork and was not very crisp so I thought I would try for a texture like sound deadening or bed liner.  First, I sprayed primer on from quite a distance.  I then sprayed the Tamiya red on, virtually letting a red cloud float through the air and fall on the plastic.  Finally, I did the same with flat clear.  I am VERY happy with the results and will probably use it again in future.

In the last photos that I posted of the engine I wasn't very happy with my paint detailing of the Ford Motorsports rocker covers so I stripped them, ran Tamiya panel wash on the fins and then lightly sprayed red over the top.  Definitely an improvement.

So here is where we are now as I wait for some stuff to dry.

Cheers

Alan

 

[tim boyd]

Alan....all looking really, really good!   TB 

[Kit Karson]

I have another update from @Speedprowe talked for hours earlier today!  He shared pictures of the color combination for the rolled-n-tucked bench seat and matching door and kick panels.  Paul works with models the same way he works on the real thing!  I'm very pleased to say the Tim Boyd "Tribute" 1929 Ford Pickup 80's Contemporary Street Rod build that started in Georgia is being painted in Montana by one of the "BEST" model builder/painters I have had the opportunity to work with over the last thirty years!  @Rocking Rodney Ratand I have known about his hidden talents, but we're sworn to secrecy in a "Blood Oath" under a full moon on a stormy shore of the Puget Sound.  Brothers ever since! -KK

[Speedpro]

I'v been plugging away on @Kit Karson '29 trib truck repaint and have managed to get everything in primer. All the parts then got a once over and found only the firewall needed a little more love. I'll go over all the parts with 6000 and on to paint we go........................

 

 

So here's the color that's been chosen for the truck and trailer. Went with MCW 6012E Tasco Turqouise Metalic. Using the 1003E hardnener with it. Clear will be MCW 1017E Gloss Clear with the 1017EH added..................................

 

 

Here are a few of the parts that have made it to color so far......................

 

 

 

So far so good. Been thinking about interior colors as the inside of the cab must be painted before the outside. I'll update as things progress.

 

Speedpro

[bobthehobbyguy]

Great color choice.

[tim boyd]

8 hours ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

Great color choice.

What Bob said!!!!   TB

[alan barton]

First off, I think Pete's paint job just lifted the bar for all of us! Wow, is that going to look amazing.

Had a slow and steady day today.  The pillars are repaired and the doors are hung so tomorrow I will get the pillars repainted and put them aside to dry.

I dropped the chassis onto the fender unit this evening and spent a long time working out how to run the exhaust.  As I did so, I realised how close the layout of the crossmembers is to my own 1:1 in the garage - and the mufflers have ended up in nearly the same spot.  The real ones are actually canted slightly so that they tuck up under the valance panels but on the model flat above the frame rails will work fine.  Letting them set nice and solid overnight before connecting up the pipes.  Those mufflers are off the ZZTop 33 coupe, again, almost identical to my real ones except both my outlets are offset, not one end central like the model.

Finally put a decal on one door before I head for bed.  It may not stay on the car - it was ultra fragile and started to tear but worse still, had a film underneath.  I have been known to wash that film off but it will never happen on these ones.  I have used some Micro Set ( but no Microsol afterwards ) and will see if it dries clear in the morning.  If not, they come off.

Cheers

Alan

[Kit Karson]

20 hours ago, Speedpro said:

I'v been plugging away on @Kit Karson '29 trib truck repaint and have managed to get everything in primer. All the parts then got a once over and found only the firewall needed a little more love. I'll go over all the parts with 6000 and on to paint we go........................

 

 

So here's the color that's been chosen for the truck and trailer. Went with MCW 6012E Tasco Turqouise Metalic. Using the 1003E hardnener with it. Clear will be MCW 1017E Gloss Clear with the 1017EH added..................................

 

 

Here are a few of the parts that have made it to color so far......................

 

 

 

So far so good. Been thinking about interior colors as the inside of the cab must be painted before the outside. I'll update as things progress.

 

@Speedpro

Thanks, Brother

[Kit Karson]

2 hours ago, alan barton said:

First off, I think Pete's paint job just lifted the bar for all of us! Wow, is that going to look amazing.

Had a slow and steady day today.  The pillars are repaired and the doors are hung so tomorrow I will get the pillars repainted and put them aside to dry.

I dropped the chassis onto the fender unit this evening and spent a long time working out how to run the exhaust.  As I did so, I realised how close the layout of the crossmembers is to my own 1:1 in the garage - and the mufflers have ended up in nearly the same spot.  The real ones are actually canted slightly so that they tuck up under the valance panels but on the model flat above the frame rails will work fine.  Letting them set nice and solid overnight before connecting up the pipes.  Those mufflers are off the ZZTop 33 coupe, again, almost identical to my real ones except both my outlets are offset, not one end central like the model.

Finally put a decal on one door before I head for bed.  It may not stay on the car - it was ultra fragile and started to tear but worse still, had a film underneath.  I have been known to wash that film off but it will never happen on these ones.  I have used some Micro Set ( but no Microsol afterwards ) and will see if it dries clear in the morning.  If not, they come off.

Cheers

Alan

Can't wait to see this rubber side down and the shiny side up! -KK

[alan barton]

You won't have to wait much longer, Kit.  The big reveal could be tomorrow, all things going well!

Got a few things done today but the big one was getting the damaged pillars painted.  Next I made and chromed the exhaust.  I used Evergreen # 222 and bent it between my fingers.  I then taped it down and painted the underside of the pipes.  When they were reasonably dry, I carefully fitted them onto the car and then painted the top side, thus minimising handling the Molotow chrome.  Very happy with the outcome.  I also made a radiator support bracket for the top of the radiator, a radiator hose and alternator brackets - can't have floating alternators, can we?

Tomorrow just need to install the radiator parts and fit the overhead console and that should be it! See you then.

Cheers

Alan

[Kit Karson]

Alan, excellent recovery!  You've come a long way, BABY!!

Every builder in this thread needs to be applauded!!  -KK

[alan barton]

Tadaaaaah! 

She's done!  I will take some outdoor photos tomorrow in Under Glass . And I will be more thorough in dusting when I do! 

 It has been quite the project.  A new surprise today was finding that the driver's door wouldn't close because the armrest hit the steering wheel.  That involved wrestling the steering column and dashboard out of the car after it was fully assembled - fortunately I had used Mod Plodge to hold the dash in as I wanted time to manoeuvre it and that was the saving grace, believe me.  The steering column was superglued to the floor but a lot of gentle jiggling got it to let go without damage.

I don't want to embarrass Tim because I have met him and he is a very humble man but his correspondence to me over forty years ago was the spark that got me pursuing models as a serious adult passion rather than just a teenage hobby. At the time I was living in a 10 x 12 single men's quarters room in Paraburdoo, a remote mining town some 1000 miles from my home city of Perth, which in turn is the most remote capital city in the world. Tim put me onto Scale Auto Enthusiast, Automotive Miniatures and Model Empire and from there I was away.  I have now travelled the world meeting enthusiasts all over Australia, USA, Canada and New Zealand.  With my wife and four friends I was the promoter of our NNL here in Perth for 20 years. It grew to be one of the biggest in the world, with model counts consistently between 800 and a thousand and topping out at 1150 one year.  So for me to be able to participate in this challenge through the miracle of the Internet and honour Tim with a model that has embodied as many of his signatures as I can think of has been a very satisfying experience, broken windshield posts notwithstanding!

So Tim Boyd, I dedicate these features to you.

Stance - ya gotta get it sitting right.

Unconventional powerplant - a Ford Motorsports V6

Any powerplant other than a Chevy - see above!

Unusual induction - kit-bashed sprintcar fuel injection setup

Phantom body style - extended cab Model A phone booth pickup.

Fabricated suspension using components from later era kits on a classic era model - Buttera Jag and Revell dropped tube axle with fabricated radius rods front and rear.

Minimal engine wiring - just radiator hoses but.....

A tan distributor cap -you always told us detail painting an engine would enhance it as much as wiring!

A variety of tones and finishes in the interior

Chrome headlight lenses painted flat aluminium and coated with white glue.

Brian Borden graphics - I know you were a fan back then

Michigan number plate with NNL East Showtime plate frame (thanks Tom Geiger!)

Lots of mockups!

 

Of course, a huge thanks to Dennis Lacey for getting the wheels in motion and graciously encouraging others to join him, and all the other guys who are participating.  Let's see this thread hit 40,000 posts!

Cheers

Alan

 

 

[bobthehobbyguy]

Nicely done. Congrats on overcoming the challenges the build presented.

[bill-e-boy]

Congrats Alan on a fantastic build

Kit - Pete is making a good job on the paint

Mine is waiting for the clear to harden and me to get back on track

A quick mock up

 

Alan - I agree with you on the influence that @tim boyd has had on kit-rodding over the years. I think we have all improved our game with his fine builds and methods of construction. A great mentor to have in our corner

Cheers

Bill

 

[alan barton]

That's progressing nicely, Bill!  I think it is great that every build so far has been a totally different colour.  When everyone is finished we should repost one three-quarter post each in succession so that they can all be compared.

Cheers

Alan

[tim boyd]

On 4/1/2022 at 9:59 AM, alan barton said:

Tadaaaaah! 

She's done!  I will take some outdoor photos tomorrow in Under Glass . And I will be more thorough in dusting when I do! 

 It has been quite the project.  A new surprise today was finding that the driver's door wouldn't close because the armrest hit the steering wheel.  That involved wrestling the steering column and dashboard out of the car after it was fully assembled - fortunately I had used Mod Plodge to hold the dash in as I wanted time to manoeuvre it and that was the saving grace, believe me.  The steering column was superglued to the floor but a lot of gentle jiggling got it to let go without damage.

I don't want to embarrass Tim because I have met him and he is a very humble man but his correspondence to me over forty years ago was the spark that got me pursuing models as a serious adult passion rather than just a teenage hobby. At the time I was living in a 10 x 12 single men's quarters room in Paraburdoo, a remote mining town some 1000 miles from my home city of Perth, which in turn is the most remote capital city in the world. Tim put me onto Scale Auto Enthusiast, Automotive Miniatures and Model Empire and from there I was away.  I have now travelled the world meeting enthusiasts all over Australia, USA, Canada and New Zealand.  With my wife and four friends I was the promoter of our NNL here in Perth for 20 years. It grew to be one of the biggest in the world, with model counts consistently between 800 and a thousand and topping out at 1150 one year.  So for me to be able to participate in this challenge through the miracle of the Internet and honour Tim with a model that has embodied as many of his signatures as I can think of has been a very satisfying experience, broken windshield posts notwithstanding!

So Tim Boyd, I dedicate these features to you.

Stance - ya gotta get it sitting right.

Unconventional powerplant - a Ford Motorsports V6

Any powerplant other than a Chevy - see above!

Unusual induction - kit-bashed sprintcar fuel injection setup

Phantom body style - extended cab Model A phone booth pickup.

Fabricated suspension using components from later era kits on a classic era model - Buttera Jag and Revell dropped tube axle with fabricated radius rods front and rear.

Minimal engine wiring - just radiator hoses but.....

A tan distributor cap -you always told us detail painting an engine would enhance it as much as wiring!

A variety of tones and finishes in the interior

Chrome headlight lenses painted flat aluminium and coated with white glue.

Brian Borden graphics - I know you were a fan back then

Michigan number plate with NNL East Showtime plate frame (thanks Tom Geiger!)

Lots of mockups!

 

Of course, a huge thanks to Dennis Lacey for getting the wheels in motion and graciously encouraging others to join him, and all the other guys who are participating.  Let's see this thread hit 40,000 posts!

Cheers

Alan

 

 

Alan....mega congrats on bringing this one home. And I've got to say, I really like the result.  As anyone who has ever sat in a 1'/1 knows, the tight cab dimensions of the Model A Closed Cab are its Achilles hell, so your cab extension looks and works really well.  Love all the other period-correct touches, and especially the paint/color.  

And I would like to graciously thank you for your comments on me and my small contribution to your model car related activities and achievements.   40 years?  My word, what a lifetime legacy all of us are leaving for this hobby! 

TIM 

 

[tim boyd]

On 4/1/2022 at 6:02 PM, bill-e-boy said:

Congrats Alan on a fantastic build

Kit - Pete is making a good job on the paint

Mine is waiting for the clear to harden and me to get back on track

A quick mock up

 

Alan - I agree with you on the influence that @tim boyd has had on kit-rodding over the years. I think we have all improved our game with his fine builds and methods of construction. A great mentor to have in our corner

Cheers

Bill

 

Bill....looking really good!   You know, those Champ 500 style wheels still look really cool, too.   And of course, Ford in a Ford, YEAH!   

Very rewarding to hear that I played a small part in helping with your modelling inspiration....always had a help others to enjoy the fun and enthusiasm of model car building....

TIM 

[Kit Karson]

11 hours ago, tim boyd said:

Bill....looking really good!   You know, those Champ 500 style wheels still look really cool, too.   And of course, Ford in a Ford, YEAH!   

Very rewarding to hear that I played a small part in helping with your modelling inspiration....always had a help others to enjoy the fun and enthusiasm of model car building....

TIM 

@alan bartonLooking forward to having @Dennis Lacystart a "Tribute" thread Under Glass for all of the builders can leave their finished builds!  He and @Rocking Rodney Ratwill be glad (hint! hint!) to post their builds!! And, as soon as "Pete" @Speedprofinishes painting our build, we'll add it, too! This has been an amazing thread as a tribute to an amazing mentor and Brother in modeling!  And with @bill-e-boyabout to hit the finish line, I'd like to see if we can recruit a few more trib' builders to join this thread!  Thoughts? -KK

[foghorn62]

4 hours ago, Kit Karson said:

@alan bartonLooking forward to having @Dennis Lacystart a "Tribute" thread Under Glass for all of the builders can leave their finished builds!  He and @Rocking Rodney Ratwill be glad (hint! hint!) to post their builds!! And, as soon as "Pete" @Speedprofinishes painting our build, we'll add it, too! This has been an amazing thread as a tribute to an amazing mentor and Brother in modeling!  And with @bill-e-boyabout to hit the finish line, I'd like to see if we can recruit a few more trib' builders to join this thread!  Thoughts? -KK

I’d be happy to get in on that myself.  I’ve known Tim Boyd since the early 70s, and he has been a good friend and great inspiration to me ever since.  We drifted apart in the 80s until recently, but I definitely still consider him to be my friend.  As for these builds, mine is coming along despite a few setbacks, and hopefully will be done soon.  Recently, I have been working on a barn wood bed for the back, and I still have a bunch of the hardware to finish up.  Today, I spent most of the day stringing a real wire wheel to replace the plastic kit ones that are found in many places.  The first one was pretty easy.  Now I have to make three more like it, which is always the challenge.  In the attached pics, the new one is on the back, while the plastic ones that I am getting rid of are on the other three positions.

Edited April 4, 2022 by foghorn62

[alan barton]

23 hours ago, tim boyd said:

Alan....mega congrats on bringing this one home. And I've got to say, I really like the result.  As anyone who has ever sat in a 1'/1 knows, the tight cab dimensions of the Model A Closed Cab are its Achilles hell, so your cab extension looks and works really well.  Love all the other period-correct touches, and especially the paint/color.  

And I would like to graciously thank you for your comments on me and my small contribution to your model car related activities and achievements.   40 years?  My word, what a lifetime legacy all of us are leaving for this hobby! 

TIM 

 

My pleasure Tim, you richly deserve the accolades. it's great to know you like my Model A.

 

I have decided to take this project one step further.  Partly because KKK is doing a trailer and partly because while looking for something else I stumbled on a very old project. Back in the early 90's  I had aspirations to start up a business making vacformed parts. Alas, I was on the wrong side of the world, the Internet had barely been thought of and I just didn't push it hard enough.  Anyhow, of the thirty or so wooden moulds I handcarved, one of them was a Mullins Redcap trailer. Now this was well before Revell released the 37 Cabriolet with a Mullins as an accessory. I took the dimensions from an old article in Rod Action magazine and took it from there. I designed it with flat sides so that appropriate vintage fenders could be attached to match the towcar. I built three of them but this one got damaged and the paint was blaaaaahhh so I put it away for decades until I uncovered it last weekend. I had some restoration to do and decided to hinge the top while I was at it. The top is not removable on the Revell item.

Then I thought - what will go in it?  After all, if you are driving a pickup, load space is not usually an issue!  Bu what if you had a toy that was too big for a pickup bed?  Like, a pedal car or push car?  Perfect!  

I am a huge collector of diecast hot rods and toy hot rods and the first thing that came to mind and to hand was a tatty Hot Wheels AOK.  This 1978 toy is of a nicely proportioned 29 Sedan Delivery.  With less than two hours work I had the makings of a Model A stretch cab toddler rod!  I have to go and pick up some pink primer from my LHS before I can go further but I am pretty happy with the results so far.  Still gotta fabricate a towbar for the rod.

Cheers

Alan