My Ala Kart

[Phildaupho]

I have been a fan of the Ala Kart since I first became aware of it in the early 1960s after it had already won the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster trophy twice. For whatever reason I never had the original AMT Ala Kart kit. When the second tooling of the Ala Kart was released in 2002, I immediately bought one and eventually had four kits in my stash. Although I have long had intentions to build a model of the Ala Kart to compliment my Rodder’s Journal poster of the restored car, over the years I have only robbed parts from those kits such as the chrome wheels, white wall tires, steering wheel, twin outlet chromed exhaust and nerf bars.

This year I decided it was time to finish building models of all six of the Rodder’s Journal poster cars that hang over my model building workbench. Having recently completed a model of the Sam Barris ’49 Merc custom, it seemed natural to follow it up a model of maybe the most famous Barris creation – the Ala Kart.

There has been a lot written regarding the relative merits of the two generations of the AMT Ala Kart kits. Many consider the second generation second best for numerous reasons. I do not dispute those observation but I do not have the original kit - only the few carry over parts that came with later reissues of the AMT ’29 Ford Roadster. My objective was to build a good-looking model that is recognizable as the Ala Kart.

ENGINE – Without close scrutiny the most glaring deficiency of the more recent Ala Kart kit is the too small engine. The correct sized Dodge Red Ram block from AMT ’29 Roadster was installed connected to with the correct length transmission and various other parts from the Ala Kart kit. Venturi stacks are from the Revell ’29 Ford Roadster kit.

CHASSIS – Air bags were smoothed with springs made from wire. I installed the rear suspension Panhard bar which is supplied but not shown in the instructions. Forward engine mounts were altered for the longer engine. The track was narrowed front and rear so the wheels and tires fit better under the fenders.

INTERIOR – A gas pedal was added. Gauges were printed from a photo of the actual dash and mounted from behind.

BODY – I do not have much of a problem with the over-all look of the 2^nd generation AMT Ala Kart compared to the real car. The underside of the Ala Kart was upholstered with pelted Naugahyde and was an iconic aspect of the car that was highlighted when it was displayed. This detail was reproduced by AMT but marred by the numerous injection circles. I redid the upholstery simulation with Evergreen V-Groove with 1.5mm spacing. In doing so I was able to cover some areas missed by AMT. AMT also went to the trouble of fully rendering the ribbed texture on the pickup bed side panels and provided a full coverage decal but half is covered by the inner fender structure. I removed that area to expose the gold covered area behind the rear wheels. The sides were removed from one of my hoods so the engine could be exposed and the hood scoop was opened up. I also prepared a second full hood with sides.

The Ala Kart used ’58 Chev taillight bezels that are replicated in the kit which also supplies eight clear red lenses of two different styles. The instructions say to use the “Bullet” lenses which are similar to the stock Chev lenses but the Ala Kart used flat-top ’56 Desoto lenses which are also supplied.

GRILL – The opening in the grill shell was cut open leaving a narrow shoulder for the modified grill to mount. Horizontal rows of pins were separated from the clear grill part and glued to a piece of photo-etched square mesh. The pins and other “gold” items on the model were painted with Tamiya clear yellow.

 

PAINT – Tamiya Pearl White was applied over Tamiya Pure White which covered the Tamiya Light Grey Primer that was top-coated with Tamiya Clear after the decals were applied. The upholstered areas were dull coated.

DECALS - Although I had Fred Cady decals, I went with the kit decals for a number of reasons. Neither version of the decals is totally accurate but the kit decals are easier to apply, I had multiple sets if I screwed up [which I did], it allowed me to have two hoods, and they were designed after all for this body proportions. The kit decals are incomplete in that they do not provide for the black stripes on the back of the body in line with the stripes on the bed cover, or the ones on the top of the fuel tank in the pickup bed and under the pickup bed cover. Having extra sets allowed me the decal these areas. The gold on the pickup bed was done with Bare-Metal-Foil. Interestingly there are no Barris crest decals on either the Fred Cady or kit sheets even though there is a crest on the AMT box. I did make my own Barris crest decals but came across some phot-etched crests that I got years ago from a former Barris Kustom model car enthusiast who was getting out of the hobby.

There is an On The Workbench thread about this project. It took two attempts to get the engine installation to work

Ala Kart – 2nd Gen with 1st Gen Engine - WIP: Model Cars - Model Cars Magazine Forum

The real Ala Kart has been restored by Brizio Street Rods. There are two galleries of photographs of the restoration and finished car.

Rods in Progress - JOHN MUMFORD’S ALA KART (roybriziostreetrods.com)

John Mumford - Ala Kart Model A Roadster Pick Up (roybriziostreetrods.com)

 

 

[Tom Geiger]

Very Very Cool!  I read every word!   Probably the nicest rendition I've seen! 

[bisc63]

That came out nice! It really captures the look VERY well. Very informative WIP thread, as well, and a lot of fun to follow along. Congrats on a successful and attractive build!

[Phildaupho]

2 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Very Very Cool!  I read every word!   Probably the nicest rendition I've seen! 

Thanks Tom 

16 minutes ago, bisc63 said:

That came out nice! It really captures the look VERY well. Very informative WIP thread, as well, and a lot of fun to follow along. Congrats on a successful and attractive build!

Thanks Rusty

It was a very interesting and enjoyable project. It only took me 60 years to get around to building an Ala Kart but it may have been worth the wait !!??

 

[ewetwo]

Excellent Phil.

[Phildaupho]

3 hours ago, ewetwo said:

Excellent Phil.

Thanks David

[ChrisR]

Looks great!!

[David G.]

Spectacular work on a true classic!

David G.

[crazyjim]

Nice clean work.

[Phildaupho]

11 hours ago, ewetwo said:

Excellent Phil.

Thanks David

5 hours ago, ChrisR said:

Looks great!!

Thanks Chris

3 hours ago, David G. said:

Spectacular work on a true classic!

David G.

Thanks David - I have to admit I am really enjoying just looking at it in 3D as it is a car I have admired since I first saw pictures of. Now it is mine.

2 hours ago, crazyjim said:

Nice clean work.

Thanks Jim

[Phildaupho]

A  couple more photos

[Dave Darby]

1 hour ago, Phildaupho said:

A  couple more photos

You did a beautiful job on this one. The engine looks great!

[Phildaupho]

46 minutes ago, Dave Darby said:

You did a beautiful job on this one. The engine looks great!

Thanks Dave - I found the article you did many years ago very helpful in trying to "turn a sows ear into a purse"

Dave wrote  - Back 2002, when the new tool Ala Kart was first released I did a pretty definitive comparison of old vs new. 16 years later I still consider the new tool kit to be a hot mess. Like something Trumpeter would come up with. The front tires are nice tho.

 http://www.bonediggers.com/2-3/alakart/alakart.html#kit

[dimaxion]

Somewhere in my Library is a Custom Car Mag from 1958 . An included Fetured Artical is the First time the Ala Cart appeared in Print .  IIRC it had recently won the Oakland Roadster Show pervious to this Publiction . You sure did nail this . TY for the Details and How to's making this exact Replica . I did no know the Wheels and W/W Tires , Correct Taillights ect. are in the '90's Release . I did not build mine thinking these parts are Incorrect . These pics are a Rescue of the remains of my Original Kit . Yeah , mine needs stonned The Blackwalls and Baby Moons make my Eyeballs Bleed also . Fingernail Poilish Pearlecent Paint job is a crowning achievement on this .  Thanx

[espo]

Beautiful looking build of a real icon Kustom of it's day. The decal trim on the fenders and bed sides look just like the 1:1 car of so long ago. 

[Koellefornia Kid]

Nice and clean build of a legendary Kustom! A kit that's still on my to-do-list...

[Classicgas]

Well done. 

[PappyD340]

Very well done!

[bobthehobbyguy]

Impressive. A stunning model. Very nice.

[Phildaupho]

7 hours ago, dimaxion said:

Somewhere in my Library is a Custom Car Mag from 1958 . An included Fetured Artical is the First time the Ala Cart appeared in Print .  IIRC it had recently won the Oakland Roadster Show pervious to this Publiction . You sure did nail this . TY for the Details and How to's making this exact Replica . I did no know the Wheels and W/W Tires , Correct Taillights ect. are in the '90's Release . I did not build mine thinking these parts are Incorrect . These pics are a Rescue of the remains of my Original Kit . Yeah , mine needs stonned The Blackwalls and Baby Moons make my Eyeballs Bleed also . Fingernail Poilish Pearlecent Paint job is a crowning achievement on this .  Thanx

Thanks John - It is time you built another

5 hours ago, espo said:

Beautiful looking build of a real icon Kustom of it's day. The decal trim on the fenders and bed sides look just like the 1:1 car of so long ago. 

Thanks David. I was glad i was able to get the Bare Metal Foil Gold as it goes well with the kit decals

4 hours ago, Koellefornia Kid said:

Nice and clean build of a legendary Kustom! A kit that's still on my to-do-list...

Thanks Oliver

3 hours ago, Classicgas said:

Well done. 

Thanks Lee

49 minutes ago, PappyD340 said:

Very well done!

Thanks Larry

[Phildaupho]

1 minute ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

Impressive. A stunning model. Very nice.

Thanks Bob 

[slusher]

Beautifully done, Phil!!

[Phildaupho]

7 hours ago, slusher said:

Beautifully done, Phil!!

Thanks Carl

 

[Phildaupho]

 

[Mr. Metallic]

That really cam e out nice. I'm sure many of us have thought of doing something similar in the years since the new tool kit came out. But you actually pulled it off. Kuddos

Rear tires look great, BTW 😉