Dennis Lacy

Yeah, umm... Having seen the full scale car in person many times, I guarantee you that the body is made of wood. Here's a few pictures that I took at a hot rod show: Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

Overall this kit (should it be released for consumption) looks awesome and I will absolutely buy multiples for the chassis parts alone. I can live with the too-tall blower, I'd more likely use the 3-2 intake option anyway. I can live with the shape of the top insert and honestly I think the shape looks better than the correct alternative. The shape and fit of the firewall absolutely sucks. Being very familiar with full size 30/31 Model A's my eyes went straight to it the instant I saw the photos. If I end up using this coupe body for a project (and I'm sure I will at some point) I'll be grafting an old-tool Revell firewall to it. Here's some things I like about this kit. - The body is 1 piece with correct molding around the base of the roof section (unlike older Monogram version) - What appear to be early style Halibrand wheels - The same awesome looking I-beam front end from the up coming roadster kit - Vintage small block Chevy speed parts like the Cal Custom valve covers and 3-2 intake setup - Nice looking over the frame small block headers - Finally! - Inclusion of '32 grill (which I think the up coming roadster should have offered)

HAHA! I have no problem with the word traditional and I know exactly what it means - to me. Beyond that I have no desire to try and convince the rest of the world that my definition is definitive. Actually, I highlighted something in your quoted reply above, Bill, that is absolutely nails on a chalkboard to me. The label "Car-Guy" What does that even mean? I hate that label because it implies that if I like one type of car that I like every type of car, which isn't remotely the case. There are several specific types of vehicles that I truly like and the rest is whatever. Car-Guy is how my Mom and Wife describe me to their friends and then when I meet they're friends I get stuck in conversations about their 1978 Oldsmobile or NASCAR. But hey, I'm a Car-Guy!

This puts a big smile on my face! Killer idea and very nicely executed.

LOL, I wouldn't recommend a visit to Baldwin Park to anyone, for any reason. Especially an out-of-towner. If you do go, make sure its when the sun is still up. Definitely make a trip to Pegasus Hobbies since you'll be a couple of miles away. You will get lost in there. They have a HUGE model kit section, not to mention an entire wall of sliding door racks dedicated to aftermarket accessories. Every time I make a trip there my Wife says, "See you in a couple of hours!". The staff is super helpful too. The guys in the model kit section actually build models and have a lot of good advice to offer, especially when it comes to proper use of paint/mixing of different brands, different styles of glues, etc. There's also an old hobby shop called Covina Hobby, in the city of Covina. About 15-20 minutes west of the race track. They have on okay selection there. It is located on a restored old-town strip that is neat to see in general.

More recently, here's another '34 Pickup I built using leftover body parts from an original AMT kit. It's been chopped, semi-channeled, shortened bed and shortened wheelbase. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

Here's a '34 Cabriolet I stuck together last Fall. It started life as the awful looking Thom Taylor kit. I used the body, top and frame then bashed or scratched everything else. I'm still quite pleased with it. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Here's a '34 Pickup I did a few years back as an early 60's Altered drag racer. I was going for a vintage box-art vibe. It was inspired by an illustration of the original AMT instructions showing building ideas by George Barris. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

You know, it's pretty bad when you see a bunch of people seriously discussing model kit stacking techniques...

On close inspection the body is a 1933. The telltale is the doors, in particular the window openings. 34's had an extra vertical reveal along the back edge of the opening because the windows had a feature that would allow them to slide backwards about 1". 33's did not have this feature.

Highly, highly doubtful. In the 70's the tooling was modified and the Coupe / Cabriolet were sold as separate kits in Monogram's Early Iron Series. They were very typical of 70's street rods. Then, in the early 80's the tooling was butchered even further to release the horribly inaccurate ZZ Top '33 Coupe kit. On the outside the car looked more or less correct but the chassis and engine were a fail. Finally, in the early 90's the tooling was altered even further when they released a modernized version of the Cabriolet (with extreme chopped top and re-worked chassis) in a series based on automotive artist Thom Taylor's suggestions.

I think he is referring to the bare metal foil strip around the back of the radiator shell. Yes, that is a correct detail for a '32 Ford passenger car. It was a stainless steel band that wrapped around the back edge of the radiator shell. AMT did not include this detail on the shell. If you look at the modern Revell '32 Ford series, there is a raised lip around the back edge of the shell meant to represent the trim band. Most people don't do it when they build those kits but for accuracy it should be foiled.

Yes, it is supposed to represent a fabric cover. When AMT tooled these kits in the late 50's and early 60's the quality and accuracy of restored vehicles was not to the level that it is today. Many times, the restorer would take liberties to suit their personal taste. The car would be more, or less, stock but sprinkled with personal touches like a vinyl spare tire/wheel cover. It is highly likely that this was the case with the real '32 Victoria that AMT used to pattern their kit after.

Looks like it's time to stock up on a couple C-notes worth of hot rod tires. There's no other source like 'em!

All of my finished models are displayed in an Ikea glass cabinet. Since the cabinet does not seal tight all of the models are also in individual clear cases to protect them from dust and damage. I had some out to show a friend that was in town recently and even after 7-8 years for some of them they look freshly finished. After all the time I spend building them I couldn't imagine just having them sit out to die a slow dirt death. I'll never understand how or why anyone would do that. Hosted on Fotki

I believe on the transmission I used the tower portion from the Revell '29/'31 Model A kits as it's a separate part. Not really correct for a V8 trans, but it got the job done. I have seen pictures of a Hilborn injected ARDUN in a dragster but that was later 50's or early 60's. I am sure if the interest was there for an ARDUN setup Hilborn would have accommodated it in the 40's or early 50's. Especially considering how accessible pattern makers and foundries were back then. They probably could have whipped one up on short order and used existing guts from an OHV setup. The ARDUN / Hilborn setup I saw also had the fuel pump mounted where the generator normally sits and was belt driven. Nice and tidy.

Bill, this project is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the best looking and best proportioned lakes roadsters in scale I've ever seen. Years ago I did similar with the Revell ARDUN heads. I managed to separate the valve covers from the head portion by scribing with the back of a #11 blade just under the valve cover lip. Hosted on Fotki End result: Hosted on Fotki

Way cool to see some of Tom's work here. Tell him to take some pictures of that blue cab-over tanker truck with the nose made from an actual plastic nose!

I'm not so sure Revell is out of step. While truly traditional rods with all vintage parts are what guys like you and I prefer, they're still in the minority in hot rodding as a whole. I think that the traditionally biased media we follow tends to skew our prospective that there's more of these cars being built than there really are. The way this new '29 Roadster kit is configured is, I think, more typical of what the average rodder is doing. That's to say, everything on the surface looks good ol' days (front suspension/brakes, wheels/tires, engine and upholstery) while the components that aren't readily visible (transmission, rear axle/suspension, electronics) are modern for the sake of more reliable function, driver comfort, ease of repair, familiarity and of course, cost. Taking your average garage rodder and his wallet into account, a new quick change axle assembly is over $3000. A third of that price tag will completely cover a 8"/9" or Dana axle including the entire rear suspension. Even without a fancy quick change, early Ford "banjo" axles are a total shot in the dark when trying to find a good one. You're lucky to find 2 or 3 in 10 that aren't destroyed internally from moisture damage or lack of maintenance. Early ford 3-speed transmissions are getting really hard to come by. A reusable good set of gears (if you can find them) is gonna run a minimum of $500 and if your lucky enough to come up with somebodies stashed NOS parts, minimum of $1000. In the end you still have an old 3-speed that may not live very well behind a "built" engine. Then there's guys who just don't want to be bothered with shifting gears. Small block Chevy's and Ford's are pretty inexpensive to buy or build. Start getting into vintage "traditional" engines and the price can double or triple in the blink of an eye. It's safe to say that after dropping big money on wicked vintage engine the budget may not be there for the rest of an expensive vintage driveline. Another thing to keep in mind is that a good number of the people building traditionally styled cars today are just trend followers and are the same guys who were building billet covered "high tech" cars 10 years ago. They aren't concerned with getting every detail correct and auto transmissions and late-model axles with coil-overs are what they know.

I also gotta say, I remember this roadster pickup and the awesome how-to article from Scale Auto Enthusiast. I got so fired up from that article that I went ahead and started building my own. Got as far as getting everything modified and ready for primer/paint then nothing more happened. Eventually I ended up using pieces from it for other projects. Seeing this again makes me wish I had finished it. You're one of my all-time favorite scale rod builders, Tim! Hosted on Fotki

Here's a couple of my A's. Chopped '29 Pickup on '32 rails: Hosted on Fotki Channeled '29 Roadster with chopped '37 truck grill: Hosted on Fotki Channeled '29 Roadster Pickup on complete Monogram '30 Woody chassis: Hosted on Fotki '29 Roadster Pickup built entirely from cast-off spare parts: Hosted on Fotki Chopped & channeled '30 Coupe Hosted on Fotki '30 Touring converted to 2-door on '32 rails: Hosted on Fotki

Awesome Fotki gallery, Tim!!! This one kind of reminds me of Street Rodder staffer Eric Geisert's "California Spyder"... Hosted on Fotki

Guide 682J headlights are available in the most recent issue of the Revell/Monogram '30 Ford Touring. Should be pretty easy to adapt them to this kit. Guide or BLC lights should be in this kit, they are the quintessential hot rod headlight.

Tim Boyd: What kind of transmission is the Nailhead equipped with???

Street Rodder Magazine - April 1992

We have the magazines at our business. I'll check and report back on Monday.