alan barton

This is a university level tutorial on how to build the AMT 36 coupe properly! I recently built one myself and followed a similar approach to rectifying the roof and grille fitment, but did not tackle the high standard of chassis work you have achieved here. Congratulations on a gorgeous custom so far! Cheers Alan

Its so nice when a modeller hands you the recipe for a car that has not spoken to you yet! I have a partly built version of this kit that I last worked on in 1982 - suddenly I have a vision. Thanks for sharing your beautiful model. Cheers Alan

I see some very skilful chopping on both of your models. Forty coupes are generally thought to be the hardest Ford to cut correctly and retain their natural beauty - you've definitely done that! Cheers Alan

I had never owned this version of the AMT 37 Chevy coupe and was always inspired by the box art showing Tim Boyd's model. It reminded me of a beautiful Tom Daniel centrespread on salt cars in a mid seventies issue of Rod & Custom magazine. When this version arrived in a local hobby shop I thought it was time to rectify the situation and it was actually completed less than three months after I purchased it - unusual for me. I had good intentions of doing it box stock but that didn't last long! I decided to make a one piece nose using the custom hood, custom grille and salt lake fender fillers, just to give it a more competition look. The big block in the kit is not the greatest of all time but at least it fits! I couldn't live with the funky bugcatcher so replaced that with a Revell Willys Hilborn scoop. The toughest part was getting it low enough - the dropped axle is a good start but it was still nowhere near low enough for a salt car so I glued the springs under the axle instead. It has almost no bump clearance but I wasn't going to drive it anyway! The supposed Moon discs were very unattractive plastic discs so I replaced them with the very best aftermarket Moon discs I have ever seen, from Darryl Pipcorn of Parts by Pip in Victoria Australia - they are flawless! I'm saving the Stovebolt 6 for a 32 Chevy roadster salt project. I built a contemporary rollcage of sorts for the interior but to be honest, with full glass installed it is almost invisible. And for a bit of a flashback, I used the shimmery self adhesive material from an ancient Cruisin USA series 49 Merc kit to give an engine-turned aluminium look to the door panels - again, almost invisible! Hope you enjoy it - comments and questions welcome! Cheers Alan

I have to agree with you, it does take some work to bring this model up to today's standards. You have certainly done a beautiful job on your convertible. The good news is that the general proportions and the sharpness of detail make it worth persevering with! Cheers Alan

Seeing this makes me want to get started on my unbuilt kit! That blue really suits the shape! Love the diorama as well! Cheers Alan

Love it! I don't know why but I can't help but think of the Russ Meeks black 31 roadster that had the body swing up to reveal a rear mounted engine and trans. I know its not the same but that photo of the body alongside the chassis made me think of it. And who doesn't love thread plug leads? Cheers Alan

it just plain works! Such a believable model and I do think you channelled Hank Borger through this car! Love it! Cheers Alan

Nice truck for sure, but those lowered headlights - wow - they are Ubercool! So here I am with a million projects on the bench going Hmmm, I gotta a bunch of Revell roadster pickup parts, maybe I could just do a quickie - NO NO NO Noooooooo..... Here we go again! Cheers Alan

Easily the best build I have ever seen of this kit. Extra points for doing such a good job of matching your photography angles with the original photos - that is never as easy as it sounds! Cheers Alan.

What an outstanding restoration! I love the little dudes standing guard. I've always wondered what one of these would look like with a conventional pointy nose? Such a cool design, especially the cab. Cheers Alan

That 29A pickup does it for me - simply stunning! Cheers Alan

One of the best I've ever seen! I love the effect of the Green Stuff chrome. It looks very similar to the finish on the real car in the American Museum of Speed in Lincoln Nebraska. I took these photos when I visited there in 2017. I currently have one of these on my bench and will try to replicate the real car - that was a replica of the model! I have the Pontiac six cylinder engine but may have to fatten it up a bit. The biggest challenge will be recreating the headers on the left hand side - right now I have no idea how I'm going to do this! I did find the helmet on an old Matchbox car - a cartoonish VW with a German pilot! Thanks for the inspiration! Cheers Alan

That looks like a box art build! What a beautiful finish! Great to see the old Tom Daniels kits are still popular. I did mine in white with fogged blue edges - I didn't like the connotations of yellow ice! Cheers Alan

Absolutely beautiful work but even on a full size computer screen I am struggling to see the detail you have achieved. Any chance of a slightly bigger photo of the finished job? I have one of these kits in the pile and would be interested in tackling the conversion you have shown here. Cheers Alan

Thank you everyone! We had a lot of fun putting it together. It may not have all the fine surface detailing that many dioramas have in this forum, simply because we reuse the boards every year for a new project, but I think the overall effect is successful. Greg you're right! That red Monogram T-bird is mine and I simply polished the red plastic. In the months leading up to the show we had a register that was e-mailed to all our club members to ensure that we had all the significant cars. We did pretty good - hope you noticed the red VW, black 36 coupe and blue 2CV - but somehow the white T-Bird slipped through the cracks and we didn't notice until the show was set-up. And no-one had one in their stash! Next time! Cheers Alan

This is soooo nice. I am pretty sure this is the nicest Lincoln wagon conversion I have ever seen! Your back-story is perfect to explain its existence. I have one of these kits waiting in line at the moment. My plan was to do it as a nostalgic Top Fuel tow and push car, with slicks on the roof rack rather than surfboards. Could you help me out with any tips regarding how you blended the roof into the body? It looks a lot more natural, smooth and flowing than many I have seen before. The diorama is something else! The neatest of the electrical installation , the accuracy of the door detailing, this is very special. Congratulations also for the quality of your photos - they really do the model justice. Cheers Alan

Boy, that Mako brings back memories! It is what I WANTED to build as a thirteen year old but ,alas, the body was twisted and I never did manage to get it together. Years later I stuck a funnycar chassis under it and twisted the body even more and displayed it crashed into ma wall. You have really done the model justice and the paint job is amazing. My thirteen year old heart loves it! Cheers Alan

So cool- who would have thought that the blunt frontend of a Corvair could work as a boat - genius! We are definitely on the same page regarding boat names - my 57 Chevy boat is called the Bel- Aqua! This is a truly beautiful boat and deserves to go here - it has become the marina of Model Cars Forum and gives speedboat enthusiasts the chance to see dozens of different builds in one place. Cheers Alan

Add me to the list of people wondering how I missed this! For me, the second shot is killer. The fact that every single detail of the hot rod is completely parallel to every other component gives a whole new meaning to the word "stance". This Tudor has stance from front to back, top to bottom. Better still, in 1-1 scale you could actually sit inside it and drive it, further than the length of a fairground. And the green - couldn't think of a better colour for the car. The rod run in your display cabinets must be looking pretty cool these days! Cheers Alan

Clifford, I often wonder if you were a jeweller in a former life? The precision and cleanliness of your builds are an inspiration to us all. Thank you for sharing this sensational hot rod with us all - it is eye candy at its finest! Cheers Alan

Thanks Kit, and congrats on correct usage of "Mate!" to address an Aussie - someone taught you well! Dennis - a huge THANK YOU for kicking this whole thing off! If you remember, early in your build thread, I stated that I had far too many projects to complete as it was. Alas, I am weak and couldn't resist the opportunity to play with you guys. Imagine how cool all these builds would look lined up side by side on the same table! Tim, you are the zen-master of having fun with model cars - I simply followed your lead! And to every single person who has commented on my model, thank you so much. It means a lot to have the international modelling community acknowledge your efforts. It is not a perfect model by far ( can you believe the dust in some of those shots?) but having the eyes of the world on you makes you strive that bit harder to achieve a good result. I definitely learnt a few new tricks on this one. Thank you all. Cheers Alan

Ya shamed me into it! I finished it last night and the model is now posted in Light Commercial Under Glass. Cheers Alan

Here in Perth our very active model club produces one giant diorama each year. We get together at a member's home to construct and paint the baseboards and then individuals produce the cars and buildings necessary to complete the scene. We endeavour to do at least three shows a year - we debut at our own Model Car Spectacular, then WASMEX, which is an IPMS style show of all genres of building and the W.A. Hot Rod and Street Machine Spectacular. This schedule had been interrupted somewhat by COVID but we just finished our final showing for our American Graffiti diorama. I will include photos here of each of the three displays - you will see that it changed a bit from venue to venue. If you are as big a fan of the movie as I am, I am sure you will recognise many of the cars and the scenes. Cheers Alan

You do cold better than any modeller I have ever seen. This is awe inspiring. Cheers Alan