alan barton

I don't know if I have ever seen one that nice! Very sharp indeed. Cheers Alan

Wow, nice build. I have two - wasn't it fun putting that black sticker on for the side scoop?!?!? Cheers Alan

That looks pretty sharp! I did one decades ago in metallic blue and, ironically enough, used those same flames. Unfortunately I displayed it under glass at an outdoor car show here in Western Australia and the roof collapsed in the heat. Fixable but it hasn't happened yet! Good luck on your therapy - sounds like it is working! Cheers Alan

I've developed quite a soft spot for this type of racer. The effect you achieved on your woodwork is amazing! Cheers Alan

Thanks Bill! Yes, Perth is known for having a very significant population of fine looking young ladies! You would have been busy! Cheers Alan

I built these six models in just on six weeks . Shortly afterwards I found out that there was to be a display of fifteen Perko cars at our annual hot rod show so I build a diorama and arranged to have it displayed amongst the actual cars. It was cut from a piece of MDF from a packing crate and uses actual red dust from Perkolilli for the ground cover. The tree is artificial moss from a craft shop glued to a large eucalyptus tree twig from the local park! I wasn't sure what to do about having drivers in the car as part of the diorama. I first tried printing photos off the internet of pre war drivers and cutting them out to position in the cars. It was OK but not great. My wife then came up with the idea of finding figures that would fit, good or bad, adding helmets and then painting them in muted shades of grey and black, like the cars were in the present but the figures were in the past, in a black and white photograph. It was much more time effective especially as these are mostly small cars that would be hard to squeeze a plastic driver into.. The display was well received by the racers and spectators alike!

Next was a project that I started decades ago but never completed. It is a vintage sprintcar body that I hand carved a wooden mould for and then vacformed. There were a few pedigreed pre-war racers at the event so this would be perfect. The chassis is a near stock 27 Model T using the Fronty gear found in the AMT 27 Phaeton kit. I had to move the engine crossmember back a little to make more sense. The grille shell is from a Heller Citroen and the wheels are a combination of Monogram and Revell Model A. A number of low slunk Model T speedsters were competing so I had to have a go at one of them. I had the very cracked and broken remains of a gluebombed AMT King T which was simply perfect for the job. I had to fabricate rear fenders from sheet styrene and the whole thing was mounted on an AMT 25 T frame with Model A wheels. This was too far gone to restore back to a king T show car but was perfect for a Perko racer, especially having the early style turtle deck. The last build was a bit special in a couple of ways. It is a replica, of the replica, of Ossie Cranston's 1932 Ford racecar built by my mate Brett. Ossie Cranston was a pioneer racing driver from the Depression era and he raced four cars over the years - a 23 T, 28 Model A boat tail, cut down 32 Ford Phaeton and a 36 Ford V8 boat tail. Cranston worked for the local Ford dealer, Lynas motors, so they were obviously thinking about "Win on Sunday,Sell on Monday" a hundred years ago! I have know Brett and his Dad, Ron for over forty five years and they recreated the car using left over parts from their 32 stash. Of all these models it was the only one that I built with mostly clean unused parts but the AMT 32 Phaeton body had already been earmarked for cutting as I have used the back half to create an accurately proportioned tub based on the Revell 32 roadster kit. I also had to first correct the annoying taper section present on all AMT 32 bodies! For the first time I used the salt technique for the patina and it closely replicates the real car. I cut the floor out of the Vicky chassis and used A monogram 32 roadster fuel tank suitably modified.

I imagine most of the guys on here are familiar with The Race of Gentlemen in New Jersey. The Aussies would know about Rattletrap in New South Wales. But here in WA they held the third Red Dust Revival half an hour north of Kalgoorlie and I am here to tell you it was one of the best motoring events I have ever attended - period! Racing started in Lake Perkolilli in 1914 and continued until cessation due to the World War Two. Racing did not resume after the war although locals often head out there in their 4wds or motocross bikes to hoon around. Some years back a local vintage racing enthusiast, Graeme Cox, decided to recreate the old days and it has caught on like a house on fire! Google Red Dust Revival to see what I am talking about. After spending seven days at the event I came home thinking about building a Perko car. The rules are simple - it has to be a pre- 1939 vehicle with largely, and certainly visually pre- 1939 components. No fibreglass, no pop rivets, no tech screws. So it has a vintage race car feel more than a hot rod feel but there were still a heap of hot rodders both spectating and competing. A point that was repeated throughout the beautifully published programme and the coffee table book from the previous event notes that many of the cars have been built from leftover mechanical parts that hot rodders had discarded. As a hot rodder and a hot rod modeller that struck a chord and before you know it I had seven Perko cars! With the exception of the 32, most were built entirely from leftover scraps, many of which were not good enough for a detailed model but perfect for a Perko racer. Here's what I produced. First, a l925 T coupester. This is the ugly old Lindberg 1/28th kit and this body had been beheaded and significantly hacked up before I got it. It is on a stone cold motherless stock AMT 1925 Model T frame and running gear. This entire model was completed in 24 hours although the frame was already assembled. I was all fired up by the success of this model so decided to replicate the AV-8 of my friend Les. he is a hard core hot rodder who builds beautiful old flathead powered cars for the street. I had cut the rear of a Mod Rod body for a 27 T roadster pickup project so the remaining part of the ex-Ala Kart body was used to create half a phaeton. I cut up a roadster roof to make the curved back of the seat as per a stock A tub. Pretty much stock AMT Model A frame and running gear, handmade seats and fuel tank and hand painted signage. The name on the cowl refers to the fact that the car developed a high pitch whistle that could be heard across the bush when it was racing! Hundreds of "experts" at the event offered their opinion as to the cause but they never stopped it - thus, The Whistler! Third was my Model A boat tail racer. There were at least half a dozen boat tail Chevs and Fords at the event. I have heaps of stock model A bits but where to get a boat tail? Well, last year I was helping my elderly father tidy up his shed and in an old box we found the broken remains of the body from a Merit Maserati 250F. I had built this model in primary school and thought it was long gone ( although I still had the nose cone in my stash). I had brought it home for nostalgia only but it turned out to be just what I needed to build a boat tail. Most of the cockpit and seat is fabricated from sheet styrene.

Thanks everyone. It is a very unique part of Australian speedway history - glad you liked it! Cheers Alan

Thank you all for your kind comments. Nice to see Steve knows about our Aussie version of Bonneville! I couldn't work out why I couldn't see my post until I realised that I had inadvertently placed it in the WIP section instead of the Under Glass section! Oooops. Sorry moderators, I will be more careful in future. Cheers Alan

Hi Kurt, first let me congratulate you on a stunning build so far. As the owner and builder of a real Model A roadster I can tell you that the problems you encounter in scale are the same as you encounter in real life - ie, my exhaust is tucked up under the splash apron because there was no room past the powerbooster - master cylinder or battery box! And I thought I was the only one that thought Revell's headlight location looked like Mr Magoo - Marty Feldman is more accurate! Now on the grille situation, not only should the tabs not be there, you can really help this grille by filing the back of it way down to let it sit as close to the crossmember as possible. I did it on my two models so far and it makes a difference - although with your radiator already in place you may not get the full advantage. Will be following this to completion, that's for sure! Cheers Alan

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