alan barton

I've heard that expression before! Thanks everyone for the responses - they mean a lot to me! Cheers Alan

Next, in a similar vein I built this to emulate the first sprintcars that raced at Claremont speedway. Australia had cut down supermods for their V8 open wheel fields, and true American sprintcars did not appear til the late seventies when Johnny Anderson brought one out from the USA. This was purchased by Garry Rush who went on to dominate the Australian scene with it and become the most successful Australian sprintcar driver ever - an Aussie Steve Kinser if you like. The first wings saw a lot of experimentation in size and shape and I particularly liked the multi element style. I have good intentions of scratchbuilding some side pods for this model, much like those that appeared in the Pole Cat or Drifter version of this kit.

First up, the closest I have ever built a Grant King to box stock. I scratchbuilt the aluminium wing and the front and side nerf bars and took wheels and tyres from the parts box. The paint schem is inspired by that of a local racer here in PErth, Bob Currie. The driver is modified from a Monogram sprintcar figure.

Seeing that AMT is about to re-release the old Groove Boss supermodified, a spin -off of the old Grant King sprint car kit, and seeing as how I have just finished a bunch of them over the last couple of years. I thought I would start a new thread. I figured this might be a new kit for a lot of members here and the box art rarely does much to sell this model. As people in other Grant King posts have commented, it is a challenging build. The multi-piece chassis works well eventually but can try your patience. The alignment of body panels, for me at least, seems to have been different on every one! So here are the seven I have built since the early nineties, in no particular order. Plus they put those humongous slicks in the kit that were fitted to no sprint car EVER and the nose ahs a bad case of "wide mouth frog" so there is much room to improve these models. Feel free to add your builds to this thread so that people have some inspiration for the new kit. When I did a Google search, it seems like a lot of the Grant King threads on this year are over ten years old so it would be good to give them a new home. Cheers Alan

I think I am experiencing a similar or related problem. Since about 14 hours ago, I receive notifications that someone has responded to my posts but there is nothing to see when I go looking, no matter what route I take. Some are appearing, some are not.

So nice! The colour really lightens up the bulk of the Lincoln. I have some speedboats in need of a towcar - time to crack the cellophane! Cheers Alan

Now it should be obvious that this model originated from the leftovers of my red coupe project but there was a slight twist. I once scored most of the body parts of the woody kit in a job lot. Someone had done a real nice job of woodgraining the body but painted the sheetmetal in a fetching ( retching?) shade of grass green that had attacked the plastic in places. With a bit of sanding priming repeat procedures I got the plastic into a decent state, painting the fenders in Tamiya black and the cowl and hood in Light Tan. The Kelsey Hayes wires would have been perfect but they had already been fitted to my Bud Bryan hiboy from a few years ago. Instead I used AMT 34 Ford pickup wires and hubcaps on one side and AMT 40 Ford steelies on the other side. Hey, I like ém both! Running gear is mostly stock 30 coupe with an attitude adjustment plus the full hood. Cheers Alan

There have been some nice Monogram Model As on here lately so I thought I would add my build from earlier this year. I wanted to see if I could combine the parts from the last re-issue of the monogram Woody with the last re-issue of the Monogram coupe. Turns out it works pretty well with a couple of cautions. Firstly, the woody dash with multiple gauges clashes with the model A coupe interior trim panels. Would be easier to trim before paint - ask how I know this! Also, if you glue the roof on prior to paint, the interior panels can be a struggle to fit and further trimming was required. And those headers came from the original Red Chariot kit - I had saved them for a project like this! Paint is Tamiya Bright red over Tamiya pink primer and three coats of Tamiya clear straight from the can. I cheated and left the stock rear axle in place but a nine inch would have made more sense. It was a fun build and I didn't want to get trapped in overcomplicationitis! Cheers Alan

I must confess to being too lazy to wade back through 29 pages, but, in case no-one else has said it, what about a 1934 Chevy? Go to any hot rod event in Australia, Canada or the USA and you see a bunch of them. Not sure if the 37-39 versions would edge them out in total popularity but I suspect the 34 would win. All those real car owners would probably like a model of their car, even if they never built it! Using the modern kit design requirements of multi version tooling, you could do a chopped 3W, stock height 5 window coupe, a roadster, a Tudor and a Sedan Delivery. The sedan delivery could be sold as a 2-1, to do a paddy wagon or fire & rescue van, appeasing another segment of our hobby, with stock running gear. The stock chassis would be a straight swap for a modern tube cross membered version for street rods in the other body styles. Or the 5 window coupe could get a stock chassis with a straight tube front axle for the gasser crowd. I am pretty seriously into collecting and to the best of my knowledge there is a small, funky 1/43rd diecast delivery from Minichamps, a Chinese r/c plastic knockoff of that same model, a recent Matchbox 1/64th scale diecast 5 window and a mega expensive and I suspect unobtainable diecast Mint model. Fred's Resin Workshop did a resin 34 3 window short track body of which I have two but it would take a lot of work to build anything like a stock bodied car. That's it! For a very popular revered full-sized car, as evidenced by the amount of fibreglass reproduction bodies on the market, the model world shows little love. Which means there is an unfulfilled demand for such a model. Your thoughts? Cheers Alan

To my mind , the problem with the AMT 33/34 sedan is that it is so hard to pinpoint exactly what is wrong. It couldn't be anything but a 34 Tudor but it still isn't a correct 34 Tudor. I think a very close study would reveal that it is a combination of both line and contour that is aggravating. The front top door corner is too sharp, the C pillar is too upright, the sides are too flat it may be a bit narrow and the Tudor fenders were definitely too narrow. It's not one big problem but a combination of a whole lot of little problems that makes you think Wadaminut...... Cheers Alan

Hi guys, First off, with all due respect to the moderators on this forum , I think you do a great job and can't begin to imagine the work involved to make it such a fun place to visit. But I do have a suggestion that perhaps could suit the interests and passions of modellers on this board. Recently I posted a hot rod pickup in Model Cars Under Glass and it got moved to Trucks, Light Commercials, Pickups, Vans. I always look at hot rod pickups as cars, not trucks, and I think there are some other hot rod modellers out there that think like me. I've done it before and had them moved before and it is simply because I forget that on this forum they don't fall under cars. Rather than re-arrange the categories, which would force extra work on our moderators, could we consider doing this. If a light commercial vehicle has passenger car front sheetmetal, it goes in Model Cars - ie - pre war Ford and Chevy pickups, Rancheros, El Caminos, Aussie utes and Panel Vans, Sedan Deliveries. If a vehicle has truck front sheetmetal only, ie F-100s, Chevy C series, Dodge Sweptsides, Box Vans and the like, it goes in Light Commercials. To my mind this would be more logical - I think of the above vehicles to have more car like qualities than truck-like. But if I am simply having a middle aged rant and everyone else thinks I am crazy, that's fine too and I will try to remember to put my utes and hot rod pickups in the correct place in future. Anyone else got an opinion on this - let's discuss. Cheers Alan

I first built this kit as the Truckin' on Down version from the seventies and as one of my first metallic spray paint jobs, it was a bit rough around the edges. When the Coke version was re-issued I thought I would give it another try, staying as close to the original concept as I could but hopefully removing some of the funkiness. I used an AMT grille and hood and this improved things noticeably. I also cut and re-arranged the windshield frame to remove that overweight bottom section and grafted an AMT fuel tank to close up the rear. I cut the outside edges of the same AMT fender unit to complete the inner edges of the rear fenders that MPC abruptly trimmed for no apparent reason. It still has some proportion issues - too tall/ narrow - but I am much more comfortable putting this on the shelf than my fifty year old rendition! Cheers Alan

The black and white contrast is sooooo sharp! I build a cabrio years ago but it is now in a very dated style - this might be the inspiration for a freshen up! Cheers Alan

Rodney, this really is a complete package. While the engine does sit high and well back, it suits the build - it adds a touch of drag car to a show car. It might not be what you expected but I don't think repositioning it would improve it at all. The colour combo is luscious! Cheers Alan

That roadster pickup grabs me by the throat as much now as it did when you first built it. I don't think it could be done better. It is sublime! I turned the Vampire Van into a fully fendered pickup when I was about fifteen. I used cereal box cardboard smeared with tube glue to finish the back of the cab - what can I say? Turns out we have better material these days! Cheers Alan

That explains it - I have never owned the Exterminator! Cheers Alan

Nice work Brian. I am going to an event in three weeks time called the Red Dust revival where exactly 100 old speedsters just like yours will be racing in the Australian Outback on a dried up red clay lake bed. This would fit in perfectly! Cheers Alan.

That is sixties goodness right there. This one really takes some extra viewing to appreciate all the period perfect details. Nice work Phil, hope Deuce Days went well! Cheers Alan

Charlie, I don't think I have ever seen that grille used so effectively! It suits the car perfectly - nice chop, by the way! Cheers Alan

Kelly, I wish I could tell you! I have a little bag of them that I use to store every example I find - the voices in my head say a Monogram kit but that is really of very little help to you. If I find a clue I will let you know. Wow Craig, that is very special. Here is my version of Blue Beetle as distinct from the survivor in my photos - you see, when I was a teenager I bought the Bandai version from K - Mart so i thought it was meant to be dark blue. I built this dark blue one a few years back using Tamiya paint and a shortened pickup bed bit otherwise true to the original. I also chromed the running boards as the original pickup boards were stamped steel without rubber and I thought chrome would be fitting for a rod of this era. Cheers Alan

It's great when someone bumps these threads and you see a model that somehow you missed originally. That colour is sooooo creamy - I love it. It is tough to get an even shade of white over a car with many separate components, - you have done a masterful job on this one! Cheers Alan

I have to build a yellow and white fifties car one day - man this looks sharp. Your foil work is exceptional!!! Cheers Alan

They are both real nice but I LURVE the ice cream coupe - it's delicious! Cheers Alan

I am a big fan of T coupes and this is a beauty. I have this crazy goal of collecting and building at least one of every pre-war hot rod kit ever made and this is one of the few that has eluded me. I even bought a spare Switchers bucket in the hope of finding a gluebombed coupe body one day to satisfy my dream. This is one of the very few I have ever seen built and I like it a lot! Cheers Alan

Love it! Nice to see a channelled car without a "broken" chassis for a change! I have a spare 1/8th scale Deuce waiting for exactly this approach. The scoop is sharp also - I don't recognise that part! Cheers Alan