alan barton

They reckon 2020 has been a bad year for the planet but it has been an awesome year for plastic scale rodders! I've always been a big fan of sports coupes, especially as they were the only Model A coupes that arrived in Australia originally. The proportions on this puppy are amazing! Cheers Alan

You made me go wow! It is a nightmare to get these things together , to give them a decent stance and to not have the headlights pointed in every direction! You nailed it. If you ever tackle a second one< a little trick I learned is that if you file away some plastic from the back of the sunvisor, it will let the cowl stand up straighter which in turn improves the door gaps. Cheers Alan

Wow, I didn't expect that! I have a couple of these in the stash - looks like it would be worth tackling! Did you attempt to hinge the doors? Cheers Alan

That works! I purchased a resin version of your body about twenty or more years ago and built it curbside. I seem to recall that the original builder used Anglia fenders, the front ones at least. Interesting that the Cobra parts were so comfortable in your creation! Cheers Alan

Really neat little roadster, Chris, with a colour scheme I would never have thought of. I love how clean your dash detailing is. If I could make one suggestion, some skinnier front tyres would take a bit of bulk out of the front end and retain the light agile look that Model As are known for. On the other hand, if you love fat tyres, then that is just fine as well! Cheers Alan

It has been a bit of a wait but the mailbox had good news in it today. Tarheel Rick had sent me a small care package all the way from North Carolina. Inside was a brand new grille/front bumper, rear bumper, taillight panel and surrounds, taillight lenses, fender ornaments and maybe best of all, a complete glass unit all from his 61 Galaxie full custom project. I started after dinner tonight and found a few surprises. Now I have an original survivor 61 convert from my teenage years but had never had the hardtop. Turns out the chrome parts and the glass are different to the convert and suggest they may have come from a promo based model. The easiest bit was the front grille assembly. The mounting plate holes don't quite reach the radiator support panel but the plate itself interferes so that took a little carving to reconcile. At the rear, I drilled and filed a new slot to insert the mounting tab - this worked perfectly and the holes line up with the original screw posts . Bewdy, mate! The taillight panel had to be shortened and the concave mess under the boot lid is going to need more excavating to let everything rest where it should. I removed one taillight, trimmed two mm off the checkered trim panel and it looks like it will fit up fine. I also relieved some plastic off the back edge of the chrome taillight housings - they didn't want to quite snuggle into the 63 openings. My biggest challenge will be getting the windshield to fit. Turns out I have made the roof a touch narrow at the top of the frame. I have a few ideas about correcting this but will sleep on it first. So before heading off to bed tonight, I want to publicly acknowledge the tremendous act of generosity of Tarheel Rick in getting these parts to me. It is no small effort, not to mention the extortionate postage costs that we all seem to be suffering from these days. Rick is a classic example of the type of person that makes it so much fun to participate in this forum. Last year Muncie volunteered up that amazing Tudor body and now Rick has sent these parts that are just priceless to me. I once sent a front clip of a Monogram S'cool Bus to a guy on here years ago and I guess it just proves the goodness of "pay it forward". I just hope that some time in the future I will be able to return the favour to these guys, or maybe someone else on here that needs a part that I just happen to have. Model builders are the BEST guys! These parts make all my efforts so far that much more worthwhile and they will be the crowning touch when I get the last finessing of the bodywork completed. I can barely wait to see this in black and white! Rick, I am indebted! Cheers Alan

You've seen all these before but this thread is too good to not be a part of. There are some outstanding models here but yeah, that black RP has me all shivery. What a stunner. When i post with captions it doesn't always work so I'll just list them. First issue AMT 34 pickup in orange and brown Built nearly forty years ago, one of my first adult builds and first ever paint stripping effort Lindberg 34 pickup in cream and maroon AMT 32 roadster pickup cut down from a closed cab, found in an Adelaide antique shop Lindberg 32 Roadster Pickup in teal Lindberg 32 Closed cab pickup in blue Keep 'em coming guys! Cheers Alan

Just a thought, I wonder if the curved upper corners of a sedan windshield frame would help with your upper class interpretation here. Seems like that straight top edge is a bit harsh just below the smoothed flowing roll onto the roof. Actually. it reminds me of some of the old home made conversions of sedans into trucks back in the war years - farmers could get more fuel rations with a commercial vehicle rather than a family car so many were hastily cut down into trucks. Cheers Alan

Hi again Roger, sorry for the delay but here is that side shot you wanted. And blizzy63, I love the Hot Wheels inspiration - I might have to pinch that idea as that is exactly the colour of the Hot Wheels Vicky in my collection!

OK Ray, your wish is my command. Here's one from downunder, pretty much box stock except for wheels and tyres. For something different I tried fadeaway stripes in candy green - came out pretty cool even thought the clear softened the edges a bit.

Similar but different, I keep telling myself I am not going to build any more scratchbuilt or semi scratchbuilt models, just ones that are stored one to a box so that as my completed model tally goes up, my stash drops in size. good plan, eh? Been trying for ten years. Built eighteen models this year, exactly two came from a single kit box. Nahhh, not working for me! Cheers Alan

Don't forget the Red Ram Dodge Hemi out of the new tool AMT Ala Kart. It's a lot closer to 1/32 than 1/25th! Cheers Alan

Hard to come up with words that really cover both the model and the real thing! I am guessing your model is 1/8th and abut the only things that came from a kit are the tyres? That is one very impressive skill set you have there, sir. How do you even begin to measure something like that when there isn't a single straight, parallel or concentric or even symmetrical line anywhere on that body? Like any rod or model builder ( I'm sure we are all guilty of this!) I immediately starting pouring over your photos to look for hiccups, whoopsies, those little giveaways that you might have missed something. I can't find a single imperfection. I don't know which one was harder to build, 1/8th or 1/1 but they are both a measure of your incredible skill and dedication. Add me to the long list of people who said "Awesome!" Cheers Alan

Looks like you have some good plans here, Jordan. My hiboy version stalled a long time ago, but one day..... If I could respectfully offer two suggestions for improving the look and feel of this kit. Assuming you are building it with full fenders, could I suggest that you take the coarsest file you own and remove as much plastic as you dare from the crown and front face of those fenders. They have a very unnatural shape compared to the real car and can stand a fair bit of weight reduction. Secondly, see if you can drop thus bug-eye like headlights a lot closer to the fenders, and probably a bit forward as well. Google will be your friend here. Revell did a great job on these kits but those two things really take the edge off them. Cheers Alan

Can't be certain but I reckon that would do the job. It looks smaller than the Revell Model A - maybe there's one in your stash you could compare it with? Cheers Alan

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed my project. It's a simple beast but sometimes you need to step away from the full blown mega detailed stuff. The stance is probably my favourite part, especially that I just massaged the stock components. Tom, the taillights are from the kit! I was hunting through my lights box looking for something a bit different and then noticed the kit chrome sprue - waidaminnut! They were perfect and considering the age of this kit, period perfect as well! They are a little tricky to run the clear red over the chrome surface but I like 'em! Cheers Alan

Hi Speedshift, just found this thread so I'm probably a bit late but.....there is a very small flathead four engine in the Hella Citroen kit. Don't have anything handy to show you but maybe someone here knows the one I mean - a spindly, boat tailed, solid wheeled 1920's car. If you want to get close to the size of the original English banger, this may be the ticket. Cheers Alan

Fantastic news! I really miss my fix, and that cover looks awesome! Cheers Alan

Plenty to like there, Tim. really like the stance on the black version. Cheers Alan

I don't think there are nearly enough modifications to this little pickup/towtruck to warrant a build thread but here's what I did anyhow. This is a Lindberg release of the AMT 1934 Ford Pickup. Just one of those amazing kits that speaks volumes on the quality of AMT kits in the first golden age. Laser sharp detailing, perfect proportions and just in need of an update in running gear if you want to produce a contemporary model. The fenders are painted Testor's Burgundy Red metallic while the body and bed are Testors cream, both are enamel straight from the spray can. Wheels on one side are the 34 wires in the kit while the other side are 40 Ford rims and hubcaps. I widened the rears by cutting the outer rim off a Monogram 56 Chevy hubcap wheel. This gave me a slightly larger diameter outer rim which made for a perfect fit in the Monogram 1/24th scale rear tyres. The dropped front axle had a lot of the spring removed to get it much lower. I actually put the stock axle in by mistake the first time - there is so little difference between the stock and dropped axles in this kit. I grafted a second carb onto the stock AMT flathead. I didn't even do wiring on this engine because the hood is so awkward to remove without damaging the paint that I don't want to risk it. The towing boom is straight from the kit but is not glued in at this stage until I decide whether I am going to display it as a pickup or a towtruck. Please feel free to drop a comment or critique. This is my second build of one of these models and I have a stretched ramp truck, a panel delivery and a channelled retro rod to get done along with a gazillion other projects! Cheers Alan

My apologies in advance for going completely off topic but ....... did anyone else ever notice that the box art shown above doesn't have a chassis? I noticed this as a fourteen year old (a long time ago) but no longer have the box - the photo above re-assures me I wasn't imagining it! Cheers Alan

Greg, you might be thinking of the seventies release of the AMT 34 3 window coupe. This definitely had a stubby grille as well as other proportion issues. The newer tool 5 window has quite a nice grille. Cheers Alan

Here are my offerings. These have already been posted in my AMT Deuces thread but in the spirit of the thread I will repost them. Love what everyone else has posted so far - good stuff! Cheers Alan

Inspired by some of Tim's previous posts and magazine articles, I am attempting to build both a Bantam and T from an assortment of leftover parts from my teen years plus some new Parts Pack pieces. I have an absolutely flawless Parts Pack Turtle deck T and the grey plastic is so shiny I am placing it on a bright red frame to look like a freshly gelcoated body that hasn't been painted or signwritten yet. That's my back story but the reality is that I simply couldn't bare to paint such a beautifully manufactured survivor. Hearing about the Atlantis proposals is very heartening! Cheers Alan

I'm a huge fan of track roadsters having built two versions of the NieKamp roadster back in the nineties. This might just be the best scale version of a 29 track roadster in existence. Many people try but they tend to come out a little cartoony. You've got the nose at the right angle, the headlights in the right place, the stance perfectly matched to a unique set of wheels and then you picked a colour that has probably never been used on a track roadster before and it looks absolutely perfect. And then you look at the trim and the incredible amount of detail in the tiny confines of a Model A undercarriage and this is just one superbly perfect model. Just wow!!!!!! Cheers Alan