alan barton

What? A Camaro? Didn't you tell me there was no car like a Mopar? Or are you going soft in your old age ( Happy Birthday for last week too!) Looks good Tom, a nice take on a modern car. Cheers Alan

Thanks guys, Tom, the engine block and coke doors are Dulux Lipstick Red in a big hardware store type spray can - it is my new favourite red. That's the major Aussie paint brand but I strongly suspect you won't find it in the USA. The cover on the bed and the interior panels are in Testors Fabric Red - I love this stuff! The white is Tamiya Pearl White. Cheers Alan

In my collection of hot rods I include show rods as long as they have a visibly pre-war vintage look to them - in other words, bathtubs, bunk beds, barber chairs and pool tables don't make the cut! This one just snuck in, mainly because I had never seen one in the flesh and when they got re-issued recently I thought I might as well do a box stock quickie for a change. And I nearly did! Construction is mostly straight forward but some parts locations are vague. I glued the pickup bed to the frame prior to paint - I couldn't see getting them glued together afterwards without an ugly, smeared glue seam. I have to admit that I had to refer to the instructions to assemble the Corvette IRS - I don't know what they were thinking with the parts break up for this one! It looks good finished but I reckon I had three goes at it - it is far from logical. If you wanted to do a 21st century interpretation of Uncertain T, that chassis would be a good start I reckon. The small block Chevy is rather sub par in detail but careful paint and assembly will yield a decent result. Make sure to use a slow drying glue for the carbs and manifold - it takes a while to get everything lined up straight and level. The wheels and tyres are worth the price of admission but unfortunately in Australia we are now paying in excess of $60 a kit so I won't be buying up extras for the rolling stock, mores the pity. And the Coke decals are very nicely done, especially the display board. The replica Coke Machine doors on each side of the cab could easily be scratchbuilt into a cool Coke machine for a diorama. I didn't even swap this one to right hand drive because I figured no-one would be driving this puppy on Australian roads. I NEARLY got it on the shelf unmodified but I simply could not come to terms with that gawdawful grille shell - what was Steve Tansy thinking? The one I used to replace it is from, I think, the MPC Switchers T bucket so at least I kept it in the family. It looks a lot happier up front. You can see what I mean in the second last photo. The taillights are miniature red plastic Coke bottles, too good to waste in a hidden location! I am going to keep them for a diorama scene. A set of traditional Model T gas lamps take their place with some scratchbuilt brackets. I really built it just for fits and giggles. It's obviously from a time when kit manufacturers could sell ANYTHING! Cheers Alan

I have to look in this section more often! I keep thinking Kenworths and Peterbilts rather than cool looking Effies! Your bodywork is laser sharp - I will continue to aspire to this level of perfection! Cheers Alan

And, if you go to a fabric shop, you can get a pouncing wheel that dressmakers use to transfer patterns to fabric - just run this along a rule with the aluminium laid on top of a piece of cardboard - instant rivets! If you are building racecars, this stuff becomes very addictive!! Cheers Alan

Very cool. A dear, sadly departed friend of mine street drove and raced a remarkably similar car . Black with a red interior, 32 grille and Centreline style wheels. Twin tunnel ram instead of the blower on a very healthy small block. This brings back some memories! Cheers Alan

I've never built the Mustang but have done the 37 Chev coupe and 36 Chev sedan numerous times. These are not the most precise kits that AMT ever made so don't be concerned about tweaking things here and there. No race car builder would have had the deck hanging through the wheelarch as it would have defeated its purpose of keeping dirt out. These kits have a non-prototypical interior tub and at the end of the day, the deck has to sit on that. If you are up for some experimentation, try using some flat printer's plate aluminium or similar to replace the plastic deck with real metal - you will be able to get this exactly where you want it! Cheers Alan

There was an episode of American Restorations where they did a resto on one of the Bond Lotus subs. Gave you some interesting insight into the details. I recall it was a dummy that was just pushed around as needed. Cheers Alan

Claude, this has to be your finest yet! The fit and finish on such a complex build is simply outstanding. It looks like a lot of your time would have simply been planning on how it was all going to go together with that "untouched by human hands " look at the end. Like they said, this would look amazing in 1:1. Just WOW! Cheers Alan

It's working for me Dan! Can't wait to see it with the painted hood on those knockout wheels - I reckon it will look nicely stretched out then. I agree about those folk art cars - my hot rod collection has quite a few, including the Old Monogram 32 Hiboy with the two piece body, the 32 Sport coupe and the dragster you mentioned. Still have to build my Long John dragster. Cheers Alan

Thanks Roger! And Tom, he definitely has a head now! Cheers Alan

Love it! Dennis, can you please check for me if it would fit or come close to fitting the Monogram 1/24th, Little Deuce based roadster body? Cheers Alan

Dan, I am really enjoying this because I too started one decades ago and never got to finish the bodywork. I especially like your representation of the tubular frame. - when I unearth mine I will be copying that trick for sure. You asked for critiques so I hope you will understand that my suggestion is meant in the right spirit. When I look at your last mockup photo, I am still seeing a midget, not a big car. Could I suggest that, if it doesn't involve wrecking your model, that you lower it a few mm? The thing is, proportionally, a big car hugs the ground closer than a midget and I think dropping it just a smidge would complete the illusion you are seeking. The mockup in your August 30 post was much closer to the mark, in my humble opinion. Either way, it is going end up a great looking racecar. Cheers Alan

Snake, that blower setup looks identical to the ones in the AMT 25 T pickup/roadster/coupe kits. That's all I've got, you're on your own for the rest! Cheers Alan

Yes, yes and yes! So glad you didn't cut the hole in the roof and I love your wheel choice. The tall blower is fine - I'd hate to drive one like this but I can look at them all day! One suggestion as you bring this one home, do some trial fitting of the kit's headlights and stands. Straight out of the box they can look very bug eyed. You can either carefully whittle the stands down to get the lights closer to the grill (I did this on my gold roadster) or you can try the lights from a Monogram or AMT T bucket kit( I did this on my black roadster and pink coupe). A few mm makes a big difference! Can't wait to see this one Under Glass - will be so cool and still a fresh take on old ideas. Cheers Alan

Giving me lots of ideas for my next build of one of these kits, Dennis. I built my first one when it came out - pink, with graphics and billet wheels - hey, it was the eighties! I particularly like the way you backdated the engine - it will totally change the feel of the whole car! Cheers Alan

Jonathon, it is certainly not a dumb idea and has been done before but if you want it to look as cool as the black one, you will have to be very mindful of proportions. I would make sure it was fairly low as it will look odd if it looks like you could walk underneath your hiboy without ducking your head! It will definitely need big wheels and you may find something suitable on a cheap 1/18th diecast. The extra size from a bigger scale model will work in your favour. As far as engine accessories go, you can use any blower, turbo or carb arrangement as long as you are prepared to do some scratchbuilt manifolds and plumbing to make it all believable. Have a look at Dennis Lacey's engines to get an idea of appropriate finishes for an engine of this era. I would have the picture of the black one sitting in front of me while I built this - not to copy, but to provide inspiration. That builder got it right! Cheers Alan

Well that answers a question I had - they DO have Premier wheelcovers! I have an original white Monaro but I got it without wheels, and an original murky green Premier that I painted bright orange when i was going though my Street Machine phase! I bought it on the last day of the 92 Bendigo swap meet for $35 if I recall - it was a body, glass and rear bumper only, so they were spendy even back then. I once met a guy in Victoria who had a truly stunning deep maroon Premier promo. He was walking past a newsagent in his suburb one day and there was a mint NOS one in the window. He couldn't believe his luck and went straight inside and bought it. Walking past the shop the next day, there was ANOTHER one in the window!!! He raced in and asked, where are you getting these from? The owner told him he had a carton of them upstairs and just put one out every now and then. Suffice to say he bought the whole carton! Apparently they were manufactured by a company called Platinum Promotions in Melbourne. A dear friend of mine, now deceased, exhausted every imaginable avenue, down to taxation records(!) to try to track down the company or anyone associated with it but they had vanished without a trace. To the best of my knowledge there are exactly seven Aussie promotional models ever, although someone else may be able to disprove that. Ford did the XK sedan and wagon ( I have a grey sedan and saw a white wagon in Adelaide,) an XL sedan and wagon ( I am guessing they did a sedan because I saw a red wagon in a Nagambie antique shop) and GMH did a 64 EH wagon as a dealer gift - it would sit on the bosses desk! Plus the two HKs we are talking about. Apparently the Falcons were made by AMT and the chassis is almost identical to the AMT Ranchero kit so that makes sense. Thanks for showing your Prem! Cheers Alan

Love the canted headlights, love the flames, love the flares, but the stroke of pure genius is the yellow on the bed, the trailer wheels and the Fiat frame - that, sir, is pure artistic talent. Glad you got it finished after its long snooze. Cheers Alan

This is looking real good! I have a friend who is an AMC freak - it is a very special strain of our disease..... Cheers Alan

Hi Steve! How's things in COVID Central. Hope you are getting some good modelling time during the lockdown. No shortage of Aussies here so you should feel right at home. Cheers Alan

Can't see anything I would change here! Should be one fine looking truck when it's finished! Cheers Alan

Not too shabby for a million miles away! Didn't know you weren't a fan of baby moons, but then, I'm not a fan of Divco wheels so I guess we all have our quirks! Looking forward to seeing this on its wheels! Cheers Alan

But you didn't tell us what the wheels are going to be, Tim! I'm going to guess, a combination of Monogram generic wide whitewall fronts and 41 Lincoln wide whitewall rears with creamy custard yellow steel rims and very small baby Moons! And a 32 grille. I'm guessing I missed by miles but it is fun to do some imagineering! Cheers Alan

It's as if Premier used Plasticene to make the moulds......