alan barton

I got talking to Greg and he explained that he found the body in the U.S on one of his regular visits and managed to secure it just before the previous owners, two partners in crime, were about to saw it in half down the middle to make a garage wall art installation. On top of that it had already been lengthened to form the mold for a nostalgia funny car and was now painted white. Greg was able to confirm that it was indeed the original M/T car Mustang from '69 so he organised to have it shipped to Perth. Now before anyone jumps in and questions the accuracy of Greg's build, he is quick to point out that this is not a concours winning perfect restoration of its 1969 form. Greg said he could have organised to have a new Buttera frame built and collected all the parts for an era perfect resto but then he would have had a museum piece, not a racecar. Australia, just like America and Canada, has racing regs that make it virtually impossible to race historic drag cars. Instead, Greg hunted down the last chassis Lil John ever built. Fortunately it had never been raced so it was in perfect nick. Of course, it had to have a SOHC! So what you see here is an evolution of the original M/T car. Hopefully it will get to do its first full noise pass sometime this season. The car is absolutely stunning and the workmanship has to be seen to be believed. Greg has a long history in Australian hot rodding. In the early eighties, he built a 350 Chevy powered Model A coupe, won every award he could at the Perth show before driving it across Australia ( that's over 3,000 miles in mostly isolated single lane country roads) and then repeated the wins at the Melbourne show, then the biggest in the country. On his return to Perth he worked the motor a bit more and soon had it running 12 second passes. This car could do everything. So we get talking and Greg asks "How hard would it be to build a model of my car?" Now I should have turned around at that point and run to the exit but before you know it I hear myself saying "OH, you should be able to get most of the bits pretty easy". Next thing, Greg hands me a handful of cash and asks " Can you make two, I want to give one to Danny Thompson, Mickey's son who just Broke the world land speed record for wheel driven cars. So then I got an order off to Slixx for their decal sheets and a pair of Competition Resins bodies and fished around locally to find a pair of Revell Jungle Jim Vega funnycar kits. Here's what I started with.

Hi guys, I thought I would post this project here as it is fairly ambitious and I suspect I will need some assistance from some of your guys at some stage of the build. Back in June at our annual Hot Rod and Street Machine Spectacular I was stunned to see this car on display way out here in Perth, Western Australia. It turns out that not was it restored here, I have known the owner for over forty five years. Here's what I saw as I walked into the show.

So here's the catch. Over the last forty five years I have collected the parts of two of these models. Some parts I have duplicates of, others just the one set. Bottom line is that I have enough parts to build one complete car EXCEPT for the body!!!!!! Not that I lost them, but both have been built into finished models - the clean one became my black full fendered Tudor that I posted last year and a very tatty one became an early California Jalopy Association stock car. A great use for both bodies but now that I have this bug to build the original custom, I can only see one practical solution - do a Vicky! I have several spare Vicky bodies so there is no pain there. I considered a Revell body but I only have two of those and I already have other plans for both of them. I also considered an Orange Crate body but I think it would lose its identity - everyone would see the Revell kit, not the AMT. It does however come at a cost - I would have to carefully cut and shut the custom interior to fit the shorter Vicky body. The firewall and the fender running board units fit fine. I could also imagine cutting the roof insert open so that you could look down into the custom interior. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this idea. And yes,I have the original Ala Kart style nose - but I have to cut it off a very stalled custom 3 window coupe project. At least I had never got to the paint stage so I will think of something different for the nose of the coupe. Cheers Alan

I found the original front axle but it is missing one of the torsion lever arms - shouldn't be too hard to scratch up a replacement. The original torsion bars are long gone but the ones from the Iron Lady 32 Vicky kit should do the job. The rear axle has come up nicely with primer and just needs some final fine sandpaper to be ready for paint. I thought I still had a full set of clean-ish wheels but found two reasonable ones and these two with red centres - thank goodness for Molotow! Round 2 AMT parts Pack tyres will be perfect for the job.

Digging through my Buick box I found the original engine - I must have had plans for it once before because I had already stripped and primed it. I still had the original spark plug covers but will general freshen it up with new rocker covers and oil pan form the Revell Model A Hiboy kit. I just rechecked Greg's Internet photo and I have a hunch I have the original carbs and ram horns somewhere.

The interior is complete including the instrument cluster not shown here. It appear to be brush painted with Humbrol Gloss Black so that is sitting in my caustic soda bath as we speak. I don't expect it to strip overnight - Humbrol black and yellow always seem to take longer to strip than other colours.

I didn't even know I had the rear end until I went digging and found this. I used an X-acto and sandpaper to strip this part because it let me massage the shape of the radius rods while I was at it. Had to re-glue a spring perch but otherwise it was good to go. I also scraped the humongous mold line of the main spring leaf and will replate it with my beloved Molotow pen.

I blame Greg Myers entirely for this one! Seeing that gorgeous pearl white AMT 32 custom Tudor in the General section got me thinking about the various bits I have gathered over the years. So now it looks like I'm starting yet another new project. First off, here's the chassis. I had paint stripped it years ago but I had to remove plenty of glue as well. It was fairly glue bombed (check that rear panel!) and had massive sink marks along the length of the frame but it wasn't badly damaged and didn't take more than an hour with putty and sandpaper to get looking good.

Not so much terrible box art as confused box art, this one! The cover of the AMT 33 Willys Panel is pretty cool in my book but what I really need to know is, where can you buy checkered blower belts? I just happen to be building this at the moment and when I spotted the engine image on the side of the box I just had to share it with you guys! (and, off topic for a moment, was this the only box art for the panel or were there others?) Cheers Alan

Steve, I have been following his from the start and continue to be amazed at how well all your various sub-assemblies fit together on such a massive project. You are really teaching us all that a human being can do anything! This is like a batchelor's degree course in scratchbuilding! Cheers Alan

You've got a beautiful sense of balance on this roadster, Richard. The fifties feel is really working for you. Will enjoy seeing this one done! Cheers Alan

Can't go wrong with whitewalls on a red coupe! Have you tried lifting the rear end just a smidgeon? 40s love a touch of forward rake. Cheers Alan

James, I agree with all your opening comments but as a separate category is unlikely to happen, can I suggest you start a thread called "Put your Bonneville and Dry Lakes cars here" Come to that, you could add Lake Gairdner, the far superior surface in the middle of outback Australia. It would then work a bit like Tim Boyd's boat thread, where those of us with an interest in this niche have a place to go and compare other models. I have a bunch of cars that would fit your category and if various contest annuals are anything to go by, other people do as well. It is always nice to have one thread to go to to compare all. The H.A.M.B. hot rod forum uses this idea very successfully and has threads that are over ten years old yet alive and kicking. Start it and they will come! Cheers Alan

One of the most realistic Revell funnycars I've ever seen built. A pleasure to view - thanks for sharing! Cheers Alan

Hi Bill, fantastic to see this progressing after all your trials and tribulations. Unfortunately they are a part of the things we do - if we just built box stock we would only have to worry about a few seam liines and sink marks but where would the fun be in that? This car is looking stunning. If it were mine, I would be building the original up as a curbside, just for a bit of instant gratification and to keep the juices flowing on the full detail version. Either way it is going to look as cool as any Model A that ever hit the dry lakes. And when the day comes for production of your fibreglass copies, please be sure to keep me in mind. Cheers Alan !

I run 195-65 x 14s on the front of my Model A roadster. Went to buy new tyres for my annual roadworthy check last year and three major tyre retailers looked at me like I had landed from Mars! Fourth guy came good - he had a set ordered in for a guy with an old Fiat and wasn't due to pick them up til later in the week. I snatched those and he re-ordered. Same goes for parts in general. When my rod first hit the road in 1984, most of the wrecking yard parts on it were under ten years old. Some parts on it now are older than the Model A was when I started building it! Parts that people used to give you for free are now rare collector's items. On top of that, all our sixties and seventies muscle cars were based on poverty pack family sedans. So you can no longer buy ,say, a lower control arm for a Holden Belmont four door sedan, it is always listed as a genuine HK Bathurst Monaro GTS 327 lower control arm!!! With the accompanying price tag! These late sixties, early seventies sedans were the most common donor cars for hot rods back then so it is really starting to sting. Cheers Alan

Congratulations, Paul, on what is surely the finest collection of Thunderbolts ever assembled. That Bob Ford is laser sharp - the side trim is a lesson on foil detailing for everyone. Just beautiful! Cheers Alan

Thanks everyone. It is nice to get some comments - I was a bit surprised that it took so long to get many. Yes, it was fun populating it. For years, I was the only clubmember with much of a collection of figures and we used them at all our club displays. Then two guys, Rob Rattray and Yves Zuber started really pushing the other members to produce more. It has really taken off and adds real life to any of our dioramas. Each member has selected a colour to put a dot on the heals of the figure's feet or shoes - mine is red- as it is the only way we can ensure each member gets his own figures back. I think we had about 400 figures on there in 2017. Unfortunately, one of our most prolific figure modellers, the legendary Ken "Bandit" Searle passed away suddenly just days before the display. Most of the figures in the hillbilly bush band display were his work. Amazingly, he lost the use of his right arm in a motorcycle accident so all his modelling was largely done with his left hand, and no, he wasn't left handed to start with! Anglia 105E, it is interesting that you noticed the models of Des Smith, the founder of our club. When a weird model turns up a the club meetings, we joke that it is a "Des model" because Des loves the offbeat and the unusual. Often, models in his collection are the only examples we have ever seen! Bruce Saunders had the idea to sprinkle the minions about. The little kids just love them and spend ages running around trying to count them all! The neat thing is, they don't jar against the accuracy of the scene as a whole - they are only there when you notice them ( and the kids always notice them first!) Cheers Alan

Package tray or cargo tray? We still call the shelf behind the seat the parcel shelf or parcel tray. For the rear cargo tray, most guys I know usually say the bed or even just "chuck it in the back!" It is not unusual for the bed to continue forwards , under the back window and parcel shelf up to a bulkhead behind the seat. This gives about another foot of carrying area. Happy help with any info you may need. Here's a few more utes for your viewing pleasure. The M3 BMW was custom made by a noted bodybuilder for a famous Aussie golfer, whose name I can't recall. Stewart Applebee perhaps? Cheers Alan

That gets my seal of approval restoman. All the proportions on your Poncho are perfect for an Australian ute. It is using a two door door but the land barge proportions of the Bonneville are fine with it. Throughout Australia, enterprising enthusiasts have built utes from American and European cars just like yours, often because they were old and cheap at the time.Looking forward to seeing this one finished. Cheers Alan

Hi guys, would love to add a couple of observations on utes, being an Aussie and being quite fond of them myself. The Wikipedia article that Jon included is quite accurate, particularly regarding the bastardisation of the term ute to include any form of commercial vehicle. The media might be clueless as they are on most things but a car guy in Australia would never call a pickup or a Landcruiser or a Landrover a ute. Why, you might ask? Because a true ute is based on a passenger car design with an integral bed. However, like much in this world there are some exceptions to the rule. Dodge Fargo from the late 40s, early fifties had a ute as well as a pickup. Chevrolet in 1947 and 1948 had a passenger car based ute, a commercial based ute and a commercial based cab-chassis . The last generation of Falcons had ute styling but the bed was separate, albeit with a quite discrete join behind the cab. This allowed the installation of custom beds or boxes. Some utes are a five window design, some are a three window. Yep, it can be confusing. The first coupe utility was built by Ford Motor Company in 1934. Since then the following makes have produced utes in Australia although some were in ridiculously small numbers. I am only including factory production line models here, not conversions. Ford almost continuously from 1934 til 2017 although I'm not sure if they made one in 1959. Models included Ford Standard and Deluxe, Mercury, Mainline, Consul, Zephyr and Falcon General Motors from 1934 or maybe 1935 until 2017. Models include Holden, Chevrolet til 1952, Vauxhall, Commodore Bedford. Chrysler including Dodge and Plymouth from about 1936 or 37 until the late fifties, Chrysler Royal, DeSoto, Valiant, Willys, Anglia and Prefect - yep, you can build a gasser ute! Armstrong Siddley Vanguard Austin 1800 Morris minor, although like the late model Falcon, there is a join, but not a separation like a pickup Mini Toyota Crown and Corona Now there is one more thing to consider if you are going to design and build a model of a ute based on any non-Australian car. Our Aussie utes have a certain balance to them. In magazines and websites all over I see examples of utes based on a Mustang or a Corvette or a Cutlass or whatever and they often miss the mark for two reasons, both of which are pet hates of mine! First, if you are going to build a ute out of anything, remember that all bar one generation of Ford Falcon utes were based on FOUR DOOR cars. That's right they have a short front door thus allowing a longer bed. In regards to those Falcons, the XA, XB and XC models from 1972 to 1978 used a two door coupe pillarless door, quite similar to an American Ranchero of the same era. To the best of my knowledge they are the only utes with two door style doors. Secondly, they don't have triangular side windows! Australia has always been a land of low production numbers so rarely did a ute get special doors - there are some exceptions, namely pre- 1962 Holdens. When modellers typically take, say, a 69 Camaro to make a ute, they drag the rear of the hardtop roofline straight forward creating an awkwardly shaped side window that would bang your head on the opening every time you got in. If you keep the door window pillar nearly vertical and stand the B pillar up almost vertical as well, possibly slimmed down, it will look a lot more balanced. Also, regarding the Falcon Rancheros versus Falcon utes if you Goggle the utes you will notice that they had, as mentioned, a four door sedan front door, a T bird inspired B pillar, much more rakish than the Ranchero, and a shorter bed by about four inches. This was because in rural areas with gravel roads, we had a lot of creek crossings and early trials by Ford showed the American bed dragged on the ramps in and out of the creek crossings. It always bugs me when I see references to the Ranchero, 1957 and the El Camino, 1959, being the first car based pickups! Pfffft! We were onto our third generation by then! If you want to read everything there is to know about Utes, Larry O Toole wrote a very comprehensive book called the great Aussie Ute, by Graffiti Publications. It is still available directly from them and is extremely comprehensive. Cheers Alan

My Big Rod resto with three 1/24th scale buckets for comparison, plus a heap of 1/32 scale Pyro, Lindberg Monogram and Auroras.

You know, until I read this thread it never occurred to me that the Lindberg WASN"T the MPC snapper. I guess I just assumed Lindberg grabbed some old molds (pretty much their modus operandi) and pumped them out. You learn something everyday. So to help out here, I just grabbed some quick piccies of my old assembled red plastic MPC snapper . This is the street rod issue ( the first issue I believe) and I built it while using up the last ten minutes on a parking meter about 35 years ago! Obviously the windshield and to a lesser extent the rear windows, have some issues. Mine is destined to become a dirt tracker so it won't be an issue - I will probably be hogging out the windows anyway. Not a deal breaker but why would you bother with the MPCwhen you have the far superior Revell and AMT offerings. And as much as I love my Monogram 40 convert, (haven't built a coupe yet) you can't beat the fun factor of the AMT. It gets my vote every time. Finally, Tulio, I love everything you build! I am unashamedly a hot rodder, but your showroom stockers could turn me, one day!

Great to see someone building this beautiful kit. I have a three to do, one mint and two survivors. I really like the use of the SWC rear assembly - looks period perfect! And the set back engine is pure 60's porn! Cheers Alan

You did a great job of capturing the essence of the original car with your model, Oliver. You're a braver man than me scribing that new curved trunk outline! Kudos for a job well done. Cheers Alan