An echo of the 1960s

[Neddy]

One or two threads recently have really taken me back to my time as a spotty adolescent modeller eagerly digesting anything and everything from Car Models and Hot Rod magazines, gazing admiringly at the brainchildren of Ed Roth and George Barris and doing my best to emulate them in some small way.  Having mentioned this a few times now I thought I'd better put some evidence of this where my mouth is (so to speak) and to that end I've  dusted off (literally) one or two examples that have survived the last half-century and many house-moves more or less intact.  I hope you don't feel this is too much of an indulgence - if so please say so!

 

This one I can only describe as a spares-box 1:24th scale T-bucket.  I can't recall after all this time where the various bits came from other than the body and chassis are much-modified and from separate Model T kits, the engine from a third car kit, the radiator grille from some nameless piece of 1960s American land-ship and the bucket seats from yet another kit.  The exhaust headers were scratchbuilt, took me ages and involved a LOT of Humbrol body putty!  The wheels and tyres came from who knows where, steering column and gearshift ditto and the whole thing was sprayed using Testors metallic yellow and an old Humbrol airbrush.  I must have been about thirteen or fourteen when I built it, so about 1965-ish.

 

If any of you actually recognise any of the components I'd love to know what and where they came from!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2022 by Neddy
Tipograffic cockups.

[TonyW]

I can't help much with the part ID side of things, the bodyshell and hood look a bit Monogram Little T although the turtledeck would be wrong for that source. The grill has me stumped, ditto the seats.

 

Whatever parts were used, they all flow together really well.

 

You say there are more? Bring 'em on!

[Neddy]

Thanks!  I suspect you're right about the Monogram Little T, it would certainly make sense.  MPC made some Model T based kits at the time and I can remember robbing them of various parts at various times.  I also remember spending a lot of time on the turtle deck, mainly shortening it IIRC to make it fit on the chassis.

 

More when I can dig them out and clean them up.

[keefr22]

53 minutes ago, Neddy said:

 

More when I can dig them out and clean them up.

 

Cool, look forward ro seeing them! Have to say I'm glad none of my models from that age survive they were nowhere near the standard of the one you've shown above! I really like that metallic yellow colour too!

 

Keith

[Neddy]

Thankyou!  At the time I used Testors metallic paints a lot (and still have most of them!), it's a shame they're no longer around, most unusual colours.

[TonyW]

The turtle deck might be from a Lindberg Tall T Coupe, the one you had to wind your own electric motor to. The front tires could be from that source as well, it's not a tread pattern I'm familiar with. @Six97s might be able to shed some light here.

 

 

[Spiny]

I can honestly say that's way better than I was managing at 13-14, at that stage I'd not even started painting, let alone adding filler. Then again, I can genuinely say that back then money was very much the limiting factor. Now I can afford the modelling stuff I want I don't have time to build it

 

[Six97s]

That's a neat survivor and way ahead of what I was doing at that age too.   I don't recognise the chassis, will have to get my thinking cap on.  Any shots of the wheels and the underside? 

I'm pretty sure the body, top and turtle deck are from the AMT '25 T, with the turtle deck being shortened to the trunk hinge line.   I think the seats might be the custom ones from an AMT '56 Ford.  No idea on the grille or the engine...  most early Hemis I've come across in '60s kits had stock 'Chrysler FirePower' rocker covers; I don't recognise these.  🤔

 

The front tyres look like the Firestone Supremes found in most early - mid '60s AMT kits.   They have more defined ribs and a fatter section than the ones in reissues (original '60s top, reissue bottom). 

 

 

[Neddy]

You could very well be right about the AMT '25 Model T, that's just the sort of kit I would have raided for parts.  You're also dead right about the turtle deck being shortened to the hinge line, I can remember doing that, and the seats were certainly from a much later custom vehicle of some kind.

 

I'll take some more pics from other angles plus the underside when I can.

[Neddy]

...and here they are.  Handily, 50-year old tube adhesive deteriorates as I discovered the hard way, hence this view of the chassis...

 

 

...and here's a close-up of the wheels which might help identify them...

 

[Six97s]

Those should help, but now I'm even more flummoxed. 🥴

 

The chassis looks like the stock frame from the AMT '25 T double kit, but with a step in it - easy to do.  The seats are definitely from the AMT '56 Ford.

 

The rear brake calipers and fat hubs look similar to those in JoHan funny car kits, but they'd be several years too late.  I still don't recognise that early Hemi from any kit I've seen; the trans almost looks like a Lenco, but again, those didn't appear until the '70s.

 

First thought on the four slot wheels were the rears from the Ohio George '33 Willys, but those had a larger PCD and no dust caps.  Stumped...

 

I think the grille is made out of the custom insert (or two of them) in the AMT '34 Ford pickup.

 

 

[Neddy]

You're on the money with the chassis, I remember the AMT '25 double kit - I built the woody variant in glorious fluorescent catsick yellow with black woodwork.  I did rob parts from Jo-Han kits later in life but this would have been too early for that - my main sources of parts would have been Revell, Monogram or AMT/MPC.  As far as the wheels are concerned I can't help there either other than state that I never had a Willys kit and the grille is a one-piece centrepiece from a relatively recent ('60s) model kit, possibly a custom kit.  That's all I can remember I'm afraid.

 

EDIT:  I can confirm the seats came from a '56 Ford Victoria custom but I never built the kit - I must have swapped or otherwise acquired them.

 

Edited August 27, 2022 by Neddy

[Neddy]

On 25/08/2022 at 19:00, keefr22 said:

 

Cool, look forward to seeing them! Have to say I'm glad none of my models from that age survive they were nowhere near the standard of the one you've shown above! I really like that metallic yellow colour too!

 

Keith

This is what you might call a "styling exercise" and comes from a later era when I was in my twenties, I think.  I'd just settled down after several years of living in bedsits, marrying Mrs N and buying our first house which meant that finally I had somewhere I could model in.

 

When the Triumph TR7 was launched in the 1970s it struck me what a bloody awful design it was and as soon as a kit became available I set about trying to improve it a bit, removing the roof panel to make a Targa top, grafting on a grille and nose from a Corvette Stingray kit and handcrafting the rear quarter fairings pinching the idea from a Ferrari.  The end result I called the sTingRay 7 (sorry!) and doesn't bear too close an inspection but it looks OK from a distance.  Honest...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, the paint was Testors metallic, a mix of green and gold, applied with my trusty Humbrol airbrush.  Close-up photography reveals all the imperfections but I was still a mere stripling!

Edited August 30, 2022 by Neddy

[keefr22]

Well, it's certainly different, and the bodywork looks good from here - and I do like the colour again! TBH I always liked the design of the TR7, but little else about it. Until they fitted the V8....!!

 

Keith

 

[desert falcon]

You were a true craftsman already back then