Message Index

• New info to me: Out next month is the AMT All American Race Team Ford LN 8000 Transporter & 1965 Mustang Modified. COOL boxart in my opinion. I'm going to need to order 2 when available. One to build boxart style, other to save. Sorry for the small pic. *PIC*
• I was given this kit 10-15 yrs ago and I knew it was missing some parts. It had the cab, interior, chassis, wheels and tires and a bunch of other stuff. I have fiddled with it over those years and decided many times I was done with it but it keeps ending up on .....
  • Outstanding weathering of the wood trailer bed, Terry. *NM*
    • Thanks. I am really pleased with it. *NM*
  • Really nice work on that old kit. Love the weathering *NM*
    • Thank you. *NM*
    • Thank you very much. *NM*
  • I love it! That’s really cool! *NM*
    • I appreciate that, thanks *NM*
  • looks done to me, great patina *NM*
    • Thanks. I'm pretty good at hiding missing parts. That's why the tarp is there. To cover the missing drive shaft. *NM*
• For Andy and others wondering about their Rodders Journal Subs and Merch orders....I rec'd this note in my email this am...
  • I'm a big fan of TRJ, and will continue to support the best Rodding publication on the market. *NM*
    • I stopped holding my breath a long time ago. These people constantly make excuses, make weak apologies, and deliver next to nothing. Bunch of con artists. You can't believe a word they write *NM*
  • Tim, I've every issue, various books & specials but its the lack of communication thatsgiven then the poor rap, just a real shame when the product is great but the support not so. *NM*
  • Thanks for posting, Tim. *NM*
• Revell / Atlantis Question: Keeler Customs
  • The original Dragster Speed Equipment pack is also MIA, like the Hemi, having been chopped up for the Miss Deal Studebaker.... In it's place, Atlantis has been using the Roadster Equipment pack instead... Close, but not quite the same. *NM*
    • Roadster equipment for the rails - Mooneyes, Kent Fuller?
      • The roadster equipment pack is in all of the Atlantis dragster kits, the Fiat coupe, and the T-bucket. For those chassis parts (axles, steering, suspension) that's all they've got *NM*
        • Actually, the dragster front axle is heavy-handed compared to the roadster pack items *NM*
          • Agreed.... The front axles found in the Tony Nancy 22 jr double kit are a much better substitute for the parts packs pieces. *NM* *PIC*
            • Gonna have some TN leftovers! Is the same axle used in both?
              • Axles are similar in both as I recall. One car has a Kent Fuller chassis, the other a Tommy Ivo chassis which is pretty much a crib of Fuller's piece *NM*
• SVRA Indy Vintage Weekend... *LINK*
  • Very cool stuff!!!! I have a St James story..... *PIC*
    • I first met Lyn at the Concours of America...
    • I met her at a fan event in (if memory serves) Daytona, back in the 1990's... Very classy and professional, making time to greet and chat with those who came to meet her....Would LOVE to have one of those Merkur XR4Ti Trans Am racer kits!!!! *NM*
      • I sold almost 400 of those Merkur kits under 5 different schemes. My resin caster has stopped doing work or I'd still be selling them. Thx *NM*
  • Such a cool variety of race cars.... Love the Ragtime Racers group!!!! *NM*
  • Do my eyes see that right? A Pontiac chasing a Ferrari!? Same or different class? *NM*
    • different classes...some of the practice sessions were open... *NM*
  • That No. 47 Factory 5 car is made less than 3 miles from me. They make do it yourself hot rod kits as well. *NM*
  • Way cool PIX, Howard. I'd never get to see this stuff were it not for your work. *NM*
    • Thank you :) *NM*
  • Great batch of pics. Love the le Monstre clone! Also reminds me that I need to get back to the Indy museum - haven’t been there since the remodel. *NM*
• Good afternoon guys, I'm starting to work on a resto of a Pocher '31 Alfa Romeo. Have any of you built any of these kits before?
• o/T: Some days TECH is not my friend.......
• And while I'm at it.... David Dale also sent pics of a VERY cool Barracuda concept that he just finished... In my humble opinion, Mother Mopar should have actually built this one!!! *PICS*
  • Thank you Marty.....more....
    • Dave, that's a really neat build! *NM*
      • Yes it is................ *NM*
  • It's actually suprising Plymouth never did one for the new car show circuit given how valid and "within the scope" it is. Great execution and realism *NM*
    • Really like the imagination of this - and it does look legit *NM*
    • Plymouth already had a similar concept car on the auto show circuit in '64. Behold the survivor Satellite II show car. *LINK* *PIC*
      • I wonder what the roof section is from. It doesn't match either the sedan or '64-'65 hardtop rooflines *NM*
        • Probably hand fabricated, has a very thin profile when viewed from the side *NM*
      • Here i the car I copied. *NM* *LINK*
  • I'm diggin that *NM*
  • Neat! *NM*
  • A tinted clear top would look good too. *NM*
• Also from Frank, a cool little Barracuda that I'd love to cruise around in, in real life.... *PICS*
  • Now that's a sweet ride Frank! I love it! Hurst baby! *NM*
  • Cool! Frank, where did you get the engine (and especially the air cleaner/carb/intake) from? *NM*
    • Thanks Marty for posting this for me. ****INSIDE**** Chip this answers your question on the engine
    • Sorry Chip not a clue about the air cleaner found it in my parts box. *NM*
  • That's super cool *NM*
  • I've told you Frank, so you know I dig this. Cool color combo. *NM*
• Here we go again.... Frank and Oliver sent me pics of a couple of interesting builds that were recently completed.... First up something a little different than the stuff that Frank usually does.... *PICS*
  • Great build, guessing anything done is subtle enough to not hit my radar, which means I'm curious! *NM*
  • Thanks Marty for posting this for me. ****INSIDE****
    • The story is as good as the model! *NM*
  • WOW!...You must be older than I thought if you were around driving in the Roadster Era.....Or perhaps you just drive in the Vintage Racers Series...Either way, that thing is awesome! *NM*
• Back in the day, Popular Science mag ran photos of forward year test vehicles out on the road. A few of those were of Colonnade cars, and yes, they showed 1972-level far less prominent front bumpers. Looked good. The Chevelle was the one that lost the plot (more than ...
  • Used to see all sorts of interesting cars in Dearborn around this time - one was a soft-nose (!) '72 Torino 4-door
  • Growing up in Oztralia in the 1960's, Popular Mechanics copies in the school library was where we got all our latest info re what each US car brand was doing, if we were sneaky we'd remove those pages from the PM & take them home, add them to Car Craft,Hot Rod & SS&DI mags. *NM*
    • I knew of a fellow student who swiped our junior high's copy of the October 1976 Motor Trend! *PIC*
  • I find it interesting that the colonnade era cars often generate so much discussion on model message boards, yet seem to have generated very little attention from the kit makers. Maybe it’s time for a real styrene kit (not a semi-accurate or incomplete 3D print version)? *NM*
    • According to Year One, '73-7 Colonnade (Malibu, Cutty, Monte) are the biggest growing part of the portfolio
    • It's the conflict of 1970s kit manufacturer struggles, lack of a promo contract for those vs the fact that they sold very well, and have made great performance cars. It almost feels like they're one of the biggest "really wish they'd done annuals" that hasn't been kitted *NM*
      • Not to mention when they were done (Johan's curbside Cutlasses, MPC stock car Chevys, and Lindberg 1/32s), they're not the MPC 3-in-1 annuals we wish had been tooled *NM*
        • Chevelle sure seems like it was destined to be an annual when I look at the body
          • I've wondered that when I've looked at the chassis with inner wheelhouses, etc. Sure looks like it was intended to be factory stock before being destined for a NASCAR. *NM*
            • The AMT Chevelle? That NASCAR kit recycled the chassis from the '70-'72 Monte Carlo which was created as a promo/showroom stock kit *NM*
              • Haha… that explains it. It’s good to have somebody who knows the lineage of kits to explain what should be the obvious but really isn’t for most of us! Thanks! *NM*
                • The roof on the AMT body looks chopped, as though it was NASCAR only from the jump. Not sure about MPC's, as I have never had one of those *NM*
                  • The MPC body looks good to my eye, but it appears that it was designed to be only a NASCAR body. If a company were going to do a stock version, IMHO they would have to start fresh. *NM*
                  • Yes, it looks ever so slightly chopped to me as well. Johan set the standard so if anyone does a new stock colonnade, it better match the Johan Cutlass on the front and side window shape. *NM*
              • It would be a leap of faith at the time for AMT to cut a race only body tool for Chevelles... unless they had solid intel from distributors that the MPC product was really moving *NM*
                • Or the Bobby Allison MC kit did better than they expected. The Chevelle was just a new body, the rest carryover *NM*
        • Then there was the Revell curbside Monte lowrider, which seemed to do well and would probably be a surefire success as a reissue.
          • If only Dave Starsky had driven a Laguna..sigh...LOL *PIC*
          • I bought a few, but never really liked the way Revell executed the ‘77 Monte Carlo. Something weird about the opera window/rear wheel well body shape that bothered me. It seems as if it was destined to be diecast then changed at the last minute for plastic kit production *NM*
        • The top selling 1:1 cars were seldom done as kits. Few/no Olds Cutlasses then, no Camry/RAV4 now *NM*
          • I think that makes sense for when the target demographic was 7 - 12 year old boys. Gotta wow ‘em with subject matter. Most popular 1:1s were more mundane than exciting Mustangs, Camaros and Corvettes. Today’s demographic presumably is the adult hobbyist…
      • Yet, they wanted a Chevette and Monza promo contract. *NM*
• Thank you Bill! I will have to do a little search of the interwebs. *NM*
• I hope so and I agree. I'm gonna go hit my local B&N tonight and see if the latest issue is there. I heard they had a section devoted to Pontiacs, *NM*
• Car enthusiast magazines have been dying for years. Remember in 2019 when TEN killed off 19 of 22 publications? Others have quietly gone since. *NM*
  • And of the three "survivors", only two are left now. Four Wheeler died a year or so leter, leaving just Hot Rod and Motor Trend...both on reduced print schedules. *PIC*
    • Pete ran what was functionally a publishing Taco Bell - infinite menu options from basically same staff and resources
      • Think you have it backwards--McMullen and Argus were already part of Primedia, later Source Interlink, when it went for Petersen. *LINK*
        • Guess it depends who was telling the story, Petersen had 10X the subscribers. Regardless, as indpenendent mags, they were profitable
• I don’t have the Falcon, but every 1969 annual I have- including sealed ones I’ve opened- had red/blue lines. *NM*
• "In Scale Illustrated" magazine question
  • Just those two *NM*
  • Yup! Just those two. *NM*
• Issue #3 of Scale Model Enthusiast is available now. *NM*
  • Here in upper Illinois I got mine about a week and half ago... But from my LHS, he calls me when the issues come in and he holds a couple for me. Over the years his magazine selection has lessoned. *NM*
• That sure looks like a great start!
• Yes, that is correct - Buick landed on a revised design, first
• Hmmmmm.... *NM*
• Overdue by about, oh, 35 years to make my telescoping brass drill centering device - and to your point
  • Matter of fact, you don't need music wire--straight pins will do...
• It is an easy layup. The shortbed chassis exists as the GMC shortbed; make a new standard shortbed and presto - new kit!
  • Sorry to say, but I don't think it does still exist . That AMT chassis was always dual exhause molded in as the MPC chassis had single, later completely removed. The current long chassis matches the AMT except for the wheelbase, As I understand it, the current '72 is mostly
    • Current chassis is split somewhere; front half old, rear half new (when this version was created) *NM*
      • Pretty sure the part was lengthened in the Middle, Mark. I just took a VERY close look at an original comparing it to the latest one and there's burs and machining marks on the top surface that are identical on both. Of course the tranny crossmember and spare tire were, , ,
        • There was at least one 80s Ertl release of the GMC shortbed, red-orange cover art
          • I've got that Ertl release of the '72 GMC shortbed, I still haven't finished it. BIggest complaint I heard back then when it was reissued, was that the GMC emblems were too shallow.
            • I'd bet we'll see some photoetch stuff shortly after the first Moebius Chevy truck touches down *NM*
          • I doubt the stepside ever made it into a checkerboard box, those probably started after the conversion was done *NM*
            • Ida know, really wasn't paying that much attention to truck at the time (despite my love for same)
• It is hard to make money at a newsstand, but a few places make it work
• Correct - the UAW strikes paralyzed GM and threw several product programs up in the air
• No, but I'd love to see them pay the respect to the kit that they did with the 60 Ford and other rebirths they have produced. This is a high interest subject and one that can either help or hurt Round 2 given price points and upcoming competition in the market with Moebius *NM*
  • You're comparing new kits ('60/'63 Fords) to a conversion. Round 2/Lionel has had the ball for over fifteen years; replacing an existing kit with a new one isn't the way they do things *NM*