Message Index

• For Andy and others wondering about their Rodders Journal Subs and Merch orders....I rec'd this note in my email this am...
• 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*
• 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*
• 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'm diggin that *NM*
  • Neat! *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*
• 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*
        • 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*
        • The top selling 1:1 cars were seldom done as kits. Few/no Olds Cutlasses then, no Camry/RAV4 now *NM*
• Thank you Bill! I will have to do a little search of the interwebs. *NM*
• 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*
• 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...
• Correct - the UAW strikes paralyzed GM and threw several product programs up in the air
• I’ve seen some pics online with the front bumper shock absorbers pulled in and they look a lot better. *NM*
• Here is the Glenn Ford resin..... *PIC*
  • You need to finish that! *NM*
  • That sure looks like a great start!
• All I was thinking about were Darts/Valians. Of course thy came on Dusters and Demons! Major brain-fade here! *NM*
• my copy arrived today in Indiana. JIM *NM*
  • My copy was in my mailbox in North County San Diego, CA when I got home from work on Saturday, another GREAT issue!!!... *NM*
  • Mule made it over the mountain here today...... *NM*
  • I'm still waiting for mine. *NM*
• Collectible Automobile responded to my email query about the availibility of the magazine.
  • I wondered why the last issue hasn't got a price on the cover *NM*
  • Jason...thats not good re CA not being sold at newstands no longer....I've been waiting for the April issue here in Oz, have every issue since May 1984, #1....have just taken out a sub again but will have to find April/June & August '26.....not happy....lol. *NM*
  • That's a bummer. I used to pick up an issue now and again but rarely go to a bookstore these days. It's always been a great magazine but unfortunately, it will probably be a matter of time before it goes under. *NM*
    • They've probably got enough subscribers to not bother with "newsstand" sales. Not many bookstores left, supermarkets around here no longer stock any magazines except the "home" or "lifestyle" ones at the checkout *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*
  • It is hard to make money at a newsstand, but a few places make it work
  • 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
• Expecting a totally re-engineered 54-year-old tool? *NM*
  • Older than that...a couple of parts date back to the '67 annual, as does the design of both of the kits used to create the current one *NM*
  • 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*
  • 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*
• Sometimes that stuff gets left on. There are pictures on one of Bill Jenkins' early Camaros with "Top Stock Eliminator" on the front fender, when he was running Modified Production and even Gas class with it *NM*