Mark

Not much difference from the military-industrial complex...just get something started so the "right people" profit from it. It's happening elsewhere too, I've probably already said more than I shoukd have here...

Look at the details, there is likely some minor difference that makes these "unique". Bruce Meyers couldn't stop people from buying one of his Manx dune buggy bodies, making some slight change (like filling in the recess for the hood emblem) and then making a mold off of it and going into business against him. There were numerous cheap copies of Cragar S/S and American Torque-Thrusts also. Some small difference, and you're in business.

After all of the half round sections are in place, I'd knock down the high points with a sanding stick. If you were to examine the pleats on the 1:1 car by looking at them from the top of the door, they're unlikely to be half round, but rather a bit flatter.

All of the Rancher issue Eldorado kits I have had were '76s, but I understand that that box was used with some earlier bodies when it was first used. After about 1975, Jo-Han kits can be a crapshoot when it comes to the exact year (in a couple of cases), plastic color, and definitely what decals will be inside the box.

Don't sell those old sheets short. Cut one out and try it, you might be surprised. Worst case, some clear spray or brush-on "decal saver" can be applied to them.

I would never have said "lost", but would have said that the owners of them over the years would never do anything with them. And, that's pretty much what did happen, until THIS particular owner came along.

If a store is doing well selling model kits, they won't have items to blow out when they do the reset. Last week I hit the store I usually go to, lots of empty spaces on the shelves even before the reset. There was only one clearance kit, which I passed on. The eBay/FB marketplace sellers will usually clean out everything, so that one kit was probably one of only a handful that this store needed to mark down.

That it was. Making it generic gets rid of pesky licensing issues.

Wish they'd offer the suspension parts plated. The wheels all have ejector pin marks on the front side, and most of those should have a magnesium finish anyway.

Looks like a Nineties NASCAR chassis under that car.

Found these two goodies at the Three Rivers show yesterday. The Pontiac is the nicest one I have ever seen, period. It has a couple of peculiar modifications: the chrome tach in place of the lower grille filler piece, and the Moon discs on the rear only. There was a pair of homemade fender skirts on when I bought it, they appear to have been cut from some large flat piece from the same kit, maybe a tonneau cover for the rear seat area. Those were attached with tiny tabs of scrap plastic, one for each skirt. They practically fell off. There were side pipes at one time but they were cemented only at the chassis end, not to the floor pan or body. I fixed one of these that had the original kit skirts, those butt up against the side trim and the cement usually does some damage. This one is way nicer, but I'll probably keep both. The Falcon is a Craftsman kit that was just snapped together with no alterations. I have wanted to put a hardtop on one. Not this one...other than an unbuilt one, this is now "best" and the couple others I have will move down a notch.

Those parts were shared with the stock kit which was reissued not long ago. I sold two of those (stock ones) yesterday at the Three Rivers show.

AMT parts pack grille fits, and is a big improvement over the original part.

Not according to MPC! In their world, '67s had it, as did Bonnevilles through 1970. Mopar guys could still get a Hemi Challenger or Barracuda in '74...

'59-'60 promos were SMP. PMC probably produced those for the toy market. The lack of dated license plates on actual promos was highly uncommon in those days.

Must be a regional thing, maybe doing that to generate more activity in order to keep current staffing levels. I bought an item through eBay on Tuesday. Seller is in Michigan, item is sitting in my mailbox as of a couple of hours ago.

Looks like a job for 3D printing. No GTO kit I'm aware of ever had that air cleaner: heck, the MPC '67 still had tri-power! A molded styrene part won't ever have the louver detail; adding that wouldn't allow the part to be pulled out of the tool.

I've seen too many GTOs with that style air cleaner, to think it wasn't stock. They didn't all have functional hood scoops or the "tub" that seals up to the underside of the hood. That said, some Corvette kits (AMT '55 in particular) had that style air cleaner, but none I'm aware of even attempted to put the louver detail around the perimeter.

Didn't two-seater T-Birds have oil pans with the sump at the back? The Y-block was a legit engine swap for early V8 Fords in the late Fifties and Sixties, look through period magazines and you'll see a bunch of them. Rod & Custom featured a black '32 Vicky with a Y-block that had the supercharger setup, I believe they even did a Model Sketchpad feature on it where they broke it down into components and suggested kit sources for them.

They buy in large quantities to get the price they do, so it takes longer to deplete the stock in the warehouse.

AMT '57 Ford has had them since the early Nineties revision.

YES, it IS possible to remove the molded-in exhaust detail from the kit chassis. It's a real pain, but it can be done. First step is to fill the hollowed-out exhaust pipe detail on the top side. I used "sprue filler" on this one, but someone here tuned me in to a two-part epoxy putty. I'd use that on any of these tasks that I'd consider in the future. Rough up the areas where the epoxy putty will go. Don't bother with the mufflers or the little triangular areas at the front. Those areas can/will be cut out and filled with sheet plastic later. After the epoxy putty cures, shave the pipe detail off. I use X-Acto knives with different shape SHARP blades for most of it. A very slow turning Dremel tool could be used (not the 5,000 rpm that is the "slowest" speed on most of them, you want it slowed to a crawl). Once the pipe detail is gone, cut out the mufflers and small triangular areas towards the front. Cut those areas neatly and cement scrap sheet plastic pieces to fill the resulting holes. After those areas are taken care of, rough up the floor areas and apply a thin layer of two-part glazing putty. After that is sanded, Evergreen strip stock can be used to duplicate stiffening rib detail on the floorpan where the exhaust detail used to be. This method should work for nearly any kit chassis with molded-in exhaust detail. Might even work for molded-in rear axles in some cases, but figure on more work. It's like trying to eat an elephant...one bite at a time...

I see them at the local swap meets too. It's like these guys think nobody else ever heard of Ollie's or HL...

On the 1:1 car, wheelbase adjustment could be made by lining up the front suspension, then shifting the rear axle forward on the leaf springs to center the rear wheels in the inner wheel wells. But swapping the floor pan too will keep the rear wheels wherever they fall. Stretching the wheel opening to the rear should make things match up.

I thought the gasser wagon had vintage aftermarket covers. I'll admit I haven't looked at it in a while, and mine is getting a '70 Torino 429 anyway. The Y-block will get set aside for something else though, probably a Model A coupe. For speed equipment, some of the Revell '57 kits have the factory supercharger option. Make sure you get the right one though, some kits have the chrome parts but not the other parts. AMT '57 Ford has a non-stock supercharger, similar to the factory one but is mounted on the opposite side of the engine. Disregard the fuel injection setup in that kit, the pairs of intake stacks are clocked incorrectly. AMT '56 Ford has a two-fours setup and a nice compact set of vintage headers.