SteveG

Actually the official Government Holiday started on Feb 11 and ran until Feb 17 . Manufacturing shuts down there anywhere from two to four weeks and many Chinese workers use this shutdown time to change jobs so there's a hiring and ramp-up time to consider. Closest comparison in the US would be Auto Plant shutdowns for model changeover. CNY is nothing like our typical three day holiday weekend. Steve

Typically kits are available around six weeks after the the productions samples are received. Based on when this thread started you'd be looking at the end of March or early April assuming the Chinese New Year Holiday didn't delay the shipping. Distribution will start from their West Coast Warehouse. Steve

No hints here Casey, just coincidence as far as I know. I'm a big fan of both Municipal and Work vehicles in scale and would encourage Round2 to do more if given the chance. It wouldn't take that much more work to bring us that Indiana State Patrol 67 Impala as a kit though. -Steve

With a combination of the S/N and SS Impala kits you would have a great start on building one of these Indiana State Patrol '67 Impala's. It even makes use of the bumper guards the front corner lamps. The only think I don't I 've seen in scale are those Police Package Center caps.

Based on what they've done so far, it should have the 6 cylinder copied straight from the original issue Customizing kit with the exception of having the axle hole filled in. Steve

First off, they didn't just retool the body. They basically retooled the whole kit. Now before you consider it a waste of resources, look at some of what's required to create an all new modern tooled classic car kit. From the drawing board to the store shelves can take up to two years, more is not unusual. The price tag is typically well north of 100K and then you have to find a clean original 1:1 example to measure and/or scan to create all the needed 3D drawings part by part. Then there's 3D printed samples to check and it goes on from there. To reverse engineer a rare, long lost kit biggest hurdle is finding a pristine sample to copy. The rest of the work can be done in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of the cost. As for creating a hybrid of the 63 Nova Wagon body with say the current 66 Nova kit sounds intriguing at first, they just don't share enough parts to make it work cost wise. Which brings us right back to making an all new tool. Now there are a lot of modern tools with by creating some new parts could be nicely expanded on. Round 2 could give us a 68 Impala SS for about the same amount of work and cost as did to do the Supernatural 67 Impala 4Dr hardtop. There are so many more examples that it would deserve it's own thread but let's get back to this kit. Bottom lines is that Round 2 wanted to bring back this particular kit, warts and all. I'm really glad they did, and I'm thankful they made the effort to make some modest improvements. Think about that first discussion that must of started off with "wouldn't it be cool if we could bring back the 63 Nova Wagon kit" then consider the all the possibilities that could come after that ... -Steve

This is a re-tooled copy of the original Craftsman kit with some modest improvements. Round 2 is calling it Craftsman Plus. Updates include clear headlamps and clear red tail lamp lens that have been added along with a side view mirror. Kit style wheel covers, wheel backs and tires instead of the original promo style pieces. Glass is now two separate front and rear pieces. The front metal axle is replaced by pins. There's also a couple of optional interior accessories included and all new decal sheet with some "fun" commercial graphics and along with the instrument face and body scripts for those who prefer them over paint or foil. The box is a tribute to the original packaging. The rest will be identical to the original Craftsman kit. There will be another version Nova Wagon kit that will include an engine and other items like the original 3n1 release that's about a year out. I do not have the full details of that version yet but it's being based on the original release. Both of these are are being packaged as nostalgic items, not modern tooling. Round 2 is considering more of these recreations of other long lost classic kits, all depending on how well this and another similar item coming out does sales wise. Personally I can't wait to get my hand on one, my very first model was an AMT Craftsman kit. I hope they bring back more... -Steve

It looks to me based on Steve's photo above that there is a extra piece of trim molded just above the bumper and below the tail lamps that doesn't exist in my reference photos which is placing the bumper noticeably lower then it should be. I don't have a kit in hand yet but here's a good 1:1 photo for comparison. Does anyone else see what I'm talking about ? -Steve

Besides everything Snake mentioned, the Sedan roof skin is about an inch higher and the rear window opening is taller and rounded on top corners. Steve

As mentioned above, that's upholstery pattern used with the on screen cars. The rear seat should match it but Round 2 chose not to update it so the two door rear seat is what you have to work with. I filled in the rear speaker on mine and called it close enough. The seat bottom cushion should have the corners rounded too. This kit would be a great start for either a '67 or '68 Caprice Four door hardtop in the hands a certain talented modeler, hint, hint .... Steve

I believe that the 67 Chevy Bel Air, Biscayne and Impala poverty caps are a one year only item and I don't think they've been done in 1/25th scale yet. Steve

For what it's worth Snake I painted mine in the factory color Carnival Red aka Ford Rangoon Red as it looked correct to me. I really can't think of a reason why it wasn't painted that color as Poppy Red is really Orange and noticeably different in most photos. Steve

This issue does come with the Auto trans. If you want to build a 4 spd version it's an easy swap. All of the Moebius 65 Plymouth kits are designed to share the same engine block regardless of Hemi or Wedge, Manual or Auto. So kit bash away between any previous releases. Speaking of 4 spd cars, I suspect another AWB version may be coming later as the correct 4 spd floor hump was added to the tooling and I believe it's in this release as a separate extra part. Also, It's a safe bet that some enterprising resin caster is already working to give us a AWB Sedan body to drop right on this kit. Now we just need to work on Larry over at Pegasus to approve some Dodge variations of the Moebius Plymouths and we'll be all set. -Steve

If you mean they're the same new wheels created for the Lawman 64 Plymouth then yes they are. Steve

This will be a Model King release and yes distribution with go through them. That doesn't necessarily mean a smaller run then a straight Moebius release. There are minimum and maximum amounts of kits that can be ordered, produced and shipped at one time. Dave Burket can order a full run if he chooses or less same as any Moebius release. The distribution is the biggest difference. Production orders for any of the Moebius kit are typically based on sales predictions regardless of the how they are distributed. Steve