Merkur XR4Ti

Great job, Clay! I just finished one of these myself and learned a lot of it; I'll work in your tips for the next one I build. That model looks fantastic.

From what I understand, this kit was not meant to offer 2 options for a build, only one. Some kits did go out with both sets of grilles, but that was apparently a mistake. Perhaps they'll change that in the future? Ejector pin marks are there, no doubt. They're on the bottom. I didn't worry about them. Painted and decaled up, and on my shelf, I can't see 'em.

I did not fix anything regarding the gap. This model is box stock. With the body on and sitting on my shelf, I can't see any body gap anyway. The body sits firmly on the chassis; I can pick it up and not worry about the chassis falling out. This is not like a typical MPC kit that would fall apart when picked up. It's very solid. One thing I did do was to sand the front valance down a little bit to raise the bumper up a touch. Just wanted to move the bumper further up into the headlight piece. That improves the appearance a lot. But that's about all I did.

These are all fair points, Dave. However, I think it's worth re-stating that my personal preference is to build cars that look nice on the shelf. The chassis details don't interest me all that much. I believe that the Monte Carlo fulfills that requirement for me. I understand if others feel differently, but for me the kit is nice. I would never have been able to build a MC race car otherwise (nor an Olds), and they look darn close to the real thing. I am not in the habit of turning my models upside down, and I don't build for contests any more (I enter them sometimes, but I only build for me). Frankly, the Olds might be a better build for me precisely because of the incorrect rear suspension in it. The assembly will be simpler, and thus a more solid, easier build, which makes me happy. I've always had trouble with rear suspensions on my Nascar kits; a simpler assembly pleases me. I will learn from this build, and apply those lessons to the Olds and see how that turns out. I don't see the problems you see with the bodies; to me they look like the pics of the real cars I examined. Again, this is just me. I am just about the furthest thing from a rivet counter one can imagine. It's hardly a Palmer, ya know? The pic is here up thread for everyone to see and judge for themselves if the kit looks close enough to the real thing for them. For me, it does. Final note: Revell would get beat up for such a thing because they are a long-established company making millions of mainstream models. Salvino's is a start up company making niche models. I think it's not fair to have the same standards applied. I am thoroughly impressed that they put out this kit and I was able to build what you see here today. if they were offered help and it was refused, all one can do is look at the final product and decide if it's worth personally buying. For me, it was. I can't wait to build the Olds. I can't wait to see what they do with the old Revell Buick tool. I can't wait for their Pontiac 2+2. I can't wait to see what their Charger will look like.

I think they're very nice for the subjects they offer. They look good on my shelf. Having Powerslide decals included in the kit is a HUGE plus. These are basically limited-run kits; I wasn't expecting a Revell-style breakdown of parts and it's different than kits I've built before. The chassis is a little simplified and perhaps a little generic, but (and this is strictly a personal preference) I don't really care as the model looks right to my eye. The chassis was a bit finicky to build but this was my first Salvino kit and I was learning along the way. My first Revell stocker was much the same, honestly. The kit required a bit of fiddling to look right but I was expecting that and frankly I was fine with it. I would encourage everyone to buy one and check it out. The Olds is up next for me.

Built from the new Salvino's kit. Rustoleum Colonial red paint.

I'm very excited to see the Monte Carlo SS get reissued: that kit was ridiculously expensive on the usual sites and was aching for a re-issue. I nearly spent a great deal of money to get one a month or so ago; I'm very glad I held off. I've been wanting to build one for many years.

Hey gang, any thoughts on which colors to use that might best replicate our well-known GM burgundy interiors from the 80s? I want to make an interior of this color for both the Olds 442 and to build a Buick Regal Limited Turbo from the old Grand National kit. GM called this color "claret," I believe. I've eyeballed Tamiya Hull Red and it doesn't quite seem bright enough. I thought I'd lay a basecoat of Testors Fabric spray paint and then color over that. Any ideas?

I've been looking for a case to fit it and the only ones that fit this 1/24 model are those listed for 1/18. It's nearly as big as the 1/18 Aston Martin DB7 diecast I have. The real thing must have been absolutely gargantuan.

No, those wire wheels where in the kit. The model is box stock. One day I might get crazy and build another with more details and extra stuff, but I wanted to do it this way first.

This is the Polar Lights kit. It's an older issue, so it doesn't have Slimer or all the decals from the latest reissue. This model is HUGE in 1/24 scale, it won't fit into my display case!

I've had to paint a few cars white lately and have noticed I've been having a LOT of trouble with Tamiya's TS-26 Pure white that I usually use. I decant it from the spray can and airbrush it on, but for some reason this paint seems MUCH thinner than their other spray paints, and as a consequence I'm having a difficult time with runs and coverage and such. What do you guys like to use for white cars? I've heard Rustoleum 2x works well but I've been wary about using that kind of spray can for the models.

I had procured a set of decals of the AMT version of this kit which in theory should have worked much better, but they had a really strange reaction to being set down on the hood and resulted in dozens of bumps and bubbles on a smooth surface. I had no such issues with the stripes on the back. I had to peel and rip off the AMT decals from the hood because the result wasn't acceptable. All I was left to work with were the Revell stickers. Very frustrating at the time, but I made do as best I could.

Revell snap kit, wheels and tires from the ‘68 Mustang kit, custom color I made myself using Fathom Green as a base. It’s not perfect as I had to use the kit stickers for the front stripes, but I’m happy with the result.

I am flummoxed and could use the advice of the experts here. I am planning a build of the 1970 Chevelle from John Wick. I have the Revelle Snap-tite 1:25 kit as a base (blue car on box), but it comes with silly modern wheels and tires, so I'm trying to figure out where to get the tires and wheels shown in the pic. The movie car has BF Goodrich radials on Torq-thrust wheels. (I think the car is Fathom Green, that's what I'm planing to paint it). I have a '69 Chevelle kit with Torq-thrusts that I could use, but the tires in that kit don't really look right. I'm looking for help figuring out how to find radials, like the BF Goodrich ones shown in the pic, in 1/25 scale that I could use the 1/25 Torq-thrusts in. AMT Has a parts pack with Torq Thrusts and Firestone Wide Ovals, but I worry they will be too wide to fit the wheel wells of the model (I can always remove the lettering). I have plenty of the classic Revell/Mono Goodyear GT radials, but those are 1/24 and noticeably too big on the 1/25 Chevelle body. The scale is what's killing me here. Any help?