tim boyd Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 (edited) Here's an overview of three Round 2 reissues that are hitting the market in May-June 2020. First up is the AMT 1965 Fairlane Late Model Stocker. It includes what appears to be a mostly redesigned decal sheet. Alan, I am pretty sure the guys at Round 2 read your complaints about the carryover decal sheet in the 1965 Chevelle Modified Stocker a few months ago, as to whether that is the explanation for what appears to be a partially updated decal sheet in this case is not known to me.... Next up is the AMT 1960 (Falcon-based) Ranchero. It is essentially the Ohio George Ranchero with a new and extensive Coke-based decal sheet, a set of two tinted clear coke bottle cases, and a Coke chest. As was the case with the Ohio George issue, also included is a newly tooled 1960 Falcon grille and hubcaps, vs. the original 1961 Falcon grille from the mid-1970 reissue of the original annual kit. Last up is the AMT 1963 Galaxie 500 Advanced Custom kit. This one has several past reissues (some are shown in the last image), in my case the most recent one dates from twenty years go. A welcome reissue with terrific new box art, the kit has the usual early 1960's tradeoffs in terms of an excellent body paired with a very basic chassis and an engine with a huge hole through the crankcase for the metal rod axle. The engine and chassis from the John Mueller era AMT-Ertl 1960 Starliner would be a great place to start for projects requiring a more accurate/contemporary engine and chassis. Builders will also need to find about five minutes with a file and sandpaper to refine the windshield opening trim at the top of the driver's side A-Pillar. Finally, an all new and very creative decal sheet is included. I've also included photos of the assembly manual for those that are not familiar with the original kit, particularly the "Advanced Custom" parts that are included. Check out 34 detailed images of the three kits focusing primarily on what's new or different at this link....and thanks for looking. (These kits were sent to me by Round 2 at their discretion; I did not ask for the kits nor did I make any promises as to whether I would show them in model car forums or make comments one way or the other regarding the kits). Edited May 17, 2020 by tim boyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stavanzer Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 (edited) Hey, huge Cudos to Round2 on the Mod Stock Decal sheets!! Both the '66 Impala and no this '65 Ford, have great new decal sheets. I see that the Fairlane also gets the stock wheel covers back on the chrome tree! Also good news. This is great. Sadly (for my wallet) all three of these kits have moved to "Must Haves" based on the work Round2 has done to them. Edit. But the Bean Counters strike again! Only 4 tires in the '63 Galaxie. No Slicks, no Custom tires. They pulled that same stunt with the '63 Impala too. Come On, Round2? Back in the "Bad Old Days" Even Walmart kits got both stock and custom tires, or at least a pair of slicks! Give with one hand, takeaway with the other.......... Edited May 17, 2020 by alexis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niteowl7710 Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 3 hours ago, alexis said: Edit. But the Bean Counters strike again! Only 4 tires in the '63 Galaxie. No Slicks, no Custom tires. They pulled that same stunt with the '63 Impala too. Come On, Round2? Back in the "Bad Old Days" Even Walmart kits got both stock and custom tires, or at least a pair of slicks! Give with one hand, takeaway with the other.......... Well ya see...there are all these parts pack tires they'd like to sell you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 3 hours ago, alexis said: But the Bean Counters strike again! Only 4 tires in the '63 Galaxie. No Slicks, no Custom tires. They pulled that same stunt with the '63 Impala too. Come On, Round2? Back in the "Bad Old Days" Even Walmart kits got both stock and custom tires, or at least a pair of slicks! Give with one hand, takeaway with the other.......... The original annual kits included only four tires. In fact, no "annual" kit prior to 1964 included anything but stock tires. Some kits had printed whitewalls, while others had blackwalls with a sheet of stickers. The stickers were die-cut to allow for narrow or wide whitewalls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBcritter Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 Decals on the Galaxie are terrific! The instrument cluster decals are greatly appreciated, along with those hard-to-paint grille and trunk emblems. The Ranchero decals, well... no instrument cluster (really??) and the license plates are dated 1941, I presume left over from the '41 Coca-Cola Plymouth. The cooler's a nice idea; I imagine some savvy aftermarket seller will come up with a resin insert so it can be displayed with the lid up - and I bet more than one of us will turn it into a little trailer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 Nothing here that will be taking my money. The Fairlane in that form, I have no interest in. And other two? The Coke ice chest is neat, but I got an Ohio George version I built several years ago, and I'm pleased with results. And I also have a '63 Ford I built from the Prestige Series from the 1980's. I'm waiting for something real different, like the '64 F-85 we've been hearing about for several years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyD Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 I'm probably going to get blasted for posting this, but that's life. I've grown really disenchanted and disappointed with Round 2 and its management. Nothing but an endless parade of moldy oldies (like the Ranchero and '63 Ford) and $10 swap meet kits ('57 Chrysler, '58 Edsel) while a host of great kits that they could bring back _ and we know they CAN be brought back because they were reissued by Model King and/ or Learning Curve _ are passed over. The upcoming '64 Olds with the newly tooled body is interesting, but not $35 worth of interesting, imo. You can get the new Tamiya Mustang kit for less than that if you know where to look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzy Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 Can't wait I am a huge fan of those Modified Stocker Kits and that 63 Ford Galaxy has so many possibilities last time I remember seeing that one it was in a set with 2 other kits a Tbird and a 57 Fairlane think in the early 90's pretty sure I still have it my sons built the Tbird and Fairlane I kept the Galaxie I will buy a few of them for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyK Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 I still wish they would've put more effort in some all new decals for the Modified Stockers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyD Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Fitzy said: Can't wait I am a huge fan of those Modified Stocker Kits I'm glad someone is; all they do for me is fill me with disgust that AMT hacked up a bunch of great annual kits to create a bunch of really inaccurate race car kits with cartoonishly large tires. Me, I'd MUCH rather that Round 2 reissue the MPC Stocker Monte Carlo and GTO, but those are among the kits they seem to be ignoring for some reason. We know those kits CAN be reissued because Dave Burkett did so in the early 2000s. Short-track modelers bought them by the case, too, because the adjustable chassis (just about the best-detailed short-track racing unit ever seen in kit form, btw) can be used under virtually any '60s or '70s mid-sized body. The body in the recently-reissued '69 Yenko Camaro kit originated in the Super Stocker Series, so there's one easy kitbash possibility right there. Edited May 23, 2020 by RickyD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stavanzer Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 Tony, they DID put quite a bit of effort in the '66 Chevy and the '65 Ford decals. There are some nice new numbers and some different sponsor names on the sheets. Are they what I would have done? Probably not. Are they an improvement over the same generic decals that have been in every version of this kit since the 1970's? Oh, Heck Yes! I'm pleased with them and will be buying kits to show Round2 support for these. If you are really disappointed by the decals, Gofur Racing offers some great decals that would work for these kits. I have some of them too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyK Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 I bought the Chevelle and '66 Chevy kits to show my support too and will most likely buy a couple more of these upcoming kits even though I've built several in the past. I wasn't impressed with the new numbers at all and guess I was expecting more than they gave us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stavanzer Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Well, the '65 did reuse the older decals, so we share our feelings on that score. The '66 and the new '65 Ford do have some Faux Duct Tape & Spray Painted numbers which I really liked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordairgtar Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 On 5/23/2020 at 7:50 AM, RickyD said: The upcoming '64 Olds with the newly tooled body is interesting, but not $35 worth of interesting, imo. What 64 oldsmobile are you talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luc Janssens Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Just now, lordairgtar said: What 64 oldsmobile are you talking about? Stevens International lists a amt '64 Cutlass convertible as TBA, it's the annual kit with a newly tooled convertible body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordairgtar Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 On 5/24/2020 at 11:17 AM, Luc Janssens said: Stevens International lists a amt '64 Cutlass convertible as TBA, it's the annual kit with a newly tooled convertible body. Cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyD Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 On 5/24/2020 at 12:14 PM, lordairgtar said: What 64 oldsmobile are you talking about? The original '64 Cutlass convertible annual kit. AMT modified the body tooling to use in an altered wheelbase drag car kit. Round 2 recently revealed it's tooling a new factory-stock body to enable the annual kit to be reissued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordairgtar Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 On 5/26/2020 at 11:42 AM, RickyD said: The original '64 Cutlass convertible annual kit. AMT modified the body tooling to use in an altered wheelbase drag car kit. Round 2 recently revealed it's tooling a new factory-stock body to enable the annual kit to be reissued. That is great. Let's hope it comes to fruition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 On 5/26/2020 at 11:42 AM, RickyD said: The original '64 Cutlass convertible annual kit. AMT modified the body tooling to use in an altered wheelbase drag car kit. Round 2 recently revealed it's tooling a new factory-stock body to enable the annual kit to be reissued. I'll be in line for one. It's one I never had back in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stavanzer Posted May 30, 2020 Share Posted May 30, 2020 I think this is the '64 Olds kit, that is coming. Convertible, rather Hardtop, is what we know so far. If it comes with the Judson Supercharger, it moves to the head of my purchase list. There are some great parts shown on the kit. It will be fascinating to see which parts have survived. I note a clear Grill Screen that would be awesome, and some Driving/Fog lights with separate, clear lenses. The "Hanger Shot" that was shown on the Collector Model Blog, was small, and it was hard to see what exactly was still in the kit, but IIRC, the Chrome tree looked pretty close to full of parts, in the photo. https://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/amt-instructions/automotive-cars--pi/oldsmobile/amt-64-f-85-cutlass/?view=roll#1 This is a Huge Deal for Round2, as it shows them reviving a kit that needed the most costly part re-tooled. Fixing the body is a major undertaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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