1/25 Revell Foose '68 Firebird

[Casey]

Those are nice, I am going to google and see what all he has done

Look at what his father, Sam Foose, Sr. has done, too.

[martinfan5]

Look at what his father, Sam Foose, Sr. has done, too.

Will do

[Muncie]

www.wallesdator.com - click on the Foose oval

[Hawk312]

David, nice mock up review , the ride height does not look to bad out of the box

Thanks Jonathan. Yeah, I am thinking maybe only the front is just a little bit high, comparing it to the pictures of the 1:1. I tried dropping down the front with my kit, which was really easy. Basically you just have to modify the posts where the lower a-arm sub-assembly mounts, and I think you have to shave a little off the bottom of the body where it meets this sub-assembly. This is all from memory so there might be a couple other little things, but I know it only took me 5-10 minutes. I ended up taking a little too much off and now the tires are up into the fender.

I do think that it looks much better in person though. For some reason, even in my pics, the rims appear to be shallower than they really are. I think they would look good on a lot of muscle car kits for a "pro-touring" look.

[ScaleModelAddict]

I just got this kit and it looks good. I think I'll try to drop it down a bit...have to learn how first though.

[racejunkie]

just finished my foose kit today and yes i wasvery dissapointed in it. it was my first build and i wish i had gotten something else to start out with. it came out decently but sits up like a truck. easy build tho asilde from misfitting parts when you do the race kit.

[kruleworld]

Coulda tooled up an LS1 and/or borrow parts from the '98-02 Camaro/Firebird kits.

I don't think a lot of kits are made to be 'modular' in that the engine is often spread over several sprues and mixed with suspension parts, instead of being all contained so they can put any engine or any wheels in any kit.

[Dogfish_7]

Wish I had read this thread before buying the kit. Very disappointed! The only thing you get with this kit is decals, wheels and some great box art.

[Flatout]

I enjoyed building this kit. The fit and finish were quite good, the Pontiac engine looks pretty accurate, and the decals for the quarter panels laid down nicely. The only issue I had with assembly was getting the front of the chassis to fit in the body.

I took the "smoothing" a step further than they did on the 1:1 (shaved the door handles, outside mirror, and the emblems) and lowered the car all around. Used Testers "Blazing Black One Coat Laquer" and Wet Look Clear. Looks pretty good on the shelf, will probably try the Coronet too.

Aloha...Pete

[Joe Handley]

Beautiful build Pete!

[Darin Bastedo]

Pete, that is an excellent build. I for one am happy to have a new variation to build.

[Darin Bastedo]

Please for the love of all things , can someone explain to me why Foose is so popular, he takes a old car, puts some wheels on it, does a motor swap, adds some racing seats and puts a "cool" paint striped down the side ?, whats to so cool about that, I am really trying to understand, help me please

David, nice mock up review , the ride height does not look to bad out of the box

Why is Chip Foose so popular? Well for one he does far more than just put big wheels on old cars. His full on custom designs are top notch in design. fit and finish. They are Distinctive enough to be able to tell they are one of his at first glance.

Before:

After:

Yeah all he did was a motor swap and a set of big wheels.

[Guest G Holding]

If you want to see Foose...look at his own Ford effie....looks pretty close to stock...but not close!

http://www.chipfoose.com/ws_display.asp?filter=Completed_Builds#

[MyBradKeselowski]

I myself just picked up this Foose Firebird kit and can't wait to start building it. IMO it looks to be an awesome kit so I'm excited about building it...

[W-409]

Why is Chip Foose so popular? Well for one he does far more than just put big wheels on old cars. His full on custom designs are top notch in design. fit and finish. They are Distinctive enough to be able to tell they are one of his at first glance.

He does really nice job, I mean that he builds cleanly and cars are very nicely finished, they can win trophies in shows and whatever. But I'm not a fan of Chip Foose or Boyd Coddincton or any other builder who install those huge wheels with low profile tires on a car, or modern engines... In those pics you posted, I'd still prefer the "Before"-car.

It's a shame that Revell didn't make kits with George Barris, John D Agostino or Gene Winfield, instead of Chip Foose.

This is just my opinion, so....

[Darin Bastedo]

He does really nice job, I mean that he builds cleanly and cars are very nicely finished, they can win trophies in shows and whatever. But I'm not a fan of Chip Foose or Boyd Coddincton or any other builder who install those huge wheels with low profile tires on a car, or modern engines... In those pics you posted, I'd still prefer the "Before"-car.

It's a shame that Revell didn't make kits with George Barris, John D Agostino or Gene Winfield, instead of Chip Foose.

This is just my opinion, so....

Ok I'll accept the others, but George Barris? Really? what George Barris "Kustom" do you think they should kit? Now his Brother Sam, the one with the talent did some cool stuff, But unless your target market is "Huggy Bear" I don't think George's stuff will sell.

[Rob Hall]

Ok I'll accept the others, but George Barris? Really? what George Barris "Kustom" do you think they should kit? Now his Brother Sam, the one with the talent did some cool stuff, But unless your target market is "Huggy Bear" I don't think George's stuff will sell.

He does really nice job, I mean that he builds cleanly and cars are very nicely finished, they can win trophies in shows and whatever. But I'm not a fan of Chip Foose or Boyd Coddincton or any other builder who install those huge wheels with low profile tires on a car, or modern engines... In those pics you posted, I'd still prefer the "Before"-car.

It's a shame that Revell didn't make kits with George Barris, John D Agostino or Gene Winfield, instead of Chip Foose.

This is just my opinion, so....

Foose is of the modern era, though....Barris is known for tacky junk from 40-50 years ago.. Winfield is long retired isn't he? Not familiar with Agostino. As far as modern day customizers, Moal is doing some interesting things.

[Darin Bastedo]

Foose is of the modern era, though....Barris is known for tacky junk from 40-50 years ago.. Winfield is long retired isn't he? Not familiar with Agostino. As far as modern day customizers, Moal is doing some interesting things.

Here is a link to John D'agostino's site. Cool stuff, more traditional style.

http://www.johndagostinokustomkars.com/showcars.htm

[W-409]

Here are some cars I'd like to see from George Barris:

'

Okay I don't like the grille on the next one, but otherwise it's really cool.

[Darin Bastedo]

Here are some cars I'd like to see from George Barris:

'

Okay I don't like the grille on the next one, but otherwise it's really cool.

What in particular, do you see in these that would make them particularly marketable? Aside from the Copper Kart these all look like fairly generic 50's customs.

[W-409]

I don't know if them all would sell very well, but especially that Copper Kart and the HotRod would be really cool kits (New Tooling & Full Detail). They could be used as parts kits as well I guess.

[jimmy]

I got the kit and modified the wheels by painting gold middles......see pic attached

[AK_Invader]

Here is a link to John D'agostino's site. Cool stuff, more traditional style.

http://www.johndagostinokustomkars.com/showcars.htm

http://celebritykustoms.com/show-cars/#prettyPhoto

[horsepower]

He does really nice job, I mean that he builds cleanly and cars are very nicely finished, they can win trophies in shows and whatever. But I'm not a fan of Chip Foose or Boyd Coddincton or any other builder who install those huge wheels with low profile tires on a car, or modern engines... In those pics you posted, I'd still prefer the "Before"-car.

It's a shame that Revell didn't make kits with George Barris, John D Agostino or Gene Winfield, instead of Chip Foose.

This is just my opinion, so....

I hate to burst your bubble, but it has probably been 60+ years since GEORGE Barris actually built any car, even the Ala Kart came out of Barris's shop, but was built by several other customizers of the time, that have gone on to be major constructors in their own shops, George was, & still is the business end of the shop, & is a real promoter, & has quite a few ideas of his that are somewhat questionable to some of us, but the Barris name is still a major name in the industry.

And they do/have made models from some some of the best in the industry, Gene Winfield, Bill Cushenberry, The Alexander Brothers, to name just a few, & these like Chip Foose actually built & worked on the cars that came out of their shops.

Edited April 4, 2013 by horsepower

[Eshaver]

I hate to burst your bubble, but it has probably been 60+ years since GEORGE Barris actually built any car, even the Ala Kart came out of Barris's shop, but was built by several other customizers of the time, that have gone on to be major constructors in their own shops, George was, & still is the business end of the shop, & is a real promoter, & has quite a few ideas of his that are somewhat questionable to some of us, but the Barris name is still a major name in the industry.

And they do/have made models from some some of the best in the industry, Gene Winfield, Bill Cushenberry, The Alexander Brothers, to name just a few, & these like Chip Foose actually built & worked on the cars that came out of their shops.

Del. I'm one who actually met/ knew Mr. Barris . No, I'm no fan of him either . He used to look down on me cause I worked at a competitor of his years ago. I later went on to start my own business. Gene Winfield isn't retired, far from it . By the way, a real gentleman too.