'70 Grande

Welcome to the forum! Really like this vintage rookie-division build; would really like to see some more pics of the front, engine and bottom-side of this excellent looking build!

Great looking build and your lowered nose adjustment looks just right! My warning to other modeler's intending on using your technique for lowering the front end; I attempted the same approach when starting my build of this kit a few years ago and found the plastic at the A-pillars got soft really, really fast and my roof collapsed on me! Body into the junk box and replacement kit acquired... watch those A-pillars!

Lovely little build! Does this kit come with a simplified chassis or some detailed suspension parts underneath?

Wow! That is a stunning save from what you started with! Your new color choices really impact the overall look of this magnificent car, and your build-quality is outstanding! All I can say is, "Wow... simply Wow!"

Any suggestions out there for a substitute kit chassis with more detail (like separate front suspension pieces, exhaust & rear axle/shocks/springs), that might drop-right-into that '68 GTO body and also for a kit to pirate a 400-ci late-60's motor from?

Only 16 of these XKSS's originally built and many of those destroyed in a factory fire! Is Wikipedia telling the "true" 1:1 story here?

"...other related parts not shown yet." Steve, you're making me very curious!

Well, this project has stalled thanks purely to Keef's post above! I had never met Stubby Bob before... didn't know he existed! After doing some research, I'm thinking this project might detour into a Stubby Bob build... appreciate the info provided by Oldmopars, too! Gotta do some rethinking now.

Dave/espo, The final sentence in your most recent post brought a smile to my face... exactly how Hpi guy ends most all of his videos!

Not wanting to take this thread into a new, off-topic direction regarding the model building skills of Hpi guy, I believe most of his followers, myself included, are there because he does an excellent job of providing good visual information and descriptions on newly released kits. Yes, he might be wrong in some of his interpretations or how he might build a kit, but I know I'm guilty of those same things myself. I also know I wouldn't call his work 1/2-done and/or amateurish. Getting somewhat back on-topic, I agree with Jim B. that the IROC Z-28 was THE car to have in the mid/late-80's, and I'm a Mustang guy myself!

Excellent builds... each one of them! Is the '55 Chevy from the vintage Revell kit with the opening doors?

First mockup off-the-ground on the Scenes Unlimited wheels and tires... I think I might switch these wheels and tires out for something else as these are a bit too big for the flatbed I intend on creating for this build. Part 2 of the back-story: As Clement and Cynthia Fairchild lived in a very affluent upstate New York community, and Cynthia's father was the community mortician, he financed their purchase of a small, local company that produced simple grave markers for the cemetery. Wealth-seeking Cynthia immediately stepped into the new position of Sales Manager and promoted a new line of elaborate gravesite monuments that hadn't really been produced or sold previously. It was Clement's job to get those new monuments into production.

This is a freelance project of my own design from an idea I've had in my head for several years. This will become a short-wheelbase flatbed truck used for moving graveyard plot markers for the more affluent incoming residents of the cemetery, (think tall concrete or stone markers with a family name or crest prominent on them). It is being built from a 1/25 Revell 1950 Ford Pickup kit that was incomplete, so I've had to gather parts from a variety of other kits. This shows in the chassis pic where you can see the dark-colored sections grafted-in from a 1955 Chevy Cameo pickup kit, (surprisingly the same dimensions as the '50 Ford frame/chassis). The wheels and tires will be a set of resin, medium-duty duallies from Scenes Unlimited, (incredibly good quality). I will post some more mockup pics in the near-future with more build details and a continuation of the storyline. A bit of my freelance back-story. Upon graduating from college in 1938, Clement Fairchild married his college sweetheart Cynthia on the stipulation from her parents that they live in her upstate New York hometown where Clement's new father-in-law could help him get his career off to a good start. Cynthia's father (and grandfather before that), were very successful and well-known morticians in this affluent community, and Cynthia and her father had a plan for capitalizing on the family's past success. More back-story to come... here's some project pics; comments and suggestions welcome.

That straight-8 looks gigantic in size; I wonder where that 1:1 motor came from?

I don't know, but I've always had good luck building up those chassis parts as I think they were found in a couple of other kits, too! The '67 Galaxie has been on my holy-grail list for more than two decades... would love to see it return!

This thread could potentially reach 50-pages in length now that SteveG has shared that little bit of 2023 teaser info!

FYI: I placed an order with Danny 35 days ago and it arrived yesterday. The quality of the products I ordered was excellent just as it has always been in the past! He emailed me at about 21 days to inform me my order was delayed but still in the works... you can't ask for a better customer experience than this!

I've never really been a fan of color-shifting paint but this build is probably the best 1/25-version of it that I have ever seen! All other aspects of your build are excellent as well... outstandingly done!

Well, the box art looks a bit "goofy" at the front end but that built-up looks fantastic! I wonder if this kit will be available here in the states before Santa's sleigh takes off?

If my memory is any good, (and my wife will tell you it isn't), it looks to me like that reissue of the Datsun drag pickup kit has some new and different parts in it. I don't remember a chrome pushbar in the original kit and am pretty sure those are different wheels, too.

Both are excellent builds! I'm curious about your GMC 1-ton farm truck, where did the wheels and tires you used on it come from?

I think that's some really good box art, too... guess I'm getting more "nostalgic" in my old age!

I spoke to the Store Manager at my local Hobby Lobby on Saturday. They get the shelf stickers and information on soon-to-arrive kits a few weeks before the kits actually reach their store. He has ordered a few of each of the approx. 10 kits that they have never previously carried, (so are "new" in Hobby Lobby's eyes), even tho they may not be new to our eyes. 1/25 Revell '37 Ford Pickup with Surfboard is an example of this as that kit was actually issued in January 2022, but is just now getting into the Hobby Lobby warehouse for distribution to the stores. My local store doesn't know what kits will arrive at their loading dock or when. He expects them to start showing up 2 or 3 at a time within a week or so meaning it'll be 4 to 5 weeks before all 10? new kits are on their shelves.

Steve, Thanks so much for this information; it's exactly what I was looking for. I purchased the Revell 1968 Chevelle kit, and have been quite impressed with it. I also have an AMT 1969 Chevelle project that has been "in-the-works" for more than a decade, but my frustrations with those AMT 69 Chevelle taillights brought the project to a stop. I'd rather finish the AMT project than go out and purchase the Revell 69 kit (especially since I already have the Revell 68 Chevelle kit to build). I do appreciate your insights!