Muncie

With a bit of luck, Chevrolet used the same part...

White, like the picture above with black and wood-grain trim... Back in high school, one of my buddy's dads sold his '57 Chevrolet hardtop (yes, the red one with the crossram 327, 4speed, mags...) and bought a new 1970 Charger - plum crazy with a white interior. Always clean and parked outside his service station. Somehow, my friend talked his dad into loaning him the car after school to give a couple of us a ride. Still torn to this day about that ride, OK, we're high school kids in a brand new 440 muscle car so that has to be cool, but at our high school, it was very uncool to be seen in anything with a white interior...

Ray, Great find! - lots of info in that brochure pic

Starting with he excellent information from Bill, Pete, Steve - I'm not aware of wax being used on the top show cars - they live a charmed life.and most waxes will take the shine down a bit. Polish yes, Glaze yes, wax no - On a driver, wax provides a level of protection for the paint and is worthwhile. My go to's are Mequiers' cleaner wax very gently for Testors Model Master paints - that's about as strong abrasive as you want to go with Testor's. - Jsut like Bill said For automotive paints, it's Mother's California Gold Micro Polishing Glaze - it's step #2 in their three part system.- no wax For heavier cutting, it's Ditzler/PPG DRX25 polishing compound (finish and rub). It's a machine compound, but the finer abrasive works great on a model Two more points - The best paint jobs, and my results were due to good fortune rather than skill - were paint jobs that came out so good that they didn't need to be polished - polishing that paint would have introduced a chance for mistakes and would not have improved the shine. It's something to try for If you ask 20 model builders about paint or polishing, you'll get at least 25 different answers... Some will only work for one person, some won't work at all no matter how much effort goes into it... Best to try a couple different methods and see what works for you

Shoe Goo - not sure where I heard about it, but it works - very strong adhesive when dry - I just hold the tires together and start with a little inside the tire in a couple of places and add more over the next several days - give it some time to cure and good to go - any that gets on the outside of the tread can be sanded off pretty easily - might give it a try on a couple of tires that you don't care about to experiment a bit. 3M Plastic Emblem and Trim is also a good adhesive

The parts sellers have made my searches so long that I don't even look at ebay any more... I could really use a button on ebay that would allow searches to ignore sellers with over 1000 (pick a number) items.

don't think so, but some come closer than others - almost close enough to say yes... The 1/16 Aurora funny cars (except the bodies which were designed separately) Fujimi Enthusiast series full detail kits Some of the early 1960's Revell kits - a lot of the kit pieces were pantographed directly from the real parts, probably in a couple of stages - I wish that I had spent more time with Bob Paeth to get those stories

nice!

thanks for posting the pics - looks like a good sample of what was there (that I missed...) Did they announce the themes for next year?

"Roll tape" is a masking trick that helps control a fogged or blended line - stick the tape to the body above the orange area with the edge lifted where you want the fogged line. Spray from a direction that allows the paint to get under the raised edge but not up to where the tape is stuck. Experiment on something similar and the results will guide you to techniques to get the fade you want by varying how much the edge is raised, angle the paint is sprayed... it's an old technique Speed City Resin has a cogged blower belt.

carded - hey, I'd take that as a compliment

thanks Bill - saved me some time looking - NHTSA is involved as well - kind of going through it now - just a few more pages to go.... for those thinking about sending a comment to the EPA and NHTSA, the instructions are in the first couple of pages - shouldn't have to tell anybody here that calling the EPA idiots in your comments to them is not helpful, the EPA and their staff that read the comments are people too - keep it intelligent and to the facts - perhaps the best comment and all you need is that you support SEMA and the comments that they submitted about the proposed regulation. That kind of comment gets noticed - especially if significant numbers can be generated.

Bill, thanks, that helps, I can search the Federal Register with those numbers. yeah, it's going to take a couple cups of coffee still wondering about SEMA - it's good that they have responded to the EPA with comments on the proposed rule-making - they could advise us citizens to become informed and also send a response to the EPA, but you have to read the proposal in the Federal Register know how to make a comment to the EPA - it's part of the rule-making process to create an EPA regulation.

so... is SEMA crying wolf? That's usually not their style but this press release lacks substantial information and doesn't back up the headline with very many details. It would have been helpful to cite a reference to the Federal Register numbers where the text of the proposed regulation could be found.

A+B epoxy putty - sometimes called A+B plumbers putty but available in smaller packages in the paint department heavy duty stuff - sticks, I mean really sticks to the plastic or resin - won't affect the plastic later like some solvent based glues or putties - dries hard, takes power tools (Dremel) to shape it After mixing the two parts together, the secret trick is use a little water to mold it to shape before it sets. The water will also keep it from sticking to your fingers - don't worry, it will dry and the epoxy will still set

simply a neat little way to identify a Big Rig Buildoff participant in the subject line - I like it - easy to understand, easy to use, no drama guys

Bill, thanks for the feedback on the Scotch-brite - I did the Scotch-brite prep on one of Revell's new NASCAR Fusions - they are made of some very tough play ready plastic - kicked my butt. It will be good experience to go over it again with cleanser to see how it comes out. Guys, thanks again for the information and the stories - no ArmorAll or WD-40 here

to finish something... plenty started...

Good information - good to have the details about the specific products to use - absolutely, preparation is the key to good results - Thank you for adding knowledge to the toolbox I haven't painted anything in a while but have a couple of thing prepped. I used 3M 07745 Scotch-Brite. It is gold, finer abrasive than the gray, and is for 1:1 automotive intercoat or clear coat prep. It puts some tooth on the plastic without causing damage to the emblems. It also gets into the finer details. --- your thoughts?

Great review Tim, I always thought the open chrome reverse wheels were one of the original AMT Deora's best features - Was hoping replacements would be in the new reissue - but not too disappointed about it with all of the other things that have been brought back. The small diameter of the old AMT compact tires really makes the Deora sit perfect- but I know an alternative that I like. I've built two - and will get another. The first was an original issue back when it was the new Deora kit, Testors Gold with clear top - somewhere in time it was lost - still have some of the parts. The second was a close duplicate with automotive paint - I painted the original clear cover because it was too rough and scratched up to leave clear - 4 slot mags from the kit with Monogram low profile sports car tires. That one was among the models at the 50th Detroit Autorama in 2002 - the show where you did the photographs in your review - the Alexander Brothers were being honored that year - It probably still has the grease on it that filled the air from the pretzel vendor that was just feet away from the model contest

Both the Revell and MPC Vega funny car bodies are almost flat across the rear so trimming to the curve of the body isn't really necessary - could be optional if you want. 0.010" thick would be a little more than scale thickness, but 0.015 is a little easier to work with. - some Evergreen plastic strip .015 x 5/16" would make a spoiler extension panel about 8" tall and you would only have to trim the ends - one way to do it...

and what's in the box has been really good - great job cleaning up and restoring the tooling - Love it! I'm replacing some of the old reissues because the new kits are so much better.

wow! - nice save and a big improvement from the original part - it really looks like an FLD Classic hood

I had good success with Bill's method to clean up a set of Monogram slicks to prepare them for lettering with some old Shabo tranfers - the knife has to be very sharp to cut the letters off the rubber - used some white (very fine abrasive) Scotch brite for the final clean-up on the side walls. Used an acrylic semi-gloss clear to seal and protect the lettering on the tires.

here's the math answer... sorry, don't have the kits in hand for actual dimensions and assuming the Revell auto transporter is just a trailer with nothing on the chassis of the tractor... Need enough space between the cab and the trailer to avoid an interference condition in a turn. The fifthwheel on the chassis should normally be between 8 to 16 inches ahead of the centerline of the tandem suspension. The California Hauler has a sliding fifthwheel so it can be located for good weight distribution on the steer axle. start with the measurement on the trailer from the kingpin to the corner of the trailer It's usually 60" on a square corner, 96" wide van trailer, but the auto trailer may be different. Add four inches for "dip" Add the fifthwheel position ahead of the tandem centerline to the trailer swing and that will be the location back of cab to the drive axle centerline. Can be longer for the look, but that's the minimum where most fleets want to run. I'm thinking about 176 to 180 inches wheelbase. Hopefully the research confirms the numbers