Muncie

yep, Penney's had an automotive department - bought a set of 15x6 chrome rally wheels for $50 when they were closing it out in about 1970 -

ahhh, but it's a four door Bel Air hardtop... not the common mid-level sedan - fairly rare... probably somebody out there that is looking for one

now, if you had tried to do that... woulda been a lot of work...

The article on the Corvettes and the mystery engine is an amazing history. Funny how I hadn't seen the December issue until last week at the magazine rack and my copy arrived yesterday with the January issue - oh well, all here now. Vintage Racing Miniatures has a sheet of decals for the 614 Corvette that includes some of the markings and numbers that would work on the Mickey Thompson Corvettes. i didn't see the Mickey Thompson markings for the rear fender in the image on their web site, but that may be poor resolution on their web site. Slixx also has some number sheets that may work for some of the cars just 2 cents worth - I'm not aware of anything specific for the Mickey Thompson Corvettes

great reference pictures - seldom get to see the block like that outside of a car thank you for researching the date - it's good to have it defined, sorry I left it so fuzzy. If you are building late 60's, early 70's, most of the fuel racers left the iron block bare - didn't have to mess with hot tanking the block to remove the paint when it had to go back to the machine shop for repair work. Hot tanking damages the cam bearings so the unpainted block saved removing and installing new cam bearings - critical to minimize machine shop time and expense between races for most weekend warriors OK, back to the original paint question...

my favorite paint for cast aluminum was Krylon Dull Aluminum. It even dried to a cast like surface - Alas, went looking for some last week and couldn't find it in the stores... Not sure if their other metallic paints come close - Sorry, I know tha'ts no help - I'm starting a new search for a solution Something about the dates has me wondering - seems like the aluminum blocks didn't come out until the early 70's. Prior to that KB engines would have been Mopar iron blocks. trivia - the first 25 KB blocks were cast with the letters Chrysler above the oil pan rail - Mother Mopar said no no no and pointed out that the 426 was never installed in a Chrysler - 426 hemi's were only Dodge or Plymouth.

I've seen them elsewhere but I also order from Speed City Resin. He keeps an inventory on hand instead of casting on order - good parts and you get them in days. Speed City has both the 426 and 392 valve covers in your pictures with dual breathers. Might be a few other things that you want there as well. http://www.speedcityresin.com/PartsPageEngine.html

several resin casters repop the old 1/25 scale Johan 426 M/T finned valve covers with the logo. The Monogram McEwen rear engine dragster that was recently reissued (yeah!) has a pair of the large single valve cover breathers like the top photo - except with an EP - Ed Pink - logo.

yes, sounds too thick, not enough thinner - Lacquer shouldn't go bad with age if the can is kept closed tight. Not sure if Duplicolor is putting something else in the cans now days, but I've sprayed 30 year old Ditzler clear with no problem. you've inadvertently learned how to do custom spiderweb paint - The basic method for that is no thinner and very low pressure

All good tips - good information for building models even if they are not intended for a contest. I don't build for contests but have entered to participate and have fun - bringing home a trophy is a bonus.

Hemmings Classic Car magazine in the mail today - four page personality profile - photos of some of the cars, some history,

Picked up issue #3 at a local Hobbytown - don't know why they put their price sticker in the middle of the cover... Lots of interesting and informative articles - kind of geared for vintage and scratch building but a little of everything. Remember soldering brass chassis? It's like model cars but with different materials and techniques. What you get is useful to add more model car building skills to the toolbox.

This is a question that should get 20 answers if you ask ten people... I agree with the posts above that reference material is important - a close look will probably show that each part is different color, texture, shine, and gloss, I haven't tried them yet, but the local hobby shop had a Humbrol paint rack with about six or eight different shades of aluminum. Plenty to try, but not too expensive either. Looks like my next science project. The go to basic aluminum for me is Krylon dull aluminum - It is a good as-cast aluminum color and also works great as a good base coat under Testors Metal Master - dries fast and easy to use. Rattle can chrome paints from hobby, craft auto and hardware stores make a good polished aluminum. They take a bit of experimentation to find the color and shine you want/need because each brand is little different. More tips and ideas please -

yep, always rob the chuck off an old burned up power drill before you throw it away - there is usually a hole in the motor shaft behind the chuck - slide pin in the shaft and the chuck should unscrew - makes a good handle for larger drill bits - one of those stepped uni-bits works really well but spendy - the steps seem to be the right increment to enlarge a hole without doing damage.

wow! Learned to drive on the family '65 Belvedere wagon... A little different, slant six , three on the tree... but this one hits close to the soul. Good to see that Moebius did a great job. Thanks for the review

yep, that's it. thanks for including all of the story about how you got there - it's good reading - really explains how a small change in the dimensions can make a big difference

Have to agree with these tips - no power - all of the holes that I drill are done with pin vise - starting small and working up in small steps. I believe the hole in the window that you are making is a minimum 6" diameter opening for the safety crews to access the interior with a fire extinguisher. That's about 1/4" in scale. At that size, it is difficult to get a round hole in plastic with a drill bit. Best to get up close to size with a drill and finish with a round file. take it easy - not much pressure

Might be worth a trip to the next automotive swap meet and find a magazine seller that is looking for inventory... sell them all in one lot

same here, would love to see these kits return - either as kits or as the parts packs it would take to complete the cars

sorry Tom, posted here and I do have firsthand experience - as posted in the other thread - it sucks - just wanted people to know so they have the information before they send money. Keep in mind, Randy Frost at Perry's is the person that has created his reputation, not the people that have posted. agreed - always had first class service from Replicas and Modelhaus -several times and a long time customer. OK, I counted to ten and deleted the editorial comments...

Check out the 351 in the 1980's NASCAR kits- AMT for 1/25, Monogram for 1/24 - good detail, might be a place to start. the old NASCAR kits are still out there and reasonably priced parts sources.

might want to read this first... http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/18693-perrys-resin/?page=1

Tom, thank you for the inspiration - I have a couple of tootsietoy cars that I have been "saving" from my much younger days - ahhh the memories... it would be way cooler and worth a lot more to paint them bright and new for the granddaughter

Tim, great looking model A - great choice of colors and very clean - Add my thanks to the list, it's good to see a straight out of the box build and review. Steve

there may be some dimensions here ---- http://protech.net/