unclescott58

By the way, the Revell has a left hand driving set up and parts to build a US spec 240Z. Most of the Japanese kits can only be built as right hand drive, Japanese spec cars. Which is OK, I guess? But, living in the US I like to build models of cars as they were when the real cars were sold here, if I can. Yes, good or bad, I'm US centric. Sorry. Scott

I built a stock Revell 240Z within the last year. A pretty nice kit. It would be nice to see it re-released again. Though I don't need one now! Scott

Isn't the '69 Mustang, the Mach 1 AMT release several years ago, really the old MPC kit? And from my understanding that kit is too small for 1/25th scale. Most people feel it's more about 1/28 or so. I have one, but have not looked at it in years. Never have added the Revell kit to my collection. Question with that one, isn't really the old Monogram kit? So it's 1/24th scale? I know back in 1969 Revell offered a Mustang kit that could be built as a notchback coupe. Not a fastback. So do we have a real and/or good 1/25th scale Mustang fastback? Scott

For me, these are the worst things AMT ever did! They ruined several great kits that I'd love to be able to build stock now. In fact I'd buy all of them, if they could still built stock. I like them all, even the '65 Olds 88. So, I literally hate AMT's Modified Stockers. Let's never mention them again! Scott

Great! I need one! Well, maybe I don't need one. But, I really want one bad. Cool. Scott

Looks pretty good. I like it. Scott

Spent the day on the road. Had to drive from Twin Cities to Plymouth, Wisconsin and back, all one day. That means driving all the way across Wisconsin from the west end, almost to Lake Michigan in the east. It meant putting in a 14 hour day. Most of the time driving. Saw some cool cars and trucks along the way. The first cool car I saw was a '55 or '56 Hudson. One the Hash models. Though I know for sure it was not a '57. Then I saw a '48, '49, or '50 Ford F1 pickup. Followed close behind by a mid-30's Ford pickup. Later I saw what I believe to be an early-30's Oakland. Coming back, I saw a not so perfect, but pretty decent looking '56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan. Then later saw a very nice second generation Corvair Monza convertible. The rear cove was painted body color, so I assume it was not a Corsa. The Corsas had a silver rear cove. By the way, the color was favorite mid-60's Chevrolet color. Marina Blue. Only thing I was disappointed with, is it was a beautiful sunny day in the mid-70's, and they were driving with the top up! Other then the Hash, I think all of the cool old cars and trucks seen today were all seen east of Stevens Point, WI. Which reminds me, many years ago I was driving through Stevens Point and saw one of the very rare late-80's four-door Avantis. A very disappointing looking car. Not one better ideas of the later owners of the Avanti company. Tough day, trying to get from the Twin Cities to Plymouth, WI and back all in one day. Business in Plymouth only required me to be there for one hour. Makes for a long hard day. Scott

At the MCCM (Model Car Club of Minnesota) meeting last night I brought this up. I was assured, that put enamel over lacquer is OK. The cemicals in wet lacquer will attack enamel. Enamel will not do the same to lacquer as long as the lacquer is thoroughly die. We got one guy in particular who does the greatest paint jobs you've ever seen. Kirby Hughes. His stuff appears in different model magazines from time to time. Or go on line, and look his models up. The guy's work is fantastic. And he's humble and helpful besides. If Kirby tells you something about model building, especially about paint, you can take it to the bank. And he agree with the other guys about putting enamel over dry lacquer. It is OK. So I'm going for it on my Highway Patrol builds. Scott

Other than the four-door, those Smart cars do not look good to me. The worst is the "sports car". I'm sorry, but I'm a big car guy. And I like chrome bumpers and grilles. I'm pretty much stuck in the 50's and 60's when it comes to cars. As far as driving and parking convertibles. I never worry about leaving a convertible unattended most places. I leave nothing of value that can be easily stolen. Lock stuff in the trunk and glove box, even in my "solid roof" vehicles. I'm top down crazy. I've driven with the top down in below zero weather, and the heater on full blast. I driven with the top down in a rain storm. Which was fine as long as you were moving at highway speeds. On '85 Riviera convertibles at speed, the moving air pushes the rain up over the driver's compartment. Still not something I'd do on a regular basis. If it's too hot, the top is up, and air conditioning running. But, in general I've driven some very long distances on warmer days with the top down. Getting either a nice tan, or a really good sun burn. Friends will tell you I'm nuts. Scott

Even had a tape in the 8-track tape player. This Target is not in a terribly bad part of town. I glad to see that this person felt that people around here are trustworthy enough to leave an open convertible in parking lot like that. Isn't that the way it should be? Scott

Jim you must be reading my mind. Using masking tape in the way your talking about, is something I've been meaning to ask about. I was thinking about taping on outside of the trailer were two parts meet. Then laying in a small bead of clear silicone in the joint and folding the joining edges tightly together. Letting the tape help hold the pieces in place. Any thoughts on this? Scott

I'm sorry. That you did. I did not mean to discount your advice in any way. For some reason it didn't click until the non-modeling friend suggested it. I don't know why. So this stuff will not harm clear styrene in any way? Scott

Gene I'm glad you asked this question. I've been wondering the same thing myself. I've tried lacquer paint over enamel primer. This did not work. But, the guys in the local model car club just warned me not to use lacquer and enamel together in that way, after the fact. At the same time I've painted models in lacquer and then used enamel with regular brushes to paint small details. Details like running boards, taillights, etc. And have had no problems. I'm in the process of planing on doing a series of Minnesota Highway Patrol cars. The cars will be a specific maroon with white doors (and in the case of the '70 Ford, a white roof also). For that reason I'll be putting down the white first. I have the Ditzler numbers for the correct maroon color. I have to have that painted custom mixed for me. I don't know if that paint will be enamel or lacquer, so I've been avoiding doing the white for now because of the same question you had. If enamel works on lacquer, I can go a head and do the white painting now. If not, I'll have to wait and find what type of paint the maroon will be. It sounds like from what Ray and Carl have indicated, I should be OK putting down something like Tamiya's white (which is a lacquer from my understanding?) spay paint now. Am I making myself clear? And am I understand things right here? Scott

Got talking with a non model building friend yesterday about this build. After much discussion my friend suggested clear bath caulk might work. So, today at Target I bought some Loctite Clear Silicon Waterproof Sealant. Thinking this might be tacky enough to hold the pieces together initially. The question. Will it work without damaging the clear styrene in any way? Anybody have any thoughts on this idea? Scott

I like the color. And I like the chrome wheels. The wheels that come with the kit need to be either chromed, or sprayed with All-clad. Scott

Looks great! Scott

I forgot about Lumpy having one, until you brought it up. Scott

Today I saw a very nice '67 AMC Rebel convertible sitting at a local Target. The top was down and the car was pretty well optioned. At least it had the factory 8-track and the dealer installed AMC under dash tissue dispenser. Not a prefect car. But, it looked pretty darn good. As I was pulling out of Target, a mid to late 70's Checker passed by. Two-tone, black and silver. It had a vinyl roof and an opera window of all things! A little on the ruff side. But, cool non the less. Scott

Are you sure the real Starsky and Hutch car was a six? About that time in the mid-70's, I thought Ford quit offering sixs in Torinos for a couple of years. I may be wrong on that. As far as the Munstermobile and Monkeemobile. There were a lot of us who liked those shows and the special cars that appeared on them. As a kid, I build both the Munstermobile (plus Grandpa's Dragster) and the Monkeemobile. I have a more recent Monkeemobile release I hope to get to some day. And from time to time, I still think about picking up another Munstermobile and Grandpa's Dragster. I'm glad they tooled all three. The Kookie car, Cheetah, and the Chaparrals would all be nice. The Chaparrals remind me, I'd like to see some nice 1960's Ford GT40s. IMC did several, Chaparrals and GT40s. But, from what I've seen and heard, none were easy to build. Scott

Very nice. I have to pick one of these up, somewhere along the line. Scott

I use super glues and sometimes Testor's old glue in the tube. But, what I use most of the time is Testor's Model Master Liquid Cement for Plastic Models. It gives me a good bond, good control, very little mess, and is easy to handle. I maybe switched to this as my primary adhesive about 20 years ago, with great results. For clear parts, I use Testor's Model Master Clear Parts Cement & Window Maker. The only thing I really stay away from, and I'm not sure if they even make it any more, is non-toxic model glues. Never had any luck with the bonding results with those in the past. Scott

Don't forget Dave, Moebius instructions for Hudsons at least, are also great. Scott

I still like the kit. It's a typical MPC from the early to mid-70's. As you can see from Andre's build, it can be a nice looking kit by the time you finish it. And as noted by Rick, the kit still comes with the trailer. Scott

Looks great Tom. A simple but fun kit. I built the '61 a couple of years ago. And I have the '60 sitting in the soon to do pile. As far as the tonneau cover, Bruce, both the '60 and '61 AMT Rancheros include it. Scott

I thought I checked that one carefully. But, rechecking your right Harry. It looks like that XL emblem was the same on '62 1/2 and '63 XLs. Sorry about that guys! Scott