unclescott58

The air in my 2000 Buick still seems to work OK. The car has never gotten as cold as I felt it should from day 1. In the past a buddy always thought it worked fine. He points out that I have a dark colored car. It takes longer to get cooled down, and my air has to work harder to keep my car cool. I'm not so sure. I've heard A/C Pro being advertised on the radio and have been think about giving it a try. I'm glad to hear it works well. Now... Do I really need to charge my air. Or is it just me being too picky? 14 years I've been wondering? For 14 years no one else has complained. Scott Aho

I bought one a couple of months ago. Everything is fine with mine. No warpage I can see. Scott Aho

Hey, those of us who will be dead in another 15 years or so, tend to now have the money to indulge in things like model cars. I think it makes a great business case for things like Studebakers and Thunderbirds. 15 years from now, I'd say no. At this point in my life I can afford to be the kid I wanted to be in my youth. I buy many more models now, than I ever did when I was young. If the model companies are smart, which they seem to be from what they've brought out in recent years, they should keep offering models that open up my pocket book. I don't know where things will be 15 years from now. Will today's or tomorrow's kids ever get into model building the way us Baby Boomers did? I kind of doubt it. Sure keep on bringing out kits to try to attract the younger crowd. But... Since us "old farts" will for sure keep out buying kits, it's still a "great business case" aiming at us. For now. Back to to Thunderbirds. I still love AMT's old '57 T-Bird kit. Would I like to see a more modern tooling of the car? I don't know if it's needed? But if anyone does do a new '57 T-Bird kit, I'll buy one. '57 is my favorite year for the 2-seat Birds. I like '56, but it's my least favorite of those same Birds. I have build several of Monogram's '56 Birds, and one of the American Graffiti '56 Birds. What I can't understand is why the first Thunderbird, the '55, has been basically ignored in 1/25th scale. Notice I said basically. Contrary to rumor the '55 Thunderbird was done as a 1/25th scale Promo and as disassembled promo styling kit back in 1955. But, it's not been seen since. I love the clean lines of that first Thunderbird. More than the other two, we need a good '55. Scott

A week or two ago, I found a link in one of the postings here, leading to a site call the Model Encyclopedia. I found it to be interesting site, especially since they have several issues of model car magazines one can view from the 1960's and early 70's. I remember reading Car Model back in the day. So I've been going through all of the back issues on their site. As I'm going through August 1970's and I found the following: Note the lower left section of the page. Can I assume that this is the same Tim Boyd who blogs frequently on this site? If it is? Very cool! It was fun to find this and see it. I hope it really is him. And he can tell us more about his involvement in this, and the mention of his models in other issues of Car Model magazine back in the day. Scott Aho

No 1/24 or 1/25 scale '55 Thunderbird Art? Am I wrong on the kit Jon Haihwood posted a link to? I thought that kit was 1/25th scale for sure. But your one of the few people out there that really knows his stuff. You and Tim Boyd. So Art, what can you tell us about the kit Jon has a link posted to? Scott

Next to the '67 through '72 generation of Chevy trucks, this generation is still one of my favorites. Very nice job on your build Lucus. Scott

Amen, Mr. Hayes. I agree almost 100% with what you said. I too did not follow into my father's hobby. In his case it was woodworking. One of my sisters did. But, not I. The only place I disagree with you a little bit. And I'm not sure we're disagree. A lot of kids today have not been exposed to model kits. I work in the education field. From time to time, after explaining to kids my hobby, if they express interest I'm bring in a kit for them to see. Kids are just fascinated by the kits. Both boys and girls. Though more so the boys. And want to know were they can get one. And here is the rub.. It's not like the old days where could walk into practically any store and buy a model kit. When I was a kid every drug store, dime store, and discount store sold model kits and some paint and glue. Dime stores for the most part are gone. Haven't seen a model kit in a drug store in years. Nor do stores like Target of K-Mart carry models. Only a few Wal-Marts carry models any more. And the last one I was in a week ago, did not keep the models with the other toys. It was by accident my buddy and I found out about the model kits at that Wal-Mart. Now I go to a few cars shows were there will be beginning modelers displays, mainly sponsored by Revell, were a kid can get and build a snap kit for free. This is great. But, if the kid doesn't go to something like that with an interested adult, how will they be exposed to these events? I think kids still love models. I think the adults. The general public. Has forgotten models. And because the lack of exposure most kids today never get a chance to see or build model kits. By the way, it was my parents. Both my mother and father who helped me build my first models. They encouraged the hobby by buy me kits for birthdays, holidays, and other events. Because of that, I built more than just cars. Car just became my favorite. I'm glad Revell keeps on trying to offer snap kits and kits with predecorated bodies. They may not be be for me. But that's OK. Now if they could convince more retailers to offer kits. And put them in places were kids will discover them. Scott P.S. There are not the number of hobby stores there once was when I was kid. In my day, it seems every town, neighborhood, and shopping mall had one. Again, less chance for the newer generations to be exposed to the hobby.

I'm sorry I should clarify what I meant. Yes the tires themselves were wide oval. The actual red lines. Not the tires. But the red lines themselves were very narrow. I hope this clears things up. Scott

The next one I plan on doing, is going to be red with a matching red interior. In my mind, that should look pretty good. I did one in gold in the past. Gold on that car didn't sit well with me in the long run. I don't know why. On other cars gold looks great. I've seen real Chevy wagons from the mid-60's in red. And I seem to like combo. So my next one will be red. I've also seen Chevy wagons of that era in GM's light blue. That seems to work pretty well too. The question of course, is what do you like? Sometimes I go on model sites like this and see the choices others have picked for doing theirs. Other times I'll search pictures of a real car to see how they look in a particular color. Recently I found a Johnny Lightning '31 Ford Model A station wagon I liked in a none stock color combination. I'm building AMT's '29 Ford Woody, basically stock. But, I am going to copy the Johnny Lightning color combination. So, look around. And see what you like. Scott

Red lines!? I love red line tires. Have not seen a good set of 1/25th scale tires in a kit since the late 1960's. I too hope these become available in a separate parts pack to the near future. I've had very poor luck with the red line decals in the Revell kits. And I'm planning on building another '67 Revell Corvette in the near future. I need a set of red lines for that and several other car of that era. Oh, and Rob Hall, real red lines in the late 60's were always very narrow. Much narrower that white walls found on cars of the time. Now I haven't seen the resin tires you have. But they maybe correct. Scott

I still love the old AMT '57 Thunderbird kit. I've always found it easy to build, and looks good when it's done. I've build several over the years. First one back in the late 1960's. By the way Mr. Haihwood, the "Vegas" 57 is just AMT's old kit with a TV tie in box. Some minor changes have been made to the kit over the years. Some parts taken out. Some put back in, depending on the reissue. I remember buying the first issue of the Monogram '56 in the mid to late 70's. This was the version with the metal body. A couple of years later, I believe by 1979, I bought the second issue. But now the body was plastic. Exact same kit. Just metal vs. plastic body. I like the plastic body better. I also have the American Graffiti version. I forgot that that was issued by Ertl? It reminded me a lot of the Monogram kit. So now I'm wondering what scale it is in? I do know the Ertl American Graffiti T-Bird is a '56, just like the real car in the movie. As far as the '55 kit Mr. Haihwood put a link to. That is the old AMT promo offered in kit form back in the day. It was in 1/25th scale. The only '55 T-Bird I know of ever offered in that scale. I can only assume that back in the day, AMT upgraded the tooling for the car to a '56 for 1956. Then to the '57 for '57. It was a curbside model with no engine. AMT also did both the '55 and '57 Thunderbirds in 1/16th scale back in the 70's. The '57 was basically nothing more than their 1/25 scale kit in a larger scale. Really no better detail, despite the larger scale. Though you did get opening doors and crude looking spark plug wires. Bought one once. I liked the 1/25 scale version better. Their 1/16 scale '55 was identical to the '57 other than it being a '55. One thing I do remember liking in that kit was the option of '55 Mercury station wagon taillights. Despite that, I built mine with the stock taillights. AMT's and Monogram's T-Birds are both fine kits. They have satisfied my needs for a '56 and a '57 Thunderbird in those scales. The one I'd love to see done in 1/25th scale is the '55. I wasn't around in 1955 to buy the one offered then. Scott

OK John, I have to ask. I love the color. So what color is it? What paint did you use? Scott

I hope this doesn't stay on the back burner to long. I'm curious to see how this turn out. Scott

Looking really cool. Just got the AMT 3-in-1 boat in the last few days off of eBay. Going to build mine as the stock runabout. I'm glad Ira asked about the paint you used. Always a question I have. The Reving Red, does that have metal flake in it, of is that just the way the light is reflecting off of it? And what brand of paint did you use? And the last question? What was the deal with Walking Dead reference in your earlier post? I got the impression from a couple of the responses that may be some kind of joke? Sorry to say, I'm sometimes not quickest wit when it comes to understanding some jokes. Was this a joke? And if so, what did you mean? Scott

That's right! Barbara Bach was the the gal from the Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. In my opinion Barbara was not as hot as Cathrine was. But, still..... Not bad. That brings up a point. The heck with the General Lee or the Bandit. Give me what ever Bond, Jame Bond is driving. Most of the cars he's driven over the years are cool, and he always got the girl besides! Scott

I'm with Mike on this one. Girl vs male cousin, brother, what ever. I'll take Sally Fields over Bo or Luke any day as a riding partner. Better yet give me Daisy Duke. Bo and Luke maybe related to her, but I'm not! Put a young Barbra Bach in my car any day. Or better yet, her and I in her Road Runner. Yeh.... Sorry about that. I can't help myself. Scott

Dale you got an "!" ? Sounds exciting! Scott

For me, Castrol Super Clean has worked the best. I used Easy Off oven cleaner for years with fairly good results. But, then other members of our local model car club told me about Castrol Super Clean. I'll never go back to Easy Off again after trying the Castrol. I've tried other automotive cleaners that salesmen at auto part stores have told me are the same as the Castrol. But, in the few cases I've tried the other brands, I've had no luck what so ever. In fact, the Easy Off worked better. So I'm very specific that I only buy the Castrol Super Cleaner now. Because that's the only one I found that really works. Scott

OK, beating a dead horse part 2. I did some research on AMT's '66 Skylark kits. The original and Modified Stocker. Those kits represent a Skylark GS. And the Skylark GS came with Buick's falsely advertised 400 cu. in. engine. The engine was really a 401. But, GM didn't allow engines over 400 cubes in their intermediate size cars until 1967. Buick's was close enough, as long as they advertised it as a 400. And guess what? The 400 ( a.k.a. 401) is a nailhead motor. So again, that with not work. Both the regular AMT '66 Skylark kit with engine, and the '66 Skylark Modified Stocker came with an obvious nailhead motor. So sorry to say, these will not work either. And the AMT Craftsman '66 Skylark was a GS model too. But, with no motor. Curbside only. As Mr. Brame pointed out, the closest engine maybe Jo-Han's Olds F-85 215 cu. in. V8. The block of the of the real engine was the same as, and developed by Buick for their '61 Special/Skylark line of cars. The Oldsmobile engine had different heads though. The basic architecture of that engine was used to develop Buick's first V6, and the family of Buick 300 - 340 - 350 V8 engines. The 215 was cast in aluminum. The others in cast iron. The aluminum V8 was sold to the British in 1964, and power things like Range Rovers until Ford bought that company. The Buick V6 went to Kaiser Jeep in the late 1960's. Which was then purchased by AMC. AMC switched Jeeps over to their own straight six. Putting the V6 into mothballs. Until Buick bought the tooling back after the first gas crisis in the mid-70's. This engine evolved into Buick's bulletproof 3800 that stuck around until the mid-2000s. A long way to bring home a point. The AMT Skylark motor will not work in this kit either. Scott P.S. The '67 Skylark GS 400s were power by a new, and true 400 cubic inch V8. This engine was part of the Buick 430 - 455 family of engines. Similar, but not exactly the same as the Buick 300 - 340 - 350 family of engines.

Very nice. I especially like the '32 Ford. Scott

Thanks for info Austin. And very, very nice Ford you've built there. Scott

Not to beat a dead horse here. But, belonging to and being active in the Buick Club of America, I've had the privilege of meeting a man by the name of Danny Manner several times. Mr. Manner is very interesting in several ways. 1. The new '66 Riviera kit from a few years back was modeled on his personal 1966 Buick Riviera. In fact the photograph on the box was of his actual car. 2. Is why Mr. Manner owns that particular 1966 Riviera. Denny work as an engine engineer for Buick for many years, starting in the early 1960's. And his favorite project he worked on at Buick, was developing the dual four barrel setup for the 425 nailhead. He claims they first tried supercharging the nailhead, but the transmissions wouldn't take it. So they went with the dual fours instead. When it came time for Denny to retire he wanted a car with that engine in it. He found a '66 Riv with that factory setup. Hence why the model kit of same has a 425 nailhead in it with dual four barrels. I started this by saying I didn't want to beat a dead horse. But in this case, on engines in '66 Rivs, real or scale, I kind of got the info right from horses mouth you might say. No offense meant to Denny Manner. Scott

By the way, can somebody tell me, is Tamiya paint lacquer? And how does Tamiya paint work under Testors' lacquer when doing two-tone paint jobs? Scott

Ah, Mike you suggested using a engine from '66 Riv kit. The '66 Riv engine in real life, and in the kit is a nailhead 425. I'm just pointing out that the '66 Riv you suggested would not be right. So am I right or wrong? Did I misunderstand you? I don't know. But I hope it's OK. Danno thinks quite highly of you. From Danno's posts I think quite highly of him. So if Danno thinks your OK, I'm sure you are. I'm just questioning the suggestion of the '66 Riv engine. No offense was meant. Scott

Nice to see one of these built. The last time I saw a Jo-Han ambulance built was back in 1972. Seen a hearse or two since then. But no ambulances. Cool to see one again. Scott