unclescott58

Even though I'm not as critical of the AMT '69 Chevelle kit as everybody else is, I too had to get the new Revell version.

I'm still not buying that the Hong QI CA-72 is a '55 Chrysler or Imperial. Does it looks similar? Yes. But, not exactly the same. It's like Soviet ZIS-110s and ZIL-111s. They look a lot like cars Packard built, until you put then side by side. The Soviets looked at buying dies for the pre-war Packard 180 from Briggs Body Corp of Detroit, Michigan, the body supplier to Packard, in 1942. They decided the car would need to be reengineered to meet the climatic and terrain conditions of the USSR. But, since Marshal Josef Stalin like and rode around in Packards, rather than the Buick looking ZIS-101, guess what the ZIS-111 looked like? Now I'm not denying that the Hong QI CA-72 looks a lot like and may have been inspired by the '55 Chryslers and Imperials, with the relationship the United States had with China at the time, I do believe they were built using Chrysler tooling or dies. Look at the photos below, and compare them to the Imperial above. They are not the same.

Oh no. Using the dreaded Wikipedia as your main source? Very few educators will accept papers where Wikipedia was used as a source. Hemmings is normally a better source. I just finished reading Russian Motor Vehicles, Soviet Limousines 1939-2003, by Maurice R. Kelly. In this book, he has a whole chapter on Chinese Limousines. Reading that book and looking at the photographs of the cars, there is no way those first cars were based off of '55 Chryslers. The information I found in Kelly's book states that the Changchun plant that build the car was built with help of the Soviets. The deputy director and chief engineer of the Changchun works was a man named Meng Shao-Nung. Meng had worked and trained in the United States as an automotive engineer. The Hong QI CA-72, the first Red Flag limousine was designed by a team lead by another man, Cheng Zheng. Another problem with the theory of the car being built from old Chrysler tooling, is we that had no trade with mainland China from the time Mao Tse-Tong and Communists took over, until the thawing of relationships in the 1970's. Please, be careful of going by information especially found on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is notorious for allowing content, editing from anybody. Not all content on Wikipedia is professionally written or edited. Now Maurice Kelly could be wrong on some his information too. Looking at the three sources noted, Kelly's vs. Wikipedia vs. Hemmings. I'm sticking with Maurice Kelly. Now to clear up a mistake I made. It turns out the Red Flag model I got, does not represent the first car that came out in 1958. The model represents the "Second Series" CA-770, which first appeared in 1965. Early 2nd Series cars had round fog lights. The model comes with the later square ones.

The model kit represents the original Red Flag introduced in 1958. It looks nothing like a '55 Chrysler to me. Windsor, New Yorker, or 300.

It looks better than the box art indicates. Some inaccuracies. But, not really all that bad. I'll have to take some photos and post them here in the next few days. Maybe do a review?

Sorry to disappoint you, but I plan on building mine as close to stock as possible. I love the idea that in the world of Communism, where everybody is suppose to be equal. Some people in both Communist China and the former USSR were "more" equal than others, requiring the need for domestically built limousines.

From what I'm seeing, I agree with everything you say. The one difference with mine is the lack of pre-painted Red-Flag emblems on the front fenders. Mine also has light lines in the roof for cutting out the roof, and three little bumps for mounting microphones. I'll be needing to sand these features away before painting mine. They're very light. So it should not take a lot of sanding.

They may have not sold well at the time. But, are there others like me, who would buy them now if they could? I don't know? Atlantis has brought back a few kits that I believe were not big sellers in their time. Most recently, Mongram's Ghost of the Red Baron. I was at a local hobby shop recently, and saw that Atlantis' reissue from a few years ago, of Revell's old Flash Gordon kit has apparently become collectible already. Luckily I got one of those shortly after Atlantis reissued. I don't know if Atlantis has any of the the old Renwal tools or not. I'm just hoping and dreaming they might. And they see it might be profitable to bring the Revival/Exner cars back now. Another model, not car related. And not a big seller at the time. But, highly collectible now. Is Revell's 1959 Space Station. I had been told by a person at the old Revell/Monogram company a few years ago, that the dies for that kit were not kept at the time because of the poor sales. I hope this maybe not true. And that Atlantis maybe got there hand on this one too. With the sci-fi/space stuff they've reissued in recent years, this might be right up their alley. But, I'm not holding my breath on that one either.

I mostly build model cars. But, I do build other things, and I love what Atlantis has been offering for several years now. I especially like the reissuing of older sci-fi and speculative space subjects. There are a lot of these subjects that came out way before my time. And I've been building kits since the mid-1960's. Or in several case, they've reissued thing that I could not afford the last time they were out. Im hoping they keep on track they're going. Naturally, I hope there are some old, odd, car kits they may have gotten they're hands on too. I'd still love see the Rewal Revival series of cars come back. They may not have been great kits. They only released once that I know of, are subjects I'm very interested and could not afford, or even knew of when they were on the shelves back in the day.

I couldn't resist.

Amen. I can't agree with you more.

I can understand. At times, I feel I maybe not that far behind you. Yet, I've been in the hobby for 55 years now. I'm still car crazy. And for me, with my addictive personality, it's hard for me to stop. There are no AA like groups to help me with this addiction.

Testors paint has been junk for years now. I've been a lot happier since I made the switch over to Tamiya. Every so often I get suckered into buying a can of Testors paint.. More often than not, something goes wrong and I have to stip the paint and start over again. I have two models right now that I'm stripping off their "Extreme" Pearl White Lacquer. The stuff coming out of the can ran something bad. I now have a can of Tamiya Pearl White waiting in the wings. I've never had to strip a Tamiya paint job yet. So, I will not be missing Testors paints at all.

I'm sad. The world is no longer setup in a way that caters to my interests anymore. I've gotten old. It's damned depressing. I guess I'm only going to have Collectible Automobile coming to my mailbox in the near future.

I doubt the molds for those old 55's are still around. But, if they were, I hope Round 2 would consider them worthy of being reissued. I'd love to have all three of the cars shown above. And one of those three car sets included a '55 Thunderbird. It's the only time I know of that car being released in the popular 1/25 scale.

Ah yes! I've gotten a few things over the years poorly packaged. The most recent one that stood out, was a very fragile pre-built N scale water tower sent in a large non-padded envelope. I still can't figure out what the seller was thinking on that one. The pre-built water towing came in pieces, that could not be easily fixed to get a good looking model again. And then the seller was a pain in the you know what, to get a refund from besides! Then there are others out there who over do it. Sealing the package in a way that makes me afraid that I may end up damaging the item just in taking it out. Too much tape and plastic peanuts can be a pain. But, I rather have that, than an item sent in a package that offers little to no protection at all.

Very cool! Boy you can really see the shine on Cadillac. Thanks for sharing the above photo. It's interesting to learn about the somewhat forgotten history of our hobby.

I'm thinking the '63 Nova wagon, the '72 GMC Jimmy, and possibly the '72 Chevy Racer's Wedge, will all be seeing a home in my collection. The Wacky Races kits? I just don't know? Especially at $30.95 a piece. Ouch! Though, I too loved the cartoon, and had the hots for Penelope Pitstop, back in the day. But, $30.95 and 1/32 scale? I've never seen these kits in real life. Maybe after I see one, I'll be convinced?

First, I really like the Mustang above Snake. It looks great. Second, in today's mail I got something that my AMT Ford C-900 tilt-cab tractor has needed for years. AMT's Haulway Trailer, Five-Car Automobile Transporter. I've thinking these two would make a great combo since about 1972. I bought and built the Stevens International version of the C-900 about ten years ago. I've been waiting for the trailer ever since.

Jonathan, thank you. But, a local vendor I deal with regularly has indicated he's got one I can have for $23. Without shipping I should come out better than even Squadron's great price. But, I sure appreciate you letting me know about Squadron's deal on the kit. That is a very good price.

It was not a good seller? Try to pick one up now. It's impossible to find one at a reasonable price.

I've been wanting the Super 7 for a while now. I'm glad to see it coming back.

Very nice. It looks great.

Just ordered one these off of eBay tonight. I'm hoping mine turns half as nice yours did, Clifford.