unclescott58

In the last year or so, I've had a lot of fun, picking up and building several 4D Vision models. They are prepainted, and require little or no glue to build. No glue, because parts in some cases the kits are designed to come apart for better viewing of the internal parts. In general, they go together fairly well. With only a few minor problems here and there. Depending on the kit, they can be a little bit pricey. But, obviously with the number I've picked up, I feel they worth it. The best of bunch. And most expensive one I've picked up, is their 1/100 scale Saturn V cutaway model. I've built two of those over the last couple of years. One I've gave to a middle school science teacher for his classes. The other, I presently have on display at the high school I work at. So I'm not able presently to show you those. But I believe I've posted pictures of them in another thread here in the past.

Being out of work because of coronavirus. But, still be paid. I decided to go ahead this morning and order the Franzis' 1/4 scale Porsche 911 engine kit. Like I said above, I was so impressed with their Mustang motor, I couldn't resist buying the Porsche 911 version too. I'll post pictures here, when I'm through building it.

I'm liking what I seeing. Very cool.

Ah! Palmer kits. I have never purchased one myself. But, I sure got a few of them as gifts growing up. Well meaning, mainly older relatives and family friends who knew nothing about models, would give them to me. And in many cases, two at a time. I'm sure they thought two Palmer kits would be better than just one AMT or MPC kit, for the same amount of money. Little did they know. The only good thing I could say about Palmer, is they did offer a few subjects other model companies did not. I've always been a big fan of personal luxury cars. And was disappointed after 1971, that AMT quit offering kits of the latest Thunderbirds. Well, Palmer to the rescue! For Christmas of 1972, I got a new Palmer '73 Thunderbird. It was not great. But it at least look fairly close to the real thing. Plus, with its separate roof, it made it easy to paint it a separate color. Representing a vinyl roof. (Though I like the real '73 Thunderbird with a vinyl roof better.) Still, it and the other Palmers were bad. No two Palmer kits were ever worth the price of one AMT or MPC kit of the time.

I work in a school that's been on spring break for the last week. I was looking forward to going back to work this coming Tuesday. This morning our state's governor announced the closing of all our schools in the state. Starting this coming Wednesday. And going though to Friday, March 27. So a one week break, has now turned into a three week break for our kids and most of our staff. Oh well. I too plan on working mainly on models over the next two weeks. I've got most everything I need. Including now more time.

Here's two I just recently built. In fact, I just finished the Revell Visible V-8 last night. The Franzis Mustang V-8 I built in the evening about a week ago. I have more info in a thread I started in the large scale section here.

I am very much looking forward to the '64 F-85 Cutlass convertible kit. And I'll be very happy if it's brought back as close to original kit as possible. Including the metal axles and metal screws to hold the chassis to the body. I love those old 1960's AMT kits. They maybe "too" simple by today's standards. But that's always been fine with me. The kits always looked great sitting on my shelves. I rarely have cared how detailed the chassis looked on most of my kits. Heck, I didn't even mind if the didn't include an engine. As long as the car look right. Some of my favorite kits were the old AMT simple Craftsman kits. I'd love to see several of those kits come. Especially the '59 Ford Fairlane 500, '63 Falcon convertible, and '64 Corvair coupe. There was some comment earlier in this thread, about Round 2 reissuing the AMT 1/16 scale '57 Thunderbird? I hope this is true. But, even more so, I love to see them reissue the AMT 1/16 scale 1955 Thunderbird. And isn't it time we saw a new reissue of MPC's 1/16 scale '63 Corvette Sting Ray too? The 1/16 scale '55 Chevys they've reissued in recent years have not been big on my wanted list. But, the Thunderbirds? That's another story. I'll be very happy to see and ad either 1/16 scale Thunderbirds to my collection.

Here are two fun kits I recently finished. In fact, I just finished the Revell Visible V-8 last night. It in general was a nice little walk down memory lane. I'm surprised that I didn't miss the features that Revell deleted from the kit from the last time I built one. It seems to work better without the electric features it once had. The second is Franzis' Ford Mustang V-8 Motor. I put that one together in one evening about a week ago. My, how far technology, model design, and mold making has come in the last sixty years, since Renwal introduced their classic (now Revell) Visible V-8. The Franzis kit is by far superior in every way. It's bigger in scale. 1/3 vs. 1/4. The electric components are much easier to install. And they work perfect. Plus we know for sure what motor the Franzis engine is modeled after. It's Ford's '65 Mustang 289 K code engine. Where we're pretty sure that the Renwal/Revell model is mainly based on the the Studebaker 232/259/289 V-8? But, there are a few things that are not exactly correct for a Studebaker motor. Plus the manual that comes with the Franzis kit. It's really a book, rather than a manual. It's square bound, and 104 pages. Over half of them dealing with history of the Ford Mustang and V-8 motors used in Mustangs over the years. With beautiful color photography in the history section. And wonderfully clear instructions on how to build the kit itself. A manual well worth keeping, after one finishes the model. Again, I had fun building both models. It's easy to praise Franzis' 289. Yet at the same time, the old Revell Visible V-8 is still a pretty good kit. Especially when comparing the price of the two kits together. Yet despite the price, I liked the Franzis kit enough, that I'm considering picking up their Porsche 911 motor down the road. Also, as of Friday night, I have found and purchased from a vendor on eBay, AMT's Transparent Chevy 289. And I'm talking with a friend about buying a Testor's Visible Hemi kit he got as a gift years ago, and has shown no interest in building. Now if I could just find Revell's Slant Six kit. Complete and at a reasonable price. I'm not holding my breath on that one. But, hopefully in the near future, I can compare and display the AMT Transparent Chevy, the Testors' Visible Hemi, and the Franzis' Porsche 911 motor, with my Revell Visible V-8 and Franzis Mustang motor. I'm looking forward to it.

Lovely. Still the coolest (IMO) bicycle, in real life or miniature ever designed.

Just picked up my copy today. A very nice kit. But, the decals even make it nicer. The factory "Sport Truck" striping is really cool. I love it. I'm glad to see this kit back.

Yea, the C-300 is considered a true "letter car" by the "300 Letter Car Club." Chrysler openly admitted that they skipped "I" because it could be too easily mistaken for the number "one." Never underestimate the stupidity of the general buying public. Even back then. So "I" was out. Again, great pictures Stephen. Thanks for sharing them.

Steve, can we see the rest of your '62 300? Your work is always the best.. The last time I had one of these kits, was sometime back in early 80's. It's been a long time. I seem to remember that car had the 300H markings on the trunk, but really represented a non-letter car in other details. Am I remembering that correctly? I can't remember why I thought the kit did not correctly represent a true letter car? Maybe it was the interior that tipped me into thinking that. I'd love to see photos of what came in the USA Oldies kit. Especially the interior and dashboard.

Beautiful. I can't wait to get mine.

Thank you. It was a work of love.

Beautiful.

Good looking Ford.

Thank you.

Very nice. Though, the face in that kit reminds me more of astronaut Dave Bowman, than Neil Armstrong. Still, you did a very nice job on the kit.

Beautiful. Very nice.

Kool! That I'd like to see.

Yes, I did build all of kits in the display. And yes, that is at the Mississippi branch library in Fridley, MN.

The car model displays our club has done in the past has been a big hit. Especially with the kids. Our club has, and is again participating with the library in their STEM summer program. And will be doing a model building demonstration there in late August. Now if we could just get kids to join the club. Despite our past displays being done with other members of our local model car club. This Apollo display was done by me personally. As some of you may have noticed, I like to build other things, besides cars. Though car will always be number to me. Thanks to you and Ray above for the kind words.

Roofs with and without portholes were available both in '56 and '57. Only no portholes in '55. Rarely do you see a '56 or '57 without the portholes. But it could be had. And I like the looks better, despite the advantages of seeing things better with the holes.

I'm waiting for Round 2 to reissue AMT's 1/16 scale '55 Bird. A simple, but nice kit. Come on Round 2.

At a local library, I put up a display of mainly models, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I'm pretty please with how the display turned out. I don't know if the photos do it justice.