Luc Janssens

I bought 20 or so sets (of 4) of the mpc Goodyear tires (like those in the Mpc '76 Caprice) from Model round up, are these the G70s you mention?

Life is good, wish it was post summer already, uh wait a sec, no not after this winter, still...I have 'm pre-ordered already with my favorite online plastic pusher. Thanks for the photo's Dave!

This past week I bought a parts kit off ebay, while my winning bid was within my projected budget, the shipping costs were much more then what I expected. Did USPS double their rates for international shipments? 10 years ago, I used to buy in bulk and shipped via surface mail, that were the good ol' days.... Another thing I don't understand, everything new these days is made in China and the currency exchange rates Dollar vs Euro, is favorable to us, yet, a $25 (20 Euro) US kit here, is hovering near the $40 mark (30 Euro) Why can't International distributors have their stuff shipped directly from China? (now the merchandise goes via the slow boat to the West coast, then trucked to the mid west, stored, trucked to the east coast, again boat, trucked, stored, and then retail.) From my past life in lean manufacturing, my task was to eliminate waste, to reduce costs, now international buyers, are paying more fro moving the stuff then the actual value of the kit, and taxed on that waste too.

Revell Germany has it's repackaged version, planned as a May release.

Italeri is listening or back in touch with the market, because their all new Iveco Stralis kit, again has an engine included, long live the "old concept" kits! ;^)

The kit was loosely based on a 1/18 scale diecast, which suffers from the same discrepancies. IIRC it was tooled when they kicked all the talent out of the model kit r&d department.

having played with my pro-shop issue, I seem to remember that if you're trying to cut out the hood, you'll see that where the fenders meet the cowl/ A-pillars isn't exactly the same left to right, like the hood opening isn't centered. You may want to look into that especially when you're thinking about scribing a parting line between cowl and fender. Luc

That's the way it goes, Harry Now if the cottage resin industry for automotive modeling grows significantly, so much so that players in the plastic world see that they could get that revenue, then we will see a transformation in how things are done. The same happened in the military hobby, kits were basic, modellers started to buy update sets....and the manufacturers started to improve their kits....

One word, communication.

When my dad scratch built his 1/125 scale USS Indianapolis (a WWII vessel) back in the early 80s, he obtained copy's of the actual blueprints from the US embassy, here in Brussels. So I assume that all which is commissioned by the pentagon or any other military organization, has its blueprints (on micro film) in the vaults and later when decommissioned in the library, of which copy's can be acquired for tooling up a replica. I also remember a long lost friend in the resin world, who was nuts about old WWII German hardware and he got copy's of blueprints from a official German agency (don't remember the name though, it's been too long) to create masters for his company called Precision Models. BTW Art, I just remember something from my years in auto manufacturing, when ordering spare parts at the factory store for our personal cars, I could follow the parts detailed assembly on micro film (looks like a drawing of a exploded view of a model kit proposal) could this be helpful in designing the correct shape and detail of parts which are not easy to accessible (unless you're buying a wreck one can dismantle to see it's guts)? Also here's an interesting tread (thanks all who contributed) http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=71166

The '50 Olds and '57 Ford are pretty darn good, for the price, so quality can be offered in that price range. it's the parts count that beefs up the price and frankly more parts doesn't mean a better kit. A good kit is one that is accurate and logic parts breakdown (meaning it has to be separate or it looks like a toy) to help the novice builder in the build and the detail painting process (like separate chassis, from floor pan, or separate grille insert)

The Pro-Modeler car kits weren't that different form a standard all new kit R-M offered, like for instance the '55 Chevy convert and '59 Impala. They had some extra parts, but in the case of the '69 Charger, I at the time at expected the grilles to be separate from the housing (like the mpc annual) and the choice to display the model with open or closed headlamp doors, same for the Daytona, a front clip without the flip out headlamps, the later kits like the Torino had some great decals though. Not being available though the big box stores set the price point on these, my guess.

Several prior posts make it clear why car model kits didn't evolve the same way as the military product lines. But it's nothing new, in the early 2000s I already learned that the casual modeler has the most buying power and it would be suicide to scare them away with "enthusiast" kinda kits. So the manufacturers motto is, form follows function.

Aha! So here's where my post went.... A belated thank you all for your input!

The "problem" started with the merger, IMHO Revell ceased to exist when they moved the company assets to Des Plaines. Because from then on the tooling models were created by the Monogram workshop, just compare the overall kit design, or a Monogram 1/24 scale '70 Mustang to a '69 from Revell.

I think '98, pretty sure the '98 'vette pace car was one of the first I got in those boxes...

Pure personal, but I prefer the Monogram name, why...well it's my recollection that Monogram always sold quality model kits, be it auto, armor, plane, or ship, where Revell was sort of a mixed bag. But I might be biased, because I learned to build models, using Monogram brand kits, which were plenty here in my neck of the woods. Do hope that someday Hobbico, will bring the whole US lineup to Europe under the Monogram brand, shipping kits from the US is becoming much too expensive.

The first which came into my mind, when reading you post Harry, is the Revell '56 Ford Pickup.

I'm guessing the FoMoCo, or it's trademark guardian has to OK the tooling model before anything can be made public. But again just a wild guess on my part.

1978 Chevy Malibu 2dr. 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme brougham coupe 1978 Ford T-bird all very unlikely, but one can dream.... BTW I know that the Malibu is available in resin, I already have the wagon.

After reading the first reviews, I decided to pass on them, even though the Falcon was high on my wish list. What's worse is, that they probably killed the possibility of an all new kit (by the domestic kit makers), of this subject altogether.. Oh well....

Would there be CAD data on these, now that they're being reproduced? http://www.restorationperformance.com/servlet/the-126656/1969-Mustang-Fastback-Replacement/Detail

In the early to late '70s, one of the two local bakeries in my home town used one to deliver bread, the other one had Simca's

They do show the 4x2 with stock wheels on the box-art, yet when you open the box the parts are as you say committed and also no mention of them in the instruction sheet, except the choice of gear shift IIRC.

Nope the Warlock kit was never reissued, it must have been a 1/18 diecast you remembered, cuz I seem to recall it, although vaguely too.