Stef

Yes yes yes! Wow, thank you, @Rodent! Wow, you're awesome! Wow. You just won the internet. What can I ever do to repay you?

Hello everyone Not sure where to post this; I need to find an image I've seen a dozen times, but can't find it in image search. It should be some sort of marketing/promo shot of an early 60s Ford convertible, shot at about a 3/4-ish rear angle, with I believe one or two women inside, looking back and upwards, at a floating hardtop, hovering a few feet above the car. Can see it in my mind, but don't remember the make or model. My model club is having a TOPLESS theme to our annual model contest, I'll be pitching an illustration for the poster, and I was hoping to riff off this image. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks so much!

Nothing beats real chrome bezels, so me personally, imma hog 'em out and replace 'em with chrome units from the parts box. No worries there. As for keeping costs down, here's hoping some of that budget goes towards packaging; it would be a shame if those A-pillars got Oldsmobile'd.

Looking very nice overall, though surprised and crestfallen about the headlight buckets not being separate chromed pieces.

I had this version back in 1988, and it included satin-chrome parts, including wheels, side view mirror lenses, the TPI setup, alternator, and valve covers, IIRC.

MPC really was kicking into high gear in the early/mid 80s; their EXP, Cavalier, C4, Camaro, Firebird, Fiero, Celica, Mustang, Daytona, Omni/Charger, and others were light years beyond most of their earlier kits. Almost like this brief era of MPC was some kind of quasi-ERTL partnership, transitioning through the 69 Olds and Beretta, to the AMT Taurus and Probe.

MPC 1980 BRONCO... aww yisssssss. One of my grails. Built Ridge Runner and Dust Devil back in the day. Gonna have to buy a case of these. Thank you for answering my prayers, Round 2.

I got the brown one back in 1991, and my hood was warped. The hood was, and prolly still is, very thin and brittle for its size. While trying to correct the warp, a huge corner snapped off. Take extra care, and you should be fine. All the best to you.

Really vibin' on that 55 Nomad; wanna turn it into an AWB gasser. Also liking that Willys dragster and 66 T-Bird. Nice stuff, cats. Take my money.

Most informative, thank you. Is Round 2's recent Californian reissue based on Jo-Han's Toronado interior, engine, chassis, and suspension? I'm not totally clear on the AMT/MPC/Jo-Han connection regarding the Olds Toronado kits. Earlier this year, I missed the chance to buy a beautiful, unpainted, builtup AMT 67-ish(?) Toronado. Did MPC use the Jo-Han tooling to make their Mannix and Californian? With all Round 2's awesome cloning going on, anyone wanna place their bets that a stock Toronado body is in the works?

True, @Rob Hall, I'd heard of that, and as tempting as it is to grab one, or a dozen, I've got my heart set on doing my own thing and seeing what I come up with. It will be very tough to beat the sheer ferocity and elegance of the EV concept's sleek lines, though I'm eager to take a crack at it. BONUS SITUATION: Mine will have a Hemi, heh.

So grateful for this all-new modern Charger kit; will have to buy a case of 'em. Very, VERY, interested in this kit, as a restyling exercise. Long before I'd ever seen the Fratzonic electric Charger concept, I'd envisioned restyling this kit to be half 69 Charger, half Wraith, and half Xenomorph. Just imagine... an SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody Jailbreak Weyland-Yutani version of this. Will do my best.

I'll happily buy a couple of those Geo Storms; gotta make an obligatory pro street.

Pretty sure you're right about the non-chrome wheels, though I'd swear my Stunt Van did come with the round headlight grille. Maybe I traded it with a friend to block out the psychological damage. These days, I'd gladly take whatever 4x4 version they rerelease. And speaking of 80s 4x4 Fords, waiting for the ex-MPC 1981 Bronco (Ridge Runner, Dust Devil), to make a comeback, too.

Agreed. Also, want STUNT VAN to come back something fierce.

Good to know, @SteveG, thanks.

On further inspection, it looks like ALL the decals on that sheet seem to have a similar phenom. It seems to me like an accidental printing of the artwork dielines for the "clear" carrier layer. Typically, those dielines would indicate where the clear stuff will go, but is not actually supposed to print onto the decal sheet.

Is there something weird going on with the Lennie Pond decals? Looks like several of them, on the right-hand side, have some sort of thin red keylines around them.

Thanks everyone, for your super sleuthing on the Streaker kit, and to Chris, who keeps building everything in sight. His build videos have inspired me to buy dozens of kits I didn't know much about, and might not have even thought of buying. As for the Mako Shark / Enforcer, I agree. Would love to build this one again, in whatever form they will release it. Me personally, I'm a big fan of those 80s vector wheels and that sinister skateboard track, heh.

My money's on the Streaker Olds AWB drag car. Awww yissss. Most, if not all, of the Streaker-specific parts are already in the convertible or 442 kits; just need an altered wheelbase body? My understanding is the original Streaker kit used the same generic AWB chassis as was used under the 65 Rat Packer Nova, 65 Falcon, 63 Tempest, (65?) Mustang, etc. True, there were a few slight variations between engines, suspension setups dash/interior details, etc., though they are very similar for the most part. I'm no expert, and others have chimed in here with detailed info, including instruction sheets for many of these kits. Here's a chassis comparo for TWO of HPIGuy's recent-ish builds of the Nova and Falcon: NOVA FALCON They are similar, but not identical. Also, I believe there was at least a third variant; the chassis used under the Cyclone Eliminator kit. Chris also built this one awhile back: The Cyclone kit is a funny car, which includes hinges that mount inside the rear body. The interior does not have door panels, as a separate wheel tub/door panel insert goes into the body to complete the look. Whichever of these chassis variants gets stuffed up into the Streaker Olds body, looks like the kit is 99% complete. Hope this helps, thanks!

Thanks for the clarification, @papajohn97! In the 90s, I built both the stock and Strickler cars, and yes, pretty sure the exhaust options for each version were an either/or, IIRC. Your attention to detail is authentic and well thought out. A bit off-topic, but still related to the NHRA rules, I vaguely remember now a similar exhaust situation back in 91 with the release of Revellogram's then-new 64 Thunderbolt. It was a drag-only kit, and I thought it was weird and dumb to tack a spindly single exhaust onto the headers, so I left it off. If/when I ever build these kits again, I'll be sure to follow the NHRA rules, heh.

Nice work, @papajohn97; gotta ask about the exhaust on the Chevy. Did the real car run both headers and factory exhaust at the same time? How did you resolve the kit's stock pipes with the headers? Thanks!

Always hated Barris' gaudy, tacky, kitschy papier maché and dime store abominations. Recently got myself the Fireball 500, and was SHOCKED to learn it was a Barris. Overall, the Fireball 500 has some good bones, with a nice side profile, and a really cool space-age twin-cowl design. I'm currently redesigning the car to my own liking; cleaning-up the rear end at bit, and tightening-up that gaping fishmouth front end. In researching Barris for this project, I was surprised to learn he did the gorgeous Hirohata Merc. I watched the Fireball 500 movie, and really got a kick out of it. So now, I really want to redesign Barris model kits. I want to get the Monkeemobile, the Raiders Coach, the T Buggy, whatever other gawd awful BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH he spit out, and see what I can do with 'em. Cuz this Fireball "5000" remake of mine is turning out really nice; very muscle-car-ish with twin hoodscoops, a compressed grille area reminiscent of a 70 Cuda, huge slicks out back, and a slight rake. I should post pics, actually...

NOOICE. Must-have the Supra, Comet, and Monte. For anyone who's not seen the awesomeness of MPC's classic Supra, check out Monster Hobbies' recent-ish whats-in-the-box review:

Nice build and subtle weathering, @Scalper. That plow detail is insane; looks like it's survived more than its fair share of Canadian winters.