ChrisBcritter

Just got back from Vernon Hills - a lot of empty spaces, but they still have two '57 Chrysler 300s and two AMT speedboats. I picked up the last Edsel; it had been opened and some a-hole had swiped the horsecollar and rearview mirror, but it was still worth the $7 and change for parts; I can put the chassis under my '59 Edsel convertible and change it from slump-buster to Project™. Also got on clearance some Testors camo dark gray and tan, plus a badly-needed magnifying glass.

the line's busy

First thing I thought of was the Polynesian, the famous sectioned '49 Olds hardtop. Check out how the cuts were made; they should work on the Chevy:

I remember once Alsa had a sale on their chrome kit; how often do they do that?

Odd that the ad copy seems to be a cut-and-paste from an eBay listing, but there are no matches for it under current or completed listings.

the steam room

Could be from the AMT '66 Impala or '57 T-bird gasser kit.

"Wagon" singular - they slapped a quickie coat of red paint on the first one.

"You're gonna have to answer to the Coca-Cola Company!"

Preach it, brother!

Glad I got caught up with this one! In real life, I imagine the liftgate would be made of fiberglass with a light metal inner frame, and some counterbalanced hinges from a Courier sedan delivery. Nice work, Ferby!

Thanks guys! Bruce, it's an original promo; this is the coin-bank version without an interior. I think that helped preserve the shape - the chassis is styrene and the coin box is pressed up against the roof so the shrinkage was fairly even. I repositioned the rear wheels, adjusted the fit of the bumpers (narrowed the rear one), added material to the front fenders and refitted the glass. Not perfect but better than it was, at least.

Way back when, I had a book titled New Cars '71 put out by Petersen Publishing. In it was a story about how Chrysler was developing a subcompact to compete with the Pinto and Vega; the writers extrapolated some preliminary data and figured out that the cars were going to be like Gremlins - based on a shortened wheelbase Valiant/Dart platform with chopped-off tail. It was being referred to as the "25 Car" - as in the basic design would last 25 years. I wonder how far that project got, and if any styling clays (full size or scale) were done? ETA - just found this reference in the August 1970 Popular Science: https://books.google.com/books?id=kgEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=chrysler+"25+car"&source=bl&ots=91QVey9oV6&sig=ACfU3U0MX0nBVsOW4ion0FVUFDkGyYl1zw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwii6JDEhaDjAhXYHM0KHaXwBXEQ6AEwC3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=chrysler "25 car"&f=false

Calling this one... done, until (hopefully) a new chrome outfit opens up and I'll redo the bumpers: This was a less-warped-than-usual promo; as seen in the build thread, I basically cleaned it up around the edges to fix minor damage and minimize the shrinkage issues, touched up the paint, then laid on a boatload of BMF. Thanks for looking!

Here's the interior of my '66 promo: Instruction sheet from Drastic Plastics' Fotki page: No console in the stock or custom versions. You have the Cobra steering wheel, but the seat is a custom one from the '68 Torino. Not sure where the console came from.

counted three Beans...

And to stay on topic, they are offering a couple model kits:

Just got back from the Niles, IL store - no discounts, shelves all full. Not a wasted trip, though - picked up a heat gun at the Harbor Freight next door. Will check Vernon Hills next.

Here we go:

tasty little candies

Having heard they were getting thin on the ground, I used my HL coupon to pick up a pickup: Derby Champions El Camino. Like I said, too bad it wasn't one of the discounted kits.

Well, that was quick - went to Deerfield again today and the discounted kits were vacuumed up except for the Owens boat. I noticed the Edsel and '57 300 were back to their normal prices. May check Niles and Vernon Hills anyway just to be a good reporter.

Nah, only the last half hour of it . Up here we got a lot of dark clouds, a bit of wind, a little bit of rain, and that was that; my brother in Libertyville got a lot more rain.