ChrisBcritter

Snake, do you have the stock tires left over in that kit? I need at least three of them for another project. Let me know if there are any other bits you need from the VW.

I have a couple of these (one black X-El promo, one kit) - If I decided to do a chassis and engine, what would be a better source for the old AMC V8 - the SC/Rambler, the Marlin, or something else? I'll probably do the Ambassador trim since the front end is the long style already. I'm going to fix the bug-eyed headlights with a hooded set from a '59 Mercury blended into the fenders.

So they'll license Hudson but not Rambler, eh? Hmpf. Re the video: Minor pet peeve - folks who use the term "Art Deco" for things that aren't.

Great kit indeed - I've got one that I keep wanting to build, but with a different body - Vicky, 5-window, bobtailed '34 coupe, or even a '33 Willys van modded to a ute, but keep the rest as is and save the sedan body for a full-fendered job. The new tires from the Surf Woody reissue would look good on it.

Rats. Any explanation why? Better buy up the last reissues now before they go through the roof.

Getting back to the topic of original tooling: Suppose Monogram had access to original stock and custom parts - not molds, but actual kit parts - for the '40 Ford pickup. Would it be easier today to use high-resolution scanning to copy them and make new molds, or is it more cost-effective to recreate them from scratch? I know about kits being back-dated to recreate old parts, but what's the preferred method?

We're decades overdue for an original Bronco; with about ten jillion possible variations, this would be a best-seller for Moebius and a logical follow-on to the Ford pickups. (Plus they used '66 Ford standard wheelcovers for many years, so if you wanted to downgrade an AMT kit from a 7-Litre to a regular Galaxie 500, there's another piece of the puzzle.)

Oh well. More to the point, it's based on the old Shala-Vett kit car - clean off the Death Race 2000 decor, and you have the proportions. I may have the Rod & Custom article on the Shala-Vett if you need it.

The paint jobs alone make me green with envy! Always enjoy seeing your clean builds.

Why not go all the way?

That's the JoHan kit - good luck saving it; hope it looks better without the paint.

Here's an idea: How about a small dimpling tool/die set in different sizes and shapes that could be used to make headlight buckets from thin aluminum sheet? Maybe one of you lucky fellows who owns a lathe could make and sell them.

Two bucks? I bought a '66 Chrysler convertible kit around '72 from a junk store for 50 cents (could have bought two but the other had a busted windshield frame). Built it, gave the body (only) a decent saddle tan metallic paint job, and thought I'd made out like a bandit when I sold it in around 1979 for $9.00...

Oh boy. I need about $200.00 worth - of each...

The ITC Mercury shows up fairly often on eBay; almost always unbuilt. If you're lucky you can get one for around $50. I was fortunate enough to get a gluebomb for free years ago; finally got the missing hood this year. It's only a so-so representation of the real car; the rear end is fairly good but the body sides taper in at the bottom too much (more like a '40 Ford) instead of being rounded, and the wheelbase is about 3" (about 3mm in scale) too short. The extra length looks like it should be added in the front fenders between the wheels and cowl. The windshield looks a bit chopped, too.

If I had known back then - I'd have stockpiled every '71-'75 Impala I ran across. I did buy up a batch of Jo-Han reissues around 1980 when I first heard the rumors that the molds were gone, but I missed the '63 Plymouth and '68 Caddy.

Two more: '31 A-400 convertible sedan and Victoria based on the Monogram 1/24 '30 A tooling.

Well, I'm finally replacing the rear end/exhaust in my '70 LTD - a firecracker shattered the original 35 years ago when we were using it as a miniature in a homemade Godzilla-ish monster movie - does that count?

Still like this one best.

Went to an estate sale in town on Sunday to scope out an '01 Eldorado (sealed bids, top bid was $5100 on a car that would Blue Book for about $4200 plus it needed brakes, crank and O2 sensors and a fuel tank sending unit - FAIL); in a neighbor's driveway was this nice Mustang: Looked at the other side, and the missing rocker trim revealed... ...a nice big rust hole. Welcome to Illinois.

There must be a lot of different versions of that SOHC engine - I also have three sets of valve covers and none of them match yours: Bottom ones were on an original issue AMT '68 Shelby engine I got from eBay. Note the #1 plug on the driver's side would be firing into the cam gear instead of the cylinder. Middle ones were on an unidentified mishmosh blown 427 that was in a "Here Comes the Judge" '57 T-bird (but probably originated elsewhere). Top ones were also in the "Judge" T-bird and I think they're original to the kit; I'll be using them on the Shelby engine since they look closest to correct, plus I have the breather caps for them. Now to find some kind of headers... maybe from a Revell gasser? Pat, what did you use?

Oof - and I though my '58 was the worst I'd seen. Were you able to save the front bumper, at least?

Man, I wish we had Ollie's here! Cheapest I could get the LRW in this neck of the woods is $16.79 (Michael's with a 40% off coupon).

Good Lord, haven't they heard of the Davis? If you want to build a retro-styled three-wheeler, copy THIS:

I noticed that too, but I thought it might be the tires being a bit large? I wasn't going to say anything because they could have been off-the-shelf ones used to get the build done.