ChrisBcritter

I've only built one kit for a friend, to match his Mercedes 560SEC; it ended up being a rather drawn-out process because I'm not a fast builder. It was a Tamiya Mercedes 500SEC Lorinser, which I modified to match by altering the 500 emblem, lowering the rear end, and modifying the kit wheels to look like the slotted rims his had by carving out the centers and replacing them with centers from (of all things) the mags from the Monogram '30 Model A street rod, with little bolts to simulate the center caps and tiny holes all around to look like the cap screws on the outer rim. Painted it white with gold trim and a tan interior, adding some real leather in the door panel recesses and a couple tiny cassettes in the console. While I was doing this, however, real life threw a curveball: my friend and his partner got carjacked at gunpoint in Hollywood. Fortunately they weren't hurt, and amazingly the car was located undamaged in northern CA two weeks later, missing the license plates (which I'd already added to the kit). Soon afterward when I gave him the model, I offered to correct the plates, but he said he was too happy to get both cars back to worry about it!

Could have been much worse - what if he'd hit the camera?

Tell me about it. My former boss bought a really pretty red '69 XKE DHC at Barrett-Jackson one year for $36k; the guys on TV were oohing and aahing over how clean and good running it was. Once he got it home it took another $10k with a Jag specialist to get it sorted out to be a decent driver. Sure was a rush to ride in, though...

Aw rats. If I knew you wanted an original Ice "T" I have one I would have traded. Forgot I had the darn thing...

Kris, will you be doing a correct rear seat for this body style as well? The ends of the rear seat would be rounded off rather than square: First one is Australian RHD and the other one's a Fairlane but you get the idea. I have to do the same thing to recreate my uncle's Fairlane town sedan.

Very interesting to see that painting process with the bodies spinning back and forth! I destroyed or lost a lot of Matchbox cars when I was little, but somehow I hung on to a few... The Anglia and the Coca-Cola truck, both with gray wheels, are the oldest - had 'em since '62 or '63.

That Vette's been drooled over on many forums over the years - last I heard it had been sold, or moved - it's gone from Google Street View.

Just got back from an estate sale in Highland Park; lots of boxed kits are going cheap - got another AMT '62 Bel Air and a '62 Catalina, as well as a 1/32 Chevy Malibu Mount Prospect police car, all sealed, plus a large folding magnifier and a few household goods for $15.00 total. The Chevy will donate its roof to my '61 Bonneville, and the Catalina's stock grille and bumper will go into the pre-painted custom version, then I'm thinking of stuffing the drivetrain into my '40 Mercury convertible. For any Chicago NW suburbanites interested, it's at 205 Ivy Lane in Highland Park: http://www.estatesales.net/estate-sales/IL/Highland-Park/60035/662610 The 1/43 and 1/32 builtups in the photos are gone but the two Mini Lindy Vettes, a lot of the kits, and a whole lot of diecasts are still there. Happy hunting!

AMT was thinking like GM - their Corvair was a curbside kit up until 1965, which probably saved them the same amount of money per car!

Very interesting comparison. Let's take it head to head, Craftsman on the left, probably original issue on the right: Now line up the windshield frames: It's subtle, but there's definitely a difference. I have about 3¼ '57 T-birds in my stash; the Craftsman is the most complete. Besides most of the blue one, there's part of another Craftsman and most of a Here Comes the Judge with the 427 cammer. I'd like to build up one as Nancy Sinatra's car from the TV special Movin' with Nancy.

Stopped by Michael's in Glenview today - I passed on these but if you're in the area, the AMT '66 Cutlass is on sale at $8.99 and Revell's Superbird and '56 Ford pickup were $9.99. (I'd like to get the pickup, but I prefer to build models that challenge my talents, not my sanity. )

Oh wow - great score!

I've had at least nine AMT '57 Fords over the years, including the one I'm gathering parts for to build my uncle's car. At the moment I have four '61 Falcons (one coupe and three Rancheros - a built Ranchero Grande late '60s issue and two of the street machine version, one of which will become a stock sedan delivery).

I'm beginning to think the best shot at a Tucker being successful would be for it to be a fully detailed large-scale "prestige" kit (like 1/8 or 1/12) like the old big-scale classic kits Entex made. It lends itself to being a big, dramatic display piece.

Terrific score! Which SMP 3-in-1 did you get?

I'm running out of superlatives, Tulio! Did you have any of the chassis/firewall fit issues some folks have mentioned here?

Tulio, you really should be building and photographing box art cars for the big model companies - they're all beautiful.

The grille looks "goof", but the rest looks pretty nice!

Don't feel bad about the wait - how do you think I felt when I opened the page and all I could see was "Coming soon it says..." and a '60 and a '62 Ford pickup? I think "Oh my God Moebius is doing more Ford trucks!" Then I scrolled down. Rats.

Found thi$$$$ on eBay: 1955 Ford, roughly 1/19 scale. Wish the seller had taken more pictures; the shape looks somewhat accurate. Checked Google Images and only came up with shots of the box (which will not display on the webpage or as View Image). Anyone have a photo?

I worked for almost thirteen years as a proofreader for a printing firm that catered to the legal profession. The mistake that still stands out the most was an announcement for a firm that had hired a new lawyer. I marked the proof for a typo and sent it back to the typesetter with the following note: "FOR GOD'S SAKE, PETER, MAKE SURE THIS IS CORRECTED IN THE SYSTEM!" The correct spelling of the lawyer's last name was "Fick"...

While looking at Round 2's AMT page I was pleasantly surprised to find this listed for November. From the sound of it there may be more releases if it sells; really hope the '61 Ranchero, '32 Ford 3-window coupe, and '40 Ford sedan come back as well. (Are there enough folks still racing 1/32 slot cars for this to be viable again?)

Here's mine, just to give you some idea of the stock-ish version (with a few mods - remember, I was 11). The kit was a castoff from a classmate and was missing the exhaust and rear roll pan: The grille with inner headlights is molded in; there's an insert to make the stock grille. I blacked-out the outer headlights to make them look like intakes for cold-air induction, or brake cooling, or something... (Just to clarify: the seats recline but don't fold forward.) Nice kit - captures the look of the car and the larger size makes it easier to detail. Now I'm tempted to build another... Edit: Forgot to mention - those tires have slots for plastic whitewall inserts that will start melting into the vinyl the moment you insert them, as usual, so I just reversed the tires.

One thing I've wondered about this series: Were those huge wide slicks really common for the Modified Stocker class in the early '70s, or did AMT just use what they had available? Anyone have more info on the PPP wheels/tires John mentioned?

I have one I built long ago; don't really remember any building issues (otherwise I'd never have finished it back then!). Mine was molded in blue and I fogged Lime Gold over the nose and tail (it was the '70s and I was 11). The front wheels steered and the seats folded with little chrome hinges.