ChrisBcritter

That escalated quickly... At that time, my father was the advertising manager for Pettibone, who made the Cary-Lift that tilts the Vegas up into the boxcar. He used to bring home 8mm and 16mm movies demonstrating the machines they built, and one was a film of the Vegas being loaded.

For Appliance wires, would those be the ones in the AMT '65 Riviera? I also had some nice wire wheels on a chrome tree from a Monogram(?) '32 Ford but I don't know which issue it was.

Definitely DO NOT use oven cleaner on acetate; don't know what purple stuff/yellow stuff/brake fluid/ELO does to it. Having these cast might be better if you can scare up some X-El styrene reissues; the bumpers will fit better (remember these old bodies shrink as well as warp).

They have arrived: '60 Chrysler New Yorker and '61 Continental convertible. The New Yorker had its headlight areas puttied over: But the "putty" turned out to be plasticine clay , fortunately: Off to Modelhaus for the corrected grille (Jo-Han's error; the NYer grille should be inset) and taillight lenses. As for the Continental, it's got four near-mint 1961-only wide whitewalls, an undamaged interior and windshield frame/glass: Its biggest problem is that someone cut down the tops of the rear quarter panels so it's one level front to rear . I do have a complete set of '61 chrome and a damaged '62 sedan body in my CA stash, so I'm hoping to get it shipped out here soon.

This looks vaguely familiar. I think there was a flyer or order form for posters that came with the 1/20 IMC dune buggy kit; anybody have one to check?

And most importantly the NIMBYs can't complain about noise from the track!

I drive this: 1978 Buick LeSabre. Bought it in 2002 from the original little old lady owner in Burbank, CA with 48k on it; it now has 58k. It's got the V-6 with 105 throbbing horsepower, but it's in good shape and comfortable to drive. Now that I'm back in IL I just hope I can stave off the body rot for a few more years. And for my Southern California friends, maybe you'll recognize the characters on the sunshade: Shorty and Cheap Chicken from the old National Lumber commercials!

Love how this one turned out! I've got one molded in gray with red second-tone paint; traded out the rolling stock for a swap meet set of Franklin Mint Ferrari Testarossa wire wheels and tires. In the mid-'70s one of my junior high teachers had a white-and-green '56 88 two-door hardtop that I coveted greatly; I wish I'd kept in touch with her and bought it...

The Modelhaus has the stock dashboard for three bucks. The stock wheelbase is 112"; my '63 convertible promo's wheelbase measures out to 4 15/32", which is 111.71875". Close enough for me! It'd be nice to see some photoetched grilles for this car. Edit: Let's do a head-to-head comparison: You'd have to move the wheelwells back 3/4" to match the 112" wheelbase, but the wheel openings aren't stock.

Not only LeMans, but LeMons as well!

As others here have, I've considered this same method for improving wire wheels, and this proves it can really work! The rest of that chassis is amazing as well. Hope to see the finished car here soon. Now I don't feel so bad about the fistfight it took to put together one of their Model A kits when I was eleven...

Duly noted - thank you!

If I wanted a Chaparral, I wouldn't get nearly as much satisfaction from paying eight grand for it as I would if I found it in a yard sale for five bucks, even if I were rich. Where's the fun in saying "I spent lots and lots of money" as opposed to "I just got a screaming deal"?

Looks like you'll need a set of Chevy van taillights. Good luck!

Just happen to have an old (1970) shot of our family car right here to compare: (Our cat got hold of the slide and got me across the face - no great loss... )

Good score on the T-bird! That custom front end, if you had it, is supposed to be good for converting the AMT '53 Studebaker into a '58 Packard Hawk. I have three incomplete '57s that will someday be combined to build the one Nancy Sinatra had: (Anyone have a good kit source for those mags and the steering wheel?)

Another thing you can do - since most of them are easily available, you can get unbuilt reissues and build clones - copy the style and colors of your dad's models and use your own talents to make them even better than they looked brand new - like if your dad had access to modern tools, detail parts and paints (after all, most fathers want their sons to do better than they did).

Thanks to an under-descriptive ebay listing with only one photo, I scored these cheap: Never thought I'd find a '60 Chrysler! The listing just mentioned the Lincoln but the lot included both cars. Now to find a set of wire wheels and tires from the '56 300...

Anyone make a resin copy of the Jo-Han '64 Dodge Polara promo (bench seat) interior? Modelhaus makes it for the Plymouth but not the Dodge, so another project is hung up at the moment.

Just got back from the DuPage show and managed not to buy any new projects. That said, I did score some stuff to apply to my current projects. For my '62 Impala convertible I found a very battered original AMT '62 Chevy hardtop for $5; poor thing looked like it was sat on and glued back together - but it had a front seat that didn't have seat belts glued to it; plus one of the taillight units wasn't glued. (If anyone else has a gluebomb '62 I'll have a few leftover bits - rechromeable front and rear bumpers, a salvageable dash and windshield, rear quarters that haven't had skirts glued to them and the taillight panel.) Another vendor had a mint set of wheelcovers with tires and wheel backs for $5, so it looks like I have all I need to finish it. For my '61 Ford wagon project I scored a pair of '58 T-birds for $5 each, which will provide the engine, drivetrain, front suspension and a few other bits. And for the '57 Fairlane 500 project I got a $3 '57 parts pile kit that will help in converting it to a four-door, plus the dark brown paint for the two-tone roof and sides. Another vendor had a boxful of tires for 25¢ each - got a full set of MPC Goodyear G70-15s for the '67 Chevy pickup. Anyone else there today? I had a brief chat with Bob Dahl of Bob's Paints. Nice guy and I'll be doing business with him soon.

I'll be there - look for me in the leather jacket and black Tulsarama T-shirt. Might bring a couple kits to let go cheeep (if anyone cares about Hubley Model As anymore).

First-rate build and photography! One of the best ideas I've heard in a long time! High-end version of the MPC "Switchers".

Sweet job, Stan - other than the top, it looks like my old ride from 20-some years ago:

I had an early issue of the kit and the wheels/tires were definitely larger: ): Bigger sidewalls, too. Looks like what the kit needs most is a pie cut to make the boattail slope down at the rear, the grille shell slanted back a bit more, the fenders modified to tuck under at the bottom, and a set of decent wire wheels and tires (I'd take a look at the Monogram '32 Cadillac for those).

And the AMT windshield won't fit since the Hubley kit is 1/24. I have an unbuilt one I started a long time ago (molded in white). In a fit of masochism I opened the hood and started detailing the chassis with '59 Skyliner parts; that's where it sits now.