ChrisBcritter

Update - arrived safe and sound. It was mostly easy to dismantle, probably because the original builder used up most of his glue installing the windshield and taillights. This will take some photoetch saw and Dremel work, but not impossible. Off to the Awesome dip... And a bit of thumbnail prying removed the wheelcovers intact.

Whomever made this resin Henry J could be a source for your bumpers and other stock parts - only problem is IDing the source. I wouldn't mind having one myself. http://www.henryjcars.com/hjc8/promomodels/promo1.html RMR also makes a phantom Henry J wagon, with bumpers: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v297/flamefink/rmrresin/50s/HenryJWagon.jpg

Nice clean job, Tulio! What tires did you use to replace the kit ones?

Scored this cheeeep on eBay; should have it by Friday: Original issue '62 Impala convertible. SO hard to find one without all the custom parts glued to the body - plus if I can get those '57 Plymouth wheel covers off intact, they'll probably be going onto a '58 Impala.

That's an Auto Cutter, and you must have a surgeon's hands to be getting such straight lines! For my windows and front door lines I'll be using a side profile image of my old '58 Edsel Ranger sedan (front doors and window frames are same as Ford) scaled to 1/25, and a photoetch saw blade.

Beautiful work on both of them! Way better than you'd expect from a Hubley kit. Can you explain about the muffler tape? Seems like it would be too thick to cover trim; what's the secret?

Just got this '57 Ford from eBay cheap: Chassis is already assembled and very nicely painted (better than my talents!); all I have to do is build up that 406 4-speed; tough part will be the four-door sedan conversion. Also have a '67 Impala 396 on its way for my '67 Chevy pickup, and a Thunderbolt shell and interior bucket - cutting up the shell for the window frames (looks like they'll fit my '63 Galaxie notchback) and hood latch, and the interior to replace one I lost in the last move...

Thank you! Did you get to measure it? I've thought about getting the deluxe edition '60 Starliner to gut for some projects, but that '61 wagon is very wide. Even its own chassis needs to be widened about 1/4" on each side to fit that body...

One of my many stalled 30-year-old projects is a Hubley '61 Ford wagon, which is 1/24 scale. I need a suitably wide front suspension setup for it, and I thought of the Monogram '58 T-bird - can anyone tell me the width of its front suspension from spindle to spindle, and is its rear track the same? Thanks! (And if anyone has one spare taillight for it, I sure can use it...?)

I thought the old MPC Raiders Coach might have some, but it doesn't - although it does have amps and speakers.

One more: The opening credits from H. B. Halicki's The Junkman (1982). Watch for the exploding Jo-Han '64 Cadillac and AMT '57 Ford models: I got a few models from his estate auction; last one I still have is a brown '79 El Camino promo.

Knew I forgot one: Disney's Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? from 1970: You can watch the whole thing here: (I once met Ward Kimball, the Disney animator who made this show; I could kick myself for not asking him about it. )

(pounds head on workbench) Rats. Hey, maybe this was the convertible tool and the coupe might still survive? Otherwise... oh, Mr. Holthaus...

Maybe, but it would be nice for them to tell us (the hobbyists who buy their models) what could and couldn't be done so we wouldn't have to waste our time asking and polling and petitioning for stuff they can't give us. Another hypothetical case in point: the '64 Olds F-85 Cutlass. It never became an AWB funny car or Modified Stocker. If the molds are gone, tell us. Maybe we'd want a new tool (as a 442!). If they exist, would we want it reissued? Ask us. How would that hurt them?

So are there any more chances of long-hidden old tools awaiting rediscovery, or has everything been gone through to the point where Round 2 can say that there's nothing left to recover? Was finding the partial '59 Imperial tooling a one-time fluke, and are there other partial tools known to exist? I wish they'd be willing to tell us (hypothetical case!) "We have the body and chrome for the '63 Falcon Futura, but we don't have the interior" and we'd give our input on whether we'd want them to reverse-engineer the rest, or "We've gone through everything and we can definitely say there's nothing left of the '59 Pontiac/'69 Continental/'64 Corvair/whatever" and the resin casters would take over.

OK, just checked - the old AMT compact tires are 9/32" ID, while the Jo-Han compact tires (Olds F-85 coupe and wagon) are 1/2" ID at their outer edge and taper inward. Looks like I won't be needing the new ones for now.

So sorry to hear that. I knew a couple guys that worked with him on the Studebaker team at Bonneville. I also had to call his company, Tune-Up Masters, once on some small business matter for my boss back in '83 or so, and the secretary put him on the line! After I got the business question out of the way, I told him I was a fan of his, and he was real nice about it.

Just remembered this one - the 1966 TV show Thunderbirds, which used a lot of model cars as miniatures, especially the Monogram '58 T-bird. Here's the IMCDb page: http://www.imcdb.org/movie_57790-Thunderbirds.html

The headlights and taillights actually are extended from the body a bit; the headlights can be trimmed back and chrome bezels added. The taillights will work for a '53 if you cut them back almost even with the end of the fender, then use the lights from the Monogram '53. For a '54 you'd need to trim the back of the lenses about 3/32" to countersink them, then trim the edge of the opening a bit from the bottom up, leaving a lip flaring out at the top. A little Bare-Metal will finish the job. Now let's talk about reshaping the top of the windshield... Honestly, sometimes I think Revell was in a real hurry when they engineered this kit.

PM me your email and I'll send the file. Anyone else want a copy?

Question: Were there many changes to the stock SBC engine in these kits over the years? My '67 lacks an engine and if a later-reissue version is the same, it will be easier to replace. I've been cleaning up a damaged set of decals from the '67 Chevy pickup; if anyone else can use them here you go. Might need a bit more work but it's way better than it was: Also have this in a larger version (1965 x 1500).

Only problem is the base for the body is 1/32, not 1/25, plus if you look at old American school buses, it still has a ways to go to be correct.

Forgive me if it's a real dumb question, but can these diecast bodies be soldered together? Or can it be used as filler like lead was on 1/1 car bodies?

I'd like to build up a '57 Ford Fairlane like my uncle's old street racer: He put in a single four-barrel '62 or '63 406 and four-speed out of a wrecking yard. My idea to match this would be to use the engine from the newer AMT '62 T-bird and the fan belt/pulleys and transmission from the Revell '64 Fairlane Thunderbolt. Am I on the right track here? What would be my best source for a correct single 4-bbl carb and manifold - maybe the '60 Starliner? Over to you Ford gurus - thanks!

Christmas 1964. Before: ...And my little brother and me, after. Cars, cars, cars capped off by a Crusader 101.