ChrisBcritter

Well, shoot. Looking at the photo (rather than relying on what passes for my memory), the Trumpeter covers look like an amalgam of '60 spinners and '61 standards. The '60 spinners didn't have those teeth around the center, at least.

Mostly posted about this in the "What did you screw up accomplish today?" thread, but a little update here. Got the front seat out of the spare interior, sawed a notch behind the front edge to bend the bottom back. Of course it promptly broke in two places and spat a chunk of the top edge to who knows where. Some cursing, gluing and filling fixed that, and I added filler pieces on the sides from where they met the bucket, with decent results: This will go in the tan one after I patch the floor and door panels. First I'll make a mold from this one and block it off to cast two copies of the driver's side area, which will become bucket seats for the purple custom. I just finished redoing all four torsion bars, replacing most of the warped/twisted 1/8" thick plastic bars with 1/16" model car axles. The tough part was drilling out all eight stumps to insert the axles; I used a couple carbide bits drilling from each side by hand until the holes went through, then enlarging the holes to 1/16" without breaking the darn things, thank goodness: The tan one is stock height and the purple one is lowered by flipping the front parts side to side. I'm putting supports under the axle bosses to make sure they align and don't sag. I'll have to countersink the axle pins on the purple one so they don't interfere with the engine. I probably won't do too much more detailing on these chassis other than adding dual exhaust to the purple custom, since they're pretty rudimentary; and I've got enough to do with these sow's ears trying to get silk purses out of 'em! Thanks again for looking!

Or a Back to the Future chase scene diorama!

Not a bad idea - between the early Hemi Under Glass and Fireball 500 molds, there might be enough to piece at least a curbside '66 together with about the same labor as the reborn '64 F-85. The '66 body (which was a promo tool with hood molded in) wasn't torn up as much as the Boss Nova was; just the rear wheel wells IIRC. Wonder what they'd find if the molds were unblocked?

Maybe, maybe not. If Round2 had licensed permission from Chrysler to produce a '62 Plymouth, and scanned the Jo-Han body for shape and accuracy but modified it to fit their own chassis (no screw posts, separate radiator wall, new door panels/dash/seats, etc.) there wouldn't be enough left to sue about. Chrysler owns the design of the car, not the owner of the molds (which most likely no longer exist). Remember the situation when Revell came out with a 1/48 B-17F that was in part cribbed from Monogram's B-17G - Monogram grumbled about it but realized they didn't really have a case.

Let's open a nice fresh can of worms... Don't bother with Trumpeter for the 8-lugs; they're so flat they look like the ones used as custom parts in some old Jo-Han kits. The original AMT '62 Bonneville or the Moebius '61 Ventura are your best bets. The wheelcovers in the original '60 AMT kit were the optional tri-bar spinner style as seen in the photo Steve posted; the standard covers you see in the factory brochure have never been kitted. The later Craftsman kits had the kit's open wheels modified to look sort of like the spinner ones, but are inaccurate and usually have sink marks to boot. The deluxe spinner covers in the Trumpeter '60 kit are not correct for '60 - they're actually optional ones for the '61 Bonneville, which gives you a choice if you have an original AMT '61, which had the standard wheelcovers (which could also be used on the Moebius '61 Catalina/Ventura). There goes the bell - hope you were taking notes. Tomorrow we'll discuss my idea for creating standard wheelcovers for the '59 Bonneville!

Hmm. I wonder if Round2 could scan the '62 and '63 Jo-Han Plymouth and Dodge bodies to get their accurate shape, and adapt them to fit their ex-Lindberg '64 Plymouth chassis? Food for thought.

The reborn '63 Nova wagon will be getting an engine in its future "full detail" version; hopefully Round2 will tool a real nice 194ci 6/Powerglide for it.

TR, for the wheelcovers, take a look at the ones in the Jo-Han '62 Studebaker snap kit (or any '59-'62 Stude promos). Replace the "S" in the center with a chrome bowtie on a black background, paint the little squares around the rim black, and it's about as close as you can get.

Sold for $565.55!

Hood fit issue?

Mike, how about a rear angle of the new one?

Either that or the firewall seem likely subjects. It'd be cool if they could throw in the '65 GTO roof and back glass for us hardtop fans, if it were a good fit.

Good news from the Round2 FB page about the next version coming out later:

Wow. I think I see a couple of slight differences from the original (no further comment until I get one in my little paws) but overall they nailed it!

FTFY (You gotta encourage them, right? )

Definitely improved; did you get closer to the bumpers or spray a heavier coat?

Careful with siphon!

Wonder if the winning submission to the MPC 500 Kit Idea Contest was "Do a Superfly version of the Grand Prix!"

For delivery to Commissioner Gordon's office? Looking forward to getting this Nova! I thought the '64 Olds F-85 would be first - maybe Jan./Feb. now?

That is one massive rescue! Please post new photos if you redo the bumpers, so we can see the difference.

The existing version is a '73 - not much different from the '71/'72 other than the 5-mph front bumper/grille unit (and wrong wheelcovers all three years - maybe Round2 could finally tool up some correct ones?)

You could also get a fiberglass aftermarket hardtop, like the one on this $34,750 trash heap of a 190SL - note the different rear window and the round emblem near the side window; I think Glasspar made them? My friend's '63 has one just like it. Mine is missing the hubcaps, but the previous owner threw in a set of Hubley 300SL wheels - once I cut them down to fit, I'll just hollow them out and put retainers on the axles so it looks normal. Kurt, I cast up an extra set of clear red taillights and clear headlights this morning so let me know if you can use them.

Let's try yellow

Hi Kurt - I have one of these kits too; mine is missing the hubcaps and one tire half (I cast a replacement). I also have molds to cast the head and taillights in clear/red. I shot these at the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in California back in 2007; may be a bit more conservative than you're doing but food for thought: Good luck with your build!