Richard Bartrop

Very nice, especially knowing what a bear those MPC classics can be to put together. I especially like the choice of colours.

It's your build, and you're the one who has to be happy with it, but since you're asking, I think the pro touring one better suits the Ferarriesque look of that model Camaro.

A convertible sedan, but Italeri's 1933 Cadillac V-16 does have four doors.

Either way, it sounds like the Mod Rod is going to be in the $50+ range by the time it hits the shelves up here in the Great White North. Okay, you can get two complete cars out of it and lots of parts for other things, so maybe it'll be worth it, but you can be sure I'll be thinking long and hard about that purchase. As it is, the latest batch of Round 2 car kits up here are priced in the $45 range, and again, some of them might be worth it. A 36 Ford with all the vintage custom parts that nobody's seen in ages? Maybe it's worth that. A Lindberg rat rod for $45? No. Just...no..... One thing is for sure, the aftermarket part makers are starting to look more attractive.

I agree with what's been already said. The Auburn and the lincoln are still the only game in town, but if you want to build a Cord, just get the Monogram kit.

It has a very French coachbuilt look to it

A stock '42 would be nice if they included some period appropriate options like some mock whitewall trim rings, and maybe some ration decals for the windshield.

I'm liking where this is going.

My thought is, no matter how smart or skilled you think you are, you're still going to miss something, so it's always good to have another pair of eyes look things over. If something is wrong, then better to find out now, instead of investing large amounts of time and money into something that people aren't going to buy. And it's not like Revell is going to pull out of the model business because somebody said something mean about them on a forum.

Or we've all missed the obvious, and instead of another boring small block V-8, Revell is giving us the ultra-rare V-7 version, because 8 cylinders are so overdone, y'know?

Oh, they have V-8s there too. In any case, you'd think somebody at the head office would have been checking up. Sure, it's an easy thing to fix, but I trust this time nobody's going to be making any claims that it was a deliberate decision to improve the kit.

Nice, though they do seem pretty evasive about what the actual price is.

I'm a little surprised that nobody's ever released a Chrysler Airflow kit.

I'm still planning on getting the Mod Rod when it comes out for all the other stuff in it.

I always thought Dick Patterson's 60s vintage Model A coupe looked pretty neat, and it occurred to me that between the new Model A kit, and the wheels and engine from AMT's Surf Woody, you could get pretty close.

The earliest SBC swap I know of was in the R&C Dream Truck in the fall of '54, so yes, pretty much since they first left the factory. I like the flatheads, but the small block is just the thing if you wanted to do a late '50s or later period rod. The fact is, there are a million plus different ways to build a hot rod, and everyone has their own ideas on what looks good, so however they did this kit, someone's not going to be happy.

That Buick comes too close to vandalism for my tastes

Small block Chevies are as much a part of hot rod heritage as flatheads, and for the same reasons, and to not have it as an option over some arbitrary standard of hipness is just stupid. Besides, the whole SBC hate is itself such a tired cliche. It's an attempt to look imaginative and unconventional in the most conventional and unimaginative way possible. And as Ace said in his post, it's easy enough to make something more to your liking.

Sounds promising. A more traditional rear suspension would have been nice, but its absence isn't a deal breaker.

A real modeler makes models. Anything else is just posturing.

I think the '53 is the best looking of the bunch too, but I'd still buy a Hawk is somebody made a kit

And if you're a really real modeler, you don't need kits at all. Of course, not everyone is a "real" modeler, or even wants to be. Sometimes people want things a little easier, which is why there are model kits in the first place.

For for me, it would be having the time/skills to replicate some of the low production American specials that came out in the 50s. At the top of the list would be the Bosley coupe, and the Gaylord Gladiator.

That one thing you need to finish off a project, be it putty, a certain shade of paint, or some bit of styrene or metal, will vanish from the stores the day you actually decide to go and git it.

My thought on these threads is, so long as you keep your expectations realistic, I don't see a problem with letting the kitmakers know what you want, and over the years I've seen just enough things on my want list hit the shelves to make me think it's not a completely useless exercise. At the very least, it's always fun to bounce ideas off each other. And if you're just too darn cool for all this, it's not like someone is holding a gun to your head to make you read these threads, are they?