Ragtop Man

This is what I hear when I see that build. Great job on it!

Wow. Just... wow. The patina on the race car is perfect. Would love to see the steps you took to make it look so realistic.

Cheat the f-stop and lens a little more and I wouldn't be able to tell if this was a model or the 1:1. Absolutely love this car - my fave BMW, ever. Got to drive an M6 at a GM event in 1985 and was absolutlely tail over teakettle for it. Your build and color choice is spot on, and looks like something going past on the autobahn at 160 mph. Question, tho: this kit has been sitting on my shelf, mocking me, for decades (as do all the Fujimi enthusiast kits, LOL) were there any tough spots to be aware of before proceeding?

Thank you, Tim - it is a story that deserves attention from serious modelers.

Bob Johnson explained the development chapter and verse in a post that was on FB in a few modeling pages. This would be a great place for Tim Boyd to leap in! The goal was for the body to be a reasonable drop fit kitbash with the then-available Thunderbird Turbo Coupe... the Brian Borden rendering of the concept was a jaw dropper at the time and helped to green light the development and execution. It was a unique offering well out of the R/M wheelhouse at the time. The bash potential has been explored, but alas, the work required was more substantial than anticipated to develop a true LSC. IIRC, Art Anderson had a corrected body for those game to blow up enough kits to build an accurate LSC, but I have no idea how well it sold (or didn't.)

Diggin the Rivvi covers - they make the build. Looks just like the way they used to be. FWIW, it's hard to get the kit wheel covers to look just right - and it stings a bit to buy '66 Rivvi promos to get the truly correct Buick Sport Wheels!

Money is safe for another month, have a full shelf of Starliners already. Be aware, the kit takes real patience in a few areas, but the engraving and detail is first rate. Only thing missing is the distinctive, one-year-only '60 Ford wheel cover, which was on the promo and in the Craftsman IIRC. The bottlecap is fine, but I'd like to see the feature 'ad car' look more.

Box art for this one is outstanding!

Taking a page from the MPC playbook with the typography on the cover! Looks good, will be a great one to build. Not sure if anyone else remembers Tim Boyd's SA (or was it MCM?) article on building this kit and the few mods needed to get everything all lined up - I recall moving the rear axle, for example. If that rings a bell and you can post the Volume and Issue date, that would be great!

The details are sublime. Very well done!

Thanks for the visual tutorial - there are a few A's in the stack that will benefit!

Superb build - that is what a proper street GT Mk. 2 would look like.

Dead solid perfect. Everything about it sings... and it sounds like Jan and Dean. Two questions: when you cut/dropped the spring, how did you do it, this would be very helpful for the other A's! Second question: did you say the tires and wheels came from the parts box, or just tires?

We need a pic of THAT one! I recall the MII with some favor, my Dad had a '74 in the signature silver "Mach 1" trim that was a stone, with the V6 and a stick. The '77 was much better, had the 302 and the 4-speed, for the era a nice gutty little whip. In fact, my first street race (don't tell the vehicle rep!) was in that car and it did shut down a '76 305 Camaro.

You got the best of it after a long fight, that's for sure. Really impressive knowing how beat up the tool is. I recall another build posted here of the same kit, with a LOT of rework to get the chrome fitting up correctly. IMO, best course of action for anyone wanting the '67 is to look for an annual builder. The MPC retool in the 80's was well-intentioned (we rejoiced, in fact) the surgery to recover from the "Mr. Unswitchable" conversion left something to be desired. I think a few builders of the era in early SA's mentioned the same thing, and put a lot of energy fixing it into their builds.

Easy enough to crib a 4-cylinder from the recent Pinto kit, then swap the 2.8 into the "Flaming Pony" -

Beg to differ, here - the drag / gasser stuff seems to go very fast at the local hobby centers. The drag guys are at heart, racers, and they are busting cellophane as fast as they can peel it when something new comes along. Not only static modelers, but the hardbody stock slot race guys are over the moon on these, too. Doubting you will see stacks of these for $8.99 at the clearance outlets. Hats off to Moby on these, looking forward to grabbing a few and flinging some glue.

Yes. All '70s were re-titled '69 leftovers, IIRC done under the watchful eye of the Michigan State Police. Need to snap up a few to build Quarter Horse!

Nothing but net and a great idea on the gravel pan - it really takes away from the 'toy' look. How did you do the V-top, looks very close to scale!

Wow. Just..... wow. My LHS has a few of the metal body versions they gathered in an estate buy, now I gotta land one. Simple and beautiful!

I wouldn't read a lot into that tarp reveal, personally. Not reading much into the current release scehdule for September, either. Guessing they may be looking at what can be done in Q4 to conserve cash, looking like some other stuff will be coming by the end of the year/early 2025. Money is safe for more Moby kits for now!

Went back to the top of this thread - the '66 tool is ....... somewhere..... in the 90's a promo dealer shot the tool and was proposing a limited release of same. So, it managed to avoid the '70s scrap drives, at least. Were R2 to locate it and clear any licensing issues with GM, it could easily be a "Craftsman Plus" but I'm sure much remains to be negotiated. I am very confident it would sell as well as the current kits in that series, or better.

What a great thread, from rumor mill to on the shelf, to some pretty amazing builds. The learned commentary from Tim and others is a bonus! Question: Could the AMT unibody be kitbashed with the cab from a Moby to get a conventional standard cab? Thinking that cutting away the bed and 'clamshell' grafting the back of a Moby might be the win. Or would it even be necessary? Goal would be either a stepside '63 or a standard bed, which I'm guessing could be crafted from Moby bits as well. I'm the first to admit that I'm pretty clueless to the mid-year changes in the bodies, Ford did a good job on making the updates relatively modest, which would make some changes look easy, even if they weren't.

Yep, agree - shows the power of a brand name, and I suspect their business model. We will see how far it goes, but so far, so good for them. We are 100% on the same page.

The price is not out of bounds, considering the quality of the product and investment of time. I know a few of the players, and unless there is a return on the project, they are not likely to pursue. A builder '66 Fury of comparable quality and assembly readiness anywhere else is at least that much. Demand far exceed supply, and as long as that is the case, they will charge what the market will bear. If they didn't flippers would vacuum them up and resell at what is likely an even higher price. I've seen it first hand, and it is discouraging. As I have opined, frequently, if you don't like it, don't buy it, but if you want it grab it now because nothing in the hobby is guaranteed.