Ragtop Man

It is a great thing that Tom will be concentrating on his own work now. However, losing his talents to 'retirement' is a bittersweet send off. I've yet to see a 3D product that is equal to what Tom does with his hands and mind. He gets the 'feel' of the subject that computers and digits have yet to capture. The finished product from the mold is virtually indistinguishable from styrene, lacking only for sprue tags. And this build is out of sight, aligns exactly with what we used to see in the old days poking around under the hoods of those old Fords. Great job as always, Tom - hope to see you at Macomb!

Nice clean fab work!

Heard the first batch is sold out - any truth to that?

So, the search continues to replicate my '67 1:1 - in diecast, for now. Found this online, but never heard of the company. Not unusual in the world of Chinesium, they tend to come and go. "Unique Replicas" - can't find any indication they are still in business, or if this is a knockoff/licensed item from another DC company. I'm digging how this looks, but the price is swerving into the builder-box annual lane...not sure if I want to pop for one. If you have it or any experience with the brand, please sound off. As always, my thanks!

I recieved one several years ago from a friend of mine in the industry... but the rear axle has sagged quite a bit (as well as a 1/12 Revell Ferrari) are there any solutions for this? Also are there any vendors selling 3D or resin cast replacement bits and bobs like door handles, mirrors or antennae? Wish I could find some good 1/12 PE - I'd go after this with a different color and detail it up. Imagine if the tool was still around and they shot it in styrene or ABS... hmmm!

I likethis design, cool looking and simple. The day I win lotto is the day I track down a 599, saw it in Italy when we visited many years ago, just fell in love widdit. Ditto the GTO, even more, but now those have gone up a lot. So I'll stick to building for now. Not sure if these are still available, I need to check. Thanks for any clues or ideas...

Hell yes! Look forward to seeing them all! Hope that Moby is keeping an eye peeled for other under-utilized assets (A-M?) to add to the line. I missed the coupe, had a hard time telling it from the FB based on the box art. While I do Jarius' work - I'm eager to see if Sean Svendsen will get to take a swing at them, or, if they will go to market with the same art but just a different logo on the box.

Here's what probably happened: Promo production always came before annual kit production. Thus, the 428 shipped to dealers (with surplus to toy stores) and in the conversion to annual kit... someone said, "Hey, how come that doesn't say 427?" Sent it back to the engraver, who did their best, but it is slightly wonky. Alas, the 427 Galaxie production for 1967 totalled 89 cars, all in for Custom, XL, 7L and LTD (!) IMO, sand it off, use the shields from the '66 427 Fairlane. While they need to be thinned a bit, they are quite good. Also - the 427 colors (in their OE configuration) are three shades between red and red-orange. Roger Towne of the FB 7-Litre group did some extensive research on the subject.

This looks GREAT. I popped for one of these when the LHS owner got tired of looking at the opened sample on his shelf and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Any notes or details on the build that you could share would be great. If my skills were better, I'd be a heretic and do a roadster - I think I like those as much or more than the Gullwing. And I'm keeping an eye out for an affordable Testor's issue of the same thing.

Anyone do these like some of the really sicko drift cars yet?

A little less than $40 all in, for all three. The major model mags just don't do this level of coverage any more, so for the price of an ish or two of the usual thing and a cup of joe, this was a great value. I'd originally thought they would be more about just missing pratfalls that seem to be in every kit. But these are all a LOT more. The Vette pdf is the sleeper, literally hundreds of pages of mind blowing scratch building, and huge color photos as it came together. Dunno if the detail parts for the Ferrari F1 are still available or not. From my first (relatively fast) read, it seemd like there were still good tips that you could use, even if you didn't get an aftermarket upgrade kit. As for the Trumpeter Mk II GT, a lot of the commentary is somewhat in past tense, showing finished work before assembly, vs. process for the Vette. In any case, having read each of them now, I'd still do them all over again, and look for some other subjects loitering on the shelf taunting my skills. It would be a heck of a .pdf to do some of the really mean and fiddly kits, like the Mickey Thompson Challenger, Ivo 4-engine rail, JoHan Turbine Car, etc. FWIW, I get as much of a kick seeing them come together as I do flinging plastic.

Looks like a scene from a movie. Terrific build.

Thanks, that's what I thought. The one that caught me on the F-100 was the '64 rebox - with some inventory left over in 1965, maybe? I do not ever recall seeing that on a shelf at any LHS (well, I was 4 y.o., but can recall models from earlier than that) or in any of my 'finds' of decades past. A new/old tool Chevy sure would be a nice analogue to the F-100s, and I bet it would sell as well or better than the Fords.

Holy BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH! I thought they would be something of a plus-up from an article in FSM or MCM, had a little twitch at the cost but did it anyway. Blew my mind all over the workbench, particularly the Vette build which would be a massive book unto itself. Not sure if the Ferrari 641/2 detail parts are still available but the article is very hands-on about how the parts are used. The Ford GT story is a big vague in spots, particularly about adjusting the stance. If you are looking for something to read that will really open your eyes to detail like you have never seen before, they are worth getting and downloading. I'm still digesting them and thinking... ummm... shoulda done that a long time ago.

Wow! Looks great!

Because I could not leave well enough alone at gunpoint - are there 1/16 VW customizing parts to drop one of these on some Fuchs alloys, stab in a Porsche flat 6, etc? I've walked past the RoG big scales on a few occasions, but it would be fun to do one. Second part of the question: Has there been a good solid recent summary of VW kits - Beetle, Golf/GTI, Van - that someone who likes the subjects but hasn't paid a lot of attention could use to get up to speed on them?

And just cos' I'm procrastinating about shoveling even more snow on Daytona 500 day, and the imagination is doing laps without me two questions: 1. What was the last year for a retail Chevy pickup annual kit? I'm thinking '63. Recalling there was a F-100 in '64-5... do not recall ever seeing the Chevy. Taking a wild guess that AMT was de-proliferating the catalog at the time was there an upper limit on how many items they could list and still manage to distribute? 2. Is the pickup shown (like Hitchock, LOL) in the background of the box art of one of the AMT 'gift set' issues, with a trailer and '40 Willys. It was almost a profile, not really detailed, but it did make me go hmmmmmmm.... it would have been a very cool item for sure. FWIW, when I was a kid, those gift sets were not common at the LHS or the bigger retailers. When they did surface, the boxes were usually battered and had been plundered of slicks, decals, etc.

I was all tooted up on coffee and hope thinking similar thoughts - "heck if they shot this in the 90's, that would be like only a few years ago..." Alas, the ole mental time clock needs a reset, that was 30 years ago. Sounds like the chances of ever seeing the original promo again are slim and none. Likewise, if R2 was going to take a swing with a clone tool, I could see going back farther than '66 - perhaps as far back as '61-3 so as to leave a little headroom for the Revell Chevys, which are excellent items. Cloning the '61-2-3 would align perfectly with their agenda of torpedoing the value of my kit stash - lol, kidding Steve G. Thanks to Craig for the tip on searching the thread, too.

That will teach me not to look at the date stamp. I recall the discussions from that time frame about Ferrari - now as a separate company with their own P+L sheet - was seriously hiking fees for merch and looking hard at every item to make sure it was "image consistent." Not sure where their heads are at now on the topic, but the Italieri kits were quite good, should have passed muster easily. The question would be about the licenses and if they are exclusive to subject, category, scale, etc. But that is over my pay grade.

FWIW, cos I can't find it elsewhere - the Cougar is close to a drop fit in the AMT '69s for greater detail. Builder may need to take a thin slice from the chassis to adjust wheelbase, but that is something I'd need to re-verify. Best solution for the fit is to whittle away the MPC driveshaft tunnel to get the chassis properly seated under the AMT bucket. Also, will help stance to section the bottom of the MPC engine compartment about 1/16" to get the sky high front end down to earth. The MPC CJ is quite good, the Boss is cut from a very early development engine and needs work to be more accurate. AMT B302 is very good but will need top of transmission 'relieved' to sit in the MPC chassis properly. Didn't check the one I just bought, but, the '70 "Open Sportster" convertible boot is on the tree if you want an open air Cougar for the shelf.

Let's hope this is the beginning of a beaaaaautiful frendship with Italieri. I missed the coupe when it came around last, and will grab any reasonbly priced California. The 275s are wonderful and deserve much wider circulation, in case anyone is casting a glance at the suggestion box.

Very cool and subtle conversion - the Starliner bits are perfectly integrated.

I'd be over the moon if mine turned out like this - how hard did you need to modify to bet this result?

Yep, I think some builders are looking at a 'wrong bed' build.

How well (or not) does this bash under the hoary old AMT '57?