Robberbaron

To follow up on what Boss 302 said, for the most part, you usually can't take individual parts from one tool and put them in another. (I believe that sometimes wheel inserts are interchangeable between tools.) Most of the parts you see on a parts tree are all machined out of a single hunk of tool steel. Or actually two hunks - top and bottom for each parts tree. Sometimes it is possible to use an entire parts tree from one kit in another kit, such as engine/transmission components, as long as all those necessary parts are on the same parts tree. On rare occasions kit manufacturers have combined newer components from one kit with an older body. The best known example of this might be the AMT '70 Coronet Super Bee kit, which used the old MPC body and interior tub with the newer chaasis/mechanicals from the '68 Roadrunner/'69 GTX kits. Even in this case, however, the builder needed to trim the chassis and the glass from the Roadrunner to actually fit in the Coronet body. Regarding some of the kits you mentioned, MOST of the kits that AMT designed and released in the '90s are good quality "modern" style tooling with excellent detail. The '68 Camaro you mentioned was actually developed in the late '70s, so it's a nearly 40 year old design now. Nevertheless, it has separate drivetrain and exhaust components, unlike the "plate" or promo style chassis such as the '66 Mustang. Currently available AMT kits range from the top detail mid-90s designs, all the way back to the Ford Falcon Ranchero kit, which was originally released in 1961, and recently was backdated with a newly tooled 1960 grille and hubcaps for the "Ohio George" version. The only way to truly know what you're getting is to research a potential kit purchase on a forum such as this. Round 2 does also include a depiction of the entire kit contents on their box bottoms. Kind of hard to make out all the specifics, but you can at least see if there's separate chassis components, engine components, etc.

So in other words, nix the idea of using it as a parts source (except maybe the tree from the AMT '34 truck)...

Thanks for confirming, Colby. Kind of expected that. I concur that it shouldn't be too hard to fab something up, just a matter of convenience. I'd be willing to shell out some dinero to save myself some time, plus get those additional parts that weren't in the Ertl issue. But since I'd still need to fab those lights with this new reissue, I think I'll pass. Just as well, my buying budget is going to be stretched thin with all the other stuff that's in the pipeline from Round 2, Revell, and Moebius.

I seem to recall that MPC never added the backup lights on the rear valance when they updated the tooling for the '69 model year, and they were never added afterwards on subsequent reissues, either. Can you confirm if they've added them for this reissue, either engraved on the valance or (even better) separate parts on the chrome tree? Not getting my hopes up, just curious. If they bothered doing that, I just might pick one of these up, even though I have an Ertle era version. I'll admit it's also nice that they've retooled the 5-spoke mags, at least there's now a realistic wheel option now (still get a chuckle every time I see those 6-lug "modular" eighties-style wheels in this kit. I guess you can toss them in the parts box to try to use them on a truck at some point).

I guess we're straying a bit further off the '34 Ford topic here, but anyone know the story of this '25 T kit, as well? I've never heard it mentioned as being an old Palmer or Pyro tool. Seems like maybe something similar to the Lindberg '40 Ford coupe: a rip-off by Lindberg of the AMT Tall T? Definitely are differences, since it has a flathead instead of the AMT's Lincoln V8. I was also surprised a couple months ago to hear that they decided to throw that T-Bird engine into this reissue. I was kind of thinking of getting one of these just for a parts source, but I don't know if any of the parts are decent enough to bother using on anything else (aside from the AMT T-Bird engine, maybe).

Mark, you beat me to it regarding those 3 different '40 Ford coupe tools now all being in the Round 2 fold. Since that MPC Mercury already has the 1950 side trim, seems like Round 2 could fairly easily tool up a 1950 grille assembly to make that kit a bit more unique and set it apart a bit more from the classic AMT '49 kit. Would probably spur some better sales.

Really like what I'm seeing so far. Also, very happy to see a second set of wheels being included in some of these new Moebius kits like this one and the upcoming '65 Belvedere.

There's about a hundred other kits where you can get a Hemi to stick in there, if that's what your really want. Don't see why that should be a deal breaker for anyone...

Those are actually Buick Road Wheels, look somewhat similar to Magnums, but they're a different design. As far as I know, Buick never offered Magnums 500s from the factory on any of their models, since they had the road wheels instead.

Correct that it's a convertible interior, however, Johan may never have made a correct hardtop interior. It was pretty common back in the 1960s to design one interior tub with the doglegs, and use it for both the convertible and hardtop kits and promos. In addition to many other Johan kits, a lot of the vintage AMT kits also used this method, such as the '64 Impala.

Several other 1980s & 1990s issued Johan kits had similar issues. The Javelin AMX "Pro Stock" had a '72 rear bumper/taillight assembly, I believe, yet the rear of the body was for the 73/74 design taillight panel, so the '72 taillights ended up "floating" in the opening. They also ended up sticking the front seats from the '68 Cadillac in the '64 Caddy kits (or was it the other way around? Been awhile since I looked at those, either way, the front seat had a VERY different upholstery pattern compared to the rear seat molded into the tub.) Not sure if Johan always did it this way, but by the 1980s/90s, at least some of the Johan kits had taillights that were molded in normal clear plastic, then coated with clear red. I found this out after I installed the taillights in a body, and THEN decided to clear coat the body with Testors Gloss Coat. (gimme a break - I was a kid!) The Testors dissolved the red coating and it bled out into the clear coat in the area surrounding the taillights. Think this might have been on the Comet Pro Stock kit? Once it happened, it made sense why the red taillights in so many of my Johan kits looked funky: it all depended on how evenly/thickly the red overcoating was applied. In a lot of my Johan kits, the taillights seem to have almost an orange tinge, I think it's just that the red coating was applied too thinly. Chirstian, thanks for posting the contents of this '62 Dodge. I bought a pretty good assortment of Johan kits when I was a kid, but never got around to getting the 62 Dodges/Plymouths, or the '63 Plymouth. By the time I decided that I did want them, they were unavailable like all the others...

There must be several dozen different 1/25 kits with Magnum 500s that have been available fairly recently (last 20 years). Many of these have already been mentioned, some haven't yet. This is just off the top of my head, and I'm sure there are more that I'm not thinking of: AMT '66 Olds 442 hardtop Lindberg '67 Olds 442 Johan '70 Olds 442 AMT '69 Chevelle SS AMT '70 Chevelle SS Revell '70 Torino GT Revell '70 Torino Cobra Johan '72 Gran Torino Sport Revell '67 Charger R/T Revell '67 Coronet R/T Revell '67 Plymouth GTX Revell '68 Charger R/T Revell '69 Charger R/T Revell '69 Charger Daytona AMT '69 Charger Daytona AMT '68 Roadrunner AMT '69 Plymouth GTX hardtop AMT '69 Plymouth GTX convertible AMT '70 Dodge Coronet R/T AMT '70 Dodge Challenger R/T Johan '69 Roadrunner Johan '69 AMC Hurst SC/Rambler Johan 197? Javelin AMX Also several old 1/24th Monogram tools that also have Magnums: 1969 Dodge Super Bee 1970 Plymouth GTX (before being converted to the Roadrunner) 1970 Plymouth Superbird 1970 Mustang Boss 429 1970 Chevelle SS

The 305 didn't debut until 1976. A smogged-out 350 2-barrel WAS in fact the top engine for California or high altitude cars, but only in 1975. Not sure if it's still around, but there used to be a guy that showed up at local cruise nights and car shows with a factory '75 350 Monza he got from California.

The currently available MPC '79 Trans Am also has a set of Spyders in it, I believe they're all the same depth (similar to the ones in the Street Shark pic). Of course, you better like the entire kit, since Round 2 decided to overpriced it for some reason (lists close to 30 bucks at most retailers). If you just want the wheels, resin is definitely the way to go...

Not sure why my original post didn't allow me to comment after the pics I posted? Anyway, who's betting on which of these will be the next reissue? Kind of interesting that all these other kits are Corvettes. I'm kind of partial to the '67 Streaker Vette - seems like it had a nice set of big and little slot mags. The intriguing thing about the '57 Corvette gasser is the set of 6-slot American Dragmasters it had, even though the rears appear to be almost cartoonishly deep. Nevertheless, there's no other currently available kit with a set of those wheels. Something tells me they probably won't be reissuing that Street Shark Vette - a bit too Covette Summer-ish..

Notice that Round 2 is indicating that there will be additional reissues from "The Great Street Machines" series. The only other ones I'm seeing show up in a Google image search are the following:

My wife and I have watched the new episodes so far, and it seems like they've done a good job of continuing the style and atmosphere of the old series. Will be interesting to see how they explain some things away, such as CSM still being alive, since the end of the original series pretty much unequivocally showed him being completely incinerated in a cave. I also always preferred the "standalone" episodes vs. the vast conspiracy ones. I usually saw most of the original episodes back when they were new, but if you would ever miss one of the "conspiracy" ones, you'd then be out of the loop of all the running plot lines. Due to these new episodes, my wife started watching some of the original first season episodes on Netflix. Amazing how different Gillian Anderson looks now compared to those original episodes. Of course, she was 23 years younger then, too. She's still a very gorgeous woman today, especially considering her age, but she actually seems to have lost a little TOO much weight, she's almost looking gaunt. Always liked how she was almost a little chubby in some of the early seasons. OK, done with my chauvinism for today!

'Bout time somebody did a Monaco in 1/24 (or 1/25)! Most of the Green light stuff I've seen seems to be done pretty well, as far as proportions, so I'm cautiously optimistic that these will be worth getting.

If you're not a scale bigot, the Monogram 1/24 Grand Prix stocker is much more accurate, including quarter window shape, trunk profile, rear bumper with rub strips, etc. Gotta bash it with a Monte SS or Grand National kit. This generation GP was available with the Chevy small block, so mechanically the Monte would be closer, if you're doing factory stock.

I was thinking it kind of looked that way in that test shot picture, but I couldn't tell for sure, so I didn't comment for fear of looking like a dunce if I was wrong. Those instructions sure seem to indicate that, though (thanks also, MartinFan). Looks like Revell is keeping a close eye on Moebius' methods. Sure seems like that's the case, very similar to the Starsky Torino. Since I have a soft spot for both the Monte SS and GN kits, I also have no problem with that. As far as I'm concerned, 90% of the credit for a kit hinges on whether or not it looks right sitting on the shelf. If this H/O kit does that, I'm all good.

At a glance, all the '80s G-bodies might look similar, but each GM make actually used mostly unique sheetmetal, bumpers, taillights, etc. About the only shared body parts are the roof skins and most of the glass, but even the quarter windows are unique to each brand. For the Regal we already have the Monogram Grand National/GNX kits as a starting point. For a Grand Prix, your best bet is to bash the Monogram NASCAR body with either the Monogram Monte SS kit or the GN kit. That GP body is pretty close to stock, and I've seen a couple people turn out pretty nice conversions doing this. Biggest hurdle would be making a correct Grand Prix interior. Just like the bodies, each make's interior had a unique dash, door panels, upholstery, etc. I know, another drawback to the above is that the Monogram Monte SS and Grand National kits are 1/24 scale vs. 1/25. If you can look past that, they really are very good kits with good detail. They were designed right when Monogram was finally hitting their stride, as far as body accuracy, separate interior side panels, etc. Don't think we'll ever see 1/25 versions of those cars from a different manufacturer.

Very happy to see the nose as a separate piece from the body shell - leaves open the possibility of a future 87-88 version.

Shoot , MCG can easily do a photo-etch set for just all the different 81-86 Cutlass grille variations! There's easily a half dozen different grille patterns for this basic front end design, between the different years and different trim levels, such as basic Cutlass Supreme vs. Calais, etc. Definitely would be nice to get the badging and rocker moldings, too. I agree, if Revell has gotten this one right (along with the rumored follow-up 442), I'm looking at buying several. Never owned one of these Cutlasses myself (we were a Monte Carlo family), but there were LOTS of these cutlasses in my past, owned by friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbors, etc.

Looking forward to the '30 A coupe (which we all already knew about) and glad to see the '83 H/O is finally here. Pleasant surprise on that stock '48 coupe, been wishing for that to eventually happen, but didn't actually expect it. Never got the Revell chopped coupe since the roof just didn't appeal to me, and I missed the boat on the IMC coupes, since they were before my time.