Robberbaron

As Brett mentioned when he started this thread, even some more experienced modelers may not be familiar with every model that gets reissued, as far as when the tooling was created. I agree with Tom, this list can be a very useful tool, not only as a reference for which Round 2 tools are "modern" designs, but also to summarize all the variations of each basic tool. I for one forgot about some of these, such as all the 3rd gen Corvette variations and those 1957 Corvettes, too.

All new kit using the Fairlane chassis/mechanicals. The original '60s issue got hacked into an altered wheelbase drag car, which also still exists. That was reissued as the Model King "King's Comet", I believe.

Couple more that come to mind are: 1967 Impala SS 427 (stock and street machine) 1968 El Camino SS396 (stock and street machine) 1971 Duster (stock and street machine) '39 Chevy Wagon Rod '32 Ford Phantom Vickie

Stevens is also listing the MPC 1960 Corvette. No surprise with that one either, since we knew the molds were serviceable, since it was reissued in the RC2 era. I might be interested in that one, since I only recently learned how many building options it offers. Really intrigued by that Larson Pro Stock Vega. Sure seems like that would indicate that they plan to backdate the body to the 1974-1975 nose, which honestly makes it much more usable to depict an accurate pro stock car. That "Twister Vega" kit is actually a misnomer. That body is actually a 1978 Monza S, and was MPC's final update to their Vega tooling. 1977 was actually the final year for the Vega nameplate. For 1978, Chevy offered the Monza S, which was really just the Vega hatchback body with the Monza front end bolted on. Chevy only built about 2000 of them, so most people speculate that it was a way for GM to use up some left over 1977 Vega hatchback body shells. So MPC's kit actually depicts an oddball car that was only produced briefly as a 1:1, and was seldom seen in real life. Chances are MPC had no idea of GM's plans when they updated the tooling for 1978. I suspect that there were never any 1:1 Pro Stock Monza S cars. I'm no expert on mid-70s pro stocks, but I'm wondering if anyone even ran the 1976-1977 Vega nose in Pro Stock? I'm guessing most guys that were running Vegas probably switched to the slicker Monza 2+2 bodies when they debuted in 1975, like Grumpy Jenkins did.

Don't forget the 1975 Cutlass, it was even announced as a release for the stillborn "Illinois Model Company", complete with box art describing supposed updates like rally wheels and white letter tires.

Here are five that we either know for sure that they still have, intact, or it's pretty likely they still have the tooling: 1959 Imperial 1970 Pontiac Bonneville 1964 Mercury Comet Missed all the Model King releases of these. Round 2 really owes it to themselves to rerelease the '64 Comet when the Moebius '65 kit comes out, to cater to anyone interested in bashing together a full detail '64. Pretty sure these also probably still exist intact: MPC 1979 Nova - MUCH more accurately shaped body than the deformed AMT 76ish Pro Street that RC2 reissued. The MPC was still available mid to late 80s, I believe (as the street machine issue), so it's likely intact and in good shape. Would be even cooler if they threw in the police parts and reissued it as the Squad Rod. MPC 1977 Pontiac Ventura - think this one was a one year wonder (not reissued after the annual), but I kinda dig these. People who have these Ventura kits claim that they have the best set of Rally II wheels ever kitted, so that could be a selling point. They recently dusted off the molds for the MPC Pacer from the same era, so there's reason to suspect this one also survives. OK, there's my "practical" five. But I'll throw out one more that I'd like to see them restore the tooling: I'd love to see the Superfly/Sweathogs Dream Machine restored back to a stock 1972 Grand Prix. I'm betting they still have the tooling for this one, too, and from pictures I've seen posted, much of the body was left stock, even down to the emblems. With the AMT 1975/1976 Gremlins, Round 2 has shown that they are willing to restore some of their tooling that was unjustly butchered, and I think this one would be a perfect candidate.

Picked one of these up the other day with a 40% off HL coupon. Wouldn't have been able to swallow the $30 sticker price considering what this kit is. Pretty much knew what to expect, based on previous posts in this thread. The one surprise disappointment is that the deep offset off-road wheels are mismatched. The fronts with the locking hubs are proper 6-lugs, but the rears are 5-lugs. D'oh! Don't think I saw anyone mention that previously, so it must not be too obvious to most people, but it jumped out at me immediately when I first looked over the chrome tree. Maybe it's because I planned to build it using these wheels. Not sure if I'll go that route now, since that's the kind of thing that will drive me nuts if I see it sitting on a shelf.

Looks great. Thanks for the updates on all the upcoming releases, Dave.

Definitely considering getting this one - looks sharp! Those revised 8-lugs look great, too.

Looks very nice.

I already have schemes on using the spare parts on several kits that I probably wouldn't build otherwise.

X2 X2

Just picked one of these up the other day with a HL 40% off. Never gotten any previous releases of these 37 Chevy kits, so this is my first exposure to this tooling. Very pleased with the contents - classic AMT Trophy series 3 in 1. Box is quite jam-packed. As Round 2 has been doing on many of their kits lately, they include a conventional clear parts tree (Windows, headlights, clear hood), plus a duplicate molded in transparent orange. As others have stated, the finned Offenhauser valve cover for the Stovebolt 6 is especially nice. Also included is a dual carb intake and exhaust headers to replicate a mildly modified Stovebolt. The 427 can only be built one way, for the drag version - GMC blower, 2-piece headers, etc. In regards to the decal sheet, I agree that it is very impressive. It might not be obvious upon seeing the picture that Oldscool posted, but that sheet covers the entire bottom of the box. One other thing to note: don't worry about the side panel note describing 2-piece drag slicks. As previously stated, the slicks are Round 2's new style pad-printed Goodyear Blue Streaks.

A disproportionate amount of the models that I built in the late 80s were Johan kits. By that time there was practically zero QC from that company. The result was sometimes entire parts trees that were flashed over. Pretty much any modern kit isn't going to have any flash even approaching that, so I'm not phased at all by it. Maybe I'm weird that way. (OK, my wife will tell you I'm weird in many ways!) Anyways, I'd rather deal with flash than parts that are short shot - I still have vivid memories of sculpting putty to fill out the front fender of a short shot 64 Dodge body!

Ha! Glad to see someone else having similar thoughts as me! Back in high school a buddy of mine got the '26 sedan in a 3-pack for Christmas. He had no interest in it, so he gave it to me. Honestly, at the time I also had zero interest in it, but even back then I was a packrat. So into the parts box it went. I recently stumbled across it again, and started wondering if I could find a use for it. As soon as I learned the details of this new '29 kit, I had a vision of slapping that '26 body on the Z'd A frame. I'm having similar thoughts about the AMT '25 Double T kit. Bought that one to build the chopped coupe, but have zero interest in building the bone stock companion roadster. But now I'm picturing the roadster pickup parts on this A frame.

To do a 73 or 74, you'd need to start with the AMT kit, or more likely, the Flintstone repop. The 73-74 X-bodies were facelifts of that body style. You'd need to change the quarter Windows, bumpers, nose, and taillights, but that's the closest starting point that exists, as far as I know. There was never any 1/25 plastic kit of any of the 73-74 X-bodies, unfortunately. Don't think I've even seen anything in resin. The 75+ X-bodies got totally new sheetmetal, even if the Pontiacs might look similar at first glance...

Finally snagged a Moebius '56 Chrysler at my LHS, to go with the '55.

Absolutely! We're on a bad streak at my work, dealing with AutoCAD assistants. We usually try to employ at least one college age student part time to do minor revisions and corrections to our ACAD drawings. If things work out, we usually try to transition them into a full time position when they get their BA. The previous kid we had just couldn't get up to speed, so we didn't offer him a full time position. After he left, we got another junior level student. Again, he JUST. DOESN'T. GET IT. As many times as we walk him through it, and try to drill into his head to CHECK YOUR OWN WORK before giving to us to review, he overlooks basic details. I'm convinced that some people just don't have it in them. The difficulty is convincing these guys that they need to find something else that's more suitable to them. The thing that amazes me is that these guys are engineering students with decent GPAs, yet I can't picture them functioning in an engineering capacity in any circumstance after they graduate. Because, you know, details usually matter in engineering...

Somewhere I have an old feature article (Muscle Car Review maybe?) on a 64 Biscayne 409 that had basically no other options besides the engine/trans. The owner pointed out that it didn't even have an outside rearview mirror, so he used a clip on one when he drove it. So that would put it sometime after 1964, but I agree it wasn't much after, pretty much around the time backup lights became mandatory, too. Actually, I believe mirrors were a bit more common than that on 60s kits, but still very hit and miss as far as whether or not a manufacturer included them. I clearly recall building the AMT 64 Impala and mounting the driver and passenger side mirrors, with the mirror portion being separate from the pedestal. Believe it or not, many of the Johan kits also included mirrors. I recall building the 1960 Plymouth wagon, and questioning the instructions showing the mirrors going on the fenders instead of the doors. The 69 SC/Rambler and the 70 Olds 442 also have them. I should qualify that I built all of these kits in the 1980s, so I don't know if these parts were in the kits when they were originally tooled, but my educated guess is that they were.

I seem to recall that was the main criticism of this kit when it was first released. They got the body contours correct on one side, but not the other. That and the chrome badges for the front fenders are blank, but should have "GT" engraved on them. General consensus at the time is that it is a very nice kit that they seemed to rush a little too much to get released before they got all the bugs out (see, it's not something new )

Stopped at Hobby Lobby the other day with a trusty 40% off coupon. No new releases that interested me, but I didn't want to leave empty handed. Ended up getting another Lindberg '34 Ford pickup. $16.99 list, but with the coupon it was $10.90 out the door. That's for a brand new, still Made in America kit, folks! If you can look past the awful '90s era box art, what you're getting is really a Trophy series AMT kit that still probably has 90% of the original parts in it. Once you open the box, really the only demerits in my book are the awful 2-spoke '90s custom wheels and accompanying low profile tires. When Round 2 purchased Lindberg, they made a point of mentioning that they would eventually return this tool to the AMT fold. Whenever they get around to that, I'm sure they will restore it to its complete, original configuration, and definitely use some retro box art. But you can bet you won't be able to drop $11 bucks on it, either. If you can live without better custom wheels/tires and nice box art, the current kit seems like a steal right now. I say get 'em while you can.

Looks gorgeous! Glad you took your time and got it right.

Unfortunately, more than the grille would be required for an accurate conversion. The entire front clip on the GMC is different, so a new resin cab and front bumper would also be required. At least, that is the case for US spec GMC Sierras of this generation. Not sure about exports to the UK, but good chance this also applies to yours. I don't know of anyone offering the conversion parts, unfortunately. I'd like to do this conversion myself, since my daily driver is a Sierra. Let us know if you turn something up.

"...his father managed to keep him from actually stopping by the house in person for the last 10 years..." Not in the know enough to comment as far as the family dynamic. Does seem surprising to me, since they both shared a common bond in hot rodding, his son was someone who could truly appreciate what he had. Come to think of it, that might have been the reason he tried to keep his son in the dark. If he knew how his dad was storing some of these cars and parts, he might have tried to make him sell some of it off, or at least store it better. An example is a complete, factory dual quad small block Chevy out of a Vette, that was literally just sitting outside in the dirt. As they progressed through the property, he was shaking his head at some of the things they were discovering. He did seem to keep the exotic stuff indoors (Porsche, Ferrari, Pantera).

A buddy of mine at work recently told me about a longtime friend of his, whose father recently passed away. The son, Dave, lives up here in Indiana, but he grew up in Florida, where his father remained until he passed away last year. His Dad’s story is pretty interesting: Bob grew up in Gary, Indiana, built a Model A hot rod (Buick nailhead power) in his youth, went to college, got married, moved to Florida, worked for NASA, daily drove a Ferrari, and basically collected anything automotive that struck his fancy. Along the way he rubbed elbows with the likes of Smokey Yunick. When Dave went down to Florida to take care of funeral arrangements and to settle his father’s estate, he discovered his inheritance: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2015/01/15/a-lifetimes-collection-of-hot-rods-and-parts-heads-to-auction-in-florida/ The sheer scope of what Bob had amassed is amazing: rows of Tri-5 Chevys, including 7 Nomads and 4 ’57 Bel Air convertibles. Scads of pre-war Fords, mostly roadsters, 3-windows, and 5-windows. Remains of a 1958 Corvette, a semi-restored 1958 Porsche 356, a 1973 Pantera with 3800 miles (bought from an astronaut), the still running 1978 Ferrari. Stacks of vintage speed parts, including Smokey Yunick experimental /prototype intakes. From what my buddy has said, the articles that have been posted online are pretty accurate: Dave knew his father had quite a bit of stuff, but he had no idea how much his father kept acquiring after Dave moved back to Indiana, and his father managed to keep him from actually stopping by the house in person for the last 10 years. Most of the cars were stored outside, and the Florida coastal climate hasn’t been kind to many of them (especially a ’57 Nomad whose roof has basically disintegrated). Frankly, however, I’m amazed how good some of this stuff has remained, since some of it has been outside in the salt air for 40+ years. Dave is keeping his Dad’s Model A, and a 1935 Ford Roadster. I’m sure he’s also cherry-picked many parts. Everything else is getting auctioned off this April: http://www.vanderbrinkauctions.com/auctions_details.php?detail=165&allimages=NO I don’t know Dave personally, but he is quite the hot rodder himself, and has had several magazine features on his own cars, so I can only imagine how hard it must be to sell off some of this stuff.