Robberbaron

Good color for a sleeper, also like the cop wheels (very nice job on those caps). What was your source for the baseline (non-340 sharktooth) grille?

Great build. Good call on the Rally II wheels and no skirts.

Nice save. A friend of mine had a 1:1 '72 hardtop with the 400 small block in a similar shade of blue, and my brother has a '75 Caprice convertible, so I have a soft spot for these full sizers.

Can't say much that hasn't already been said: incredibly clean build, perfect paint, great color selection, and outstanding photography.

The Michael's nearest me does carry kits, but probably has only a quarter of the shelf space compared to Hobby Lobby, which is in the next complex directly east. That Michael's also seems quite disorganized compared to HL. The next nearest Michael's is slightly smaller, and did not carry any model kits the last time I stopped in there.

Hit and miss - some of them still had chrome plating, others didn't. Not sure how Revell decided which Advent kits got actual chrome. My brother's Advent 1957 Ranchero also had actual chrome.

Very impressive!

Great job on a very unusual subject! I especially like the "Fuel Injection" emblems you made for the front fenders, which are a very important part of the visuals on this car. I was lucky enough to see a black '59 Impala fuelie years ago at Chevy-Vettefest in Chicago. Up until that time, I hadn't even known that F.I. could still be ordered on a non-Corvette in 1959.

Nice job! Really wish I'd gotten one of these back in the 80s when they were still available new at the local hobby shop (along with the '62 Dodge and the '63 Plymouth).

Outstanding, right down to the color selections. Very believable as a 1:1, your work on the headlights also makes a huge difference.

Very nice job!

Mention the Plymouth Prowler, and most people will immediately picture the metallic purple that was the only available color when they were first introduced.

Now that LRW poster is some killer artwork! Kinda surprised that Round 2 didn't tag their recent rerelease of that kit as IMC, instead of Lindberg, since they have retro artwork on the new box. Maybe they don't have rights to the IMC name, or maybe they don't need another brand in their arsenal, since they're already juggling 5 different model kit brands. I've always loved that full IMC name: "Industro-Motive Corporation". Just a perfect mid-century, non-descript corporate manufacturing name for a company that could make anything. I seem to recall that IMC actually produced 1:1 automotive parts before branching out into model kits.

Great job as usual, love seeing these unusual Mopars.

Engine is looking very impressive, nice work.

I have both the AMT 1958 Impala and the 1957 Bel Air (vintage tool) boxed as ESCI kits. I believe I got them from Hobby Heaven back in the early '90s. If memory serves me correctly, they were selling them dirt cheap for some reason (way cheaper then the equivalent domestic market AMT boxed versions).

Got a second Revell Torino GT, also picked up the AMT Ohio George 1960 Ranchero. Talk about two opposite extremes on the detail spectrum! OK though, knew what I was getting with the Ranchero.

Gotta agree on all counts. Goes to show they weren't all as perfect in "the good old days" as some people might like to remember. (And no, I'm not excusing any of the recent major league foul-ups that have been released to the public in the last few years) Also noticed that the gas filler door seems to be AWOL. At first I thought it might be an issue of light engraving combined with paint buildup on this red example, but it looks like the black example posted by Tim Boyd earlier also is missing this detail. That's not to take away from either nicely done build, just the nature of the kit itself.

Is the SMP/AMT Vette the one that was issued as the Riptide (TV show) Corvette in the eighties? Never realized that MPC also had a version to compete with AMT and Revell. From the description, it sounds like a good candidate for Round 2 to reissue, maybe in original style box art. Since RC2 reissued it not so long ago, we know the tooling is serviceable.

The first family car I rode in was my dad's 1968 Impala 4-door sedan. Only thing remarkable about it was how stripped down it was. Straight 6, 3 on the tree. Think the only option my dad got was an AM radio, and maybe the heater. (though I think the heater was standard by '68?) Normally you'd expect someone ordering a car like that to get a Biscayne or possibly a Bel Air, not the Impala. Turns out the salesman lied to my dad and told him the Impala had more interior room than the Biscayne. That's the only reason my dad was willing to spend more money for the Impala! Guess he was going to get some more profit one way or another. That was pretty much about the most uncool car you could think of, but it did create my appreciation for all of the full size 68 Chevys. For some reason it seems like they're more overlooked than most of the other years, but that might make me like 're even more...

After I opened it I was very impressed: many more optional parts than I expected. I knew some of the basics like the 2 engines, the choice of wheels, etc., but was quite surprised by just how much other stuff was included, such as 3 different types of taillights. It even goes to the level of offering options for the options, since if you elect to use the 5.0 Ford engine, you can then choose between fuel injection or carbed, 2 different types of valve covers, etc. Kind of reminds me of a 60s era AMT Trophy series kit as far as the level of choices it gives you. Funny thing is that this was kind of a spur of the moment purchase: had a Michael's 50% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket, and they didn't have anything else that interested me. Ended up paying only about $12 for it.

Finally got a hold of the Revell '70 Torino GT, seems like it's been moving off the shelves pretty good in this area. Also picked up the '32 Ford 5-window. Just realized that's actually the first version of a Revell 32 Ford that I've ever purchased.

Jason, very impressive! Nice to see all your hard work pay off, and the fact that you've worked, earned, and bought it for yourself makes all the difference. Your also very fortunate to have a father that's involved and that you share a common interest with. Keep up the hard work and the positive attitude - it will serve you well throughout life. That's one of the keys of the American dream: instead of waiting to have something handed to you, go out and earn it and get it for yourself. Really wish we could get more young people with your work ethic. Keep us posted how things are going. (Oh yeah - cute girl, too!)

My LHS finally got one of these little buggers in, so I picked one up (got a '76 last year). Did a quick comparo between my kits, and both my '75 and '76 have the 2-barrel and 4-barrel intakes, in addition to the tunnel ram. So the only differences in hard parts that I'm seeing between mine are the header panel and grille. Aside from the obvious box differences, the decal sheets, and the 1:1 style bumper sticker, the only other differences I'm seeing are in the actual plastic they used for each issue. My '76 was molded in conventional white styrene, while this '75 is molded in kind of a cream-colored off-white. I want to call it pre-aged, since it reminds me of the way a vintage built-up kit starts to yellow over time. Not sure if that's Round 2's intention for using that shade of styrene, but I kind of dig it for some reason. It seems like a lot of their kits that I've been buying recently have been molded in this off-white shade. While the tinted windows in the '76 kit were a dark smoke color (think '80s MPC), the tinted windows in the '75 are kind of a pale, bluish-lavender tint (really pretty weird, actually - maybe call it periwinkle?). Since both kits come with conventional clear windows too, the tinted ones are more of a novelty to me. A couple things I haven't seen mentioned yet: the side marker lights that should be on the '75 header panel are non-existent, so you will have to cut these in if you want your build to be accurate. Everyone who built the '76 seemed to comment about how the header panel was too wide for the body. It seems like the '75 header panel is the same width as the '76, so I'm expecting the same problem on this one. I also don't think I've seen anyone mention the fact that the vents that should be in the C-pillar (behind the quarter window) are missing. I didn't notice that at first when I bought the '76, but both bodies are the same, and the C-pillars are totally smooth. Kind of a disappointment, since it would be tough to carve in 4 perfectly parallel grooves behind each quarter window to correct this. Using the stripe decals in each kit would mostly disguise this problem, but it would have been nice if this detail was there. Not sure if the original issues had this or not, or if it's something they decided to skip when they restored the tool back to stock. Right now the body shell is kind of generic - I wonder if they plan to tool up additional bumpers/grilles to do earlier model years? Might just plan on including decals to disguise the C-pillars for each release ('70 thru '73 had horizontal vents, '74+ had the diagonal vents that followed the angle of the quarter windows)

Glad to see that many of the initial concerns about exaggerated rear overhang, etc. seem to be unfounded in light of Dave Metzner's additional pics. I agree that I'm not going to judge the roof placement/proportions based on any of the current pics, since this thread has offered ample evidence of how deceiving some photographs can be. Also, this is the first test shot, and Dave has already stated that they will be looking into some issues such as the kick up at the C-pillar. Even if (and that's a big IF) this model is eventually released and the roof is, say, a scale inch or two too far forward, I personally won't have a problem with it. Why? Until Harry drew his red comparison lines on that picture, I had looked at the picture as originally posted by Brett, and didn't see that discrepancy. That is usually the test for me: if I can visually compare a model to a picture of an actual 1:1 subject, and nothing jumps out at me as wrong, it's good enough for me. I can totally respect someone who does notice such a discrepancy and wants to correct it (which, remember, is theoretical right now - this thing is still being developed). As someone else stated earlier, I took it for granted that the PMD engraving wouldn't be on the wheel centers yet, since this is the first test shot. I am a bit more concerned about the spacing of those spokes though, since that is an issue that does "jump out" at me. I seem to recall hearing that the Catalina version would have steelies and poverty caps, as opposed to the Ventura with the 8-lugs (or was that just someone speculating?). If the spacing of the 8-lug spokes can't be corrected for the Ventura kit, my solution will be to get the Catalina instead (although to be honest, I might do that regardless, since I dig the dog dish look anyway)