Robberbaron

Look at the sky, its the picture.

About a year ago, there was an interview with Jim Keeler posted to YouTube. In it, he showed some mockups of the various projects on which he was working. He clearly had an assembled Nailhead on the bench. My presumption is that it was the Parts Pack version, so I'm assuming there's plans to include it in one of the upcoming "Keeler's Kustoms" releases.

Good to see the 1970 Wildcat coming back. Don't think I previously heard about the '59 Cadillac ambulance w/ gurney. Guessing that's the AMT tool that was last issued as the Surf Shark. Wonder if they've tooled up factory stock Caddy wheelcovers and a correct rear bumper? To pass as a correct "factory stock" ambulance, it really needs those items. Guessing the '66 Galaxie "Sweet Bippy" box art will mimic the original quite closely:

Not sure if your source was Stevens International, but here's what I'm seeing for recent AMT announcements on their site:

I suspect there will suddenly be renewed interest in this thread. Looks like Stevens International (allegedly) let the Kat out of the bag:

For that price, let's hope that they've stepped up their QC game. The last Lindberg reissue was prone to severe sink marks on the ends of the bumpers. The first one I purchased from HL actually had a hole entirely through one of the bumper ends.

Now THAT is interesting! It blows my mind that an item like that somehow managed to survive all of the tooling purges and ownership changes over the years. Guessing it must have been benignly forgotten, tucked away out of sight. There's no way it was deliberately saved during the big tooling purge of the late '60s/early '70s. That's an obscure subject, even for the crowd on this board. (Don't think I've ever seen a request for that subject) Of course, you may have opened Pandora's box by admitting the body still exists. That's the cue for all the crackpots to start posting ad nauseam about recreating all the remaining components, 'cause they would "buy a case", dontcha know...?

Try 25%, and it's still in effect to this day (to a lesser extent). This is the infamous "Chicken Tax", which started out in 1964 as retaliation to European tariffs on imported (US) chicken. Besides the BRAT, there have been all sorts of other creative workarounds to avoid the tax. Pretty much all the Japanese-built mini trucks in the seventies were imported as chassis cabs, and the beds were installed here to avoid the tax. More recently, when the Ford Transit Connect was being built in Turkey, they were all imported into the US as passenger vans with rear seats and windows. Once they arrived stateside, Ford would rip out the back seats and windows and install blankouts to convert them to cargo vans. Once NAFTA passed, that eliminated Mexico and Canada from the list of countries affected by the tax.

Fully agree with your definitions. And when discussing American vehicles (at least through the sixties era), it's a matter of fact, not opinion. It's not as common nowadays, but many cities used to have truck restrictions on certain roadways. Not just weight limits, but any vehicle registered as a truck could be forbidden from using a certain street, boulevard, etc. I believe it was usually instituted in downtown, upscale business districts. So certain businesses located in those areas (or that needed to deliver into those areas) needed a vehicle that could be registered as a passenger car. I'm not sure if it's still in effect, but a certain Chicago suburb used to forbid any registered truck from being parked in a home's driveway overnight. (If you were a lowly peasant who drove one of those dirty, dirty trucks, you needed to conceal it within your garage, lest the neighbors become offended)

Stopped at my local store on my way one from work. Got the last two '32 Fords, and one of the Ram pickups. Also picked up one of the Diablos to build with my son, since he's a Lambo nut. They also had the Ford police car, Raptor snap kit, Viper, and LOTS of the Mustang SVT and Corvette Z06.

Very impressive, especially for the short amount of time that you spent on it. You obviously have an eye for detail. Not sure if you're familiar with it, but your work reminds me very much of both Repstock's (Tom), as well as Ken Hamilton's,which is high praise: https://public.fotki.com/khamilton/models/playland_penny_arcade/page19.html https://www.kenhamilton-miniatureconstruction.com/gallery Please keep us updated on your new project. P.S. Nice work also on the A roadster. From which kit did you source the hemi?

Stopped at my local store the other day. Finally had the Revell '37 Ford truck, so picked one up. All the '71 442s from a couple weeks ago were gone.

You haven't been on this board very long... ?

I don't think I saw it in their 2023 catalog, but they have the '68 Firebird displayed as a new release, as well.

During the covid shutdowns, I seem to recall Chad posting videos from his home garage, with a 1:1 Datsun Z car (I think first gen?). I suspect his interest is mostly Japanese brands, so the bulk of the Round 2 subject matter probably isn't his cup of tea. He very well may not be a modeler at all. Keep in mind the majority of each monthly R2 video is their various diecasts and slot cars.

No problem articulating my preference: I have no interest in owning a 1:1 convertible. Why would I want to purchase/build a model of a car that I wouldn't want as a 1:1? Same reason I don't buy/build European exotics. I suspect the same applies to most model builders. When there's a model subject that I want, and the only version is a convertible, of course I'll pick one up. A perfect example is the MPC 1970 Bonneville convertible. We're lucky that the tooling still exists, but I would much prefer if it was the hardtop.

Hadn't stopped at my local HL in several weeks. Stopped in yesterday and they FINALLY had restocked (somewhat). Had several more of the new release Revell kits, including the '71 442. I'd really been looking forward to getting a couple of those, but I'm gun-shy of getting one right now after seeing all those mangled A-pillars. Still haven't seen the '37 Ford pickup or the '32 Roadster at this location. I was pleasantly surprised to find one lone AMT "Chopped T" double kit. Haven't seen that one here in probably a year, and it was still stickered at $29.99 to boot, so that one followed me home. The bulk of the Round 2 kits at my store are still stickered at $29.99, or have only jumped a couple bucks (Wild Boss Bronco is $32.99, for example). My LHS has been closed since the owner passed away at the end of October, and it looks like it probably won't be reopening, unfortunately. So now HL and Michaels are my only consistent brick and mortar options for buying kits, which is a pretty p-poor situation. (my purchase ratio used to be about 50/50).

I'll throw in my 2 cents and say that a "right scale" 1969 GTO would be quite welcome. Including the exposed headlight grille as an option would also help to further differentiate it from that "other one"...?

Tim, sure looks like you bashed the entire MPC body with the chassis/drivetrain of the AMT street machine. I've considered doing the same thing with an old AMT built-up, once I realized how incorrect the AMT greenhouse is. The AMT kit isn't totally useless. It's the only easily available source for the more common 76-78 style grill (and front fender endcaps). It also has some decent interior components, including separate interior side panels (vs. tub style in the MPC), plus correct factory-style Nova front seats and 4-spoke steering wheel. (MPC didn't bother to change their interior when they converted their kit from the '77 Ventura) The original AMT "Pro Stock" release is also the only source for the one year only 1975 grille:

Yes, general consensus is that the Lindberg body is pretty inaccurate. When the Moebius '65 Belvedere came out, Tim Boyd did a comparison between it, the Lindberg '64 Dodge, and a Johan '63 Plymouth. Of course, that focused really only on the greenhouse, since the lower body sheet metal is different between the Dodge and the Plymouths. However, it was interesting to see just how "off" the Lindberg kit is in the roof and window shapes. Wouldn't surprise me that the rest of the body is just as wack: https://public.fotki.com/funman1712/first-look-at-all-n/new-moebius-65-plym-1/new-moebius-65-plym/

Too cool! Really impressive work.

New box art shows the wheel covers on the side panel. Looks like it should be a straight reissue of the Prestige kit (without the foil or drag strip accessories).

The "modern" versions of the AMT '63 Vettes (Ertl ownership onward) have completely separate 327 and 427 engines. Each engine also has multiple intake options. Not sure if they ever "cheated" the big block in any of their original '60s annuals. Wasn't it MPC that just added BBC valve covers and headers to the SBC in the '67 Streaker Vette?

The Prestige version did have both tops: I always assumed that they backdated the '67 convertible, same as they did with the coupe. I seem to recall someone on this forum (think it was Snake45?) explaining that this hardtop doesn't play nice fit-wise with the old annuals. I guess that explains why. (That may also apply to the soft top too, can't recall)