Spooky Benson

I really think this kit is aimed primarily at the Roth collector and using the old-tool '57 makes sense from that standpoint. I also maintain that the best and a much easier path to an accurate replica of the 1:1 Roth car would be to use this kit's decals on the Revell '57 snap kit.

Does "Kourouklis" mean "carpenter" in Greek? 'Cause you totally NAILED it!

Me either ... which was I said pretty much the exact same thing earlier in the thread.

Beautiful build of my favorite muscle car! With the Jo-Han tooling long gone, we really NEED a newly tooled Javelin kit! Moebius, maybe?

My point exactly ... the decals got better, too, and today are as good as anyone's. The cost-containment measures employes by Revell were obviously intended to enable it to continue running kits in the U.S. while keeping its pricing competitive. But, in the end, it didn't work out that way, of course. I see Revell outsourcing its production to China as a bit of a mixed bag for modelers. On one hand, it enabled Revell to do away with some of the things we hated, i.e. the doughnut boxes, crummy decals and unprotected chrome and clear parts. And, kit prices have remained relatively stable. However, many of Revell's kit now are plagued with issues stemming from company execs trying to call the shots on projects from half a world away, and Chinese craftsman trying to produce replicas of vehicles they've never seen in their lives. Are we better off now than we were then? Tough to say ...

Revell does receive a lot of criticism, perhaps more than its share. But, most of it is well-earned.

What I have always found odd is how so many people take it as a personal affront when someone else points out the flaws in a model kit, almost as if the person leveling the criticism was insulting something in which they were personally involved. Weird. And the thing is, there's absolutely nothing wrong with liking a kit in spite of its flaws. Meng's F-350 has a number of them and it's still an excellent model. But, that doesn't mean those flaws shouldn't be pointed out.

Generally speaking, when someone plays the "rivet-counter" card against you, it means you've won the agument.

I plan to get one of the '58s to kitbash with the '62 gasser.

There were cost-cutting measures aside from the doughnut boxes that weren't so great, either ... the horrendous decal quality and the unprotected chrome and clear parts are a couple that come to mind ...

Revell exerts quite a bit of influence over the model car publications through advertising and by providing sample models for review.

Revell's '58 and '59 Corvette kits are top-notch all the way ... in fact, I feel comfortable saying that when it comes to Gen 1 Corvette kits, those two are at the head of the class. It is also worth noting those kits were tooled in the late '90s, when Revell was owned by a deep-pocketed parent company (Hallmark) and when its level of quality from one kit to the next was much more consistent than it has become today.

Well, to paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson in "Pulp Fiction," a sewer rat might taste like pumpkin pie, too, but I would never know because there's no way I am gonna eat one. Seriously, regardless of how nicely a model builds up, if it fails to accurately represent its 1:1 counterpart ... which the LX does in spades ... it fails in its mission as a model.

Does the '58 kit still have the optional chrome reversed wheels?

I just got that kit; it's a great one. I keep thinking it would make a really unique tow vehicle for a Revell midget.

Fantastic work!

Best paint stripper I have used hands-down is Scalecoat Ii Wash-Away Paint Remover. It's a little pricey, but it will strip any paint, and quickly.

I have never heard of any plan by Revell to reissue the Parts Pack bikes as a single kit. I think Model King may have floated that idea as a possibility at one time, but never got anywhere with it.

The Revellion body originated in an annual kit. Revell did the entire '62 Chrysler line as annual kits. This was revolutionary at the time, but the kits sold poorly, so Revell was stuck looking for ways to recoup its investment in the tooling. The Revellion kit was one way. Another was to reissue several of the kits molded in translucent metalflake plastic.

Really sharp ... makes me want to start on mine!

So the '54 Hudson Club Sedan is gonna be a stock-class drag car? Yeeehaw! I am on that 'un like flies on fecal matter!

The name's Steve Benson. As my screen name implies, y'all can call me Spooky ....