StevenGuthmiller

Well, get on it my friend! Some nice vintage 50s wires are sorely lacking in our hobby. I can think of a couple of dozen kits that could really use them. Steve

That's some pretty nice work there Tommy! I was going to say that something looked a little strange about the windshield area of this model, but I'm absolutely no expert on these cars. Seems like the A-pillars look pretty thick & the windshield very square & flat. Maybe someone else who does know these cars would know for sure. But hey.......really nice!!! Steve

I'll take a Skylark! Just as long as it isn't a Foose creation. Steve

Well, you're already off to a pretty good start! Steve

Every time I see one of these built, I kind of wonder how they did it! Seems to me it will be a very finicky build. With it's 2 piece body with the lower half molded to the chassis and separate top with trim molded to the glass, just to name a few weird features, it doesn't look like an easy one. Not sure what the scale is exactly, but it looks to be too short to be 1/25th. Steve

She is a mess! You have more ambition that I do! Steve

Yeah, if you want a "real" Cadillac, go with "Can-Con's" suggestion. It's not the best kit in the world, but at least it resembles a Cadillac. Steve

Excellent Tulio! I've never had this kit. I didn't realize that it cam with an uptop. I might have to pick one up. Steve

I would probably buy a dozen sets right off the bat! Steve

Yeah, but if you plan on going back to stock, you have a little work ahead of you. Looks like another candidate for a custom. Steve

The college kids are coming back to town, so starting this weekend, the restaurants in town will all be full to overflowing! The wife and I decided that a nice "stay at home" cheese board would be nice. Several different cheeses & meats along with some roasted red pepper bruschetta and caprese salad, a little wine and beer & we lived like royalty! Steve

I suppose that anything is possible. But I do wonder how many units of that kit were sold in total, even with the variants. Could be a lot more than I'm thinking I suppose, but they pretty much give the Boyd kits away on ebay. Steve

You're right. I'm guessing the mods will move it eventually. Steve

Isn't that a Plymouth Valiant? Steve

Heh! When it rains, it pours! Steve

Point taken. I have no first hand knowledge of this at all. I was only quoting Luc's post as what sounded to me to be a viable consideration as to what was taking place in this decision by Revell. If you have that knowledge, I digress. Steve

You are making my point for me. Of course they are not "one and done" kits, and neither would a '48 Cadillac be. But the Foose kit is. It's very unlikely that Revell will be introducing the Foose Cadillac with a continental kit or in racing versions, but a stock '48 would at least have some potential in this department. I have absolutely nothing against Chip Foose and I don't believe that I ever said I did. My argument has zero to do with Mr. Foose or any of his creations. My focus is on the subject of a stock offering in comparison to a strictly custom one. My opinion would be the same if this was just a custom kit with nobody's name attached to it at all. The exact same thing would be done with a stock '48. First of all, let's try to not make this conversation personal. It's a fun discussion And we don't want it to spiral into an insult match. I have no intense desire for this kit to be destroyed in any sense. I have nothing but respect for anyone who is excited about this kit and wants to build it. I am only discussing the merits of a stock kit that has the potential to move on to other things, over a one shot custom. Nothing more. You're correct. This was the practice. But I personally never lamented this method. After all, without this process, we would probably have lost many successive years of automobiles. In other words, there probably would have been no line of Johan 1965-1968 Plymouth Furys, as an example, without that change to the molds from year to year. In that respect, I'm very glad that they did it. The real butchering that you described usually happened at the end of a body style run when an all new model came out. Case and point, would be along the lines of the AMT Barracudas which started in '66 & continued until the last one remaining, the '69. The '69 was never chopped up, but it is the only one still in production. And while the '66-'68 molds are no longer in existence, the models still exist, which would likely not be the case without this practice. You're probably correct, but I fail to see how that has any bearing on this discussion. Revell would be paying for the tooling for either one of the kits in question today. How they operated 50 years ago is not how they operate today. In either circumstance, Revell is the one who needs to make the decision of which offering would be more viable, and apparently they made that decision. I just happen to feel that a stock offering would have been a better option into the future. Exactly! All of this is "opinion", on everybody's part. And we should all be able to express those opinions. That is what a forum such as this is all about. Steve

That would explain a great deal about why these kits were developed in the first place. If Walmart is basically ponying up the cash for your project, hell yes you're going to do it! I understand that attitude completely. In today's environment, any new kit can be a big risk. Which generally explains why companies like Moebius do the kits that they do. There is lots of room for "tooling maximization". It seems pretty obvious to me that Revell did not have that concern with the Foose Cadillac, and the Walmart theory would probably have a lot to do with that. By the way, I have no issue with paying $50.00 for a kit that I really want, but I may be in the minority on that. I'm pretty certain that I paid a good chunk of change on the Trumpeter '60 Bonneville kit. Got burned on that one! Steve

The stock Cadillac would not need to be a $60.00 offering any more than the Monogram '59 Eldorado or '65 Impala, or the AMT '58 edsel or '62 Belair. Is there any doubt that these were, and still are very successful kits? The Foose kit is the very definition of a "one and done" kit. Even if there is interest in Foose at the moment, that will not last for long in the grand scheme of things. Nobody will likely know who Chip Foose is in 25 years. There is always the potential to use the tooling from a stock kit to advance to something else, whether it be custom or racing versions, or a different year or body type. AMT, MPC & Johan did this with their annual kits very successfully for a long time. Steve

You're right, I am making assumptions, just as we all are, including Revell. But just by using a small sample, (this thread) it's pretty evident to me that a fairly large proportion of them would have bought a stock kit & many of those same people will not buy the Foose one. By the same token, how many of those people who were excited to see the Eldorod would not have bought a stock kit? I think it's pretty safe to say that very few of them would have passed on it. Most of those who would have wanted a custom, would have dreamed up their own and bought the stock kit to build it with. I believe that most of them would have said, "we don't need Chip Foose to imagine for us". And then there is the potential for Revell to make future tweaks to the kit down the road to maximize the tooling. (ie, different years and configurations) The Foose custom will likely always be just that. I doubt that they will do much for substantial changes down the road. I agree that there is always the potential for a big windfall with a kit like this, or any other kit for that matter, but there is also potential for failure. I don't portend to think that this kit will fail, (I highly doubt that it will) but I really don't think that it has the potential to be a decades long success like some of the highly successful 3 in 1 type kits that have been with us for many decades. Do any of us think that if AMT would have opted to do a radically customized version of their '58 Impala or '57 Ford Fairlaine as examples, rather than the kits that they did, that they would have been as successful as they have been? We could probably think of something along the lines of comparing the Monogram '60 Chevy flip nose sedan delivery kit to the AMT '59 El Camino. Both very successful, but I doubt very much that the Monogram kit outsold the El Camino over the years. Of course, I could be wrong about that. I have no evidence of it, but I would be very surprised if it were the other way around. Now, I don't have any of the other Foose kits, but my opinion is that Revell did these right by using existing tooling & revamping it to meet all of our expectations. (ie, '65 Impala, '67 Charger, '67 Coronet, '68 Firebird) I think that there would be a lot of anguish for most of us if these kits were all only available as Foose customs and were never produced in stock form. As far as the Revell '49 Mercury over the AMT '49 goes, the Revell kit may be out selling the AMT one at the moment, mostly because it's a newer, more exciting kit for some, but it's got a looooong way to go to ever catch up to the AMT '49. I feel pretty confident in saying, that will never happen. Steve

If he's not picky about the year, you could always go much cheaper and go with the Monogram '58. They have been re-issued numerous times, so there are a ton of them around. Steve

If you have ever witnessed the phenomena of trying to write on glossy paper with an ink pen and having no ink appear on it, this might be the same type of deal. Maybe your paint is too shiny? Steve

Get out your check book! AMT made one in 1960 only, but as usual with these old annuals, they are rare and relatively expensive. This one is currently priced at $220.00 on ebay! Steve

You can use it over basically anything. Any smooth base will give you a shiny finish. Steve

If you look closely, you will notice Japanese writing on all of these Pepsi products. Not available on the American market.........Thank God!!! I believe the Tab Clear was sometime in the early 90s. I assume that it lasted about as long as Crystal Pepsi. Steve