mikemodeler

James. will you be traveling to this show like you did the one in Las Vegas? I hear this show has a ton of stuff to showcase and was hoping the reports would be from the show itself.

Nice job on recreating that memory! Nicely detailed and looks great.

The Off-Topic Lounge General discussions on anything EXCEPT politics or religion! Keep it clean... all forum rules apply! Gee, can't get much more clear than that Joe. Maybe a refresher on the rules of the forum are in order, seeing how you have been here a long time and have forgotten them, and how to read.

As a hobby we would be best served if someone tooled up new versions of these trucks, like Moebius did for the Fords. That way we could have long beds, short beds 2wd & 4wd, maybe even a Suburban. Photo etch badges would allow them to use the same body for a Chevy and GMC versions. As hot as those trucks are in the 1:1 world are, surprised no one has taken the plunge to offer them in scale.

AMT PLASTIC MODEL KITS AMT-1247 1/25 Ford C900 Refuse (Garbage) Truck w/Load Packer $91.95 TBA This is right from the Stevens International page. Likely going to be later this summer, depending on the shipping situation from China.

Sounds like it was more than a water pump if it was $2300. Just had the timing belt, tensioners , water pump and drive belt on a 2010 Honda Accord done for about $1,000, included $600 in labor. I always tell family and friends to get multiple quotes and compare what work is being done. Most of us do that on other large repairs/projects so why not on an auto repair.

As an employee of a major OEM parts manufacturer (6th largest in the world), the rationale for how long a part stays available has several determining factors: 1. Sales performance- if it is selling well, it hangs on for years. We still sell a good number of parts for vehicles from the 70's and 80's. Conversely we have discontinued parts from cars that were sold 10 years ago. 2. Production capacity- if there are parts we are set to produce for a new model or model year, we have to have room and equipment to do that. We study life cycles of parts and make decisions based on profitability and viability. Makes more sense to build parts that make you money than those that don't. 3. Tooling costs- if the tooling is getting worn down and needs to be rebuilt, the above two factors play a part in the decision to rebuild them or to scrap them. 4. Component costs and supply- in some cases additional parts are supplied to us to build an assembly (Tier 1, Tier 2 suppliers) and if they have difficulties in producing those components, they force us to discontinue our production. 5. Aftermarket competition- if the automotive aftermarket is producing a copy of the part we originally designed and is selling it significantly cheaper, that plays into our decision as well because it likely is affecting our sales. The aftermarket has determined that their "sweet spot" (highest potential selling sector) for most parts is 5-12 year old vehicles. Simply put, that means 2010-2017 model years represent their most profitable opportunities as vehicles are out of warranty and car owners are likely to repair them with higher quality parts. Most companies have parts for cars that go back 20 or more years, but once the sales tail off they focus on the sweet spot. We manufacture parts for OEM that will never get sold in the aftermarket due to their complexity or almost zero failure rate. They are available from a dealership but again, likely not going to fail.

That is what I was inferring, that molding a new body and interior would be all that is needed. They have the grille and wheels from the Chevelle wagon or the El Camino.

Back when this was the only 66 Chevelle kit, I had to have it. Once I got to building it, I realized it was not that great of a kit nor did it closely resemble a 66 Chevelle with it's flip front end. I won't be getting one of these re-issues, have a couple of the Lindbergs that are better suited to my likes. It's a real shame because the Revell 65 & 67 Chevelles are nicely done and if they saw fit to do a new body they could probably use 75% of the 67 Chevelle kit for it.

PM sent to Impcon.

Nice but his timing is ironic in that AMT has a Garwood bodied truck coming out this year, a whole kit for the price of that body. This does give someone the ability to build a fleet.

Yes.

I ordered the new 70 Chevy pickup grille from Iceman, compared to an old resin copy that I bought probably 15-20 years ago there's no comparison.

I have never been able to find model kits when I go, either bad timing or just not getting donated to Goodwill. Last Fall I was looking for a 2 drawer file cabinet for my office and a new, cheaply made one was $129.00 at Staples. They had a better quality one that is more like what you would expect in an office but it was $199.00. My wife has a friend who is hard core Goodwill shopper (long story) and told her to keep an eye out for one. Two days later she called and said the one nearest us had one for $1.99! A little scuffed but was well built and works great!

My parents had a 1969 24 foot Winnebago that had a Dodge 318 engine and 727 transmission. Got maybe 6 MPG if we had a tail wind.

There is a resin body of that body style Scout available from Robert Burns.

Don't take this the wrong way, but if I was making the same wages as I was 14 years ago, I don't know how I'd be able to live. If my employer couldn't pay me more money, I would find one who could.

You have no idea of the H3LL I am going thru at work as a result of supply chain issues!

It could also be that HL reviews their sales figures and decide what to stock based upon that. If there is only so many slots available on the shelf and they are giving a decent ROI, then why change it? And the kit manufacturers probably need a commitment from HL before they run 20,000 kits because that is a lot of money to tie up hoping someone is going to buy them. In a recent video, Round 2 mentioned that the price of a shipping container from China went from $3,000 to almost $20,000. You can imagine what it has done to the prices of ANYTHING shipped from overseas. And before someones says..."That's why they should make them here in the USA", take a look around at all the businesses that are struggling to hire workers and ask yourself if a model company wouldn't have that same problem. If $15 an hour is starting pay for flipping burgers, what do you think a machine operator makes in a factory?

Part of the problem of lack of new stuff can probably be tied into the shipping issues from China. And they probably have to place large orders to ensure they have decent inventory and China has had restraints on production for several months. They reduced the electricity to plants so there would be less air pollution before and during the Olympics.

Most places are showing it as an April release.

15 69's in the stash, about 8 more built and at least 3 in the WIPs pile, what's a couple more? Lol I will get a couple of these.

Very nice work and great job on the weathering. Love how you made the plow turn, the pile of sand in the back and realistic rust on the body.

Just wanted to say that I got one of the pickup truck kits and it is beautiful! The trim came out well in the resin casting and they look like regular kit parts. Outstanding work Tom!

WOW! I drove a Camry for a previous employer and at 170,000 miles, it still had the original pads and rotors on the rear and the front pads had been replaced at 70,000 miles due to overheating the fronts coming through the NC mountains. My son's 2007 Acura TL front and rear rotors went 150,000 miles on the OE installed at the factory. He replaced the original pads at 95,000 miles, his driving is best described as "aggressive".