RancheroSteve

The production values are extraordinary and it's hugely entertaining! I've been completely addicted to this since I found it about two months back - always looking forward to the next one. It's been a real comfort in these uncertain times. As far as I know, it's pretty much just one guy doing all this, even the announcers' voices.

Those are nice kits! But I wonder why they say "simulated tyres"? isn't the whole kit a simulation? I have a pair - one unbuilt, one mostly built but without paint - that I got a good deal on a few years back. I tend to think anything 1/32 just doesn't often bring a high price. I was also able to get aftermarket decal sheets (L&M and Brumos). Mine are in the AMT boxes.

Arrived in the mail today - Merit Lotus XI: Not too "gluey", and complete except for one wire wheel insert and knockoff. A bit of a grail for me, I've had my eye on these for a while. Won an auction at the last moment for a reasonable price.

Yes, I just built one. I didn't find the springs to be too long, but they are a pretty vague fit, and my kit at least had some flash that needed cleaning up first. It is kind of a trial & error thing and it definitely requires some dexterity - if you don't get the angle of them right they won't fit into the pockets the way they're supposed to.

Good start!

A quick (for me anyway) quarantine build. Started at the end of February, finished yesterday. Just trying to have a little fun with this one and not get overly obsessed. Chassis built box stock, hood glued closed. A sort of "what if"/tribute car. Decals from the Roth '57 Chevy applied to the AMT Nomad. Roof and tailgate were smoothed, and the hood rockets from the '57 were grafted into the '55 hood. Roof was striped using Tamiya fine line masking tape. Tires from the '50 Olds kit, wheels from Replicas & Miniatures. Thanks for looking!

Excellent - your imagination and your craftsmanship are first-rate!

Very cool - I know about the Merit kits, but had no idea these were made.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. It's actually not that hard of a kit to build, especially for something with a multi-part body, but that may have intimidated some builders at the time. I'd certainly say it would be easier for a kid to build than the highly detailed and fiddly Revell kits of that era. I think it's remembered (if at all) for its place in history rather than being a pinnacle of styling - I consider it weird, but interesting. Add to that it was only issued one time. Of course, I had to go and make it more difficult, by starting with a gluebomb, then deciding to correct some of the inaccuracies of the kit, and adding extra detail.

I've seen it on display at the Petersen Museum - I believe they own it. XR-6

Whew, finally done! My attempt to build a more detailed and accurate XR-6. Thanks again to those who sent parts and offered encouragement over the many years it took to get this done. Hope you like it - questions and comments welcome. Build thread here:

I see that Burbank's House of Hobbies is now doing curbside pickup for those of us that live close enough. I might have to place an order soon.

It's done! "Under Glass" tomorrow.

Lots of good info and perspective here - what makes this board so worthwhile. I agree with not trusting everything you read. Photos tend not to lie, or at least lie less. And I guess when we get into the scale realm there's the question of "how far do you want to go?" I appreciate the guys who try to get it right.

I think in this case "purpose built" could be ambiguous and doesn't necessarily mean "fully fabricated". I take it to mean that in '67 they were using Fairlane unibody platforms, with Galaxie front clips, and of course a lot of rollbar tubing and boxing in of the frame rails, like Coulter shows in his book. At some point I suspect they started running out of actual '65 Galaxie frames ('69-70?) and started making something virtually identical that could be essentially be called "fully fabricated". Then I imagine as time went on, they began using less and less of the original unibody until it became a fully fabricated chassis. The way they were cutting up and modifying the unibodies made them almost irrelevant anyway. What year this happened, I'm not sure (the sixties and early seventies cars are more my cup of tea.) Again, like afx, I'm not trying to start an argument, that's just kinda how I read the history.

There's a chapter in Bill Coulter's book that covers building a "half chassis car": Half Chassis

Very nice! I've always liked the XI. I wasn't aware that Profil24 did a kit - I've only seen the Merit kit, which is hard to find for a reasonable price.

I wouldn't turn my nose up at that! Seriously though, I'm just glad it exists. It's decent kit if you accept its era-based limitations and I'm always happy to see it. I've built a couple and I usually end up swapping the chassis and drive train out anyway.

I see that back on page three there was a discussion about my real pet peeve with this kit: the inaccurate roof pillar and rear cab trim.

Yes, there's that - and a few other inaccuracies with this kit, but I thought I'd just point out the real world car facts for those that might be interested.

In real life it probably wouldn't fit very well .Keep in mind that the 260/289/302 Windsor is one of the narrowest V8s built, and even then it's a tight fit in between those shock towers. It looks like the Y-block is about five wider. While we're on the subject, bear in mind also that when Ford installed the V8 in the Falcon and Ranchero they also went to five bolt wheels, beefed up the unibody, front suspension, brakes, and rear end. All of which may or may not affect anyone's build, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

Replicas & Miniatures lists a 15 piece Ford 6 Cylinder Engine (part # SRD-1001), but as "Early 70s", so it could work, but might need a little back-dating. I don't know much more about it than that.

Yes, but remember the 260 V8 didn't appear in the Ranchero until late 1963.

No worries, Adam!

Great review as usual, Adam! I don't know if these have been posted here before, but if in case nobody's seen them, I thought you'd enjoy a shot of the original decals for the LUV, which also had some weird and inexplicable UFO theme, with a Medieval touch on one side.