Mark

Train show yesterday! Decent size train shows always have a decent tool vendor or two, and this one was no exception. Found some decent quality tweezers, some polishing sticks, and polishing cloths. Also got two kits. I snoozed on the Sox & Martin 'Cuda when it was available, found this one. It's autographed by Ronnie Sox's wife, not sure if that does anything for value but I got the kit for $40, less than I have seen other ones go for since it was discontinued. Revell will probably issue the kit again in this version, but likely without the Sox & Martin tie-in. I'll leave it alone for now, maybe I'll find another one at some point. I can always keep the shrinkwrap intact on the lid if I open the kit. On the way out, I tripped over a '61 Chevy pickup. From the looks of things, it was started but never finished (grille, taillights, hubcaps, and hood trim are all unused and intact). No junk glued into the interior or bed. No trailer or optional parts, no big deal. This one was priced at $50, but I got it for $40. Also snagged a parts bag with a couple of interior buckets in it, for three bucks. One interior was a '65 Barracuda piece, which I just so happened to need one of.

That particular one was in several 1960 AMT annual kits.

The optional parts got switched around a bit in the first couple of annual kits. The "for 1968" annual kit is really a '67, with no 100% stock building version. Reissues from the last forty years or so all have undersize stock tires, and a mix of optional parts from the annual kits. All of them have a shallow interior bucket. Place the interior and chassis into the body, then look through the hole in the chassis where the end of the transaxle goes, and you can see that. But overall, they are pretty decent kits.

Paint can be removed from metal with common household paint remover. I would remove all separate parts first, so paint remover does not get trapped behind or between parts. I wouldn't cut any panels open. Actually, I wouldn't remove the paint before at least checking into the value of the item. It is only original once, and the paint on that one looks good for its age. Checking into it, you might find that color combination to be rare or unusual which would warrant leaving it as-is.

I'd bet that issue of the Revell kit is molded in white, and that information is included on one of the box side panels. The original HOT ROD magazine branded issue of this kit is molded in yellow.

There are two Revell kits, if you count the snapper.

Tom Daniel is still very much alive. It was Harry Bradley who passed. Tom's son is doing some of the box art for the Atlantis reissues, perhaps TD is overseeing the business end of any agreements he presently has.

That truck was issued alongside the Captain Hook wrecker back in the day. I don't remember what it was called, but I do recall the box art showing it from the rear which ignores that unique grille. It looks interesting but I'll pass, having a Captain Hook in paint right now, and a Sneaky Pete (different kit altogether, but in the same "big rig" territory) in prep for paint. Mojave Mule is neat, but either TD will get it shelved, or Revell will bring him back into the fold. Or, maybe that one was done under a different contract which would give Revell the right to issue it without his name on it. The early Eighties Revell Camaros weren't as good as AMT's or MPC's. The engine is a lump with characteristics of Chevy and Pontiac V8s. The 1:1 Trans Am was supposed to get the 301 Turbo V8 (the '80-'81 Birds had it only to get it ready for the '82) but GM cheaped out and forced Pontiac to use the Chevy (or, "GM Corporate") engine. All three (AMT, MPC, Revell) kits had the Cease-Fire (er, "Cross-Fire") injected engine with a manual transmission. Again, GM cheaped out and didn't do emissions testing on that setup, requiring the automatic with that engine.

I also collect model kit catalogs from the Sixties and Seventies. AMT, MPC, and some Revell. Looking through any of those, they are HEAVY on reissues. AMT, for example, reissued pretty much every available 1965 car kit tool in 1969. And many of the Trophy Series kits got reboxed every couple of years, sometimes with more than one version in any given catalog. Seventies Revell catalogs all have their old opening-doors Tri-Five Chevy kits in different packaging every year or two. So constant reissues are nothing new.

The frame in the newer Revell gasser kit (same body as the street rod) is pretty close to stock, it needs different rear suspension and the front end lowered. Engine from an MPC World War II Jeep should be very close, maybe it will need a different air cleaner setup. You'll have to get a look at a stock chassis to figure out the rear suspension and axle.

I would disagree with calling retooled kits of previously manufactured subject matter "reissues". They are new kits, with improved detail, parts fit, and sometimes symmetry that the originals didn't have.

I'm thinking mid-Nineties Ford pickup, but I'm not 100% convinced on that.

Rather than swap the front clip and taillight panel, I'd swap the lower half of the quarter panels. The new '65 body lacks scripts and windshield wipers, but the photoetch stuff can take care of that.

Ertl had a Customizing Series in the late Eighties, and the Thunderbird was part of it.

The top ones look like they are from the '40 sedan kit. Lower set might be from a '36 kit. The AMT '40 coupe had a different set from either of these.

I mentioned the Volare as, though the engine is much the same as those in the annual Duster/Dart Sport and recently tooled Demon, the Volare has an automatic transmission while the others are four-speed equipped. The IMC engine's three-speed could be used, you'd just have to rework the back of the transmission to a passenger car configuration. That could probably be done by lopping the tailshaft from a parts box manual transmission and piecing it onto the IMC part, after the mounting bracket is trimmed off. A lot of cars had three-speed transmissions back then, so that would be a legit option.

The IMC Dodge engine is a 273, so it should work. Accessories (oil pan, exhaust manifolds, alternator drive belt) are all probably different from what is needed for a Barracuda. The IMC engine has a three-speed manual transmission with a unique rear attachment setup for the pickup chassis. That will also need to be reworked or replaced for the Barracuda. The MPC Duster/Demon, '75/'76 Dart Sport, or '80 Volare engine/transmission might be better, with the intake and air cleaner replaced with earlier parts.

Hoods will be separate in both kits, and there will be some underhood parts like firewalls. The earlier '64 Chevelle and '68 GTO also had separate hoods.

The 1:1 '65 Fairlane is actually an inch or two longer than the '66.

The original issue Fireball 500 used a strange choice in tires, the front tires from AMT's Indy car kits. The AMT Mach I fastback Mustang concept car also used those. AMT had a few sand dragster kits out at that time, those used the taller rear tires from the Indy cars. My guess is that the mold for that style tire produced both front and rear tires, and AMT had to pick something to use up the front tires as well as the rears.

The body is longer than the stock '65-'66 Barracuda mainly up front, because of the nose extension. The chassis and engine in the Fireball 500 kit are actually the parts that had been used in the '65 and '66 kits, with different headers and with the molded-in exhaust detail removed.

The original HUG did have stock front suspension and a cross-ram Hemi. Like the Little Red Wagon, it was originally intended to be a racing package. The injectors went on both because they were easier to deal with in a wheelstand situation.

I don't think the '70 kit had the spoiler; you'll have to look for one of the '71-'74 kit pieces.

I wouldn't use that glass; instead, you can search for either another stock Cyclone clear tree, or one from the newer '66 Fairlane kits.

Though I never owned a GM product, whenever I shopped new vehicles I had one or more on the comparison list (through 2004). After the last time, nope. All four of my siblings did own multiple GM vehicles in years past...none of them have one now. They have lost generations of customers, and I have no idea what they could do to have another shot at getting them back.