Mark

I wonder if the molded styrene windows weren't added to the original issue Ranchero at some point. I've disassembled an early one (plastic tires) and it had molded windows.

There is one other issue with the multiple-piece body Ranchero. The doors are too short, owing to its origins in the Country Squire four-door wagon kit. The kit's doors are the length of four-door front doors whereas the 1:1 Ranchero doors are the same length as two-door sedan doors. Other than that, it's actually quite nice, even the places where the separate panels join are well thought out.

So many jokes, so little time...

The Toyota AA (the one that resembled a Chrysler Airflow) used a cribbed copy of a Chevrolet inline six. The same engine was used in trucks produced for war, the result being that the Japanese military used parts from captured Chevy trucks to keep their Toyota trucks running, and vice versa. The copied Chevy six was used in early Land Cruisers also.

Even with the vinyl slicks, the front tires are probably still the plastic ones. The small vinyl front tires in the Chevelle and F-85 funny car kits weren't tooled yet when the Corvair was last issued.

Hopefully "vintage" as opposed to "recent"...

Yes. It's little more than a flat piece of plastic however.

The NASCAR chassis is completely fabricated on anything 1981 and after, plus some back to the mid-Seventies. One could be used as the basis of a street machine chassis, but it's nowhere near to stock for anything.

That used "plastic" that had a low melting point. Don't chase one of them down expecting to melt styrene scraps in it...

One or both may have been the stock-only version that was sold later.

Accurate had their kits molded in Korea, if anyone has that one it might be Academy which has the Corvette Grand Sport tooling. Someone who had a connection to Accurate back in the day has stated that the Taurus likely no longer exists. How well it would have sold is an unknown. Monogram also had a Taurus kit. It would probably have come down to which company licensed the more popular cars running back then.

The Sears version may have been exclusive to their stores. Sears was hit-and-miss when it came to model kits after the early Seventies, but they probably still had enough stores carrying them to justify a special issue.

These were AMT trailers, not the ex-IMC piece. The box for this one used the same artwork as the Rat Fink trailer, with the trailer's side panel graphics changed.

The quarter panel trim on the 210 differs from that of the Bel Air, in that the 210 trim doesn't have the painted recessed area on the lengthwise strip like the Bel Air's has. There never was a '55 210 in kit form that I'm aware of.

That one (the blue van) started out as a Monogram kit with no engine detail. Revell later made extensive changes to it.

You'd have to research the R-5 version of the Studebaker engine to see if that option in the kit is accurate. Only a couple of them were built, none were sold to the public that I'm aware of.

It's all about subject matter. So-and-so's kits might be more accurate, better quality, whatever. But if the subject matter doesn't get someone excited, they're not going to be interested in it regardless of accuracy, quality, or price.

Only one of the AMT big rig trailers turned up to supplement the Atlantis items already on the shelf. The trailers are $24.99; the two Rat Fink trailers I bought last time around (same except for decals) were $19.99. Right now I've got a "15% off one entire purchase" coupon that came in the mail awhile back. That is good through the 16th. I'd suspect that if they get new stock in, it will hit the shelves around the 17th.

I don't believe there was ever a 2WD version of those 1/24 scale (ex-Monogram) pickup or Blazer/Jimmy kits.

It wasn't a Sox & Martin car, but rather a nearly stock Barracuda with Sox & Martin decals. The '72 Challenger annual kit had Motown Missile decals patterned after the '71 car (the '72 was a Barracuda), and the '72 Duster had Arlen Vanke decals though the kit itself had only the small-block engine with no speed equipment and only a handful of other optional parts. The decals were okay by MPC 1972 standards, but better ones have been made for all three cars since then.

Ideal Toys had a similar idea in the early Seventies, but it involved individual hand tools (saw, sander, router, and so on). They were good for making balsa sawdust, but didn't have enough grunt to do anything beyond that.

I remember looking one over at one of those new car shows back in the day. Easily the poorest quality of anything there, and that show may have included the short-lived VW Fox (window sticker on those had an added "body panel alignment charge". Those cars weren't built in Germany or even Mexico, they were built by the boys from Brazil. I heard about a DeLorean for sale. The owner only drove it from time to time. I'm here all week, folks...try the veal, and don't forget to tip your waitress!

I believe those Hawk streamlined kits were also issued with some different parts, as 1/25 scale "sports cars". The basic bodies were the same, but roofs and windshields (among other parts) were added to make them look different.

Getting the paint off of that metal, use household paint stripper as opposed to something you'd use on plastic. The finish is probably baked on, it might even be a powder coating. Once it's all removed and the metal is thoroughly cleaned of paint, paint remover, and anything else, the first coat of primer should be an etching primer.

Those bosses are definitely for keeping the model from shifting around in the package. If you don't see exposed fasteners, you'll have to put some light stress on the chassis to see if it flexes. Areas where it doesn't flex are likely where it's attached to something. The chassis might be attached to the interior with glue and not fasteners, though. You might see if any parts like the fuel tank or transmission pan are separate. There could be fasteners concealed under those, or under the exhaust pipes, or at the top of the inner fenders. The Welly diecast, likely being cheaper than an Ertl, probably has fewer screws and more rivets (peened over metal) and possibly snapped together parts than a more costly piece. You won't know until you dive into it. The ideal situation would be to track down a damaged version of the same item, that you wouldn't be afraid to break to work out how it is put together. It wouldn't need to be the exact same car, as the manufacturer probably uses a similar system in all of the cars they produce.