Mark

'61 through '64 shared some chassis parts. I believe that the '61 kits and some of the convertible annuals did not have the separate A-arms, and the '61 and '62 kits did not include those stock car exhaust dumps. My guess would be AMT '63 or '64 Bonneville.

If you use solvent cement to glue the sprue plugs in, make sure it dries completely before applying putty. One thing I do with holes like this, as well as splices between pieces, is rout out the seam or slightly "dish in" the filled hole. After the putty is applied and sanded level, I end up with a thin "stripe" of putty between spliced parts, and a round area of putty where the hole was. I never apply primer over a join between two pieces, without putty being over the joined area. And the first coat or two of primer is applied only over the worked areas with a brush, not blasted on with a spray can. Only after the area is smoothed does the spray can come out.

I once had a boss that fits this perfectly. When a new procedure came along, he didn't bother to learn about it because it was different from the way things were when he started with the company in 1952 or thereabouts. So when you figured it out yourself, and it wasn't quite right, he'd tell you so but wouldn't disclose the "right" way because he hadn't even tried to do it. He'd complain that none of us were doing anything right, ever, but when any of us was offered another position he'd complain that he couldn't afford to lose any of us. All of that caught up to him...he got canned at the age of 57, and was unemployable. He had to ride out close to five years after his unemployment benefits ran out, until he could retire at 62-1/2. I didn't feel one bit sorry to see the door slam on his way out.

The new kit is certainly better (though one of my brothers, who owned and restored a Kurtis, did find inaccuracies with it), but did it sell well enough? I would bet that it will be a long, long time before we see the newer kit reissued...if ever.

I'd bet on the unbuilt kit, myself.

With that midget, I wonder if Old Revell might have been smarter to just tool up a set of tires, a windscreen, and a trailer for this one as opposed to the all-new kit that they did, many of which wound up on closeout store shelves. There are a bunch of people who bought multiple copies of the new kit, but apparently not enough of them.

NOT the same trailer as any MPC kit. The original AMT trailer was first used in their '61 Buick Special wagon, and that was before MPC even existed.

That one would be a good starting point. It should at least have the two bars added that extend to the back, making it a four-point. It wouldn't be tough to add those, and side braces extending forward. Adding pieces to make it a full cage would be more work, still do-able though.

Not sure the Firebird has one. If it has a roll bar, it would likely be a good fit inside the Camaro body (a good roll bar is usually closely fitted to the available space) and built upon with styrene rod to get a full cage.

Somewhere in one of the threads regarding Atlantis' purchase of the ex-Revell tools, there is a picture of the display items tool...missing the corner section where those hand tools were. They may, or may not, have plugged in a piece of steel to block that open area off in preparation for doing test shots.

I don't think there is one. If you have one on the shelf, maybe take a look at the one in the AMT pro street '67 Malibu. I fitted one of those into a Corvair a while back, I may have narrowed it a bit but that was about it as I recall.

The annual kit, and the 1969 "Crew Wagon" reissue pictured above, both included a stock engine as well as the display engine, trailer, and customizing parts.

When they get a batch of new items in, they generally include them in the next couple of weekly fliers. I don't get their e-mails, but I'd imagine they are pretty much the same deal as the flyers.

Molotow is ink, not paint, I wouldn't hang my hat on it having the capability to be painted over without testing first.

Spotted this on the bike path today. No, it didn't loosen up at the top, it is bolted in place at both ends. Our tax dollars at work!

I have been using Harley-Davidson silver rattle can paint on exhaust system parts. I had some left over from a project and tried it, and have stuck with it. It's lacquer like touch-up sprays, so you do have to prime everything first. But the lacquer stands up to a lot of handling, unlike Testors silver. Not cheap (about $11 per can as I recall), but the tall can lasts forever. I can't remember when I bought the can I have, but at the time the dealership was within walking distance from my house. They consolidated with their main location about three years ago, so next time I'll have to drive out there. I should see what other colors they have, the paint is really high quality even for the money.

The stores around here had Gremlin kits (all '75, no '74 or '76) last time around as well as this time. I passed on those this time, already got enough (probably too many!).

Our IPMS chapter has been kicking around the notion of dropping Out of Box categories lately, due to the disparity in the level of detail between older tool kits and newer ones, also that some newer aircraft and tank kits contain advanced parts like photoetch and even resin. Also, a lot of (clearly) more advanced modelers enter these categories in hopes of increasing their trophy haul for the day, again leaving the beginners out in the cold.

Parts packs have always been somewhat high in proportion to the cost of a complete kit. About the same amount of labor is used in the making and packaging of a parts pack (essentially a portion of a kit) as is used for a complete kit. The manufacturer gets a bigger return on the complete kit, so that's where they tend to allocate their resources.

Theoretically, you could melt down the parts and sprues that you don't want to use, and shoot the plastic into a tool for some other kit that has the parts you want. How far should the rules be stretched? The general interpretation is that all of the parts used in the build should be recognizable as having come from that kit. To me, stretched sprue wouldn't even fit that interpretation, let alone parts reshaped from other parts or the sprues in the box.

I do check the color called out on the lid, regardless of where it is on the rack. Sometimes people looking at the paint don't put it back where it belongs. Those same folks look at the kits on your swap meet table, and 99 times out of 100 they put it back with the price tag facing IN...

Is anyone positive all of the spray cans are discontinued? I was at a Hobby Lobby today, there are fewer Testors racks but they do have spray cans. They have the Wet Look Clear back in stock. The automotive replica stock colors are gone, but the Tropical Turquoise from that line is still there, now branded as a Extreme Lacquer color.

That kit looks like the old Sunny kit to me. Many of the parts are cribbed from the later issues of the AMT 260 Cobra, even the tires. Isn't this one listed as 1/25 scale? That would be the tipoff right there; if the "new" Revell were to tool an all-new kit, they would do it in 1/24 to be consistent with their ex-Monogram 427 variants. The Sunny kit isn't awful, but it isn't 100% accurate as any one variant. I'm not sure I have one now...I'd pick them up cheap, then someone would find out I had it and offer me stupid money for it!

'69 Coronet hardtop may have had the trailer, the (Mission: Impossible) convertible did not. There was no annual '69 convertible kit, the M:I could be built stock. I don't think any MPC Charger kit ever included that, or any other, trailer.

Too, check the paint section...every so often they have automotive sandpaper. 3M, made in Canada or USA, not the offshore stuff that falls apart when you dip it in water...