Mark

The cheaper/smaller the TV is, the fewer features I'd expect, and those that are present can be expected to be cruder than on a more costly TV. Too, Walmart usually wants the lowest price on a particular item, so one bought there will likely not be quite as good as the same size TV of the same brand bought elsewhere. The appliance stores play a similar game: "nobody can beat our price on this item" because the larger chains get their own model numbers. The instruction manuals always list multiple model numbers...all may have the same features but only one store in a given area will have a particular model number.

A few of the bucks spent on all of the add-ons might have been better spent on a set of rear springs. Right now it's got long rear shackles and those clamp-on helper springs, and it ain't much higher than stock in back. Besides the paint mismatch, I'd be taking a long look at how those skirts are attached. I'm seeing what look like exposed fasteners, and that ain't good.

Some of the original issue kits were molded in black, some in light blue, but most were gray. The late Seventies Barris Cruisin' USA issue was also molded in black.

Looks like a '58 to me.

Can't you adjust the picture setting on the TV set to accommodate the video image? I'm still in disbelief that, when television was created, it's screen wasn't proportioned the same as a theater screen. Someone had to have figured, even then, that old movies would eventually end up on TV.

The more often I look at that (ex) Revell Corvette, the more I end up thinking it's the best one out there, or very nearly so. The SMP/AMT one was the promo, but the body sides are a bit flat among other things. MPC's body is pretty decent, but it has the '57 interior bucket. Every Pro Modeler '58 or '59 I have seen seems to have the chassis hanging out too much underneath. That old Revell one has a couple of small things to fix, but the built ones I have seen all look "right".

No. The AMT hood is wider, and neither the sculpturing nor the cut line at the front matches up.

That, I'm not sure.

The lower control arm piece IS in the '69 kit. So is the rear axle and the main part of the exhaust system.

They are MPC, and we're used in a couple of their front engine dragster kits like the Ramchargers car. Not used in any funny car kits I'm aware of, but they were also used in the Malco '60 Corvette and Multi Maverick. Also the '71 and '72 Dodge Sportsman van kits that had the dual engine setup.

The AMT Baldwin-Motion Camaro has the big-block engine, Cragar S/S wheels, and "late" rear spoiler (which was later removed from the 1:1 car). The stock Z/28 has a flat hood. You'll have to run down a few other parts like the intake setup, headers, roll bar, and so on.

With all of the body/chassis attachment back there, I wouldn't even try to open the tailgate on that wagon. I'd bet the rear load floor in the interior isn't where it should be (probably too high relative to the lower edge of the tailgate). A headache from the get-go IMO.

Knowledge is being aware that tomatoes are by definition a fruit. Wisdom is knowing you shouldn't put them in a fruit salad...

Too, Chrysler was starting to cut corners here and there (decals instead of pot metal emblems, for example). They were already on the road to the financial troubles that came to a head later in the decade. The fact that they didn't have a domestically built subcompact (instead having to import them) was the first sign of trouble...

Prior to the mid-late Eighties, the bodies were fiberglass. I'd go with simulating raw fiberglass: dull medium gray (which could vary in tone here and there, as they were laid up by hand). Some overspray of the exterior color(s) wouldn't be out of place either, I doubt anyone did any painting or masking on the inside of the body. If they did, they probably just blew some flat black over everything but the interior "tin".

Chrysler had already started with the flip-out quarter glass, on the Roadrunner coupe (and presumably the Belvedere two-door as well). Too, it looks a lot cleaner than a framed quarter window. On some cars the roll-down quarter glass really didn't make much sense. I remember my dad's '59 Chevy Bel Air two-door sedan, the rear windows only went down a couple of inches. My '62 Fairlane is similar in that respect. As for every car having power windows now, it probably just makes it easier to build the door with the guard beam that has to be in there. The power regulator with a cable setup to raise and lower the glass takes up less space than a manual crank setup, and most of it can be located wherever the engineers want to put it. When the doors were a lot wider than they are now, everything was easier to design.

Certified used. Yes, we certify that it is used!

The new-tool '71 Duster also has quarter windows that are massively curved compared to those in the original kit. But then again, they should be. The original side glass is too flat. The 1:1 Duster/Dart Sport side glass is way more curved than that of the sedans and hardtops. Maybe the newer kit has it too curved, but that doesn't take anything away from the originals being overly flat. And, don't leave the quarter window glass out when building one. Those windows didn't roll down in the 1:1 car, they flipped out a couple of inches at the back.

Those do look like the Merc pieces. Another option in some cases is to grab a piece of sheet plastic and a steel ruler, and scribe a set. The trick is to scribe the things consistently without breaking through, so you can bend them without the ribs separating. You'd make them extra long then trim to length after forming them to shape. The tendency is to bear down harder at the center when scribing, so you've got to avoid that. I did a set like that for a (stalled) "easyrod" (one of those early Nineties Thunderbirds with a fiberglass shoebox Ford front clip). The bumpers came out pretty decent, I should throw that thing together even if it's about as ugly as the 1:1 versions turned out. Another way to make a bumper might be to build it up over a wooden form (balsa would even work). Form a piece of really thin sheet plastic over it (no more than .020") then add the ribs with Evergreen half round stock. Again, you'd go extra long, you can glue the ends to the form because those parts will get trimmed off later. The bent Evergreen strip sandwiched with the bent sheet plastic backing piece should hold whatever shape it is formed against. I haven't done a set this way, it's just an idea at this point.

Sometimes the glass isn't half full or half empty...it's too big...

If you are making or improvising a jig for a project, include a center line over the length of the jig. Just my opinion, but working from a center line makes getting everything symmetrical a lot easier. It's even better when you are building offset stuff like oval track chassis (where certain aspects of the design are deliberately off-center).

Those wheels are from some other kit, they're only being used to show the deterioration of the other parts.

Some issues of the AMT '40 Ford coupe and sedan delivery have a set. They're on the thick side. Most of the recent Round 2 reissues do not have them. The Three Stooges issue sedan delivery does have them. If you see an Ertl or RC2 issue kit and it has the "flipper" wheel covers, it will also have the ribbed bumpers. The Monogram '40 Ford pickup had a fantastic set of them, but only the first issue with all of the customizing parts. Later issues don't have them. The '49 Merc pictured has what looks like the Roy Brizio "Briz bumpers": aftermarket extruded aluminum units. They'd cut the extruded units to length and shape the curvature of them for many applications: customs, VW Beetles, and so on. Those were briefly popular but I'm not sure those are being made anymore.

Maybe the air cleaner was planned for that kit but had to be left out for whatever reason. Save them for a build that has that air cleaner.

The revised trunk lid was phased in during 1971.