Mark

Companies don't usually decide to produce/not produce an item based strictly on one buyer's say so. With model kits, they used to take the proposal to a trade show and float it before the buyers who went to those. These days, there are fewer big buyers like store chains and wholesalers. But it would still probably take thumbs down from more than one of those to kill off a particular kit. Too, if you as a manufacturer are overly dependent on one outlet for your product (like Wal-Mart) that's a problem unto itself. I've heard about investment firms downgrading the stock value for companies doing too high a percentage of their business with one customer, as they are too dependent on that customer making them subject to unreasonable demands by said customer down the road.

The Continental was based on the Zephyr. You'd be able to use the chassis and interior as starting points, but the Continental was sectioned and rebodied for the most part. Depending on the chosen body style, you might be able to piece a Zephyr body together from sections of Ford bodies. Though the Zephyr is pre-war, I'd probably look at '48 Ford body panels (the '48 has origins in the '41 Ford, and is larger/wider/closer to Lincoln styling than the '40 Ford). Lots of work any way you look at it, but can probably be done with enough determination.

X2 on losing the plating. The wheels without plating should be a lot sharper.

The store in my area has the big Lindberg kits, also the Revell '48 Ford coupe (stock/police) and '66 Suburbans. Already picked up one of the latter when HL blew them out, grabbed a '48 though.

I too bought one of the $3 tubes of red spot putty, even though I've already got the 2-part stuff. I later got a big tube of 3M white spot putty. Much more expensive, but I find the Bondo spot putty a bit on the watery side. The two-part stuff is great though.

There are two different Bondo products. One is the regular red spot putty, you can snag a tube of that for $3/something in the automotive department at Wal-Mart. The other is the catalyzed spot putty, the package includes a little tube of hardener tucked in behind the big tube. The last one of those I bought was about ten bucks, at Auto Zone. Don't think Wally World carries that stuff.

Never heard of the stuff, but who knows, maybe it will work. If you are starting out, I'd begin with known good materials, get the hang of it, then experiment with other materials or methods.

Nope, any significant change would have made it a new/different series. Most foreign manufacturers didn't use model years as is done here. They just produced a series until either a new model was introduced, or a significant change was made.

If you want a white one, scrounge the last issue. The last couple of issues prior to that were light gray. None of those are terribly hard to find.

2007 was the last full year under RC2/Learning Curve/Tomy. They had announced that they were going to pull out of "automotive toys and collectibles" in 2008. That would have meant shutting down AMT. Round 2 leased the AMT and MPC assets (tooling and brand names) at the beginning of '08, and later negotiated the purchase of everything. So there is no real connection between these announcements and the current ownership.

Doesn't that mean items with yellow price tags? As in, don't expect 40% off closeout items like those $7.49 '65 Riviera kits. If nearly everything is 40% off, grab whatever you "need" and use the coupon on something else, like a Molotow pen or a can of spray paint.

Nobody seems to have a kit deal yet. With no promos the last couple of years, I'd bet on seeing a diecast first.

This stuff is probably mostly leftovers from last year's stock. They probably didn't want to put everything out in one shot.

From what I saw on the box, this T had only one building version.

The '71 Spoiler still exists, since 1972 it has existed as the body in the NASCAR Cyclone kit. In 2007, AMT was operated by RC2/Learning Curve who previously broomed out anyone who knew what they had and didn't have. One catalog illustration for a reissue of the '61 Ranchero kit was that of the original annual kit. Anyone with a functioning brain would know that the Ranchero kit has undergone significant alterations and cannot be reissued as anything like the annual kit. They sold a private label reissue of the '32 Ford coupe thinking it had all of the original parts (again, it doesn't have anywhere near all of them).

I stopped by one of the local stores, mainly to pick up a couple of cans of red oxide primer. Found another decent GTO book, also noticed more Lindberg kits. The cartons were marked J. Lloyd so these items are another dump of the stuff they bought two or three years ago. More stagecoaches and cannons, no 1/24-1/25 cars but they did have the 1/8 scale T-bucket ($49.99; probably not bad if you want one...from what I have seen it is a pretty decent kit).

Thomas Graham has written very good books on Monogram, Revell, and Aurora. I haven't seen the Aurora book but have the other two, both include comprehensive history of the respective companies. The founders of AMT, MPC, and Jo-Han are all gone, all have changed hands multiple times so it's unlikely any company records from the early years still exist.

Nope, the factory (near) stock version, the new one. The one with the box art pictured above. They haven't had the Petty version for a long time, and I bought a Lawman version last year when it was closed out.

The Nova is a '62. The '63 had side trim similar to the wagon, and had a V8 engine even though the 1:1 car wasn't available with one. There was no '64 Nova kit, promo, or anything else in 1/25 scale.

I saw the Belvedere kit at Hobby Lobby yesterday morning.

Between two pieces of corrugated cardboard (four is better; two on each side with the corrugation alternated from one piece to another). Not much more expensive either...

The Monogram wheels, being 1/24 scale, will of course be bigger. The car pictured has tires with quite a bit of sidewall showing...the Monogram wheels won't give you that look unless you use way too tall a tire with them.

That whole car is a pretty good replica of a 1:1 T that appeared in one of the major car magazines in the late Fifties or early Sixties. It may have even been on the cover.

I've seen it already, but still can't wait for the finished book with photos and text together.

I've seen those in recent years, molded in various types of plastic like glow-in-the-dark and tinted clear. I'd rathet see the full-detail 1/32 kits like the Nova and Charger...those have engines and better wheels/tires that could find their way onto Pyro and AMT All-Stars kits...