Mark

I'd concentrate on the interior first, engine compartment second, chassis last. It's not like the Wildcat had anything revolutionary or ground-breaking under there...coil spring suspension front and rear, dual exhaust, gas tank behind the rear axle...pretty ordinary stuff. If you do want the chassis detail, best bet might be a Revell '66 Impala but you would need to stretch it. The '65 has the same chassis, but the '66 might be a better starting point for a new interior with vertical side panels and no convertible top "dog legs" at the rear...

Patience, grasshopper...if the tool is intact (and it is) you will see it again at some point...

Hating to fix things makes sense. You're doing a bunch of work, and end up back at square one with nothing to really show for it. It's still worth it though.

Under the sink drain is usually pretty easy, a good project to get your feet wet (so to speak) with plumbing, as the drain isn't under pressure. Maybe do some checking online or buy a basic home repairs book, get the right tools (you'll need them again in the future), and have at it. You'll never waste your time by learning how to do something.

Let me guess: "upstairs bathroom?"

I'm not up on which colors are or aren't available anymore as I haven't used these paints yet. But I'd be surprised if this line went away, because it's in several craft and hardware store chains, with little competition. I have seen a Testors craft line with some interesting colors, in the same price range as the Krylon Short Cuts line. But I've only seen those in a couple of stores so far.

Where on the website is it mentioned that the line has been discontinued?

Make it a Delorean and you've got a deal...

I wonder if that isn't a non-stock starter setup...the engine pictured does have an alternator also...

If you can find a Monogram or Revell '65 convertible kit, it will have the 409 engine and associated components that differ from the 396 pieces. Swap the parts between the two kits, and you'll have a 409 hardtop and a 396 convertible.

I'd bet that the convertible version is designed into the new kit, and will eventually be issued. If they had issued it first, of course there would be people asking about the coupe...

Bet that 1/12 scale 300SL is the old Renwal hot mess. The box art on that Cobra makes it look more accurate than it is. The kit body hasn't got those flares. With the XK-E being 1/24 scale new tooling, I wonder if the Aurora and Revell 1/25 tools didn't get dumped off to Atlantis...

It's a 396. The convertible kit does have a 409, but the hardtop kits (every issue) have had the 396.

All of the AMT Toronado kits ('67, '68, '70) were produced by Jo-Han. The two companies sold a number of kits via this arrangement between late 1966 and 1975. MPC produced 1967 and 1968 Toronado kits also. Though similar in design to the Jo-Han kits, these were produced by MPC from different tooling than Jo-Han's.

Never say everywhere, but probably at most places that carry other Krylon product lines. I've found the Short Cuts spray cans at craft stores (Michael's, Hobby Lobby) as well as at a couple of local hardware stores. There was a Short Cuts bottled paint line, not sure if the bottled paints are still available. Depending on the color, some of the bottled paints were enamel but a few were lacquer. This was noted in the fine print on the label on each bottle. I wonder if this could be true of the spray cans also.

The "other" wheels are Foremost Ventures "Indy 500" wheels. Jo-Han first put those in one of their 1964 annual kits, the Plymouth Fury if I remember right. They used them in some other kits too. The 1:1 wheel was marketed under a couple other names also. AMT modeled the same wheel in one or both of their '64 Corvette kits, and early issues of the '59 El Camino. Of course, their version looks a little different, as usually happened back then when two companies handled the same subject matter. The Jo-Han version looks more accurate to my eyes, though the outer rim should be a bit deeper.

With the scale issue, you've got to want more detail really badly to go through all of the work and expense necessary to get it. I've got a convertible kit ('62 Indy 500 pace car) but besides moving the door line and altering the side trim to Daytona spec, I'll probably leave the rest alone. Other kits we "think" are 1/25 scale turn out to be otherwise once the dreaded ruler comes out. I'm trying to not burst the bubble on too many more things... The snap kit is pretty much the annual kit minus the optional parts, and some simplification (wire axles, metal screws, and separate wheel backs eliminated). Some Jo-Han '62 annual kits had engines, the Studebaker Larks were not among them. Jo-Han only made '62 Larks as kits, no other years. Earlier ones were made as promotionals, in acetate plastic. I don't bother with acetate stuff so I can't speak to what scale any of those measure out to. As for the pickup, pieces of the convertible could be used but being a '62 the front clip is somewhat different. The Champ pickup used the '59-'61 style four-door body (the front half of it, anyway) and the '62 through '64 pickups never adopted the concurrent car styling. For the few pickups built by then, Studebaker probably just used up leftover "early" Lark body panels. For an early Lark, or a pickup, there is another option. Premier made an early Lark sedan kit. It isn't perfect by a long shot and is slightly smaller than 1/25 scale. The multiple piece body might lend itself to stretching to true 1/25 scale though. I have one, was thinking about finding a second one (even a built one) to combine with it, to get a proper 1/25 scale early Lark sedan (think "Flintstone Flyer" here...)

The later Studebakers got more individual styling. The coupe evolved into the Hawk and GT Hawk, the sedan became the Lark. But the '53 bodies were the last all-new ones Studebaker ever did. Even the '53 chassis wasn't all new, parts of it were taken from earlier models.

Anyone know what that box art sold for? I haven't paid much attention to eBay in recent years, and already have too much stuff, but then again...

The two bodies pictured do have some commonality; however, neither has anything in common with the body depicted in the AMT or Revell '53 kits. Studebaker used two different bodies starting in '53: the AMT and Revell kits are based on the "coupe" body which is lower, and on a slightly longer wheelbase than the "sedan" body pictured (which did evolve into the Lark). Several books about the history of Studebaker agree that the decision to build the Loewy (Bourke) coupe was made late in the game, and that the coupe's sloping front end styling was adapted to the sedan which was very much further along in development at that point. The Lark was basically the '53 sedan body on the shorter wheelbase, with some changes made in the interim: mid-'55 wraparound windshield, '58 flattened roof skin, and for the Lark the front and rear overhangs were pared to the bare minimum. The center section was pretty much the same as the '58 sedan. Studebaker couldn't afford to do anything else by then. They stumbled along for the next few years redoing one area one year, another the next, but the core of that '53 sedan body was still under the skin of the last '66 sedan that rolled out of Canada.

How about a Coca-Cola salesman's car?

It might fit, but definitely isn't the same piece because the kits themselves are from different manufacturers. The Wildcat rear window (clear part) is on the narrow side, not much extra material on the sides, if the Impala window opening is much wider than the Wildcat's then the clear piece won't work. I wouldn't buy a kit to try it, but if you have a Wildcat or can borrow one then try it. I doubt it will work though.

The Drag Strip Accessory Pack was included in a short-lived kit issued in the late Sixties: the ACcellerator custom Corvette (itself based on that nasty '68 Corvette kit that AMT cobbed together for '68 only). The Deora-based Alexander's Dragtime kit may have included it also, but I'm not 100% certain about that one. The hardtop in the Prestige Series '63 Corvette was newly tooled for that issue, as was the convertible body and the stock wheel covers (and the raised convertible top for the "regular" version issued around the same time).

The AMT stock version hasn't been issued since before the Round 2 era. They'll probably bring it back at some point, not right away though. They've had the pro street version out for a while, it seems to be selling well. It has survived a number of Hobby Lobby "resets".

The front of the roof (over the windshield) on the Monogram flip-front '66 does have that "dip". Sometimes those kits are assembled with excessive amounts of cement, installing the windshield that way could accentuate the problem. You wouldn't be using the body from that kit for a serious build with the other kits that are out there. The AMT '67 body has thicker A-pillars than other kits replicating '66-'67 GM midsize cars. The Revell '67 is pretty good in that respect. Years ago, I combined the Revell '67 roof and engine compartment with a sliced and diced Monogram Hurst Hairy Olds body to create the master for a resin '67 4-4-2.