Mark

Styrene is styrene...use plain old styrene cement if you can wait for it to set fully. If you want to get going on the bodywork right now, use CA glue.

Nope, one issue included only custom parts (no stock bumpers). And even then, only one of the two custom versions was included in that issue (Barris Cruisin' USA, the one with the rub-on graphics and sheet of stick-on iridescent material).

Those yellow one (AMT/Ertl reissue) usually had thick/runny/dull/wrinkly plating too. I probably had three or four of those over the years; all of mine did. I think I've got one left, if I ever get to it I'll just paint it yellow and stick the "airport limousine" decals on from the Che Riviera "highjacking" issue...

I worked at a place where the owner was in the habit of loaning money to employees. Many would leave before paying back in full. Others would walk into my office and ask me to loan them money. I pointed to the sign on my desk that read: "loaning money causes amnesia"...

That's three more than me...

This is the AMT kit. AMT tooled one for '67, it went to MPC for '68 (along with the Barracuda; nobody knows the how/why of those deals). AMT tooled another one for '69, with the big-block engine and dual exhaust. The existing '72 pickup kit is made up from parts from both tools, along with some new parts.

That cap was also included in the '68 reissue of the AMT '63 Ford pickup. How would you access that raised area over the cab?

It's a '69. It was released in an annual-style box also: same parts, even the same decals. I had the annual kit back then, have one of these now. This one is the tougher of the two to find.

As part of my work, I put together bank deposits. Last week, I had two lulus in a row. The first one included four rolls of quarters. I'm not making this up: the trainee teller DID NOT KNOW WHAT THEY WERE. I got fed up with that branch (last year, another trainee initially shorted me $1,000 on a check I was cashing) so the next deposit was made at another location. Canadian funds deposit (actually two; one check and some cash: each gets a different exchange rate). Another trainee: he converted the cash but deposited the check at par. Big boo-boo: that day, a Canadian dollar was worth 72 cents US. I reported that the next day (7/31). As of Friday (8/3) I left work without having an answer on the final exchange value on that check. Easy to say "dumb millennials" or something similar, but I'm not going to do that. What I don't get is how someone at the bank could stick these guys at a teller window without them being trained as to how to spot a check in Canadian funds (easy in my case; I told him what it was up front) or what rolled coin looks like. If anyone screws up and hands out too much money, 99% of people will walk out without saying a word...

With a lot of one or two-man operations, be it home improvement, auto repair, or whatever, a lot of those guys like to have the "security" of having a week or two worth of work "backed up". That's old thinking though, because someone desperate to have the work done NOW can find a website somewhere, and line up the work when THEY want it done.

Yet another source would be wide inner wheel rings from the parts box. If any are included in the same kit that has the wheels you want to make wider, that's often a bonus as the outer rim detail on the inners will more often than not match up with the outers. Trim away the old/narrow outer ring, then add the wide inner ring in its place. If you are careful, you can do this without damaging plated wheels. I'll usually save any leftover wheels from a kit. If the outer rim looks good, but I don't like the style of the center I'll chop that out and replace it with a center from another wheel (or a casting of one). Sometimes you can take two different wheels that you aren't crazy about, and turn them into one that you like.

Except that MPC (then a competitor) supplied the kits. I've never seen one of these with anything but an MPC kit in the box.

The Jo-Han boxed Donohue Javelin was a '70. The '71 version ("Coke-bottle" body, two long rectangular taillights) was boxed by AMT. I've seen mail-order ads for that kit. Jo-Han re-boxed it again as the George Follmer/Roy Woods Racing version. (Woods took the program over from Roger Penske when Penske moved AMC into NASCAR in '72.) Some of the earliest Jo-Han Follmer kits may have been '72s (single wide taillight with "egg-crate" trim) but I've never seen one. The one I have is a '73-'74 (body color taillight panel, smooth roof). I don't think the 1:1 Trans-Am cars were ever updated to '73-'74 trim as depicted in most (if not all) Jo-Han Follmer kits. I'm pretty certain Fred Cady made decals for the Donohue '71, and possibly the '70 as well.

There was also a pilot episode for a TV show. None of the bigger stars from the movie were in that, though it did have several of the minor players. The pilot pretty much summarized the movie and had many of the best moments of the movie in it. I seem to remember reading somewhere (old MCCA Journal?) that AMT had a deal lined up to issue three or four car kits with a "Used Cars" tie-in. I'll have to dig through those to see if I can find that...

The box has a 1980 copyright date on it. A number of these have popped up on eBay over the years; some had Trans-Am Firebirds in the box, others Z-28 Camaros, and I saw one with a Dodge Warlock pickup.

But, if somehow Round 2 were to reissue the long-lost ones with this box art, who would buy them? Or, who would buy them with other box art but pass them over simply because of this artwork?

But these were $1.50 apiece, "one run and done" kits. They were originally to be $1.00 kits (that's why the optional parts were taken out), AMT couldn't hold the line on pricing. Quick/cheap box art = maximum ROI...

Sears and K-Mart joining forces was like two drunks trying to help one another cross the street. Sears needed to decide on being either a tool store, a clothing store, or whatever. K-Mart lost their way trying to go "upscale", leaving Wal-Mart to take their customers. The couple of Radio Shack stores around here (both since closed) had little, if any, actual electronics stuff the last few years. I couldn't even get the "wire wrap" wire that I tend to use for plug wires on models. They'd tell me they could order it. But then again, I could do that via eBay without leaving the house. Towards the end, they were 99% cell phones, and they got knocked out of that box by the carriers who were selling phones in addition to offering services. One-stop shopping. I even stopped buying my mom's hearing aid batteries there when the hearing aid store started selling them cheaper. And they always had them in stock.

The difference is often more pronounced because Monogram's kits usually measure out to 1/24, while many "1/25 scale" kits are actually smaller. For example, the IMC/Lindberg Dodge A-100 (Little Red Wagon) measures out to about 1/25.7 scale. The AMT, SMP, and Jo-Han kits of larger cars (Imperial, Continental, Cadillac) are often undersize as well. On the other hand, Jo-Han AMC promotional models and kits from 1961 on are actually 1/24 scale, and Jo-Han's '62 Studebaker Larks are about 1/23.

Correct: the first-issue Revell '57 Chevy did not include the raised front end. That was added around 1968, along with the blower setup. The blower derives from the Parts Pack engine, which replaced the original one for whatever reason. If you have a post-'68 issue, look at the parts tree with the majority of the unplated engine parts...you can plainly see the Parts Pack tree. Revell changed the hinges for the hood, doors, and trunk lid too. Ironically, they took the roll bar out. But they kept the same Tom Daniel box art (the only kit he did for Revell back then), they just revised the side panels to show the parts that were in the box. The '56 Ford kit hasn't changed much over the years. The first issue had that drag version in the box art, though with the custom front end and a roll bar that was never in the kit. The early issue AMT '57 Ford kits don't have the incorrect injector setup, wide rear wheels, or headers that the Flashback issue has. AMT put the drag version in when they took out the Stylizing parts. The AMT '40 Fords had drag versions included from day one. The headers and wheels got changed in both kits over the years however.

What engine is in it? I bought a thoroughly rusted-out '74 two-door in 1986; its then-27,000 mile 250 six and C-4 transmission now rest under the hood of my '62 Fairlane. The interior in that Maverick was absolutely pristine, however the bucket seats were so downright ugly that I didn't want them, nor did anyone I know want them.

The pickup engines have three twos even for the stock version, but the intake/cylinder heads/distributor/coil are all molded as a single piece, and the area under the carbs is just a flat, long rectangular slab. On the other hand, the engraving on the valve covers is absolutely superb, though I'm pretty certain the raised "FORD" lettering on the kit parts would actually be a decal on the 1:1 truck valve covers. The AMT '57 T-Bird engine's intake has an undersize blob meant to represent a carburetor molded as part of the intake. Still, it might not be a terrible choice as a starting point. As suggested by others already, get another intake and alter it by adding the carburetor mounting areas.

If anyone is wondering, the boxes in this series do react to black light. AMT called these the "Wild Flower" series, I always referred to them as the "head shop" series. I've got all six of them. I think I've got a spare decal sheet or two; one of those "someday" projects is to grab one of the easily-found reissues like the Galaxie, '62 Buick, or '66 Mustang (called a '65 in the series, but it's a '66) and stick it together as shown on the box...

I remember reading somewhere, that the Lamborghini Countach is the subject of more model kits than any other car. The Japanese in particular were obsessed with it, and kits were made of concept and pre-production versions as well as numerous production variations. Throw in the many scales they tend to manufacture kits in, motorized and non-motorized variations, also that there are numerous companies there producing kits that aren't known outside their home market, that few of us see or know about. And then add in the European manufacturers. It's not as farfetched as you'd think. Other possibilities might include the VW Beetle or military Jeep (though where do you separate one version from another with the Jeep). The '57 Chevy is iconic in some parts of the world, unknown in others...

It's a great kit, the only issue with it is that Revell chose to do the Z-16. Only 201 of those were built, most of them were red as pictured on the first-issue box. If they'd done a regular Malibu, it would have had more possibilities for alternate issues like a convertible.