Mark

I think Ertl tackled the two most likely candidates (GTO and Torino). The Torino wasn't altered anywhere near as much as the others; it didn't even have the windshield wiper detail removed from the body. The '64 Galaxie isn't really worth re-converting, except as maybe a circa '64 NASCAR. The Craftsman/snap kit would be the way to go here. Likewise the '66 Impala; just get the Revell equivalent. The Chevelle and Falcon are too far gone to try and convert back. Both were issued as funny car kits prior to the MS issues. The Falcon wasn't an altered wheelbase car, but the rear wheel openings were reworked for the funny car issue. That leaves the Olds, Buick, and '65 Fairlane. I'd say if you want 100% stock, look for early issue kits. There are two pre-MS issues of the Fairlane and Olds, three of the Skylark. The MS bodies could, with enough work, be brought to a point where they could be used to build custom versions using leftovers from an annual kit.

I've got to pull a stock Skylark out and have a look at it. From your description, a brushed-in coat of unthinned primer ought to do the job. When I do bodywork like this (like when I did the Olds body), I apply bottled lacquer thinner, unthinned, over the bodywork areas only. When I was doing resin castings, sometimes someone would bring me something to cast and it would have loads of primer on it, like they took three swipes with the sandpaper and then blasted on a half dozen coats of primer. Looks good, until the curing RTV mold material warms up a bit and raises all the sanding scratches and seams that weren't finished properly. My older brother had a '66 GS in the late Eighties. It was his daily driver in the summer; for winter he'd pick up a junker that ran good to drive in the slop. His had the dual-pitch converter...I remember putting my foot into it going up a hill near my mom's house, only to encounter a Sheriff's car coming in the other direction. I actually talked my way out of that one. The GS didn't stick out in any particular way, it was just a fast, roomy, nice-riding, decent handling car.

You can probably do the Skylark wheel openings with two thin pieces of sheet plastic: the inside one cut to the shape of the wheel opening, the outside one cut slightly larger to create the recess. I was thinking about doing that with one myself. I've got the wheel openings restored, flares and all, on an Olds body (one of those actually ran in NASCAR in '65) and have a '64 Galaxie body started, though I may replace that work with parts of a stock body I found awhile back.

The 'Vette must have been a theft recovery or a total, because it had a six-cylinder engine in it. It can be seen at the end of the movie after it flips over. The engine is never shown during the movie, as in showing the car with the hood open. The car didn't have to be that fast anyway, as the filming probably wasn't done at high speeds. The sound is dubbed in, seldom was it not done that way even back then.

I doubt the scrapbook cutter would work on anything but the thinnest plastic. For cutting long pieces for a trailer, I'd get one of those cutters with the "snap-off" blades (where the blade can be broken off in sections to expose a fresh/sharp cutting area). Some people call them carpet cutters, some call them box cutters, others refer to them as snap-off cutters. Then, get a good metal straightedge and a couple of clamps. For the long cuts, I'd clamp the work in place with the straightedge positioned so as to let you run the blade along it to make the cut. Don't cut all the way through, only about halfway, but make sure you're doing so at the corners too. The tendency is to put more pressure on the cut towards the middle and let up at the ends; try not to do that. You're not putting a lot of pressure to make the cut anyway; you're just scribing the piece until you break through. If you have to cut holes within a piece, I'd drill small holes at the corners and then use the straightedge/scribe method to connect the holes and knock out the piece.

The watcher might have a similar item that they are thinking about selling. If they see the eBay one listed over and over again with no takers, that may affect their decision...

If I were down to only one magazine subscription, it would be Rodders' Journal. Even if I hadn't gotten the lifetime subscription deal a while back...

AMT didn't make a four-door promo, but that's a decent counterfeit. Looks like someone took a wagon kit and reworked the roof and deck/taillight area.

The ugly version made a bunch of money for that guy...he bought a (then) outdated car, probably for cheap, gorped it up with bolt-on stuff, and got paid for displaying it for a few years. He probably held on to it so that nobody would change it back while he was still around...

Lately, it's been those "display brake drums" from early Sixties AMT kits. I had a bunch of them already when I noticed they are pretty close (in diameter) to the drums in the Revell Model A roadster and coupe kits. They're deeper than they need to be, but by trimming them on the back side you reduce both the depth and the outer diameter where they meet the backing plate. Sometimes the detail on the face of the drum differs a bit from one to the other, but you're smoothing that off anyway. The fins match up pretty well on most of them, and when they don't match, just sift through the pile and find two that do match. Of course, I could just cast the Revell parts, but where's the fun in that? Other than that, it's tires, tires, tires. I'll save big, thick sprue pieces (Seventies MPC kits sometimes have some real whoppers) and mess around filing them to create parts. I've got a really decent pair of header collectors for a '55 Chevy project that I made that way. Some of the newer kits have extremely straight, smooth, uniform diameter parts trees. I'll set aside a few of the longest sections, but I don't go crazy with those. Wheels, even damaged or one-offs. You only need one to make a mold for casting, and damaged ones can be modified or cut into pieces to make another wheel. Some 1/20 scale outer wheel rims fit certain 1/25 scale tires, so those get saved too.

I'm pretty certain the first-issue Fireball 500 kits had the smaller tires too. The short-run '63 Ford pickup reissue (the one with the goofy camper from the '69 Chevy pickup) had four of those tires too, not sure if they were the smaller or larger ones. It's probably a case of, having tooled the tires, AMT had to include them in a certain number of kits to use up the production and justify the tooling costs. When they cut a tire mold, they don't mold one tire at a time, or even four. I've never seen a tire tool, but my guess is that it has cavities for about two dozen of the same tire. The oversize drag slicks in the Modified Stocker kits was probably another such case. Those got used in some of the dragster kits, the early Seventies funny cars, the Boss Nova wagon, and the Modified Stockers.

Even though the Olds is numbered 2, the artist still managed to get a second 2 in there. Nine kits in the series, and they got two cars numbered 12 in...

There are only two different "restored" versions. The first (1984) had the really bad headlamp engraving and too large/too-high-on-the-quarter-panel GTO emblems. Those things were revised in the next reissue, along with the taillight panel. The poor windshield wiper engraving, lousy interior bucket, and crappy chassis (both tooled by Ertl) remained untouched.

Reminds me of a few years ago, when they sent something out to subscribers (hat pin?) and tried billing everyone for it later. Nobody had to pay for whatever it was, because it had been sent without approval or authorization. Maybe they're in a financial bind again?

Should the lenses on that car be convex? Most cars back then used flat lenses which would make your job easier. Find some pictures of similar headlights (they were probably bought from a supplier, and were used on other cars too) and scribe the lines into some clear sheet styrene, then cut out the lenses. Or try finding a second kit; some Pyro kits sell fir the long dollar, but not many of them.

I wouldn't count on seeing any of the others returned to stock...too many parts were altered. It would probably be cheaper to just copy an early issue '65 GTO kit to create a new tool...

(1) is from an MPC Mustang kit, probably the '68. (2) skid plate might be from an AMT '64 Falcon, which had a Monte Carlo Rally version. I'll edit that, it is likely from the MPC Roadrunner kit due to the notch in the center/front (to fit around the K-member). (3) are from the Aurora '34 Ford. The front section of the frame is missing though.

I've got one of the newer kits, started (of course), with the roof from an original kit. I've also got the lower rear quarter panels and all four wheel openings reshaped using an annual kit as a template. But then I found a couple of cleanly built annuals for cheap, plus I've got two promos in decent shape (and different colors). If I ever finish one of the new-tool kits though, it will be the modified one.

Those are similar to the wheels in the '53 Studebaker (some "recent" issues, but not the Mr. Speed one) and the Warren Tope Mustang. They're deep. and too big to pass for 13" even in 1/24 scale. The Jo-Han Trans-Am Javelin kits have smaller, more shallow ones that could be cut down on the back side. Those don't have lug detail (Penske experimented with 4-lug wheels-20% fewer lug nuts per pit stop) but was forced back to 5-lug. Jo-Han compromised by not putting any on. Those kits aren't falling out of the trees though. Check the MPC '73 Mustang reissue. They might pass for 13" in 1/24 scale, and they are nice and shallow. I used a set of those (from the parts box) on a Yenko Stinger Corvair a while back, and they look good. The center "hole" is recessed and can be drilled out, and the lug detail can be removed and scale bolt heads added if you need a different pattern. The reissue might not have open areas between the spokes (I'm not sure as I don't have one) but the back of the wheel can be sanded or filed to open them up.

Next up: The "Crosley kit thread was locked" thread locked...

Get a "starter" kit that includes small quantities of everything you need (mold material, resin) and start with a small part that can be done easily. Read and follow the directions to the letter, and don't experiment until after you get decent results that way. Sticking with a "system" from one company means you will get products that will work together as intended. Some mold materials don't work with certain resins; there's a learning curve to finding those things out. As far as the "best" products, you'll have to find what works best for you. I've used a number of brands over the last 35 years. A couple of them, I've never gotten good results or usable parts with. Those companies are still in business and selling materials, and others swear by them and get excellent results. So I probably wasn't doing something right when I tried them. What works for you may not be what I like, and what I prefer might not work for the next guy. Start small, expect to put in some time and effort before getting results, and you shouldn't come away disappointed. Even if you decide not to continue with it, you'll get an appreciation for the work of others.

I've got both kits (the Dodge and Tiger Shark), never really compared the stands in them though. The RC2 reissue even included the ball bearings and (I think) the little packet of oil that the original MPC kits had. I thought about sticking a motor in one to get it to actually work, but that's probably pipe dream # 13,587,691...

Anyone ever get that revolving display stand to work?

Has that happened to anyone else? Several years ago, I walked into a KFC near my mom's house, to be told they were out of chicken. It was pretty early on a Sunday. That KFC made the national news awhile back, with an employee changing the message on the lighted sign to proclaim that he was quitting (with a four-letter word or two included). My mom liked KFC (the original variety, and no other) and once a year or so she'd ask me to get it instead of me fixing dinner for her. No other locations within a few miles, and Swiss Chalet (next choice) had retreated to Canada by then, so I had to get a rotisserie chicken...

If anything Jo-Han is compromised more so than usual, it's probably the Cadillacs and bigger Oldsmobiles. Even then, the '56-'57 stuff is probably pretty close to correct. It's the late Fifties stuff that would be suspect to my eyes, because those cars just got out of hand size-wise. I should check that '58 Olds I bought not long ago. I just remembered checking a Jo-Han/X-EL '56 Desoto against a Moebius Chrysler 300, and finding them remarkably close. Some trimming will be needed to fit the Moebius Chrysler guts into the Desoto body to get my Indy 500 pace car, but that's because the Jo-Han Desoto body is much thicker than the Moebius Chrysler, what with over 50 years' difference between the creation of the two...