Mark

The later issues of the '56 are unbuildable. But piece one together if you can...just use the 150 or Bel Air side trim. I'm not sure what interior trim is depicted in that kit. Or, locate the custom parts from one of the early issues. The Revell snap '57 is really nice. I've got a stock one in the display case, bought a custom to pillage the wheels from (but will replace them with something "earlier"). I needed another AMT '57 like a hole in the head. But I picked one up anyway...

Moebius added the script to the grille, but the bumper (like the AMT annual kits) has obvious parting lines, and the side areas of the bumper have a roughness to them that shouldn't be there. This is true of the Weatherly NASCAR version also. I haven't checked the earlier Ventura kit to see if they are the same in this respect, or if this has crept in over time. I'll probably clean up one bumper and make castings without the parting lines or roughness on the sides.

I knew there was a problem with the '55, but not the '57. I've only got that one '57 built so far, and it's stock. But a couple others are planned, so that problem is likely to crop up. As for the '55, the one I have in the works is the box-art drag version. Cutting the quarter panels made that one work. That narrow rear wheel tub on the '55 is what probably kept Revell from converting that kit over to those cheap-o two-piece tires like they did the '56 and '57 kits.

I didn't have any problems fitting the Revell '57 together. Some things will look "off" (positioning of interior side panels on the chassis) but resist the urge to re-engineer everything, and it will be fine. The one pictured is built from the second most recent issue, the post-HOT ROD Magazine custom-only issue. To get back to stock, I swapped wheels, tires, and some other parts with old AMT, newer AMT, and newer Revell '57 kits. I chose that issue because it was molded in white (the Ed Roth issue wasn't available when I started on this one). There are other issues with these kits, but anyone who is into these cars should tackle one of the old Revell kits just to be able to say they did. Back to the AMT kit: I picked one up today, and looked for one minor thing first. The stock "script" 283 valve covers have no sink marks within the script area. I used two of those valve covers on the Revell build pictured, had to paw through several kits to find two really nice ones.

'66 Skylark exists, as the Modified Stocker. The Craftsman and opening-hood kit were produced from one tool. The last issue of the Modified Stocker has the stock Craftsman wheels in it as I recall, as well as some customizing parts from the annual kit.

Around here, the preservationists would be screaming for other peoples' money to restore that...

The tree with the chrome interior panels is probably from a Heller kit. They'd mold kits in color and black. Often the body panels were all in one color except for one or two things which would be black, or on the plated tree. One Mercedes kit had two exterior body panels on the chrome tree. If you wanted to just rattle-can the body in one color that matches the plastic color, it's aggravating...

But at least you get clear ones too. The Sixties issue (molded in yellow with dark blue tinted clear parts) gave you only the blue lenses...

Besides the front fascia, you'll need a hood too. The '77-'81 hood is different from '70-'76.

There's no such thing as multitasking...you're just switching back and forth between tasks a lot. You missed one..."talking about doing something is as good as doing something..." It's been happening for a while now: changes to computer software to help the work-challenged. It started with spellcheck. Now I'm getting "corrections" on things that were correct to start with, causing me to have to go back and correct the "corrections". So it would actually take less time in some instances to do something wrong, then trust the software to "correct" me. Aggravating... If not being on MySpace/Facebook/Twitter means not existing, I'm fine with that...

Box looks like a reworking of the annual hardtop kit box. The annual convertible box has been repopped twice already in years past, no sense in doing that one again.

Thank you for agreeing with me. I had some stuff done a long time ago...the guy doing mine wasn't working with sheets that big. I don't remember how big it was, probably around one square foot or so, and one sheet at a time. The main item I had done fit 100 sets on that one sheet, and I had to sell nearly a quarter of the sheet before I was anywhere near a profit. The point I'm driving at is that the hardest part of the deal will be finding someone willing to work in the (small by production standards) quantity we're talking about. Not many companies will want this business, and those who have found someone might not share that information...

Not just real estate agents ("realtors" are a specific group, not everyone who sells real estate is a realtor). It's insurance agents, car sales people, and others. -When I still had a mortgage on my house, the agent that handled it would shop the insurance around every year. So, every two/three years I'd be covered by a different company. The agent would keep bugging me to insure my cars there too. So, I gave him info on the two vehicles, one of which is a 1962 car. He called me back with a quote on my truck only, as if he thought I'd overlook the fact that the car wasn't mentioned. I told him he forgot something, and not to call me again until he figured out what it was. He did try again the following year, which triggered a reminder from me. He never tried again..."oh yeah, that's the guy with the old car...might take a half-hour and a couple of phone calls to get a quote on that one". -When shopping for a vehicle, I often ran into dealers who flat-out weren't interested in selling me a truck unless it was something sitting on their lot. Which was, almost always, an overloaded four-wheel-drive extended cab, which was the antithesis of what I wanted. These were all good-sized dealers, not one-bulb caves with one or two cars on the lot. And it wasn't at year-end either, as the first three new vehicles I had were all bought in February or March. I'd tell them what I wanted, and I'd always hear "nobody buys them like that"...then I'd point similar ones out as they were driving by. The car situation is changing though, mainly because the newer cars don't offer that many choices. I bought the last one and drove it home the same day. Only two trim levels, a handful of color choices (only one interior color), and most of the "options" can be had on the car or bought over the parts counter. Around here, every car in stock gets the winter floor mats and mud flaps (cheaper to get them on the car than to buy them separately, and no messing around putting them on).

Nope. The stock version used Continentals. The drag version front tires are Goodyears, same as the stock tire in the Dodge A-100 kit. The gasser wheels are most likely Americans. The American was magnesium, the Winfield wheel was probably aluminum so the former would have a distinct weight advantage.

That Pirelli tire is 99% likely to be Revell. AMT, MPC, and Jo-Han never made a Pirelli, nor did Monogram (had they done so, theirs would be 1/24 scale and thus larger). Maybe you've got an older tire that has shrunk. You don't want an old Revell tire anyway; their tires were particularly nasty in regards to softening adjacent plastic. They could be used with resin wheels (inner and outer would have to be resin). Revell included those Pirelli tires in a few other kits. I believe they were in the first issue '31 Ford sedan, and are back in recent issues of it. (The Seventies and Eighties issues have other two-piece tires.)

That's RC2 (Racing Champions 2). Round 2, current owner of the AMT and MPC brands, has never issued the '72.

Aren't those in the '40 and/or '48 Ford kits? The stock versions, anyway...

I'm pretty sure the problem there happened because, as originally issued, the Revell pickup included one dirt bike, and no trailer...

He sells on eBay...look up seller "stiffkitty".

The original stock kits had five plastic tires, including the spare. MPC regularly alternated between the stock and flip-front V8 versions back in the day. I'm pretty certain the first one issued was the '75 annual, while the second was a flip-front drag version.

And an Australian '56 at that. The non-stock hub caps suggest the photo was taken well after the car was built...possible respray? There's no side trim either...were the Australian cars assembled there that way, or imported and converted to right-hand drive? Even if it's an original paint job, if the car was assembled there then the paint was probably sourced there too, to increase the local content. I wouldn't go off of paint codes, I'd just try to match the color as closely as possible.

I need another '57 Chevy kit like a hole in the head...but the shelf space is already cleared for one more...

Yes. Polar Lights did a pretty good counterfeit of that tire for their funny car kits.

That's a Jo-Han funny car front tire.

If you can get then to add dragster wheels to their product line, that would be the way to go. Actually, it's surprising they don't have them now. MCG does do some drag racing stuff, and their quality is great. One of only a handful of aftermarket suppliers I'll buy from sight unseen, based only on past dealings and reputation.