Mark

Other factors will enter into it: -Aluminum sheet, tubing, or structural shapes? -Is the aluminum going to be purely decorative (like thin sheet applied over an interior to get the look of aluminum) or will it be structural? -What are you attaching to...sheet plastic, other metals, or ?

More often, the clearance paint is for several-years-old cars, which the owners aren't touching up anymore.

This was brought up on another model car board...apparently the bottled colors will correspond with colors in the rattle-can line. They'll supposedly come in bunches of fifteen colors at a time...

RC2 put those goofy "articulated" rear axles in some of the kits in those series (Rides Magazine and Boyd Coddington) in order to fit those wheels. The outsize wheels are the only ones included in those kits...rumor at the time was that the inclusion of those, and only those wheels, was part of the licensing deal. Look at the front spindle (just above the axle parts) on the same tree: the attachment point for the wheel is clear above the upper A-arm. They could have just stuck a molded slab chassis in there, it would have been about as credible. I've got the Coddington '57 Chevy (based on the old Trophy Series kit). It too has an articulated rear axle, tooled to fit the same mounting points as the correct stock piece. If that ain't enough for you, the wheel halves in that kit go together with the disc brake caliper/rotor in between them...

That's the Monogram kit. If you can work with 1/24 scale, it's pretty good.

If it's the one that can be built as a T/A or an R/T, I'm not crazy about that one. I had one and resold it. It's called 1/25 but is actually pretty close to the Monogram 1/24 scale kit which is better all around. If 1/24 scale is OK then I'd go with the Monogram. For 1/25 scale the Lindberg would probably be cheapest. The MPC funny car body would work too, but that one has no drip rails around the side window openings. But if you can do the other bodywork, that shouldn't pose a problem. If I were doing this, I'd start with the Lindberg body and get the front/rear trim from one of the AMT kits.

Looks like a 1970 grille. Other than the grille/headlamps and taillight panel, you could start with any year body '70-'74. There is the Monogram '70 T/A (1/24), the ex-diecast Revell (claimed to be 1/25, closer to 1/24), AMT (1/25 scale '70 with separate roof), Lindberg (1/25 scale '72) and MPC ('70-'74 annual kits, '74 funny car) and Jo-Han ('70 funny car). The funny car bodies are actually pretty close to stock other than panel lines being wiped off (and filled grille/taillight panel on the MPC). Take your pick, with all the alterations needed, all you are really looking for is the roof, doors, and hood...

They do shrink, and in some cases a lot. Years ago, I had an (acetate) interior from a Jo-Han '62 Dodge promotional, that was in a box of parts I bought. Just for grins, I fitted it into a USA Oldies kit body...it came nowhere close to fitting. The interior probably shrank by about ten percent.

It was probably purchased by them for archival use; possibly to identify (or rule out) something in the tooling bank. These companies have each changed hands several times over the years, whatever archives of kits, product artwork, or anything else that may have existed originally has likely been scattered to the winds...

The AMT AMX (and Javelin AMX) kits were all re-boxed Jo-Han. Jo-Han issued the 1970 version of the Donohue Trans-Am car, but put the '71 version in an AMT box. AMT also sold a stock '74 annual kit.

If you are into Tri-Five Chevies, you should build one of the old Revell kits just to be able to say you did. The '55 is probably the "easiest" of them (even the last couple of issues look pretty good). The '57 hardtop is still okay, particularly the (most recent) Ed Roth issue, though the rear window in post-1970 kits is a bear to fit. I actually cut down an AMT '60 Ford Starliner window to fit the car pictured. This one was a club build from about three years ago; I went nuts on it, scratchbuilt a number of small parts and used some photoetch (Model Car Garage scripts, AMT Pro Shop kit grille if I remember right). Don't try to re-engineer the thing, the pieces do seem to fit fairly well. But there are a few glitches. The bellhousing doesn't come anywhere near to meeting the frame mounts as it should (on the stock 1:1 the engine is mounted to the frame at the front of the block and the bellhousing; the transmission hangs off the back). The engine blocks in all of these kits are post-'57 (side mounts on the block) and the '55 and '56 kits have rams' horn exhaust manifolds which first appeared in '57. The front fender "gills" lean forward a bit (should be vertical) and the vertical fin trim at the rear is narrower than the area it attaches to. You should think about working up a mounting system for the front bumper, and make up some backing for the headlight lenses while mocking it up. If you attempt the opening-doors Revell '56, do yourself a favor and get an early issue. The later ones are unbuildable; the windows fall through the openings among other things. The '57 Nomad is likewise a tough nut. I did recently turn up a barely-started first issue which might actually be buildable. I've got a '55 hardtop in the works; among other things, the sloppy hinges will be replaced. But it should look decent when finished...

Isn't "disco balls" an oxymoron?

I still paint nearly everything (except bodies) with a brush. When I'm dealing with the molded-in-exhaust chassis, I'll paint the exhaust first (sometimes by brush, sometimes spray). If there's a molded-in transmission tailshaft, gas tank, or shock absorbers, I'll catch those too. Sometimes I'll paint the shocks in an odd color to make them stick out a little, because the 1:1 parts are often odd colors out of the box depending on the brand. Next step is to paint the areas adjacent to the molded-in detail, usually with acrylic paint so the chassis paint won't mingle with the exhaust color where the two meet. The border between the colors is always where the raised detail meets the chassis. I seldom try to freehand the exhaust detail to only a given depth. Anything that has to be removed can be done easily enough at this point. After all those areas are done, then the rest gets painted with larger brush(es) one area at a time. Molded-in leaf spring detail gets painted with a brush after all of that, with only the flat part of the spring getting done. I don't try to freehand the thickness of the spring as seen from the side, unless there is raised detail there to work with. I haven't done a red-oxide primer underbody yet, but when I do I'll probably do the primer first and then paint the raised detail.

Actually, MAD Magazine was way ahead of the curve on advertising; specifically, that putting advertising into a magazine pretty much carried its own weight but didn't cut costs much. So, early on, they phased out the ads. I haven't seen a copy of MAD in a while, haven't read one in years, but I understand that they've brought advertising back. I remember seeing FORBES Magazine ads (ads promoting the magazine itself) actually bragging about how many ad pages they carried in each issue. The car magazines in particular are driven by the advertisers. Street Rodder and Rod & Custom became notorious for their articles on how to install so-and-so's new steering column, electronic fuel injection, crate engine, or whatever. Hot Rod Mechanix couldn't sell enough advertising because they championed using regular car parts, as in, parts off of a car as opposed to the newly manufactured stuff. Rodder's Journal now carries some advertising, but they don't do how-to articles so it isn't a big deal. And then there's Motor Trend, which used to (maybe still does) promote the latest thing GM sends down the pike...

Yes, you can tune it out (I've gotten good at that), but it's the idea. Someone had the idea to put little TV sets into gas pumps to blast people with more advertising. That person was in the position to take the idea into a meeting and get someone's ear with it. And that person leaned forward in his/her chair, and said: "Tell me more..."

The station I go to has a "mute" button...first thing I do when the screen lights up is to hit that. With the new car, I'll be filling up every other week instead of every week now anyway. Still...really, they can't leave us alone even for that couple of minutes? What's next, Urinal TV?

The Diamags weren't offered in any kit that I'm aware of. The 1:1 wheels weren't around long as I recall.

More people dependent on public transportation, more people dependent on big government...that's probably as far as I should go in this direction...

My Toyota C-HR has a CVT, but you can select a "sport" mode with seven "virtual" gears. In that mode, you move the shift lever forward to upshift, back to downshift. I haven't tried it yet. I'd imagine that the CVT will be easier on CV joints. I drove a Dodge Caravan the other day; until it warmed up, the 2-3 shift in particular was pretty hard which I'd think can be rough on the half-shafts over time. With the computerization of cars in particular, you're going to see more and more "sealed units" with no availability of individual parts, and no rebuilding. By the time the unit would normally need a rebuild, the manufacturer likely won't offer updates to the software anyway, which will render the vehicle obsolete. GM has come right out with it: you may own the physical property sitting in your garage, but it operates on software...which they own. They're going to dictate what can/can't be fixed, and for how long.

Loctite. It's always worked well for me, and it stays good longer once opened due to the cap design.

I'm not ready to push the panic button...the manufacturers and even the wholesalers probably calculate that a certain percentage of product will end up going to closeout. They'd rather produce too much on occasion than not enough, otherwise a competitor will fill the gap. Out of the total number of items in the catalog in a given year, a relatively small number of items end up getting discounted. And a good number of those are ones that most of us here could have guessed wouldn't do well. A buddy of mine pegged the AMT '53 Corvette reissue, for example...he resells kits and he said he can't get ten bucks for a sealed original issue kit. This kind of thing went on in years past too...how many of us remember picking up "last years" annual kits for a buck apiece? Now, if this starts happening with everything that comes down the pike, then there's a problem. But I think you'll see cutbacks in new product ("new" including new reissues) before that becomes apparent to us. The people working for the major manufacturers know what they are doing, and will act accordingly.

Nope, just checked...Ford power all the way.

Didn't the Revell Kit Mustang have a 392 Chrysler?

The early issues of the 1/24 scale Mustang kits were Monogram, a few years before the tie-in with Revell.

Not a good business to get into really, unless you are active online, can move a bunch of merchandise, and have enough locals to support you. Too much "dead" stock that sits on the shelves forever unless you are right on top of how much of each item to order. Same deal with local craft shops, hardware stores, record stores, and others. A couple of weeks ago, one local shop closed, but they weren't discounting...everything was full retail. Who pays retail for anything anymore? With online shopping and craft store chains carrying some hobby products, you've got to meet customers halfway. Most people here know about the 40% off one item coupons from the chain store...around here, the local guy offers 25% off one item coupons. I'll buy from the local guy at 25% off instead of the chain store at 40% off (sometimes on a higher-than-retail price) because the local guy has other supplies that I can't get anywhere else.