Mark

The Hemi engine first appeared in the '72 pro stock Duster kit (California Flash) which was produced in between the '72 and '73 annual kits. MPC would often include parts from those in-between kits (pro stockers, Street Funny Cars) in later annual kits. The '71 and '72 Duster annuals, and the '71 Demon (and about half of the other '71 and '72 MPC kits) didn't include a lot of usable optional parts because they had those incredibly stupid "spoof" parts. That garbage got broomed out after '72 ('71 for a couple of them), and MPC started putting decent optional parts back into the kits (with the exception of those "belt badges", another waste of plastic). We don't need no stinking badges! Those went away after only one year. MPC stuck to optional parts for the most part from then on. The '73 Duster Hemi is pretty much carried over from the California Flash kit except for the intake setup. The '73 box art mentions vinyl hoses to connect the air cleaner snorkels to a couple of Olds W-30 style under-the-bumper scoops, but the vinyl hoses didn't make it into the kit.

Stopped in at my LHS today, he says he'll get them next Tuesday, Wednesday the latest. I've got three on order, two are gifts but not needed this weekend, next Saturday will do.

Other than the 1969 engines, what's wrong with the Cougar chassis/underhood setup? It was way ahead of its time when new, and still holds up pretty well compared to a lot of newer stuff...

I've sent a number of racks to Chrome-Tech (none in the last four or five years, though) with thousands of small parts. Never a problem with any sort of reaction with the silicone. Chrome-Tech does recommend a particular brand, though; maybe there are problems with cheap/off-brand products. There is a potential for trouble, though, if you get any silicone smeared on (or even touching) areas that are meant to be plated. If you are re-using a rack, you need to make sure all traces of the silicone from the previous plating job have been removed.

I'd move that '58 Buick rear bumper up a bit so the taillights don't hang down beyond the perimeter of the rack. Maybe turn it so the taillights face up. A row of small parts down the middle should be okay.

An Edsel? Don't think so, unless they've got some old, old store stock. The Edsel has not been produced by Round 2, and they took over AMT in 2008...

The Edsel kit has not (yet) been offered by Round 2.

Modelhaus used to offer the stock wheels (the promotional models had them), but you're a few months too late to order from them. The newer AMT/Ertl Edsel kit has stock wheels; it's the same model (Pacer) as the older kit. For the Buick, you might see if you can turn up a damaged promo model and swipe the wheels from that. Watch out for the friction toys; some of those didn't have the correct wheels. The frictions were made as toys, so they weren't concerned about correctness as they were when making the dealer promotional models.

You might think about installing the firewall right after correcting the shape of the cowl, to support it.

Maybe the later issues had the grille, but the first one definitely did not. Aren't the hoods different on those two as well?

I've got one of the George Barris photo books from maybe twenty years ago, and in it there's a couple of pages devoted to a '54 Mercury hardtop that someone rolled into their shop. The guy cut the roof into four pieces just like that. The thing was a mess. They wound up getting another roof from a wreck and starting over with the chop. The early issues of the AMT '57 Chevy include a chopped top option. Same deal: cut the roof into four sections, lay them over a clear piece that includes the windshield and rear glass, and putty the seams. You're supposed to mask the glass before priming and painting. I've got one of those chops roughed in; it looks absolutely hideous. The "four-piece roof" method is definitely NOT the way to go.

Besides the scale difference (1/20 vs. 1/24), the MPC AMX kits had much better chassis detail, a more correct engine, and an interior bucket with separate seats.

If you want all of the drag parts including the teardrop hood, you are limited to the first three issues of that kit. The Modern Classics issue, the Lesney/AMT Snakebite issue, and the current Round 2 issue have a number of optional parts blocked off. The AMT/Ertl issues will have the drag engine parts, but not the teardrop hood (which was molded in clear) or the side glass. Every issue from the Modern Classics on has the separate red taillights eliminated also.

Revell was doing a lot of those custom kits that gave two or three variations with a few parts changes. I'm pretty sure their mini-pickups (Chevy LUV, Datsun, Ford Courier) shared a lot of parts, they also did a Chevy Monza/Pontiac Sunbird that were pretty much one and the same except for a few parts, and then there are several mid-Seventies Chevy pickups with a lot of common parts. The Travolta Firebird was one of those Barris deals, where he'd "give" the celebrity a "free" car...while they were signing the paperwork, they were signing away the merchandising rights which were probably in place before the car even got built. The AMT Farrah's Foxy 'Vette was another one of those deals. After a hectic day at the studio, JT relaxes on his way home by cruising a Firebird with "Travolta Fever" plastered across the hood...

I can think of two whole 1/20 scale kits that I wouldn't mind seeing in 1/25 scale today: MPC's AMX and Ford Econoline. The van could probably be done with the same level of detail (opening doors, etc).

In general, everyone here has been correct...only parts from the kit being entered, decals from other sources are allowed, bring the instruction sheet so the judges can see it. Usually, putty is allowed for filling imperfections but not for reshaping parts. Molding in kit-supplied customizing parts could go "yes" or "no". Why not decide which contests you are going to enter, then contact the clubs/organizations running those contests to get their specific rules?

The Revellion funny car is based on their Dodge Dart, not the Plymouth. The Revell Plymouth Fury was a two-door hardtop, pretty sure it was the exact same body style as Jo-Han's Fury.

At first I thought the $39.99 price was a mistake on their part. But all three HL stores in my area had them at that price. I checked their website, it's $39.99 there too. That's several dollars higher than retail. Some of the Round 2 kits are priced at $29.99, again some of those are above retail. Looks like they're jacking prices on some kits to offset some of the effect of the 40% off coupon. I've got a local hobby shop that has started e-mailing 20% and even 25% off coupons. His stuff is normally priced at, or slightly below, retail. If I were to buy the Lawman kit from him with the 25% off coupon, it would be the same as, or very close to, the HL $39.99 minus 40%. If it's the same, or within a buck or two, I'll go with the LHS...fellow club member, local small business owner, 10% off for club members (offsets the 8.75% sales tax), and he carries stuff like Humbrol paint and Evergreen styrene that the chain stores don't have. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a good hobby shop within a reasonable distance, though, so those folks have to shop online or wait for the next show. Even then, you should be able to beat $39.99 minus 40%.

It should have the correct body for a 500 or Daytona, with the flush rear window.

For a 500, you want a body from a pre-Round 2 kit. The Round 2 kits have the regular Charger tunneled rear window area. Older MPC and AMT/Ertl General Lees have the flush rear window that was on the body from the NASCAR Daytona kits that were issued prior to the MPC General Lee.

That particular engine is from the '63 Nova wagon. The '62 hardtop and convertible used that engine too, but those had the intake/exhaust manifolds molded as part of the engine block half with the carburetor molded alongside the valve cover. For '63, the engine was altered and reused in the wagon. The hardtop and convertible kits got a small-block V8 (which was not offered by Chevrolet until '64).

It should be easy to assemble, but the engine will be simplified to the extreme, and don't expect much detail on the chassis. The body in this kit was also used for a custom Firebird, with a different hood and nose/tail pieces. Accept it for what is, just do a clean assembly, and it will look good on the shelf.

Corvette

With the Rolls-Royce, I'd try to get an earlier kit if possible. A guy I know bought the last Minicraft issue (the one with the wood trim decal) because he wanted to build one with that decal, as shown on the box. He did get the kit, but the body was really rough due to the tooling being worn out. He wound up using a body from a previously built earlier issue that he already had, and just used other parts from the newer kit as needed. I'd bet that the kit won't be issued again.

The Nissan dealer I drive past on the way home from work had a 280ZX on their lot, in front of the showroom just last week. It was gold metallic, looked like it was a really clean unrestored piece. I can't imagine the expense that would be involved in restoring one, probably way more than you could ever expect to get for it. I didn't see a price on the windshield, maybe they just had it there as an attention-getter.