Mark

The 'Vette guys are like the Mopar guys in that they've got to find something, anything, that makes their particular car a "one of one", the "first" or last" of something, or something however minor that differentiates their car from the 99 others in the same color with the same options. If it's a regular 'Vette that happened to pass through the Yenko dealership, that'll be enough for some of them, especially if their car is crossing the auction block anytime soon.

But some of the details of the model didn't match what was in the box. The kit never had a filled-in grille area as is shown on the box art model, and the wheels shown on the built model weren't in the box either.

I'm pretty certain the front fenders are the same '60-'66, but the hood was changed for '62. The '62 hood was designed by Tom Daniel during the brief period where he worked for GM. That's probably why he later used the '62-'66 front clip when he created the S'cool Bus for Monogram.

The 7/70 warranty: 7 minutes, or 70 feet from your driveway...

The wheels pictured on the Model King box are pretty close to what was on the 1:1 car, but nowhere near what was in the kit. The kit's chassis and engine are all wrong for the 1:1, but the Anglia body makes the kit worthwhile. I don't think those wheels were in the Model King issue; the box art on some MK releases showed parts that weren't in the box.

If the Anglia is an SSP deal, maybe they'll put the original Ansen mag wheels back in. If so, they'll probably issue the Thames panel again soon. I've got the recent Yenko book, and I don't recall seeing any '69 Corvettes in it. Maybe they're issuing the Camaro yet again?

What do you do for windows with this body? I've seen a number of attempts on this roofline on both Pontiacs and Chevies, this is the first one I have seen that nails it.

From what I have heard, the California Flash version has been delayed because the Melrose Missile hardtop has not been selling as quickly as expected. Dave (Model King) has his own funds tied up in these issues, and needs to recoup his investment on one before doing the next one. In a run of, say, 5,000 kits, the profit will be in the last few hundred sold. I wish he'd done the Flash first, because I'm not interested in the Melrose Missile. I'll jump on the Flash as soon as it's available. I'm not speaking for Dave...if his information contradicts mine, then what he says goes.

The Monogram version of the Spyder actually looks pretty good, but of course is larger and fits only the Monogram tires. Likewise the Fly on the front of the Camaro. Getting off track here, MPC made a Fly front wheel also, but only put it into one kit, their Gapp & Roush '75 Pinto. There was a Fly rear wheel also, but nobody ever tooled that one in scale.

I've bought some parts and decal sheets, sold some also (but that's well in the past). I've gotten better deals at shows, though: at a recent one I picked up several good decal sheets (missed a couple too) and a number of good parts. AMT '61 Bonneville rear bumper, never used, plating like new, neither of the extension pieces broken off (if you have one of these kits, you probably know what I'm talking about here). Two bucks...way cheaper than a Modelhaus piece (though I wouldn't mind going that way if it were still an option). At the shows, I'm usually poking through the parts boxes first...already got too many kits anyway.

#2 looks like a Chrysler turbine engine. #3 (no plating) might be from an old Lindberg kit. Some of those are pretty straightforward cribs from AMT Trophy Series kits. #4 (front sump pan) looks like the OHC Ford engine from the Monogram T'rantula dragster.

Jo-Han plastic always seemed to be harder but more brittle than other companies' stuff. Once I heard about the use of "regrind" (recycled plastic that has already had a pass through the molding machine) and how the inclusion of that tends to make the finished products a bit less brittle, I figured maybe Jo-Han didn't use any regrind in their plastic. Or if they did, they used a lot less of it. Supposedly it's good in moderation, but too much of it makes the plastic rubbery, which is what seems to be happening lately. Not all of the older stuff is high quality. Some of the early Sixties AMT annual kits are nearly as rubbery as some of the recent Revell stuff. I remember using Duplicolor primer and paint in the mid-Eighties, on an AMT '62 Fairlane that I built to match my car at that time. The body and hood soaked the primer up like a sponge. I didn't get crazing as pictured on that Moebius Satellite body, but after the first coat of primer I was seeing swirl marks on the body, a sort of "grain" created by molten plastic flowing through the tool under pressure. It took a number of thin coats of primer, dusted on from a distance and wet sanded between each coat, to get that thing to the point where I could shoot paint onto it. The first couple of coats of paint were applied pretty much the same way, dusted on. The Fairlane kit parts had the engraved info on the chassis and under the hood from the promotional model. My car has a six-cylinder engine, so I removed the underhood info mentioning the V8. That area "ghosted" repeatedly. I wound up brushing thickened primer onto that area a couple of times, again wet sanding between applications. The area involved was where the underhood insulation goes on the 1:1 car, so it got painted a different color. But getting the area smooth was problematic. I'm glad AMT made a minor screw-up on that promo and kit, leaving off the V8 emblems that should have been on the front fenders...that saved me a bunch of grief.

The redlines are the Polyglas GT tires. Same tires, same two sizes, only with printed redlines rather than lettering.

The last older plastic I shot Duplicolor on (MPC '71 Chevy pickup/wedge hauler) went without incident. I gave it a coat of "sandable" primer over reworked areas (there were a lot of them; parting lines and misalignment between sections of the cab tooling even then). After that came a quick blast of "sealer primer", then the finish color which was Testors automotive spray. With the 1:1 automotive touchup spray cans (both primer and color) IMO one thing that is a must, is to make sure the can is thoroughly shaken. Just a hunch, but I think they're putting in more solvent and less solids than in the past. What used to be labeled just "primer" now seems about the same as "sandable primer", and what used to be called "sandable primer" seems more like what they now call "filler primer". If the can isn't shaken, that will throw the combination off even more, leaving you spraying mostly solvent. I give the can a really thorough shaking a day or two before I plan on using it, then give it the normal shake prior to using it. That is, shake it until you can roll the agitator around the bottom of the can.

The Spy Car (and Ohio George Ranchero) have the promotional model/Craftsman kit version of this tire, with the center piece trimmed out. The center hole in them is larger than that of the tire that was used in kits.

MPC's wheel isn't as accurate; the center is set deeper in the rim than the AMT version. AMT Impala kits issued after the Barris Cruisin' USA version will not have this wheel. Ertl switched them out for Cragar mags (with "Cragar" misspelled if I remember right). Jo-Han did a decent version of this wheel also. They used it in only one kit, though: the Ed Schartman Maverick (not Comet) Pro Stock. You're not likely to trip over one of those at a swap meet anytime soon, though.

The DC Comics people will be all over this. "Holy trademark infringement, Batman!".

I'd bet little, if anything. In the past, whenever I'd see one of those XR-6/'27 tub double kits at a show, often the '27 would be missing, built, or at least started. The XR-6 parts would usually be intact. That would indicate that the '27 touring was the thing that sold the kit in the first place. I'd bet that the '27/XR-6 was easily the least popular of the AMT double kits: only one issue, no re-boxings, then trimmed back to the MMTC Porter just two years later. The horrible box art certainly didn't help the sales effort. That said, it'd be cool to see the original fenderless rod version returned to the '27 tub. Only a handful of the original optional parts were brought back when the '27 was reissued by itself later on.

Pro-built!

Check eBay; Micro-Markup is usually at the higher end of the scale when it comes to price. Someone is probably selling the same thing cheaper; if you luck out, you might even stumble into a used one. It doesn't look too hard to build, but you'll probably have to buy more material than needed for just one. So you'll have to spend more on materials than you really need to. Plus, you'll need some decent tools to build one that will be square and true. And then, what value do you place on your time?

I can't remember the last time a table anywhere was $20. It's easier to walk past the traveling museum(s) at a show than it is to plow through page after page of eBay dreamers. I guess that's why I mainly do searches there now. When I do go into the general listings, once I run into the page after page of single parts, twenty-year-old NASCAR stuff, or amateur decal printers (many of whom are selling poor copies of other people's work) then it's time to go elsewhere.

At least the traveling museum proprietors pay for tables at the shows, and crack their wallet open for gas and eats for the trip. eBay enables their cast of characters by giving away free listings ad infinitum. In the last couple of weeks, I've been to the Three Rivers show as well as Fall Carlisle. Each had a couple of vendors who were extremely proud of their stuff judging by the prices, and there are things I have seen at Three Rivers for most of the twenty or so years that have elapsed since I first went there.

eBay could (if they wanted to) cut out a lot of the nonsense by charging a minimum amount for re-listings. Even at ten cents per re-listing, you wouldn't see the dreamer-priced single parts listed over and over into infinity. But what they're doing now is working for them, so I wouldn't count on seeing any sort of change anytime soon.

How many of them can you get for $516.32?

King T was first altered into the Carl Casper Paddy Wagon, later the fender unit was modified and added to the Switchers T to create another version from that kit. Those fenders aren't in the Switchers reissues. King T chassis is under the Chuck Miller Fire Truck.