Mark

Both of the big clear pieces are AMT '57 Chevy chopped top glass. I just bagged a couple of those for the NNL East sale pile. The painted one has been altered a bit. The other clear piece is from an AMT Double Dragster kit, it's for the streamliner. The white hood at left is for a '65 or '66 Ford Galaxie. If it has a cutout line underneath for a scoop, it's a '65. If not, '66. The blue hood looks like '62 Plymouth. I've never seen a Jo-Han one molded in black, but I wouldn't doubt that they exist. I believe the Revell '62 Plymouth was molded in black, so it could be for that. The Jo-Han hood has a little peg sticking out from the bottom, near the center. AMT used to use those little metal clips to "hinge" the hood; back then Jo-Han used a small rubber band that looped around that little peg. The other hood looks like it is from an AMT '67 or '68 (maybe '69?) Cougar.

It probably depends to some extent on the paint that has been used. One guy I used to know used mostly automotive paints. If he didn't like the looks of a paint job, into the strip tank it went, sometimes while the paint was still wet. Somewhere around here I've got what is left of a Jo-Han '68 4-4-2 kit body that he absolutely ruined with that procedure. (I bought all of his stuff when he quit building some time ago.) All of the detail is soft now, windshield pillars became brittle, vent posts disappeared entirely. Someone told him that I had a '68 kit, and for the longest time he was pestering me to sell it to him. I didn't, partly because I knew I'd never find another one, partly because I knew that it might have wound up like the first one. I've also got a Jo-Han '66 Chrysler hardtop that was apparently stripped and rebuilt in the past. When I took it apart I saw signs of a previous rebuild. I didn't like the paint job that was on it; into the soup it went, and it's now really brittle. I could probably crush the body with one hand now. The trim detail was normal when I bought it, a little soft now. This one will probably get rebuilt with the custom parts left over from another one.

Probably decent prices if you wanted them for yourself (might be able to bargain down to $100 for the pair?) but there's probably not too much room there if you want to do a quick flip. Promo values tend to take a steep drop if they aren't absolutely perfect. A less-than-perfect Plymouth might be worth that (or pretty close) to someone wanting to rebuild one (kits are virtually unobtainable). The only problem is that the promos used interiors altered from earlier kits, with everything molded in.

The legal "oldest profession" establishments in Nevada use official business names quite different from the ones normally associated with them, again to appear benign on credit card statements. Throws wives (and probably taxpayers) off the trail...

A 2 in 1 kit would be priced a bit higher than either of the single version kits, because of the extra parts and bigger decal sheet. With a slightly lower price on each of the single version kits, between the two Moebius will probably sell more of them than they would the 2 in 1. Offering them as separate kits increases the number of different items they have in the catalog, and the local hobby shops and show dealers will probably carry both as well. If you intend to build both versions anyway, two of the separate kits will be cheaper. Why pay for parts you won't need?

The last release on this was in 2003, as a Buyers' Choice item. That one was easy to overlook, what with the lackluster box art RC2 was using. That issue had two wide slicks because RC2 didn't have narrow ones available. Fortunately they didn't need to tweak the rear wheels to fit them. The new issue finally has the double narrow white stripes on the tires and slicks. The slicks are brand new, not the piecrusts that Round 2 tooled awhile back. These also have two narrowly spaced grooves near the outer edges of the tread area on each side. They look like the tires pictured in the booklet that is included. The 2003 issue had a decal sheet similar to the original, but this issue adds decals for the wood strips on the sides of the body as well as the murals on the inside of the top's side panels. The tires in particular will really make this thing, as none of the earlier issues had ones that were remotely close.

ALL money belongs to government on one level or another...they're just kind enough to let you use it for awhile. Seriously, get another opinion. Your guy shouldn't be upset; after all, if he's right the second expert will only confirm what he said.

The shape of the hood (the cross-section) combined with the (infinitely minor) shrinkage of the resin are probably the cause. I've got two copies of a particular hood, made years apart by two different casters. Both have this same problem. With my hoods, the part is thinner at the edges, heavier in the middle (scoop area). This hood is of relatively consistent thickness, but the scoop is at the center and it uses quite a bit of material compared to the relatively straight outer portions. The resin doesn't shrink very much, but when it does shrink it is doing so across the entire length/width of the part. The scoop area, whether thick as on my hoods, or thin and relatively large as on this hood, is shrinking more than the outer portion because it has more material. That appears to be what is pulling up the corners of the hood. I've forgotten a fair amount, but have cast enough different part shapes to figure out which shapes are likely to be problematic. Had the hood been cast as two pieces (hood with hole, and separate scoop) or maybe three pieces (center section with scoop/forward portion of hood ahead of the scoop, and two outer pieces) there would still be the same amount of shrinkage (which isn't even measurable, really). The separate pieces would fit together and the assembled hood wouldn't have that curling problem at the corners. Is the center/top of the scoop sinking in too? The rear edge of the scoop appears to be straight, as does the forward part where the scoop transitions down to the level of the hood. That makes sense to me as the rear edge has the two sides to shore it up, while the curvature at the front lends strength to that area. The closest comparison to this would be casting a four-sided piece (like a box but missing the top and bottom surfaces). The sides will all pull in towards the center because, towards the corners, each side has the corner to strengthen that area. In the middle, there's nothing to shore up the side, so it will pull in a bit.

I doubt it. I got rid of my first-version kit, but I remember the hood being awfully thin in the center, to clear the air cleaner. The thinness of the hood makes it look (to me) like they had to go to great lengths to get it to fit over the engine, leading me to believe that there's more wrong with this kit than just the slanted taillight panel or the incorrect grille shape. I offed the kit at an automotive flea market earlier this year...problem solved.

I'd go to the Polar Lights kit (the one in the Spider-Man box). I haven't got one (yet), but I think it even has those wheels included. I'm pretty certain the Revell dune buggy kits include the wheels that are on the hauler. Looks like an interesting project.

Jinx Express engine looks (to me, anyway) like a cross between a small-block and big-block Chevy. You don't see much of it on the finished model, so I wouldn't go to the trouble of swapping it out. On the other hand, I wouldn't use it in something else, especially if more of it will be visible.

No. And even when they do, you can then throw in Celine Dion...

A couple of years ago, my bank called me at work to verify a charge I had made earlier that day, at a gas station on my way to work. It was valid. They neglected to ask me about the one before that: a $900 charge at a men's store in California! I've never been further west than Denver, and can probably count the over $500 charges I have made on my fingers. I always thought the card companies checked on transactions that fell outside of an established pattern. The CA charge was found to be a "walk-in" transaction as opposed to an online purchase. I didn't see that one until the statement arrived; I thought it was hilarious that that transaction was immediately before the one they called to verify.

At least one of the guys doing the "heavy commercial" stuff in the Eighties was using resin with aluminum powder. Why, who knows...maybe it was thought to be stronger, perhaps it was easier to do minor repairs on blemished castings (making the repair less detectable, part could still be considered "first quality"), maybe it was thought that the heavier castings had a better/more substantial feel. I don't recall ever seeing any car conversion or re-pop parts that used it.

I never actually counted the parts in a kit to check against the count given by the manufacturer. I'd assume they were counting everything as a "part", like individual lenses, the decal sheet, wire axles, screws, hood clips, things like that. Maybe in some cases they are counting the box, instruction sheet, and the little catalog? The only time I ever paid too much attention was with the "100 piece accessory sets" for Dremel/similar tools. Usually, those consist of about 75 paper sanding discs, eight or ten sanding drums, a couple of mandrels (which you've probably got two or three of already), and the case.

The engine is a big-block (FE-series) Ford, which did come in the 427 Cobras. I wasn't into the Tom Daniel stuff back when they were new, but I can see how well they worked for Monogram. They were careful to keep them different; they didn't duplicate engines and chassis in those kits except when one car was altered to make another. There wasn't too much duplication with engines or wheels across the whole line. A relative could walk into K-Mart, grab one of these kits and one of those Testors paint sets with the seven or eight bottles of paint, a tube of glue, and a paint brush. Instant birthday present! With the kit molded in the main color, the kid could paint the details, stick the thing together, and it would look like the illustration on the box. He's happy, the gift giver is happy, the kid probably gets another one next year.

Jo-Han did some (but not all) Plymouths through 1970. SMP (a company with separate ownership, but considerable investment by AMT) did the Imperials from '57 or '58 through the sale of SMP to AMT in late '61. AMT continued through '66, then Jo-Han did the '67 and '68. A small number of '62 Imperial convertible kits were actually boxed as SMP. The custom license plates in the AMT-boxed kits might still have "smp" lettering on them, I'm not certain though. SMP also did the Valiant (a separate make for '60, became a Plymouth for '61). Again, SMP through '61, AMT '62-'66 for promos ('65 for Craftsman Series kits). Some '62 Valiant kits (Styline series, in the larger flatter box) are branded SMP, others AMT. None of the SMP/AMT Valiant kits ever came with an engine. AMT did Plymouth Barracuda promos and kits through '67. MPC produced the '68 and '69 from the same tool. How MPC got it (and the Chevy Fleetside pickup) from AMT between the '67 and '68 is unknown. These weren't "MPC kit in an AMT box" deals like the '65 Coronet or '28 Ford sedan. The '67 versions of both were AMT, tires and all (the '67 Barracuda kit used the smaller "compact car" tires similar to those in the Corvair). Then for '68, both turned up as MPC items. If anyone knows how or why this came about, they aren't talking. Jo-Han did the fullsize Plymouths through '68 ('62-'64 were really intermediates, but they were the biggest cars Plymouth offered in those years). For '69 and '70 they did the GTX (no Roadrunner promo until MPC's '71). Then it was all over for Chrysler Corporation promos at Jo-Han. Jo-Han seemed to be a lot more dependent on the promotional model side of the business than MPC or AMT; the loss of the Chrysler business was probably the start of their long decline. They picked up a couple of pieces of Ford business with the Maverick/Comet and '72 Torino, but Ford quit doing promos after '72 so Jo-Han never really had much of a chance with them. I remember seeing the first Maverick kit way back when, it was a surprise to see it as a Jo-Han item.

Watch the decals when you build it. A buddy of mine built one of these a few years ago; he said the decals were the toughest part of the build because the MPC decals from that era (even when new) fell apart when you dipped them in the water. I think he shot them with clear before trying to put them on.

Has anyone actually heard any of the several tunes they recorded? As far as I know, one or two appeared on a CD that was a giveaway item at a Motown 50th Anniversary event. (The Mynah Birds were signed to Motown's Canadian branch, but supposedly nothing was released owing to James having been arrested trying to re-enter the USA). Only a couple hundred copies of the giveaway CD were pressed from what I was able to gather.

SMP '61 Impala four-door hardtop promo: is molded in non-warping plastic and has a separate hood!

The answer is simple...don't pay full retail. One of the local shops, after two big craft store chains set up shop within a mile and a half or so, responded by raising prices, sometimes above retail. Not too bright. I don't expect the local guys to offer 40-50% off coupons every week, but at least stay within sight of the competition. Another local shop at least gives a discount to members of the local IPMS chapter...though it's not as convenient as the first place, guess where I try to go more often? On the more expensive stuff, either wait a while and order a few items at a time online, or if you hit any of the bigger shows then wait for those. Three of us are heading to NNL East next month...between us, I'll bet there will be as many as two dozen new kits making the return trip...

The best starting point would be the underbody from the MPC '65-'66 fullsize Dodge kits, but you don't trip over piles of those at swap meets. In addition to the differences outlined already, the front inner fenders are way different from those on the midsize cars. The big cars' inner fenders are rounded, not the straight-through style as seen on the intermediates and compacts. I've got a rough '65 Fury hardtop on the pile; for that I've been thinking about starting with the Monogram 1/24 scale '70 Road Runner underbody and reworking it using the MPC Dodge piece as reference. I think the 1/24 scale RR piece sized out about right for the 1/25 scale Fury. The gas tank is a different shape (I'd probably cut it from the chassis and reshape it), and then I'd rework the front (for lack of a better term) "frame rails" (the Dodge's are more curved than the midsize cars'). Depending on how far you want to go, other areas would need some work too, and of course there are those inner fenders...

That sheet was first used in the AMT '70 Olds 442 (Y-736, a re-boxed Jo-Han kit), and later in the '40 Ford coupe. There may have been a second AMT boxing of the Jo-Han '70 442 with a T-series number; my catalogs don't show one but there are other things they don't include also. There was an issue of the '40 Ford coupe (T-266) with a cardboard record included. When they ran out of records, AMT changed the box art slightly (keeping the T-266 stock number) and this sheet replaced the one that had been used. The re-boxed Jo-Han kits seem to have been extremely short-run offerings, perhaps too many 442 kit sheets were printed so the surplus wound up in the '40 Ford coupe. As an aside, I've never seen a sheet that matched up to the first version T-266 kit's box art. The T-series numbers don't run as high as 918. The only AMT kits in the 1970 catalog with numbers in the 900 range were the space/Star Trek items (S-900 numbers).

This version won't have plated parts because they've probably combined everything onto one sprue as opposed to scattering the parts among others as was done when the cycle was included as an accessory in another kit. As included in the '72 Chevy stepside kit, the cycle had a plated exhaust pipe. The version in the Dodge pickup kits had an unplated pipe. Forks and handlebars were plated in both. I don't have a Dodge van kit with the cycle in it so I can't say for sure what parts were plated in that one. The carrier brackets that attach to the van rear bumper seem to be included in this version. The parts are numbered differently for the bike in the Dodge pickup as opposed to the Chevy. I'm not sure if the parts are the same (just renumbered) or if there was more than one of this particular bike. The '76 Dodge pickup kit had two cycles included, but they were different from one another. One was a Yamaha, the other a Suzuki (the one with the "snowflake" style wheels). The Suzuki only appeared in that one issue of the Dodge as I recall.

When I worked in construction, there were five stages to a project: -Anticipation (while preparing the bid) -Apprehension (after submitting the bid) -Search for the guilty (when the bid turned out to be too low) -Punishment of the innocent (when it was realized that the screwup was made by someone's relative) -Accolades for the uninvolved