Mark

That's what it is now. Over the years, it was the '68, '69, and '70 (promos, kits, and funny car bodies), Daytona NASCAR in two versions (early #71 kits had the '70 door "scoops"), the General Lee (pre-Round 2 issues had the 500/Daytona flush rear window), stock 500, stock Daytona, F&F '70, and General Lee again. Millions of Charger bodies from one tool.

Looks almost exactly like my copy, except I didn't get the free "we care" bag.

The Cadillac version of the J-body (Cavalier, J-2000/Sunbird, Skyhawk, Firenza) was the Cimmaron. Same powertrain, same sheet metal, different headlamps and grille. Pretty much a Cavalier four-door sedan with a Cadillac hood ornament and leather interior. You could get one back in the day for around twelve grand, when a Cavalier Cadet (base model with cardboard door panels) was going for just over eight. Airfix did sell the MPC '82 Cavalier kit with Airfix branding (the box was otherwise same as MPC's) in '82. I've never seen an Airfix-branded Chevette kit, but that's not to say there wasn't one. The Pontiac version of the Chevette was the Acadian (in Canada), T-1000 (in USA). Canada had the Acadian a couple of years before we got the T-1000. Canada also got the Pontiac Astre a couple of years before us, too.

Not to single out Revell...the AMT/Ertl '60 Fleetside (issued around the same time as Revell's '64) has its pickup bed designed pretty much the same way.

Revell's Fleetside box has the outer fenders and bed floor molded as one piece. Construction and alignment are simplified, but the way it is molded gives the effect of double-walled bed sides, which the 1:1 trucks did not have. The SMP/AMT annual kits got it more correct in this detail.

If you really want it, I'd seal the deal before telling the world about it...but that's me...

The original version was done by Starbird, but Barris Kustoms made revisions to it. According to a book co-authored by George, "owner Bobby Greenwade brought it to me to do a little more customizing on the front end, put the bands over the bubble top, reform the wheel wells, and paint the car the same as his El Camino". Dean Jeffries may have worked on the car after that, but I don't have my Jeffries book handy to verify that. The MPC kit's box art does not credit any one builder. The self-promotion aspect brought with it the occasional erroneous claims, which is a shame because Barris' shop turned out a big enough body of work on its own. But that's all in the past now.

The most recent issues of the Studebaker do not include the Minilite wheels. The Round 2 issue has the five-spoke mags from the Sixties issues, the two issues before that have the wheels from the early Seventies drag version issue. For the Minilites, you want either the AMT/Ertl early Nineties issue (turquoise car on the box) or the Salty Dog Bonneville-only issue from the late Seventies.

Supposedly, he was one of many people who were called when they were searching for cars for AG. Whether or not he supplied anything, or even provided information regarding anything that appeared on screen, is not known. But, to even claim "consultant" status would be a stretch unless payment was received for said services.

Quality depends to a great extent on which kit you select. Lindberg's tooling bank includes items created by them in the Fifties and Sixties, items that originated with other companies that later went out of business, and things created by Lindberg in their revival period in the mid/late Nineties. Quality and accuracy are all over the place.

This kit IS a Round 2 item. They have started repackaging Lindberg kits; mainly the aircraft, but also cars like the '66 Chevelle and a couple of the ex-Pyro 1/32 scale kits.

I've got a couple of the Berkeley kits; one is a Chrysler D-Elegance concept car (designed by Ghia; cover up the grille/headlamp area and it looks like an enlarged Karmann Ghia). The roof/window unit is vacuum formed clear acetate; you're supposed to trim it, fit it to the shaped body, then paint the whole thing with airplane dope while avoiding the windows. You're supposed to finish the interior first, though. The roughly routed-out balsa block Berkeley used isn't the way to go. Another wood kit in my stash is from a company called F-B: their car bodies are built up from pieces of sheet balsa, then shaped. This design would allow for a hollow body, though you can't make it as thin as a plastic one. Berkeley used cast metal trim parts, while F-B kits included a sheet of trim parts that are stamped from an ultra-thick aluminum foil. I can't imagine trying to form a curved bumper from the relatively flat sheet without wrinkling it, let alone cutting the pieces out. Both of these companies used model airplane or toy rubber tires with stamped metal hubcaps. Some of the Berkeley kits provided decals to make the wheel covers (same ones in each kit) look a bit different. Auto World published a small book in the early Sixties, showing the construction of a custom '49 Chevy convertible from balsa and kit parts. It even had opening doors and trunk lid. They provided scale profile views of the Chevy, a '58 Chevy convertible, and a '55 or '56 Ford four-door hardtop (all of which were taken from original promotional models). I did do a 1/25 scale midget racer about thirty years ago, following a Joe Henning article in an old Rod & Custom Models issue. Wood body/frame rails, slot car tires, other parts adapted from kits. Curbside, no engine. Finishing the wood was time-consuming, but I was able to get certain areas (cowl, belly pan, cockpit) relatively thin to match the model in the article. I used the old-school finishing methods (sanding sealer, dope) to get rid of the wood grain and get a smooth finish. A few years ago I did a larger car (static copy of a "thimble-drone" gas powered scale racer) for my older brother. I used more modern epoxy finishing materials on that one, and it came out great in a lot less time than with the sanding sealer. I'm messing around with another project now, and will use the epoxy materials again on it.

There is a national "political" do not call registry...find it, and sign up. When I get a (rare) stray call, the mere mention of the fact that I'm on that list brings profuse apologies and a promise to not call again. I don't want calls even from people I support (you don't need to preach to the choir), and I don't need to hear from anyone I'm not going to support. As for surveys, if you're paying for information, I'll play along. I have done a couple of things where I was paid (not a drawing, either...how do you know if anything was awarded?). I'll help them make money when they help me make some. Businesses I've done business with in the past? When they try that line on me, I let them know that they'll stay in the past as long as they keep calling.

Maybe the "II" nameplates were added after a repaint?

Postwar through the early Nineties, it's probably easier to list Pace Car decals that Fred Cady didn't do.. '47 Nash sedan (no kit or resin available anyway, at least that I've ever seen) maybe the '74 Hurst/Olds (Firebird Designs does that one) one of the mid-Seventies Buicks ('76?, the silver one) '77 Olds 88 possibly the '80 Trans-Am (MPC did the kit, and it has the decals anyway--though you have to do some rearranging to get the "Turbo Trans-Am" lettering for the doors) '83 Riviera (nothing out there as far as a kit or resin that I'm aware of) '85 front-wheel-drive Cutlass Calais (a guy named Ken Glenn did a vacuform body for this, but I haven't seen one of those in thirty years) '87 Chrysler LeBaron, '88 front-wheel-drive Cutlass Supreme (again, nothing close for either of those) Fred Cady covered ALL of the Fifties, and ALL of the Sixties. His prewar stuff is scattershot, but mainly created around existing kits that can be converted or are "close enough" for most folks. After 1990 or so, for the most part it's either feast or famine...there's either a pre-assembled Pace Car promotional model (like the Corvettes and Vipers), or there's nothing available that's even close enough to do a conversion (like the Olds Bravada SUV they used one year)...

I've never seen that type of cover in any kit. You might try looking for a wheel cover with a similar shape (reissue AMT '36 Ford coupe might be a good start, then flatten out the outer edge) then scrounge (or scratchbuild) the "knockoff" center piece (which is probably holding the 1:1 cover onto the wheel). Joined to an outer wheel half, this would make a good casting project...make one good one, then make a mold and cast as many as you want. These wouldn't have the spoke detail underneath; the thickness of molded plastic spokes, and the wheel covers, would both be out of scale so everything won't fit together like on the 1:1 car. That wouldn't be a big deal unless you want removable wheel covers. No E&J headlamps in any kit, or in resin that I know of. One of the "other" boards had pictures of a car with them...the builder said he made them out of siren bodies from a couple of Johan Rambler station kits.

Some hood designs just don't lend themselves to resin casting, at least not the way some casters do them. If you've got a hood that is extremely thick in one area (say, the scoop) and thin in adjoining areas (the outer edges), then those outer corners are going to curl upwards like that. It didn't curl at the front corners because the scoop doesn't extend all the way to the front, so the front of the hood is a more consistent thickness. I've done a fair amount of resin casting and have sold enough parts to know what's going on, from my own experience. I have two resin examples of the same hood ('67 Yenko Camaro) from two different casters. Each did their own master (one is not a copy of the other) but both are designed the same way: thick scoop area, rest of the hood is as thin as the original kit piece. Both have the curled rear corners issue you describe. I bought the second one a couple of years after the first, after seeing the problem on the first one. The second one did the same thing. I'll probably cut the scoop from one of them and graft it onto a styrene hood from the kit.

When I first pull anything out of the pond (wearing vinyl gloves, of course) I hit the trim and panel line areas with a relatively stiff toothbrush; that usually gets a lot of the residue in those areas. I do that before rinsing anything, while the item is still wet with the paint remover. A round toothpick will get the more stubborn areas and won't wreck any of the detail. If anything substantial still remains, back into the pond it goes...check it again in an hour or two, and repeat the process. Only when it is as clean as I think it will get, does it get rinsed. If there is any of that trim/panel line residue left after that, you can usually get that later with (again) the toothpick, and (in extreme cases) a very light touch with an #11 X-Acto blade. Some colors and primers penetrate the plastic, so you can't get it back 100% to the original plastic color. But if the paint remover is the right one for what you are trying to get rid of, you should be able to remove all of the paint that's on top of the plastic.

I've got a couple of the Firestone Deluxe Champion tire packs, and one Polyglas GT pack from HL. The ones I have are pretty much the only times I saw them there, though.

I still chuckle every time I see "Bondo" and "professional" on the same package. Through no fault of theirs, people have come up with, shall we say, "groundbreaking" uses for their products. The putty pictured, however, is good stuff.

The flatter boxes contributed to bent A-pillars and crushed roofs on a lot of those Motor City Stocker kits...probably why the series didn't return for '71.

We had one Hobbytown USA store near me. I couldn't understand why you'd need a franchise to operate a hobby shop. If the franchise deal got them better buying power, it sure didn't show in the prices they were charging. They stumbled along for a few years, then a couple of younger guys took it over and switched it to nearly 100% R/C. A losing proposition there, because guys come in only to buy the magazines and then order the expensive stuff online. Prices are lower, and usually no sales tax. They only go to the store for advice or small stuff. Within six months, the store went belly-up.

And even then, NHRA was late to the party in allowing the domestic-branded import cars into Pro Stock. They weren't allowed in along with the domestic subcompacts in 1972; it was '77 or '78 before they were allowed. AHRA and IHRA did allow them earlier, and a number of Mopar teams built them for match racing.

I used rattle-can zinc chromate primer once, years ago, because I asked around and a number of people told me it stuck to aluminum better than other primers. I don't know if it actually works better, but it is still sticking to the piece I sprayed with it. An etching primer might work as well or even better, and you can get that in spray cans. With all this talk of "yellow primer", I'm surprised nobody has mentioned "Used Cars"...

The AMT Monte Carlo was altered into the Bobby Allison NASCAR version, probably during '72. The chassis was used under the AMT '73-'up Malibu stock cars also. Both of those (MC and Malibu) were reissued by Model King. The annuals and '70 Motor City Stockers are the same basic kits, only the Motor City Stockers had fewer parts in the box...