Mark

The fiberglass Batmobiles probably got the flat paint or flocking to cover less-than-perfect bodywork.

Not an area of interest for me, but I bought a couple of them for parts and was impressed: the mid-Eighties Monogram sprint car kits. I think the main chassis is molded with D-shaped (cross-section) "tubing" instead of being round as it should be (to ease molding). But the rest of the kit is great...no tires or other parts adapted from anything else, the whole thing was done from scratch. Like any race car kits issued in series, the earliest one(s) will be the most correct, as later versions usually get a few new external pieces added in an attempt to keep the kit looking up-to-date. The updates under the skin are usually ignored. The early Monogram Pro Stock kits (two Camaros, two Thunderbirds) are nearly as accurate, but lose a few points for lacking inner door panels. The Revell Tommy Ivo Showboat is a bear to build (years ago, I won a bet with my older brother by getting one assembled) but it too looks like the 1:1 to my eyes. The bodies in the early Jo-Han kits are great, but more so in areas most people don't realize unless they cut a couple of them apart. The Mopar bodies are accurate enough that you can swap windshields, fenders, and clips between them without much messing around. I'm pretty certain their AMC stuff has similar commonality. I've got a started '62 Dodge Custom 880 (1:1 was a rush job; '62 Chrysler body with '61 Phoenix front clip). I cut the front clip off of a busted '61 Dodge kit body that I found at NNL East, and it fit the '62 Chrysler body like it was made for it. Which it was. In 1:1, the '62 Chrysler was actually a '61 Dodge with the '61 Chrysler front clip and roof, and new quarter panels (to get rid of the fins). I should get going on that one again. Those types of swaps don't always work out in scale. The AMT '65 Bonneville and Grand Prix bodies differ just a bit in width, for example...just enough to be maddening. I want to swap an early Sixties Comet front clip onto a Ranchero; again the widths are a bit different so some additional cutting and fitting will be needed to make everything match up. Ford did the same swap in 1:1 (Comet wagons were basically Falcon wagons with Comet front sheet metal; wheelbase on the wagon was the same as a Falcon, shorter than the Comet passenger cars). Ford Australia did the same swap on their Falcons in the mid-Sixties, because they didn't want the North American '64 restyle.

Dave reached into his own pocket a number of times with his reissues, for things like new clear parts. The clear parts are (obviously) run separately from the kit because they are made of clear plastic, so the tool to produce those parts could easily be misplaced because it is separate from the rest of the kit. Same goes for red taillight lenses, and (with some early kits) the chrome tree. The '59 Imperial reissue got new glass and a new chrome tree. The cost of all that had to be divided over the number of kits he expected to sell. And if he didn't sell as many as expected, then there's a problem because the profit is in the last one-quarter or one-fifth of the run. And that's not even getting into things like storing 5,000 or so kits until they are sold, or having to write the check (or take out a loan) when those 5,000 kits get delivered. He took chances on a number of things, including ones I wouldn't have taken a chance on, and stepped up with the money to do it when others would not have done so. I hope he made a ton on those reissues; he deserved to.

Stuffing the ballot box, things like that. That, and none of these companies are going to put a list out there and tell everyone (including competitors) of what they have and don't have. Jo-Han/X-EL did the "put out a list and let people vote" thing years ago. But they listed literally everything Jo-Han ever made, with no consideration as to whether or not they could actually bring something back. Actually, there wasn't much they could do, other than what they did...look at the choices they made for the X-EL promotional reissues, and even the USA Oldies series.

These kits finally showed up in my area, and I was able to snag two of them. I've rummaged through one several times today, in between other things...and every time I'm noticing things I didn't catch earlier. It reminds me of the Kurtis-Kraft midget kits, it really does look like a labor of love...it seems like great pains were taken to make the parts look as good as possible on the assembled model. Sprue attachment points are minimized and appear to be (wherever possible) put in places where they won't be readily seen. Hollowed-out ends on the injector stacks and headers. Two frames (looks like a trip through the parts box will turn up enough stuff to build a second rolling chassis), three sets of headlights, two seats, two cool steering wheels, and I'll probably see more next time I poke through the box. Plenty of versions using only what is in the box, and the possibilities with other kits like the Revell '29 pickup and AMT roadster appear to be endless. Bring on the coupe! For those not liking the exhaust port spacing, maybe just swap heads with one of the other Buick engines out there? (Yeah, you shouldn't have to do it, but so many other things in the kit are so good that I won't get too bothered by the port spacing.) Casting copies of a "preferred" cylinder head shouldn't be too much trouble. The inner fender wells can/should probably be cut apart from the interior side panels and installed separately anyway. It'll probably be easier to sand out the ejector pin marks on the fender wells (so far, the only ones I've seen that really stick out).

Monogram had it figured out with the Tom Daniel kits. Auntie or Grandma stop at K-Mart wondering what to get the model building kid for his birthday. Checking the model kit aisle, they grab one of the TD kits and one of those Testors sets with the six or seven bottles of paint, the cheap brush, and a tube of glue. The main parts of the kit are molded in the color shown on the box (or close enough); the paint set covers the interior, engine, exhaust pipes, and chassis. The kid gets the thing built that day or the next, and it looks pretty much like the one on the box. He's happy, the gift giver is happy (probably spent $3-$4 including a birthday card), and Monogram probably chalks up another sale next year.

Simmons and Stanley ARE Kiss now...they own the name and merchandising rights, and even the costume and makeup designs. The other guys on the stage are hired help. The original four guys were members but two were bought out when they left.

The Revell kit pictured is based on a diecast version that was issued previously. It's closer to 1/24 scale than 1/25. The 340 and 383/440 engine versions in that kit use the same block. The body sides looked a bit flat to me. I bought one thinking it was 1/25 scale, sold it when it turned out to be not a whole lot smaller than the ex-Monogram 1/24 scale kit. The Vanishing Point kit is based on the Lesney/AMT Yankee Challenge kit. It still has the convertible body with separate, glue-on, vinyl textured roof. New parts for the Vanishing Point issue include the twin-scoop hood, "argent" wheels, and front bumper. I don't have the VP version (bought one when it was new; took it back for a refund because it had bad plating). But I have three or four of the AMT kits (including one built shortly after it was first issued), and none of the Revell ex-diecast kit...

The AMT '36 has been restored back to its original form, as the three-window coupe. The 1:1 '36 was probably wrecked in one of Columbia's feature films made in that time frame...the Stooges shorts were pretty low-budget, they wouldn't have wrecked a nearly new car in the making of one. It'd be interesting to try and find out which movie used it first.

The roll cage parts first appeared in the '73 Firebird and Camaro kits. I think the Camaro was a Tiny Lund car, the Firebird might have been Buck Baker.

Send it to Miley Cyrus...she'll wear it next time she's in public!

Some of the late Sixties annual kits had those stub axles, which were probably aluminum rivets of some sort. They didn't work too well because they left the front wheels on the wobbly side, and unless you got them in really good the front wheels ended up bowed in at the top. I think AMT was trying to eliminate axle holes in engine blocks at the time, and that was an attempt at a solution. Then for 1970 they went in the other direction, and put those huge diameter axles in some of the kits...

They have been removed.

I've got an original issue kit...will have to look at it to see if it has metal stub axles. Some AMT late Sixties kits do have them; they weren't around long though.

Do the instructions specifically mention metal pins? I've got one of those in the works; as I remember, it had plastic pins.

They are capable of making as good a product as anyone else. The sticking point is, you've got someone else telling them "we want X number of these, we want them now, and we're willing to pay X amount per item". Good, fast, cheap...pick any two.

Fill the groove from underneath. You can cement strip styrene into the groove and then trim it flush after the cement sets, or use epoxy putty. After you are done with the underside, block sand the hood up top.

I'm pretty certain the Model King issue included later Seventies style stock car wheels, while the new Round 2 reissue appears to have the more correct wheel that was in the original MPC issue.

I haven't done one with the primer/body color edges yet; the rattle can overspray sometimes looks out of scale (to me, anyway). If I were to try doing a chassis that way, I'd probably use a template or mask spaced away from the chassis a bit, to make the overspray line a bit "fuzzy" while keeping it to a minimum. Two masks might be needed for each side...the outermost couple of inches of the floorpan probably wouldn't have caught any overspray because of the rocker panels, but I don't think that the overspray would reach too far in on the underside of the floorpan either. I usually go for the "undercoating" look, because it darkens the underside of the car and (to me) doesn't draw attention away from the exterior of the car when it is sitting on the shelf. When you turn it over, though, there is at least something to look at. I paint the exhaust system first (used to use Testor's silver with Dullcote over that; on recent jobs I've used Humbrol silver which dries hard without needing anything applied over it). I'll paint the molded-in fuel tank a darker metallic gray than the exhaust detail, but not as dark as the cast iron parts. I then paint the adjacent edges with a fine brush, using an acrylic like Polly Scale Steam Power Black (one of the "blackest" black paints I've seen; not dead flat but not really a semi-gloss either). Polly Scale isn't being made anymore; I laid in a supply of a few bottles and am keeping an eye open for an equivalent to use in the future. Don't drag the brush back over work already done; doing that is what usually creates brush marks. I'll do the areas that look the most difficult first (like where the exhaust goes over the rear axle) leaving the nice, straight, out-in-the-open, easy-to-get-to areas for last. I clean up the edges as I go, using a pointed toothpick to rub off any black acrylic that strays onto the exhaust or fuel tank. Every so often, I'll clean the brush and re-mix the paint so everything is consistent. I let that dry, then use a bigger brush to get all of the other black areas. If I need to, I'll apply a second (thinned) coat of the black later to get rid of any brush marks or other inconsistencies. If there is leaf spring detail on the rear suspension, and it's well-defined, I'll pick that out with some steel gray (darker than the fuel tank but not as dark as cast iron gray). I'll only paint the very "top" of the leaf spring detail. I don't try to freehand any part of the chassis that "rises up" to the spring detail from the sides. Sometimes the rear shock absorber detail is clean enough to pick out...if so, that can be done with some odd color (with those parts, color varies by brand) when the exhaust and fuel tank are done. If you decide you don't like the way the shocks stand out, you can go over them with the black later while doing the rest of the chassis. I don't do anything with the molded-in rear axle...to me, that's probably the worst area of this type of chassis, so painting that with the "undercoating black" makes it fade into the background, because it's not something that you want to stand out in any way.

This fish needs to be thrown back...

The one store I went into every so often only had six or eight different kits, nothing special. Lately, every time I go into that store, I walk out wondering why I went there...that's probably why the visits have tapered off considerably. The Michaels craft store chain appears to have reset their model kit section...smaller than before, most Round 2 kits gone, most Revell glue kits also gone, replaced in large part by Revell snap kits. They're still good for paint, embossing powder, craft wire, airbrush jars, and all sorts of other stuff though.

I saw two of them yesterday at a local shop. They charge full retail, though, so neither of those followed me home. I'll pick one up at another local shop that at least gives club members 10% off (offsets the sales tax, at least) then pick another one up online or at a show.

Because it was probably among those that were in the best condition. When you look at the original Jo-Han offerings like the USA Oldies, you probably wonder why they didn't reissue things like the mid-Sixties Plymouths and Chryslers. Simple...they probably weren't able to. Even the ones that were reissued weren't exactly like the original kits; the '64 Cadillacs didn't have the steerable front end, those and the Marlin didn't have clear headlight lenses like the original kits, and some of the kits' interiors had later upholstery patterns. They were putting together the stuff that was the most complete at the time, and trying to do it as cheaply as possible.

It's an old Jo-Han promotional model...was never released as a kit when it was new.

The Torinos differ slightly: '70 had the "Cobra" lettering on the front fender, '71 had it on the quarter panel. '71 grille bar also has a small snake emblem in the center, '70 does not.