Mark

Since the body is 1/24 scale, and you'll be scratch building much of the structure anyway, I'd look at available kits with an eye towards which one has the most suitable suspension parts.

1955. Prior to 1970, it had no plated parts, and had plastic tire/wheel assemblies.

Usual run for most any car kit is in that neighborhood. From what I heard, the stock wheelbase Golden Commando Plymouth's first run was 1,000 kits with most going to members of the Commandos to resell as autographed items. Even if the Strickler version is limited to 6,000 there will be other runs of the same kit, just with different decals.

All new means just that. The original altered wheelbase Chevelle started out as a dealer promotional model, was sold as a snap-together kit, then the body was converted to the funny car. Later the body was again altered to create a dirt track car, itself reissued a couple of years ago.

It would be crazy to pull the shrink wrap off now. In all likelihood, you would find tires stuck firmly to the clear parts and decal sheet...

I wouldn't doubt that the '69 Rebel is the lowest-production Jo-Han annual kit, ever. Not 100% accurate as a funny car though, as the Grant Rebel program ended in '68.

Most likely replaced by one of the other sets of wheels now in the '69 kit. You'd have to compare trees from the new issue '69 to intact parts trees from a '68 to figure that out.

No.

Some of the newer hollow tires from Round 2 should fit those wheels. Solid tires and slicks will necessitate trimming the flange of course.

Testors can't catch a break with most of the newer product lines. I'm seeing them discounted and cleared out in every store I have seen them in. Here's a thought...maybe they should go back to doing the stuff they were doing before all of these brainstorms?

The street machine had the four-link/solid axle setup, but the tubs weren't as big as that. That kit had an odd combination of parts; the stock rear wheel openings prevented any sort of huge pro street tires from being used, and it had a stock hood. A good start for a pro street project, but needs bigger tires out back as well as a wilder engine.

Gassers were on the wane in the late Sixties, so calling it a funny car would have been logical.

The street machine kit is related to the '70 coupe kit, so the instructions relating to the basic engine, front suspension, and interior will apply.

Could it be bleach that has been sitting on the store shelf for a long time, or maybe absorbed some moisture?

If removing it leaves clean plastic, no problem. It would have to be either something from the vacuum metallizing (plating) process, or mold release.

AMT kit has gone through some changes over the years. It started out as a three-window with a somewhat incorrect roadster version (doors are too long). First couple of issues had a chopped roof, later a stock one. The Dick Tracy kit had a five-window roof. Door line was moved making that version more suitable for a roadster, but those parts weren't included. Next couple of five-window issues had a different roof from the Dick Tracy version. Round 2 moved the door line again and restored the five-window, now with both chopped and stock roofs as well as the roadster parts. Glass for one of the coupe versions is not included, however it is all flat glass so not a big deal. Issues with more recent kits include no headlight lens detail, also interior bucket is thin on one side and thick on the other. Generally a good kit though.

The Buttera sedan kit pictured is the first issue, with photos of the 1:1 car on the box. That first issue was a slow seller, hardly anyone bought it because it didn't show the actual model. Most people, me included, figured it would be a typical opening-everything Revell kit, thus unbuildable. Once Revell changed the box to show the model instead of the actual car, those kits started flying off of store shelves.

Rabbits make a lot of mistakes...put the little ones in the wrong places, abandon them at the slightest hint that they won't make it, and don't really do too much to protect or defend them. Easier to go off and make some more, and try again.

I never got around to casting tires with flexible resin, but my guess is that the resin is breaking down and releasing the sticky substance. Resin may not have been mixed properly, or maybe it was and it just hasn't got a long term life as manufactured.

Have they always been sticky, and how long have you had them?

Some folks' gripe with this kit involve some difficulty in getting the interior and chassis to sit right under the body. The interior bucket has good attachment points to locate it on the top of the chassis, but attaching chassis to body isn't the most positive. Turning the finished build upside down reveals a few gaps too. I've got one that I want to build with a flip front end; I'm going to have to solidify the body/interior/chassis sandwich before even thinking about where to cut the front end.

Yes. Revell bought out Renwal in the mid-Seventies. Not sure if Revell made any alterations or improvements to it though.

Not sure if it is true or not, but there was some talk of Pegasus (owner of Moebius) having acquired the Chevy tooling. No word on what happened to the Galaxie Limited trailers however.

Value would be determined by how many people you can find, who have one of the original pickup kits and want to build the stake version. Round 2 hasn't got the tooling for the original pickup, so I'd guess that the stake bed is long gone too. The motorcycle wasn't released again after its appearance in the '63 Chevy pickup kit. As for the go-kart, some parts are original but most are retooled.

I hit one of the two local stores Thursday, still plenty of good stuff left. The Ford vans dried up quickly; there weren't many to start with and I snagged two. The Copperhead dragsters got snapped up quickly too; again, not many to start with. Thursday they had Meyers Manx and 1/32 scale T-Birds that I hadn't seen before. One Manx and one Ranchero added to the pile...six kits total. I was hoping they'd have some Duplicolor sprays in. Pep Boys has been shutting down their auto parts stores and switching to service centers only. Apparently they started on the west coast and worked their way east...a couple of months ago they got to my area. Ollie's hasn't had touch-up sprays in quite some time now.