Mark

Chassis could certainly be adapted, rest is a gamble, with glass being the least likely to fit. Totally different kits, with measuring and design taking place forty years apart.

Jo-Han '62 Larks are closer to 1/23 scale than 1/25. They're big, the built ones are large on the shelf compared to other compact cars of the day, or even the '53 Studebaker. Remember the Lark is basically a reskinned '53 sedan (shorter wheelbase than the coupe). Studebaker reworked the sedan into a compact because it was "too small" to be a full-size car by that point, and tacking extra length onto the front and rear sections wasn't getting them anywhere by then. I'm not sure about the size of the Jo-Han '59/'60 Lark promos (not sure if there was a '61). There was no Jo-Han Lark kit prior to the '62, and those promos were all molded in that warping/shrinking acetate plastic. The Premier Lark (the early one, anyway) is somewhere between 1/25 and 1/32 scale, closer to 1/25 but still small. I'm not sure about their '62 as I haven't got one of those. The Hawk '62s are 1/32 scale, and pretty decent as I recall.

I'd use catalyzed (two-part) glazing putty. There is a Bondo product that is sold at auto parts chain stores like Auto Zone. Eleven or twelve bucks last time I looked. Look for the one with a small tube in the package behind the big one. Rough up the area where it is going, mix the filler and apply it, file and sand after it (quickly) cures. One-part putties cure by evaporation. Hard to tell just when it has stopped evaporating (and shrinking), it could be after you have done finish paint and assembly. Automotive spot putty is in its essence extremely unthinned lacquer primer. Applying lacquer primer over it in heavy coats can soften it. I never went in for baking soda, that stuff absorbs moisture. The soda/super glue combo often ends up harder than the surrounding plastic, making sanding problematic. Leave that stuff in the kitchen where it belongs. I used to be big on "sprue filler". But it too cures by evaporation. I have since abandoned it in favor of a two-part epoxy filler that sands and works the same as the surrounding plastic.

Yes...same underbody (not sure if the altered Dodge and Plymouths had different wheelbases...pretty sure the stock ones differed a bit). I'd bet that the altered wheelbase Dodge and Plymouth kits will use the same underbody, same suspension parts, same engine, same wheels, same clear parts...they will only differ in regards to bodies and related parts. If they were much more different from one another, the added expense might have prevented Moebius from doing the Dodge, unless they had also done a stock one first. I really need to get back to my own Dodge conversion, as all the parts are already bought and paid for.

Might be a good sign that the Dodge is coming next...

In the last few weeks, I found and bought both the reissued '55 Chevy and the new '71 4-4-2 at HL. The ones I bought were the only examples of each that I have seen to date, which means that either they haven't gotten any more in, or both are selling like crazy. The Chevy isn't really "worth" forty bucks plus tax, even with the 40% off it is borderline. But they did a great job on the packaging, decals, and presentation, and there are times when that wins out.

I used to make a vacuform piece to replace the molded-in floor on the AMT '40 chassis (it also fit the '36 frame). I sold hundreds of them. The individual floor sections on the frame could be trimmed out by scoring along the edges with the back side of an X-Acto blade, exhaust filed off, muffler hole filled in, then reattach the modified parts to the frame. Those who wanted dual exhaust detail usually just used the optional parts in the kit to add the second muffler and pipe.

Maybe Moebius is doing another production run. The first was small, with a lot of them going to members of the Commandos. They'd sell them at gatherings, and autograph the boxes if the buyer so desired.

'73 Cougar has underbody parts and engines carried over from the MPC (1969) Dyno Don Super Cat kit. 428 CJ and Boss 429, the 428 may have been used in 1970 but definitely not after that. The Boss never made it into any Cougar on an assembly line.

The solvent in the top coat is starting to dissolve, and break into, the coats previously applied.

Most resin bodies need to be cleaned up (flashing removed from window areas, feed tags removed). JF bodies are no exception. So there is time involved there. As far as custom work or extensive repairs go, you learn in large part by doing. You won't succeed if you don't try. You could consider doing the chop yourself on the kit body, with purchasing a resin one as "plan B".

Either saw should work. Rather than cut along both cut lines in any of the pillars, cut between them, then remove material from each half to get to the amount you want to remove. Getting everything level can be difficult, getting things to line up can be tough also. The puttying and sanding are just the finish steps, spend your time on the steps leading up to that. Perfect paint and putty won't cover misaligned parts!

I remember seeing a selection of the Auto-Kits in Auto World catalogs in the late Sixties. Those were costly in their time as I recall. Being all metal, your paint choices are wider than those for plastic kits, as long as the paint sticks to the metal. Cleaning the metal, and applying primer, would be the rule with that kit. Being different and more complicated than typical car kits, building it will require more "bench time". The Highway Pioneer kits are from the Fifties. I don't think instruction sheets were included; the guy who designed them said he'd make them easy enough to figure out without one.

They won't be able to do "partial replacements" for customers, but somehow they will be able to do that for cars they take in trade, so that they can be resold. It's a miracle!

Looks great! The Short Cuts sprays aren't like typical "big can" Krylon sprays, they are more like Testors and Pactra used to be, straight hobby enamels.

Previous ones (after the first generation) were styled TO stick out. First generation looked like their gasoline equivalent, the Echo, which you didn't see a lot of either, at least around here. Now that they are mainstream (with full electrics out there now, some would say the Prius is now "behind the curve") they can now blend in with the pack.

That engine first appeared in the 1960 pickup kit, that was the first year AMT put engines into their kits (but not into all of them). So, at that time, expectations would have been lower and it would have been very well received.

With what the owners have been doing to screw up Testors in recent years, why give Rust-Oleum any money?

No, a Ford Y-block. I don't think the FE series engines were offered in trucks until later, '66 or so.

The last couple of threads on either the screw, or the frame of the glasses, are probably messed up. A slightly longer screw of the same type will usually take care of that.

Animal farming? Starting to look like "Animal Farm" to me...

Don't count on that nice chrome staying that way during the mold making process. Because it gets wrecked anyway, I strip the plating off before starting, so the castings will be as clean and crisply detailed as the original part. Starting out, use products from one supplier to ensure that everything you use works together. As stated by others already, certain mold materials will not cure if they come into contact with certain types of clay that is used in the mold making process. Certain resins don't cure when used with the "wrong" mold materials. Get everything from one company to avoid problems like that. The learning curve can be steep enough without having to diagnose problems that arise due to incompatible materials, not to mention time and money wasted.

Non-stock with that last one involved wheels (chromed/reversed, with small Indy car tires all around) and the three-carb intake (which was also included as "stock" in the annual kits).

That engine is definitely from one of the AMT F-100 kits. 1960-63, there was a pickup kit in 1964 but it was a reboxed '63, with "1963" in fine print on the new box. '63 was issued again in '68, but not 100% stock.

Monogram used the PC ("plastic car") numbering system prior to their tie-up with Mattel, so the PC number kit would be the first issue. Also, the "200" suffix on that one would indicate the original kit's list price, $2.00. Prices started moving up around 1970: AMT went to $2.25 for most car kits during 1970. They went to a "225" suffix on theirs, but it appears Monogram dropped the list price suffix when they went to the Mattel numbering system. I do remember having a mid/late Seventies Badman kit with photographic box art, and clear parts that were not tinted in any way, totally clear.