Mark

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.

Around here, a landscaping service has at least two front-wheel-drive trucks made up of Toronado chassis front half, with '88-'96 Silverado cab and a four-wheel trailer as the rear half. However many there are, they all look similar and look to be well constructed. Maybe someone was building them professionally. I'm pretty sure I saw one last summer, if so it must have a lot of miles racked up.

The kit pictured is the annual kit, the only one with Fury side trim and stock parts including wheel covers and complete interior. The side trim is Fury while the bucket seat interior is Sport Fury. The 426 wedge engine is quite good by 1964 standards, not too bad even today. No Hemi engine, as it was not yet known in late 1963 when the kit was issued. Chassis detail is typical Jo-Han, molded in exhaust and rear suspension detail. There was a convertible annual kit also, I believe it included a raised convertible top. The hardtop was reissued in 1968. Hemi engine replaced the Wedge, side trim and stock/custom parts removed, early Logghe Brothers funny car chassis included. Could only be built as a phantom funny car (chassis was too new for '64) or Richard Petty NASCAR. Reworked again around 1972 to delete the funny car parts, remained a Petty NASCAR version only for the remainder of its existence. Totally unrelated to the Lindberg '64 Belvedere kit that Round 2 has issued as a Petty NASCAR version, Lawman Super Stock, and stock version.

Same. The trailer and Chrysler "display" engine from the Buick wagon were reused in the original Nova wagon. The currently available Nova wagon kit was tooled recently and shares no parts with the original one.

Recycled carbon dioxide? Put up the collection facilities around DC and the state capitals...