Mark

Which Ford straight six? The two "classic" Sixties/Seventies engines (144-250, and 240-300) have both been done in plastic. That would leave the later fuel-injected version of the truck 300, the first overhead valve six, and the 1941-51 flathead six.

Gift cards...one size fits all.

Maybe in Europe or England, definitely not here.

The solvent in the amber softened the silver paint and got it going again. Of Testors brush paint colors, silver in particular is the slowest to dry and the easiest/quickest to soften up again.

They're everywhere.

Gotta wonder why that Bugatti didn't resurface in SSP in the mid/late Nineties...pretty sure Monogram was producing a kit of a modern one then, so licensing shouldn't have been an issue...

For brushing (including airbrushing), talcum powder can be added to pretty much any paint to "flatten" it. Very little is needed, just how much can be determined by mixing in different amounts and keeping track.

So, who is going to start talking about Jo-Han in this thread?

Why the mention of competitors? People are comparing prices, that's all. HL might have a limited selection as they're picking items with mass appeal as opposed to niche interests. Ollie's, meanwhile, isn't really choosing at all...they get what they get, which is either overstock from other stores, or excess production from manufacturers.

The 3M, like most/all one-part spot putties, are essentially extremely thick lacquer primer and dry via the evaporation of the solvent contained in it. It needs to be applied in extremely thin layers with each layer getting plenty of time to dry. Otherwise it will continue to shrink through continuing evaporation of the solvent. For major repairs or filling deep damage, two-part epoxy or spot putty would be easier to work with. Two-part fillers cure via a chemical reaction with no shrinkage afterwards. Once it's cured, it's cured, and it won't shrink afterward.

As long as, when the body is ready for primer, no plastic-to-plastic joints are at the surface, you should be okay. Any such joints should be routed out and two-part automotive spot putty or epoxy putty applied to those areas.

Hail Atlantis!

It's strange that AMT would have created a new hull for that boat, rather than just reissue it in its original form over the years. Their earlier Customizing Boat doesn't appear to have been available too long in its first issue, and wasn't touched again until Ertl unearthed it for the Buyers' Choice reissue. The Rayson-Craft boat was only issued once in that form, again doesn't appear to have been available very long. Unbuilt examples are few and far between. Revell's boat in its original form again doesn't seem to have been out very long, again first issue kits seldom turn up. The second issue (with a few alterations from original) didn't appear until the early Seventies. So it was probably apparent to AMT that 1/25 scale boats probably weren't world beaters...so why a whole new hull for the next go-round?

Those resin pieces look like copies of the short louver strips that came in some AMT and Jo-Han kits in the early Sixties. The wide strip also looks like a copy of another such piece that came in a handful of AMT kits.

Ernie apparently decided not to bet his retirement funds on the venture...probably a good move on his part. He's gone now, so that deal is gone for sure. The fact that Ertl, Revell, and Lindberg (still a separate company then) passed on the Jo-Han assets should tell us all we need to know. Those of us who collect and build original Jo-Han kits still appreciate their work, they were a sentimental favorite and will remain so.

Besides the Rambler wagon, the snap Chrysler Turbine Car kits were (then) newly produced. The Plymouth police cars had new decal sheets and vacuum formed clear windows but were otherwise packaged from stock. There were some Comet pro street kits, and possibly some '70 4-4-2s made up from stock also.

Haven't seen the hauler/trailer, but I think I might snag one on the "40% off week" if I do...

I'm surprised that someone hasn't gotten around to doing a 3D printed V12 version, at the very least.

It must be able to come off, provided the correct plastic is used. You couldn't get away with brittle Jo-Han plastic for example.

There can't have been much usable stuff left at the end. SeVille started out promising more reissues and even some new stuff, they must have figured at some point the operation wasn't throwing off enough money to do any of that. I don't think any of us can realize just how small an operation the original Jo-Han company was, especially after all the promo business was gone. They lost the last of that after 1979 (Cadillac), lost AMC after 1974, Plymouth after 1970, Dodge after 1964. They had some Ford work briefly, but did only three Ford promos (two and a half, if you consider the Comet was converted from the Maverick). Still, that's more Ford promos than MPC did! The reissues after about 1972 or so seem to have been chosen by "what can we do most easily" as opposed to "what were the most popular items in the past". They seem to have been operating hand-to-mouth from the mid-Seventies on.

The GMC V6 is a heavy slug of cast iron. A couple of Sixties car magazines ran articles on swapping them out for Cadillac V8 engines. Less weight over the front axle, and better fuel economy with the Cad.

So the body can be pulled off of the inner core of the tool.

May have been scrapped by SeVille. I doubt they have been just sitting somewhere for twenty years plus. The Jo-Han building in Michigan is long gone, anything that was there is either somewhere else, or gone also.

The Comet/Maverick, Barracuda, AMX, and possibly other Jo-Han/Seville kit tools are MIA, nobody seems to know where those went. Johan (the latter day company) sold some Comets, but those were just a case of packaging previously made product.

I bought the .040" thinking about using it for louvers...as you have described, cut a bunch of them to the same length, round off the corners, and cement in place with the rounded corners facing forward. After they are in place, round off the corners sticking up, then knock down the height of the louvers a bit. .040" would translate to 1" in 1/25 scale, it seemed to compare well with the strips of louvers included in some early Sixties car kits.