Mark

Nope...shouldn't be too difficult though. Toughest part will be finding a convertible boot that fits the body and looks like it belongs.

No pens, but when I worked in construction years ago I collected pencils with company names and logos on them. All of the suppliers were giving us pencils (good ones, too) by the bunch. I'd keep one or two of each for myself. When I mentioned this to others, they'd give me more of them from other industries. I got away from construction in 2000, came back in 2019, now nobody does pencils, they give away calendars and writing pads. Haven't seen a pencil with a company name on it yet. I still have the old ones, and use the "extras" when needed as most are good quality #2.

I built a 1998 issue a few years back...Revell did some cleanup back then. After that issue, Revell parked the tooling and only dusted it off for the Ed Roth issue. Not as crisp as 1963, but not as terrible as some would have you believe. That said, I do hope Atlantis tools up new clear parts. They will have to do so for the '56 should they decide to reissue that one.

The hot glue temporary assembly on resin bodies doesn't straighten the body in and of itself, but it does let you pull the body into shape and assemble it in a corrected stance. Some "mass produced" resin bodies (Jimmy Flintstone in particular) are pulled off of the mold before they have fully cured, and finish curing with the rocker panels spread further apart than they should be. Pulling the body into the correct shape often corrects interior bucket and hood fit. Even when the body is straight to begin with, keeping it assembled correctly will keep it from going out of shape during storage.

Hot glue is those glue sticks that you put into a glue gun which heats them up. There are smaller glue guns for the craft people, the regular size ones are used for other things. The hot glue for heating/bending styrene rod is a great idea, you will get consistent temperature every time unlike using matches or other heat sources. The glue will peel right off once cooled. I use hot glue to temporarily glue slightly warped resin bodies onto chassis, to pull everything back into shape. Works great for that too, you can put the temporary assembly back in the box, then pull everything apart when you pick up the project again.

AMT Dodge Deora. There is only one in each kit, as the Deora has a slant six engine.

I'm surprised the seller isn't saying "it looks complete, but I don't know much about these things..."

The black Demon 'Vette comes off a bit better, though the faux-BMW wheels and red stripes don't come off as being particularly demonic.

"Don't take the Bonneville, take the Rambler".

No, the Iron Horse appeared in '74 or so, the first '66 coupe with engine detail came later.

They did come on heavier trucks, not pickups. One of the car magazine guys called them "furniture truck manifolds". An oversize Chevy exhaust manifold might be a good starting point. If I had a 1:1 part handy, I'd scratchbuild one and make castings.

If you have a Turbo Shark, the ex-Mako frame, suspension, and basic engine will be the same. Wheels and engine accessories, and exhaust system, will be different.

Pretty sure the previous issue was available in both gold and white, with a sticker on the box to denote what was inside.

I'd look at a combination of Lindberg '53 Ford convertible wheels (maybe even the inside half) and Revell '57 Ford hub caps. AMT '32 Ford stock wheels might work also, as they are too small to be correct for a stock '32 but will fit the '56 tires. Work will be needed; maybe use the outer ring from one half of a wheel over the inner detail from the other half to give the correct depth, maybe the hub cap has its outer diameter trimmed down to look right. But some combination of parts will get close to something that will look right.

The trophies are neat too. Some of the ones I have were altered a bit by the original builders...like having the bases cut down to make them different heights.

Jimmy Flintstone offers a convertible body for the Chevy kit. His stuff is serviceable and reasonably priced, the convertible body is a notch or two above his usual standard.

I'd scratch that Continental kit, that's the only way you'll get it right. If you can get close up to the actual car, that's even better. That car has some accessory trim on the rocker panels that shouldn't be too tough to do either. And, you'll have to figure out what to use as a starting point for those accessory wheel covers too. A project like this can be enjoyable, figuring out ways to get everything really right. You might consider doing two at the same time; after putting in the work, you'll want one for yourself when you're done.

I've probably got a few helmets stashed in a box with other accessory items, but there are a couple of other things that are really piled up... -trophies from AMT Trophy Series kits -those cinder blocks that came in the AMT '50 Ford convertible and '34 Ford pickup kits -the mini billboard frames that came in some 1961 AMT and SMP annual kits. I've been meaning to print cards to stick into them (original kits had a "card" printed on the instruction sheet that the builder was supposed to fill in).

HL stores around here blew the last issue out for $7.50 apiece, the last time they did that (pre-Covid). Not that they had bunches of them; I only saw one, and bought it. It's still a great kit, probably about time for another issue. Most of these Trophy Series kits were out continuously in the Sixties and Seventies, with a change of box art every couple of years.

Wasn't there an auction some years back, where two vintage race cars turned up with owners claiming them to be the same car? The original car had been raced for several years and undergone a couple of major rebuilds, with each of the auction cars having parts from one version or another. And speaking of Porsches, there was a thread on the HAMB recently that included claims that: the James Dean car may still exist (parts of it certainly still do), and: the wreck that George Barris toted around in the late Fifties was not that car. Even if I had the money that some of these things bring, I'd find something else to spend it on or donate it to. If I wanted such a car, I'd live with a faked-up one...no worries about anything happening to it when driving it, which is what they were made for in the first place...

It is what it is. Differences in proportions and shapes between different manufacturers' versions of the same car used to bug the heck out of me, now I see them as interesting. Each kit is a document of the period in which it was made, and the methods that were used in creating it (which differed between companies also). It's hard to figure how the headlamps on the '62 got so small...the annual kits are better in that respect.

One 427 Cobra too, if I'm remembering right (the ex-Bill Cosby car, one of two with dual Paxton superchargers). Cosby drove it only a couple of times, a subsequent owner drove it off a cliff, then it was parted out to build an AMBR contender (not sure if it won or not). I don't recall ever seeing anything about that car being dismantled, but somehow the Cosby car still exists. One of the Pontiac gurus out there once claimed that about half of the GTOs in existence aren't really GTOs...the original cars were totalled at some point with the unique parts transferred to a LeMans or Tempest. A lot of the Thunderbolts and early Hemi Mopars that ended up with altered wheelbases later on got "rebodied" and live on in closer to original form. When they "rebody" a car, do they call in a witch doctor to transfer the aura of the original body to the replacement one?

A good percentage of restored Shelby Mustangs, as well as Hemi Mopars and more than a few GTOs, likely changed hands "in an envelope" at some point.

Fingers crossed, hopefully the chassis speed equipment pack (axles, radius rods) is plated this time around. The chassis itself can, and probably should, be left unplated, but the accessories really ought to be chrome. Personal preference here, but if it came down to that or the optional engine, I'd take the plated suspension parts.

Looks like this kit will include the round tube chassis, as opposed to the one included in the Mooneyes dragster kit. I wouldn't bet on seeing the Chrysler engine as an option, seeing as how it was pieced into the Miss Deal Studebaker. Maybe, just maybe, we'll get the Buick? Yes, a little rework and maybe a dive into the spare parts box will be in order. But, we're getting some parts packs that haven't been widely available in over 50 years. Atlantis deserves an "atta boy" for getting these items out there when previous owners just let them sit in the tool crib.