Mark

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.

Airfix issued those kits in every combination you could think of, plus a few others. I've got a Sportwagon that I pieced together from two or three kits I picked up a a junk store. I remember grabbing a Camaro version of the wagon, to make sure I had enough clear parts.

Not only are the wheel openings different on the second-gen cars, so is the profile of the outer body panels. The fenders and quarter panels are different of course, but so are the outer door skins. A Bird door will bolt onto a Camaro and vice versa, but there will be a mismatch between the panels. The creases on the Camaro doors are sharper. This doesn't apply to first-gen cars, as the '67-'68 Firebird was a rush job and the '69 was known to be a one-year-only redesign. Third-gen cars were cheapened by GM to where they shared doors (the divisions had to fight for unique quarter panels).

But the snapper hasn't got T-top inserts, and those side pipes are molded as part of the chassis, to hide where the body snaps in place. I'm wondering if this one isn't an ex-Airfix kit. Those kits use the same body for both Camaro and Firebird versions, with the body being more correct for the latter. If anyone has to bother with those, the one to have from that bunch would be the Type K Sportwagon.

That doesn't look like the Monogram glue kit. I know the stock wheels were changed at some point, but don't recall that style being in that kit. The wheel openings look funky too, as if this body could be shared between this and a Firebird kit...

I had a Miss Deal Studebaker kit in AHM packaging. I remember when those AHM kits first appeared in the early Seventies, the retail prices were higher than AMT, MPC, or Revell.

Moebius' Plymouth kits have the 8-3/4" axle. You might be thinking of the Lindberg '64 Mopars, those have the Dana 60 axle as the 1:1 car used in development of their Dodge kit had one (as well as widened rear wheel tubs).

The picture is of a '70, so the '71 kit will have a different grille and front bumper.

Someone has stated that the second version of the Mustang will not be another body style, but rather another fastback with a 429 engine.

All right! I've got a Polar Lights Coronet AWB in the works, a new build of a CAR MODEL magazine cover car that I got about three years ago. The PL body needed to be "de-sectioned" (area below the beltline raised by adding material), its wheel openings are too high also. It will be interesting to see Moebius' take on the Dodge also. You just can't have enough altered wheelbase cars!

Boy, that's helpful. They usually give a brand name and color, at least they have for the sheets I bought. Hopefully someone here has already built that car, they'd be able to steer you in the right direction.

Most guys buy several colors in one order, which would trim the shipping costs a bit. Ordering one of anything from anywhere will create killer shipping costs.

At least you don't have to deal with the fade on the scoop. I'd first check against any blue you already have, then use the photo of the sheet to check any paints you see. Keeping in mind of course, that the color of the rattle can top is seldom an exact match to what is inside. Slixx decal sheets usually include color suggestions...what does that one say?

Only issued once, not many seem to have survived. Larger than 1/25 scale, some boxes (not mine) list the scale as 1/17 or 1/18.

AMT '57 Chevy has two, for the rear. Avoid the Round 2 molded in blue version, as that one has all of the optional parts deleted. Pre-1969 issues won't have them either. There is a Round 2 AMT wheel pack (no tires included) that includes a set also.

The Ming Green promo seems to be by far the "more common" color. I have one also, in great shape. Somehow the metal clip for the hood got lost, but the hood did not. I took out the chassis, stuck in another clip, and put the chassis back. I think I have another Ming Green one in lesser condition, minus the hood. I haven't looked at the promo in a while (though it is in a display cabinet); I recall the engine as not having exhaust manifolds attached, but having a plated air cleaner which is unplated in the kit. One detail not on the kit body is the V8 emblem, which should be on each front fender. I'm glad it isn't there...building one as a replica of my 1:1 (six cylinder) '62 many years ago, I wouldn't have wanted to remove them and then try to use touch-up lacquer to paint the body as I did. I did remove the engraved references to the V8 from the chassis and underside of the hood, those areas were a pain to smooth off afterward. The plastic used in these kits was on the cheap side, and soak up lacquer primer like a sponge. The promo body might be better in that respect, it is probably Cycolac and not styrene. After buying my 1:1 in 1984 (still have it), I went on a bender buying unbuilt '62 kits. I ended up with five (plus some built ones), three of the unbuilt kits were $20 apiece, one was $25, another $15. Average exactly $20. I built one, sold one at NNL East a few years back for $100 leaving the three remaining ones paid for. I'd buy another promo, but it would have to be the "other" color, be in mint condition, and have the box which the green one didn't have when I got it.