Mark

Ideal Toys had a similar idea in the early Seventies, but it involved individual hand tools (saw, sander, router, and so on). They were good for making balsa sawdust, but didn't have enough grunt to do anything beyond that.

I remember looking one over at one of those new car shows back in the day. Easily the poorest quality of anything there, and that show may have included the short-lived VW Fox (window sticker on those had an added "body panel alignment charge". Those cars weren't built in Germany or even Mexico, they were built by the boys from Brazil. I heard about a DeLorean for sale. The owner only drove it from time to time. I'm here all week, folks...try the veal, and don't forget to tip your waitress!

I believe those Hawk streamlined kits were also issued with some different parts, as 1/25 scale "sports cars". The basic bodies were the same, but roofs and windshields (among other parts) were added to make them look different.

Getting the paint off of that metal, use household paint stripper as opposed to something you'd use on plastic. The finish is probably baked on, it might even be a powder coating. Once it's all removed and the metal is thoroughly cleaned of paint, paint remover, and anything else, the first coat of primer should be an etching primer.

Those bosses are definitely for keeping the model from shifting around in the package. If you don't see exposed fasteners, you'll have to put some light stress on the chassis to see if it flexes. Areas where it doesn't flex are likely where it's attached to something. The chassis might be attached to the interior with glue and not fasteners, though. You might see if any parts like the fuel tank or transmission pan are separate. There could be fasteners concealed under those, or under the exhaust pipes, or at the top of the inner fenders. The Welly diecast, likely being cheaper than an Ertl, probably has fewer screws and more rivets (peened over metal) and possibly snapped together parts than a more costly piece. You won't know until you dive into it. The ideal situation would be to track down a damaged version of the same item, that you wouldn't be afraid to break to work out how it is put together. It wouldn't need to be the exact same car, as the manufacturer probably uses a similar system in all of the cars they produce.

The MPC dirt track car kits will have them. If that seller has other parts listed, I'd bet he has other parts from any of those kits listed also.

The Revell Chevy van is the short one.

Not an electrician, but I'd bet on each outlet doing its own thing (GFI outlet will be protected, non-GFI outlet will not be).

Might the '73 Mustang have another, different engine too? I'm not too sure about the 429, but the Boss 351 was definitely gone by then. The two '71 versions are as good as they get, and I'd bet the '73 will be as good.

The Jeep pickup was done shortly after Revell was sold by one of its original owners. They started taking a lot of short cuts, like not including plated parts, around the same time.

The kit wheel covers look rough in the visible areas. The promo would have been done to GM's specifications (except the incorrect windshield trim on the coupe) so maybe the promos wheels represent what was originally intended.

Just found the convertible I'm piecing together. I have an incomplete chrome tree with one wheel cover; the back side of it is smoother than those used in the coupe kit. The optional wheels in the convertible are knockoff wheels, better executed than those in the '63 kits.

Those are from the AMT '65 coupe kit. I've got one, the wheel covers are still on the plated tree. My convertible is pieced together from multiple sources, so I can't verify what it should have. I've probably got a set of wheel covers for it, but those might be from another coupe. I haven't looked at it recently. As I said before, I don't think the MPC '65 has any stock wheel option. Their '66 has the knockoff wheels, as does their '67 (though the 1:1 '67 had a revised bolt-on wheel without the knockoff). Then again, their '66 and '67 still have the fuel injection stock engine.

AMT coupes and convertibles '63-'67 were separate but similar tooling. There were differences: coupes had the seats molded as part of the interior, convertibles had separate seats towards the end. The current '63 coupe kit is the original, updated through '67 and later revised back to '63. The current '63 convertible kit is based on the coupe, with a newer body that was tooled by Ertl. What remains of the old convertible kits is now the custom-only '68 kit.

Pretty sure they are AMT. I don't think the MPC '64 and '65 Corvette kits had stock wheels.

I would keep the Coronet piece, and just add front suspension detail and improve the rear suspension where you can. The Coronet part fits more tightly to the inside of the body than anything else that you can adapt.

That engine (or any part of the XR-6) never resurfaced in any other kit. AMT tooled slant sixes for the Deora and their (1965-67) Barracuda annual kits. The Barracuda engines had big axle holes. The Deora is more easily found, so I'd look at that first. Next up would be the Lindberg (now AMT) '64 Dodge and Plymouth slant six.

I'm one of the lucky ones. When I place an order with Spotlight Hobbies, the package gets from there to here in two days, without fail. With most of my eBay buys, the longest delay is up front, with the seller sticking a label on the package (starting the clock) two to three days before the package leaves their possession.

AMT '65 GTO. Notice the uneven spacing of the lug nuts. Those survived the Modified Stocker butchery and were restored to the GTO when Ertl rebuilt it back to stock. They remained in all issues of the original kit after that.

The Round 2 General Lee kits have the recessed rear window. All issues by MPC, Ertl, and RC2 have the flush rear glass.

You can usually find something positive in whatever you look at. Often, at shows or contests, there are entries that aren't necessarily up to the standard of the others, but the builder had a great idea for customizing or conversion that you maybe hadn't thought of.

Back when those kits were first issued, the original AMT company never referred to the Jimmy or Blazer kits by year. Only the annual pickups were given a year designation. For GMC those were only '71 and '72.

You're discussing Chevy Blazers, but showing GMC grilles.

I never really had anyone play games with me on eBay, but in the past couple of weeks I had two instances. 1: Buy it Now on a pack of respirator filters. Got refunded, seller claimed "there was a problem with my mailing address". Yeah, right. Lived in the same house 35 years, only shipping address I ever used with eBay. Next seller didn't have a problem, price was about the same. First guy maybe thought he was going to relist at a higher price? 2: made an offer on a book, seller never responded. I decided to buy at the original price, again get refunded a couple of days later. The seller supposedly figured out he hasn't got the item. Another one thinking he's going to get more? Don't think so; I bought a new copy for a few bucks more...

With any service oriented company, you've got to stick to the basics. Those that do will prosper while the others fade quickly. My mom bought a home in 1999. Right away she called in a heating company to check the furnace. When she asked if it should be replaced, the tech told her it was in good shape and still had about half it's useful life left. Ten years later, when a new one was needed, guess who got the job of replacing it? Same goes with any service related deal, even restaurants. They're hotly competitive around here (we've probably got more pizza/wing places per capita than anywhere else in the country) but a lot of long-timers are still around. The ones that don't cover the basics don't hang in for long.