Mark

Someone probably got, or will soon get, a bonus, raise, or promotion because the trucks transporting everything around are all closer to capacity.

CJ-5. MPC never made a CJ-7.

With tubing or rod (bar) stock, sometimes you can't necessarily get the exact scale size that you want. Sometimes the scale size falls between two readily available sizes. When that happens, I'll take the smaller size, my thinking is that whatever paint is applied will be thicker than scale, especially if applied with a brush. Sometimes details or scratchbuilt items end up looking "overbuilt": oversize plug wires, too-large exhaust and header tubing, and "sheet aluminum" that's nearly as thick as the 1:1 item it's supposed to represent. A lot of things can't be done in exact scale (parts would end up being too weak to handle) but I'll try to use the smallest/thinnest material that can be easily handled and has enough strength to support the finished model when necessary.

Styrene, got tons of the stuff. Sheet material bought off the scrap pile at a (now closed) plastics company, $.75/lb. Thicknesses range from .040" to about 1/8". Sheets are huge, much bigger than the packaged hobby stuff. I bought a couple of 4' x 8' sheets of .020" and cut them into sheets sized to fit my vacuum forming machine. Also have a pile of .020" scraps (cutoffs from when I had some parts vacuformed in volume). I also save the odd packaging insert, if it is styrene and the shape(s) look interesting. For other thicknesses, I buy as needed, and have leftover from that. For rod, tube, and strip, I bit the bullet and bought a bunch of packages rather than chase to the LHS ten or twelve miles away every time I decide I need something. To start, decide what you want to build, scale it down, and get the needed materials in those sizes. Your roll cages will probably be one diameter, frame rails will be whatever (whether round tube, or rectangular). Then get additional materials as needed. You'll build a stockpile soon enough. You don't want to spend a ton of money on stuff you will never use. But, if an assortment of materials turns up second-hand (toy show, IPMS meet, estate sale, flea market, whatever) and you can pick that stuff up for pennies on the dollar compared to original price, go for it.

Good thing I've got the Cox shelf version then! It's cleanly assembled, just don't have the heart to tear into it. Too bad Monogram didn't do one, they might have reissued it as an SSP item.

The early Roadrunner would be neat too. One of my cousins put together a '68 from a theft recovery car. It was only about a year old. Whoever stole it burned the interior and that wrecked the roof. He also got a wrecked GTX for the roof and interior. Just the base, as advertised Runner, with the 383/four speed combo would be neat.

The Cougar bumper/grille does look like MPC. The GMC bumper/grille is from an AMT pickup. The Jimmy has two separate parts, plus clear headlamp lenses.

Prepping resin always includes cleaning it. This you do BEFORE anything else. If you sand not yet cleaned resin, you are likely grinding mold release into the part. Sanding will vary depending of course on the quality of the part. The best items will only need as much cleanup as regular kit parts. Resin will take any paint that the plastic can, often the plastic parts will need more treatment to take some lacquers than the resin will. I would prep/prime everything in the same way, to lessen the likelihood of a color mismatch. Regular plastic cement won't work on resin. You're left with CA and epoxy.

Two-seater AMX, preferably a '70. I looked at a couple in the early Eighties, those particular ones were on the rough side (floor pan rust) so I passed. A guy I knew back then (now deceased) owned an AMC dealership, he told me certain trim pieces were impossible to find even then. One occasionally comes up, but I've got my Fairlane and really don't want to own three vehicles again. I would consider breaking that rule if the right AMC Spirit GT or Spirit AMX came along, though...

The vent panes in the AMT '67 are molded as units, frame and glass together, in clear plastic.

Disparity exists in other areas, too...there is only a stairway to heaven, but a highway to hell...

I'll stick to Modelhaus (maybe something no longer made). The whitewall inserts look like castings, and the uniformity between the fronts and rears would lead me to believe all are from one source. The Revell Rat Rod tires look more like radials to me (these square-shouldered tires are bias-ply), and I recall the Revell inserts being deeper, and "stepped" around the center hole.

What happened to "neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night, shall keep us from our appointed rounds..."?

The Monogram '55 (both pickup and panel) look a bit "stiff" to me, except the front edge of the hood which appears to have too much curvature. It's one of their earlier attempts at returning to cars that weren't show rods or dragsters, so they get a little slack on them.

The old Revell '56 has some proportion issues (roof seems to be too narrow, among other things) and takes a lot of patience to build, though when you do finish one it is quite an accomplishment. The AMT kit is by far the easier of the two to build.

You don't often see built ones in magazines of that era. I have three or four of them, none were painted. I'd bet that, in spite of the accessories that were included to make them more appealing to older builders, most were built by kids and were bought at discount or closeout. There were such places back then...the first AMT kit I remember having was a '62 Falcon, bought in 1966. I remember that surplus store having those window box Falcon and Comet kits stacked on the floor. Auto World also had "hard to get" older AMT kits in their ads well into the late Sixties.

The long-serving AMT '56 Ford kit includes the "crown" trim as an option. It's due for a reissue early next year, if you can't find one in the meantime.

Parts of the Buick wagon, specifically the trailer and display engine, were reused in the original Nova wagon kit. The parts are moved around, and a bunch of Chrysler engine parts are plated in the Nova but not in the Buick. The Buick wagon was not reworked into the Nova, though. Totally different cars, no sheet metal, glass, or chassis parts from one would come anywhere near to fitting the other.

The V6 is somewhat based on the aluminum V8. GM had a lot of problems with the aluminum engine blocks, so they cooked up the V6 as an alternative. You don't often see those Buick wagon kits mint in box. I've got an annual Nova wagon, but the Buicks I have were all built when I got them. I don't think they set the world on fire sales-wise back then, I'd suspect the tool was pillaged to get the accessories for the Nova leaving the wagon itself for the scrap heap. If it had been kept, I'd suspect it would have been seen again as a Craftsman series kit, or in the Flower Power series later in the Sixties.

Those Cragar wheels have long stalks molded onto their back sides. Trimming those would pull the wheels/tires under the fenders, and make everything look a bunch better. Or swap wheels to something else, like steelies with Ford hubcaps, or early V8 wires.

Not positive, but I believe the cast iron V6 was first available in '62.

If you are in business to sell stuff, would you start telling people you don't know when it will be available? It's not a life or death thing, it'll get here when it gets here.

Round 2 has a stock VW Beetle kit...the Polar Lights snapper. AMT never did one on 1/25, though I think they did do a 1/43 scale one.

They might be skipping these until there is some certainty about when the stuff will actually be unloaded...

Pinto was on my short list when I bought my first new car. I liked the wagon, and Ford was offering the panel version without the stripe packages (and maybe even the portholes). That '79 restyle absolutely killed it for me, boy was that front end ugly...