Mark

The tooling for NASCAR kits newer than about 1995 is all overseas...no way anyone is going to get it out of China...

Let it sit in some soapy water for a while, then take an old toothbrush and scrub, scrub, scrub and scrub some more.

This kit was mentioned here a few weeks ago. Initially Salvino was going to do this year's car, but with the new one coming for next year it only made sense to switch to that one.

I think the new version of the Camaro was mentioned here some time back. The info on these probably just leaked out somewhere. The manufacturers tend to announce one quarter at a time lately. We'll probably see Revell's first quarter announcements at the "usual" time.

The T bucket body in the Tweedy Pie is not the parts pack body. Both it and the double kit were produced at the same time. The Revellion used the chassis from the Tony Nancy dragster, that chassis was never a parts pack. The parts pack Pontiac engine was neved used in any kit other than maybe one of the double kits. The Challenger I had four of them, and the Ford pickup had its own engine. The same patterns were used for both, and probably for the Challenger I as well. The Ford Cammer and Oldsmobile engines were never offered in parts packs. There were eight parts pack engines: two small-block Chevys, Pontiac, Cadillac, Chrysler, Buick, Ford 427 wedge, and the turbine. Two are now incorporated into kits, four were reissued about twenty years ago, leaving the Buick and turbine (hopefully) still in the tool crib.

If I remember right, the large scale T/A is mentioned in Thomas Graham's book about the history of Monogram. One of the parties involved with it mentioned regretting "having done the anemic Turbo version", which would mean that it was done first, and the tool later converted to the non-Turbo version later. The order of the two releases would seem to confirm this. It does seem that the Turbo versions of the various T/A kits didn't do well for Monogram. They also took their 1/24 scale 1980 Turbo kit and backdated it to the 1970 kit that exists today.

You might take a look at the current AMT Rabbit kit. It's a reissue of the ESCI 1/24 scale Rabbit, not the AMT 1/25 scale kit (why they didn't reissue that one, nobody knows).

Only one part is used from that roadster chassis (originally a push bar, used as a radius rod in the dragster). That leaves the entire roadster frame. The chassis accessories pack has more than enough leftover parts to finish it off.

Common sense and logic would point towards different types of power being used in different situations. But logic fails to take into account the powers that be, and their ability and willingness to put their collective thumb on the scale, handicapping, regulating, and crippling anything not in their favor, and dishing out breaks to the chosen solution (in which they, their families, and friends coincidentally have large investments...)

Didn't they make the '80 Turbo first, then backdate it? Or have they alternated reissues between the two versions?

For midsize cars other than GM, take a look at the Mopar pro street kits ('68 Roadrunner, '69 GTX, '70 Coronet). Those are also good for most Fifties cars also (which are pretty much the same size as most Sixties intermediates). The Coronet rear underbody is different from the RR/GTX (as I recall, the kickup over the rear axle is higher). For GM intermediates, the '67 Chevelle (AMT or Revell) is the way to go, as you might just be able to swap the entire chassis. If not, the rear half will probably be easier to join to the front half of whatever chassis is already under the car.

The Nova chassis is a pretty good fit under early Falcon bodies also. Ranchero might need a little extra overhang at the rear though.

Same rear tires it had first time around. Hopefully molded in black styrene, as opposed to the slightly flexible stuff, which made it difficult to cement them together and eliminate the seam between the halves.

The original issue kits were built on two wheelbases (depending on the car) and I'm pretty sure the rear suspension setup differed on the shorter cars. But you could probably build the shorter wheelbase chassis setup with the parts in one of the recent kits.

First funny car in the sixes, also Leroy Goldstein's all-time favorite race car!

The other bodies (Mustang, Barracuda, Chevelle, Camaro) were restored to stock after the Super Stocker issue, so unless they are revised or retooled, those won't reappear. Simple enough to grab a stock body (MPC, Revell, or whatever) and rework to fit the GTO/Monte Carlo chassis.

I'm surprised that the spare didn't gradually go flat while you were driving on it. When they are way underinflated, they will let more air out when you hit a bump or do any hard cornering. I check mine whenever checking the tires on the car, I figure I've already dragged the compressor outside anyway...

Not to mention the "footlongs" that came up short. A few years back, Subway tried to claim that they owned the term "footlong", and even the hot dog restaurants that had been using the term since the Thirties were all supposed to stop. Most of them just ignored Subway, but someone posted on social media a picture of a "footlong" that came in at about 10-1/2". Their legal campaign pretty much ran out of steam at that point...

The Atlantis Mooneyes dragster kit does include a near-complete roadster frame pack. The only part from that tree that is used in building the dragster is a push bar, which was altered to create a wishbone radius rod for the dragster. Scratch another push bar (the tow bar might work) or build a "street" chassis that needs no push bar. The leftover chassis equipment parts on the other tree will fall right in place. Among the leftovers will be the wider rear axle with cross spring, dropped front axle with cross spring, radius rods (including hairpins for the front), shock absorbers, steering box, and so on. I didn't buy duplicates of this kit because all of the other parts pack based kits will include that speed equipment pack with two sets of everything, and the dragsters will always use the narrow rear axle.

And, don't anybody tell him that, no matter how thin a coat of paint is laid on, that it won't be scale thickness...

And, it looks as though the "parts" and "decals" sub-categories have been eliminated and folded back into "automotive kits" along with promos. The overall listing numbers must be taking a nosedive...

He may have been referring to the Santa Esmeralda disco cover version...

The wiper sweep definitely differs on LHD versus RHD cars. I've got the same thing to change on a Modeler's Toyota C-HR kit. Just a hunch, but I'd bet the vast majority of XK-Es have those seams. There ought to be a website devoted to the cars and the detail changes. I wouldn't proceed without knowing enough about it. You might decide to put them back anyway.

I wouldn't use half round, I'd use square stock (available in smaller sizes), just a little sanding will knock the corners down. I have to do the same on a Revell Austin-Healey that someone else started. They molded the multiple-piece body together and sanded the raised seams off of the front fenders. Those are swage lines (body panels overlapped and crimped together) and would take a lot of metalwork to eliminate on the 1:1 car.

The new issue of MC has an article on scale shop equipment and tools, the lead photo of the built '60 Comet shows an AMT display brake drum in its natural habitat. Again, not the best nor the easiest to find, but they are an option should you have any.