Mark

If you want it, and can afford it, then it's worth it. You can spend $40 on a couple of bad dinners.

Even if you want that particular box art, one can be found for less. On the flip side, a lot of people bashed the Stooges kits as being just a marketing thing, but try finding the last one ('25 T double kit) now...

Don't overlook eBay for styrene sheets and shapes. There are a lot of sellers offering that stuff. I bought some .020" sheet for vacuum forming after the local place closed. I have since found out that they were bought out, the local place is further away but still within reach for me.

'41-'48 car frame is different from '35-'40 car (the latter includes the lighter '41 trucks). I would search out the engine and frame separately. The only kit with both the frame and Chevy engine is the first issue (only) of the Monogram '37 Ford sedan. And that one is 1/24 scale, and the transmission will be too new for what you want. The best stock frame is probably the one under the Revell '37 Ford pickup and panel van. '35 through '41 pickups used the same frame as '35 through '40 cars, with some different body mounts and holes drilled in different places. The front crossmember differs a bit from one frame to another also, but all of them put the spring and axle in the same place. There are tons of good small-block Chevy engines out there. I'd look for one with a transmission and/or speed equipment that is closest to what you want for the finished build.

It's a mystery why Revell made their kit with that canvas area where the "trunk lid" was. The first version they did was that fictional Baja Chopper kit pictured above. There was a Champion Spark Plugs sponsored version later, and the Valvoline version came after that. They tooled a new body for those versions, they could have done the one with the front end cap that has a more finished look to it.

To veer off the path a little bit, the Ed Roth issue pickup is basically the retooled street machine version with the stock rims, Olds Fiesta wheel covers, and small rear window cab. It has dual exhausts and the Thunderbird air filter, not the stock single exhaust and stock engine parts it really should have had. Roth only had the truck a few months, and didn't alter it other than paint. A later owner swapped a Packard V8 into it. The original 1962 issue could not be built 100% stock. It had dual exhausts, the T-Bird air filter, chromed/reversed wheels, and a custom headliner on the inside of the cab. No spare parts, only the two complete kits.

It's an oversimplification, but when it comes to lacquer based products, one-part spot putty, brush-on primer, and spray primer are all basically the same stuff...only different consistencies. I wouldn't tell anyone to thin out spot putty to make primer, or let primer thicken to make putty. It's just easier to use each product for its intended purpose.

I've never seen that red issue with the small window. I bought mine right when it came out, so mine does have the big window. I have two of the HOT ROD Magazine version kits, but they differ from one another. The later one is copyright 1994, still with HOT ROD branding. It predates the large rear window version so it still has mostly old tooling parts. It still has the small window. But it does have (then) newly tooled BBS style wheels that are way better than those in the earlier HOT ROD kit. Tires were changed to the big/little Goodyears that were also used later in the '32 Ford kits. The ones in my kit have lettering and sidewall detail. Though this second HOT ROD kit is from the "old" pre-update tooling, the custom parts and Pontiac engine are no longer included. Those parts have not been in any of the '56 pickups issued since then. I originally mentioned this one thinking it has the big window. No, it does not. Only that one (red) issue ever had the big window, and apparently not even all of them.

The "side trim" appears to be chrome tape. The numbers and lettering applied over it appear to be flat, not how it would be if applied over raised trim. Some of the cars at the early races had trim because NASCAR was a stickler for that stuff. They soon realized the trim pieces would start coming off the cars during the race, so they started backing off on having all of the trim.

The one in the Mercury is an early Sixties 413. It's adapted to a Ford/Mercury transmission. The adapter included provisions to move the starter to the passenger side, where it wouldn't hit the steering box.

The Revell kit was last out about twenty years ago, along with a couple other kits, in a "post-apocalyptic" series. It might have been called "Killer Bee" or something similar. The old Revell Beetle kits are so-so; the sedan versions don't even have inner door panels for the interior. I'd go for the resin conversion, and find a better Beetle kit to start with.

If you made the Gremlin big enough to match up with the Challenger, you'd end up with a two ton Gremlin. The new Challenger is way bigger than the old one, let alone a Gremlin.

Or, don't remove the plating, scrape the bigger join areas, and use epoxy on the small ones.

I would think the sheet is infused with chemicals that would contaminate the surface of the item being painted.

I got the e-mail this morning.

I'm not sure what would still be in primer on a finished car. Or maybe someone would want to build one in the process of being built? In any case, I'd go with the typical platinum gray. Black primer would wreak havoc with white and other light colors in the paint booth, red oxide primer would turn a white top coat into pink. Just guessing, but I'd go with gray.

People who are into the subject matter (like someone who owns a 1:1 car) will buy every replica in every scale. The train guys buy 1/32 scale kits too. The kits will be cheaper than the diecasts those guys usually buy. Between all of those people, the slot car guys, and anyone else who appreciates these kits, Atlantis will sell enough of them to make it worthwhile.

Nichels was the "in house" builder for the "factory" Plymouths from mid '63 through '69, except for the Petty cars (the Pettys built their own) and maybe one or two others. Don't use the Petty cars as reference, as they do differ in a few ways, the roll cage being among them. The kit is likely a compromise, with features from one or the other. Some of Petty's cars were white under the hood, but not because they were constructed from white cars. All of the "factory" cars were being built from bare bodies, even by then. Those were called "bodies in white" but that's just the terminology, they were unpainted or in primer as delivered. Some of the independent racers may have been rebuilding showroom cars, but not the factory guys.

If I remember right, someone did offer the stock Chrysler parts, as well as bodies cast as a single piece. I'd estimate that they sold enough parts to wear out one set of molds, which would be a yardstick of sorts as to whether or not something is worth doing.

If the ones pictured have that red background as part of the sheet, they're probably from one particular eBay seller who is in the habit of pirating other people's hard work and creative ability. Not only will they be copies of someone else's work, but they will be crude copies.

MPC's custom parts were hit and miss back then. You want u-g-l-y custom stuff, check out their '67 and '68 Firebirds. Thankfully, I have yet to see one built with those parts...

I even have an MPC '68 Camaro, it's fifteen miles away right now though.

'87 Thunderbird optional wheel.

Those wheels are MPC, they look like the ones in the '69 Firebird annual kit. They may have been in the Camaro too, as both kits shared a ton of parts.

Only things I can think of are... -the small bumps on the end cylinders, also the casting marks at the top of each horn. May as well get those if possible, it seems most of the guys who run these manifolds don't smooth them off. -check the angle on the outlet...do these dump straight down, or do they tuck in towards the engine block, like block hugger headers?