Snake45

I wonder why the Universe hates '65 Chevelle A-pillars so. I have at least three of these bodies with missing or damaged left side A-pillars.

There was no pro stock back in those days, and when Pro Stock was born in 1970, the rules mandated bodies two years old or newer, so there was never a true "Pro Stock" '66 Mustang. HOWEVER.... In the summer of '69, there was a thriving "run whatcha brung" circuit going on with Jenkins, Sox & Martin, Landy, and many others. Don Nicholson was running an old '65 A/FX car on that circuit, and there was a VERY sharp looking car called BOWANI II by Sam Auxier, Jr. on the same circuit (I saw him beat Jenkins for the Ultra Stock Eliminator title at Cecil County in 1969). I for one would LOVE to see decals become available for both, and would happily and eagerly build both!

Got mine last week, but only just now got a chance to give it a good look. The original annual came with the GT badges on the front fender and a GT gas cap molded in. The new one has no emblems, and a separate chrome GT gas cap. With the roof vents being molded separately, it's easy to imagine that they'll be reissuing this one in several different versions in years to come--'65 fastback, '65 and '66 Shelby GT350s, and so forth. This is a GOOD thing. The original annual had some very cool custom parts included, such as front valences, a Shelby-ish grille, and '65 T-Bird taillights. I miss these. Also miss the original American mags. There's a separate set of four American-ish wheels that aren't quite as good as the originals, but still very much appreciated, as are the "styled steel" factory wheels which weren't there before. I'm not a huge fan of the old small-diameter MPC-type slicks, but I imagine I'll eventually find some sort of use for them. I also miss the original solid-vinyl Firestone Supremes (they're great for drag or Street Freak front tires) but the TWO full sets of new tires--redlines and Firestone Wide Ovals--kinda makes up for it. Also much appreciated are the TWO complete sets of clear headlight lenses--I never have enough of these and am always looking for some, so, thanks R2! ? I hope future releases will bring us a Thunderbolt-type "teardrop" hood and the '65 GT350R front valence, but there's plenty here to keep me busy till those appear. Overall rating: VERY MOST WAY SNAKEWORTHY! Well done and thanks again, R2!

One more thing: You should probably get on the mailing list of Diecast Models Wholesale. Most of my diecast purchases are spur-of-the-moment, opportunistic things, but when I go looking for something I can't find locally, I shop with DMW. They stock just about everything available in all scales and all price ranges and have a flat $10 shipping rate for any purchase. And they ship FAST and with no problems. I've ordered from them maybe a half dozen times or a few more over the years and they've never done me wrong. It's a rare day I don't get an email from them with new arrivals and closeouts/sales. These are always interesting to look at--it's how I found out about the brand-new Jada '67 El Camino that I'm so fond of. Check 'em out here: https://www.diecastmodelswholesale.com/

I've had good luck with the lower-end "kits" from Hobby Lobby, especially priced at 40% off. Have done several of them with no problems. OTOH, I got a Testor/Lincoln Mint '69 GTO Judge kit that turned out to be a nightmare. LOTS of pieces, LOTS of little screws of several different types and the instructions were of NO help in determining which screws went where. I spent an entire morning with the thing--which would have been more than enough time to assemble any of the other kits I've done--and didn't make much progress at all with it. It's back in the box now--I have no plans to get back to it anytime soon. IIRC, Cobraman here managed to get one together, so it CAN be done--just not by someone with my debilitating ADD.

Mine started at the local gas station, which had a display of cheap ($10 or under) 1/24 diecasts I now know to be Maistos and Motor Maxes. Some of my first were the '69 Dodge Superbee 440+6, '69 GTO Judge, '70 Boss Mustang, and '65 Chevelle pro street. My main interest is in '60s-'70s American musclecars, but I've expanded my interest to sports cars of all ages and nationalities, as long as they're cool looking. Wasn't that long ago that Rite Aid drugstores had a rack of Wellys (your choice, $10) that was worth a visit every two weeks to see what was new and I seldom left empty-handed. I had access to about five Ride-Aids over three states but sadly a couple years ago Most of the Rite-Aids became Walgreens and they seldom have diecasts at all anymore, much less a selection that's worth a special trip. There is still one Rite-Aid in the next state that's just up the street from our local monthly Toy Show, so I usually stop in there on toy show day, but it's only a 50-50 shot on finding anything I want these days, also they're up to about $13 now I think. I've bought quite a few Motor Maxes and some Jadas at Walmart, always under $20. Have also scored quite a few at that toy show, many used in the $5-$10 range. The only high-end "Mint" cars I have are a '67 Vette roadster and a '68 El Camino, both bought at the toy show for $25 or so.

An oldie from back in the day: What's unusual about Michael Jackson's driver's license? "Age," "Sex," and "Race" are all blank.

1. Scale: I'm only interested in 1/24 or something darn close to it. 1/25 is even better. I'm cool with down to about 1/27, but any larger than 1/24 and I'm not interested. 2. Accuracy: Overall shape accuracy is key. I'm not that hung up on details. 3. Price: I don't like to pay more than about $30 for a diecast, new or used. A great many of my diecasts (I'm over 100 now) I've paid $10-$15 for. 4. Brands: As Gramps said, Welly, Maisto, Motor Max, and First Gear have all done nice stuff at reasonable prices, and I think he forgot Burago or bbrago. Oh, M2 and Greenlight also do some darn fine stuff in this price range. As he said, Jada is hit or miss. Most of their stuff is oversized and "cartoony," but every now and then they hit one out of the part like their new '67 El Camino. If you like their subject matter and being slightly "large" doesn't bother you, they're a good value and available at many Walmarts. I like the Franklin and Danbury Mint stuff but only if I can find it used in my price range. 5. Modify? Absolutely! I don't consider a diecast "mine" until I've made it fit to sit on the shelf with my other models, and I'm semi-famous for this process, which is known as "Snake-Fu." This usually involves a few hours of detailing stuff like grilles, wheels/tires, headlights/taillights, chrome trim, removing janky tampo graphics, and so forth. Sometimes I'll polish the factory paint and once in a very great while, I'll repaint one. Remember, this is a hobby and the whole idea is to have FUN with it! There's no wrong way to do it if you're having FUN and enjoying yourself. ?

That's a nice-looking model. I'll have to keep my eye out for one at a good price. Thanks for sharing it!

I LOVE stuff like this! GREAT job and model on! ?

That's pretty sharp--you did a nice job with it. Well done and model on! ?

Finally finished my Snake-Fu of the Elky. You can see the finished lovely here:

For about 20 years now I've wanted to kitbash the Revell '67 Chevelle with their '66 El Camino to get a '67 El Camino. Being basically lazy, I've never gotten around to it. Couple months ago I see that Jada is coming out with a “Fast & Furious” '67 Elky, and I figgered the reasonable price was worth a gamble. You can read my out-of-box review of the thing here, where I discuss size, scale, shape accuracy, overall look, and so forth: Didn't take but some first-degree Snake-Fu to get it up to my shelfworthy standards. Sanded the tire treads, painted white behind the headlights and front turn signals, black-detailed the grille, and so forth. The black-spoked wheels didn't look bad, but just for a little variety I painted the spokes a dark steel acrylic. Also “chromed” the rear wheel rims with my beloved Deco-Color Premium silver leaf marker, which looks about 95% as good as Molotow at 1/3 the price, dries much faster, and is much more durable. Worst part of the whole job turned out to be touching up the “chrome” bed and window trim with Silver Sharpie. Oh, almost forgot, I “thinned down” the chrome vent window frames by overpainting about half of their thickness with flat black. “Not fun but it had to be done.” This is only my second completed model since my stroke almost exactly one year ago. I really dig the wheels/tires, stance, and overall look of the thing. It just might be my all-time favorite diecast—at least today. Thanks for looking, and, as always, comments welcome.

Those were great! I take back all the bad things I've ever said about Magnante being a hack modeler. Well, he CAN be a hack modeler, but there's a LOT more to him than that. He obviously has a side that CAN do darn fine work if the mood strikes him, and he knows his stuff! And it's not at all easy to build a "what-if" build that really looks like it COULD have been a real car. Well done and model on, Steve Magnante! ?

Well played, old friend!

Fabulous! I'll never be able to afford one of these so thanks for sharing it with us!

"It's like RAY-EEE-AIN, on your wedding day...."

Got an email last night that my '68 GTOs had been shipped. Should have them by the end of the week.

BEAUTIFUL color on a '66 Mustang! I did the HT kit in that a long time ago, and it still looks great! I also have an M2 1/24 diecast fastback in that color; it looks great too.