Snake45

I emailed Modelhaus to give them my updated credit card info. Got a nice response from Carol saying that they'd contact me about that closer to actual shipping time. I was among the last orders in (possibly THE last--July 6 2016) and she said they were hoping to have my stuff out "next spring" (2018). That's okay, not like I don't have six or eight dozen other projects to keep me busy till then!

Wow, what a clean, sharp build! Well done and model on!

You are coming dangerously close to infringing on my trademark character, Grumpy Old Modeler. "In my day, we had wire axles that ran right through the engine block, and WE LIKED IT!"

I think we all just had this conversation... Big respect for trying to keep the yellow surrounds on the hood scoops on that GSX. Almost nobody does that, or even tries. In fact, trying to figure out how to do that has kept me from finishing my painted, polished-out GSX for about 20 years now. Someday I'll figger out how to do it.

Michael's is same here. Not too much. Sometimes I go in there with a 50% off coupon and still can't find anything worth buying.

Oh, they're still up, I assure you. It's just that BotoPhucket won't let you see them anymore.

Here's my review of the new diecast New Ray '64 Chevy II “Nova SS.” Overall body shape and proportions are quite good. The only thing that catches my eye as “wrong” is the upper edge of the side winows. Photos of real first-gen Novas shows this line should be either dead-straight, or perhaps bow up very slightly. On the model, this line bows down very slightly (“sags”). This is fixable, but it would be a bit of work. I'll live with it for now, but if I ever go to the trouble of painting one of these, I'll fix it. The body has a chrome trim strip running down the middle of the sides (not chrome or tampo silver on the model). This trim is seen on some first-gen Novas, but I don't believe it's correct for a '64 SS. Removing it would, again, be a bit of work, so I'll live with it. As you can see, the body also includes the chrome trim strip along the body upper sides, done in tampo silver. There's more tampo silver around the rear wheel arches and down the rear fenders. I was able to find a very few pics of Novas with this type of chrome trim, but again I don't think it should be on a '64 SS. I'll remove that one way or another. It's not molded in, just tampoed on. Good. The grille and rear panel/taillight areas look pretty good. Fit of the grille could be better but I think it can be "massaged" into a better fit without too much trouble. The model comes in two colors, black and “burgundy,” which isn't really burgundy at all but sort of a darkish metallic red not unlike Model Master Stop Light Red. The '64 Chevrolet color chart shows no burgundy or maroon; I think maybe they were going for “Palomar Red,” a darkish metallic red. The finish on mine has a certain amount of orange peel but is pretty shiny. Again, I'm living with it for the moment. Engine? Don't ask. You don't want to know. The chassis is also a simple 1-piece deal. The wheels are on simple metal axles, not any kind of fancy “poseable” arrangement. Good. They can be replaced by equally simple 1/25 kit wheels and tires. I like this. I'll probably replace mine with Cragars and tires from the AMT '72 Nova. I'm no expert on earlly Nova interiors, but this one seems to have a certain amount of detail and doesn't seem to be “generic.” The door panels look nice, but there is no upholstery on the sides of the back seat. The interior would respond well to some detail painting if one were so inclined. Speaking of the doors, the door line gaps are fairly large. Again, fairly major work to fix, so I'll live with it. Oveall, I like the thing and think it's worth the price. Shape and apperance-wise, I'd rate it similar to the BEST of the Welly, Maisto, and even Johnny Lightning diecasts, and much better than many of those. It's not as good as an M2 or Greenlight or any of the high-line diecasts. I think it will respond well to some Tender Loving Silver Sharpie Care and other Snake-Fu. Oh, and though it's being advertised as 1/25, it's clearly 1/24, as can be seen in this comparison with an AMT 1/25 '65 AWB Nova body.

The TRU nerd told me they came packed with 1980 "Bandit" Trans Ams, which they still had several of and which were clearly 1/24, so I'm confident they're 1/24 (if you make sure you order the RIGHT one).

Remember that what works to strip paint from styrene might not be safe for resin, and vice versa. And there are all kinds of resin, so what works for one might damage another. If I were you, I'd experiment with a chemical on the inside of the body. I'd also be hesitant about letting resin sit/soak in anything. In your shoes, I might try lacquer thinner or nail polish remover in a wipe on/wipe off scheme--get it on and off before it can soak into the resin. Good luck and let us know what works.

Struck out at mine. The Toy Nerd working the aisle said they'd gotten at least one in, maybe three, but it/they were gone. I'll just order one online.

Another nice RandyB build! Your chromework is particularly eye-catching on this one.

It's worth noting that A/GS, AA/G, and AA/GS all seem to mean the same thing at different times--it's the top class, supercharged. And I've seen all three definitions on similar (real) cars. A/G, on the other hand, is the top class UNblown. (And the same holds for the B and C weight breaks. I don't think the supercharged classes went lower than CC.)

I bought the red and black ones in the crafts section at Walmart. Just this morning I got a blue one like that at Michaels for a particular model problem I need to solve. Sadly, I didn't think to look there for an orange one--I'm sure they'd have had it. Oh well, maybe next week.

I haven't yet found an orange/amber Sharpie that wasn't in a 12-color set. Would like to. Red Sharpie is great where a taillight is molded in clear, or in chrome, or on old JoHans where they seemed to be molded in clear and they dyed red, but too thin. The red Sharpie I'm using has a fine point on one end and a VERY fine point on the other--I like it a lot and have a black one the same way that also gets a lot of use.

I really like that Fairlane. Very clean and understated!

Thanks! I can't get that where I live, but I think I have a couple of little bottles of that color I could airbrush.

I said exactly what I meant.

I like that brown color! Been looking for something just like that. What is the paint?

I buy Silver Sharpies in 2-packs in the office/school supply section of Walmart. I use them for window trim, wheel opening trim, and some other types of trim--you'll soon figure out what they will and won't do. They are MUCH easier to use than any foil or silver paint. I bought a fine Molotow but haven't used it yet, so will let other comment on that. I recently bought a Pentel fine point silver gel pen at Hobby Lobby that has given me good results for small things like nameplates and emblems. Looking forward to working with it more. A plain old red Sharpie is good for things like taillights and rear side marker lights, if you need some nice transparent red.

I have a part--specifically, the big-block hood from the MPC '66 Corvette--that I could use a few copies of. Is there anyone here who would like to make me a few, and then offer copies for others? This part fits the AMT bodies with little or no modification so I imagine it would be a somewhat popular offering. Modelhaus used to offer these, but of course they're gone now (or going). I've seen other resincasters offering "65-66 big block hoods," but they're copies of the custom part from the AMT '66 roadster, and though they're sorta somewhat kinda the same shape, they're not really accurate at all. The MPC hood is much much better.

If I'm not mistaken, Super Clean has the same active ingredient as Easy Off--lye. So if Super Clean is bad for resin, Easy Off will be, too. Also, Easy Off doesn't need 6 to 10 hours to work. 15-20 minutes is sufficient. At that point, hit it with an old toothbrush, rinse, repeat as necessary. I've stripped (plastic) bodies in an hour or less this way (3 or 4 treatments). I've also had bodies with multiple coats of thick paint take 6 or 8 treatments.

Update: Got 'em yesterday. Only had time for a VERY quick look (@ 5 minutes) but here's my initial impressions: *It's 1/24, not 1/25. At least it's a little bigger than the AMT Twister funny car body. Not a deal-breaker for me, as I have a number of other 1/24 diecast (and even kit) Chevies it can live with. And, the wheel openings are kinda small on a 1G Nova (did they come with 13" wheels? I know some of them had 4-bolt wheels), so many 1/25 tire/wheel combos should fill them quite nicely. *Overall body shape is quite nice. Looks pretty accurate in shape and proportion, except for the roof might be slightly flatter than it should be (kind of like the Revell '65 Chevelle body), but overall, it really looks like a 1G Nova. I'd say it's AT LEAST as accurate as the '70 Elky I posted above--probably better. (From comments on other kits I've seen posted here, some modelers won't see the problem at all, others will find it disqualifying. I'll live with it.) *The hood on my burgundy one has noticeable orange peel. A little disappointing, but I can live with it (or just repaint it). *As someone above pointed out, the door gaps are noticeable. Dunno if this is fixable with some kind of adjustment. I've seen worse, but I've also seen lots better. I wish they'd made the doors non-opening. I'm also glad I bought one in black, where this shouldn't be quite so noticeable. So, overall, I'm not displeased. They seem to be well worth what I paid ($36 for the pair, including shipping), and I'd buy them again. I hope to have pictures and maybe a more detailed review up this weekend. RATING: Snakeworthy!

Looking good! Good color, good sit. What would really set it off is if you'd paint the mag spokes flat aluminum or flat gray or even satin black. All-chrome Torq-Thrusts always just look unfinished and toylike. Here, maybe this will illustrate what I mean:

I can do better than that. I've got a number of models I could build completely from leftover and castoff parts from other projects--including the paint. Total cost: $0.00. In fact, at least one of my beloved original annual AMT Sting Ray projects will be built up from a bunch of leftover and glue bomb parts most modelers would consider unfit for use, including the body. The one I'm thinking of will be a road racer, but I'm pretty sure I can get a full custom together the same way. ETA: Come to think of it, I've already beat the $12 barrier, too, and recently. Last winter I bought this original annual AMT '67 Vette at the local toy show for the grand sum of $8.00. The paint was tolerable, so all I did was disassemble it, clean it up, do all the chrome trim in Silver Sharpie, repaint the interior Krylon Satin Black, and swap out the wheels and tires with goodies from the parts box. It's not perfect but it sure looks better than $8 sitting on my shelf.

Gas designations aren't that hard. It's based on cubic inches vs weight. Big engine/small car? Most likely A/G. Small block in something like a '55 Chevy? Could be B, C, or D/G depending on how many cubes and how much the car has been lightened. Make a weight guess, do the math, check the rulebook. It ain't rocket surgery.