Snake45

I'm hearin' Bob Seger singing that in an Eddie Murphy movie for some reason....

I place in nomination the name of Tim Boyd!

I'll happily assemble and paint whatever cockpit comes in the kit box but my days of spending ANY extra time, money, or effort in cockpit (or wheel well) detailing are over. There are other areas of a model airplane that are more important to me. For example, I'll take whatever time is necessary to blend the windscreen into the fuselage on something like an F-86, or sand and polish off inaccurate or two-thick canopy frames--things like that. I've also been known to almost completely re-engineer a whole kit if necessary to get the right dihedral on the wings.

I'm not a fan of junkers or beaters but for some reason I like this one!

All of the Monogram 1/48 kits tooled from about 1967 on--and I believe the P-40 falls into this category--have at least the basics of cockpits. The '83 reissue of your Corsair even had a usable one added. There's a LOT to rag on that kit about, and the cockpit is WAY down the list. And truth to tell, I ain't a big cockpit guy. I've been known to assemble model airplanes with literal black holes for cockpits. They look great on the shelf from two feet out. And I'm not planning to shrink myself down, crawl in there, sit in the seat, and make airplane noises.

That one particular one, yes I did, thanks for your concern. I thought it was attractive. And I will, hopefully, build the model inside (or at least use it for parts on other projects). It ain't like I bought a kit of a car I didn't like. And I had a 40% off coupon on it. So there.

I've always thought the AMT '66 boxes were the finest ever. For whatever reason, I just like them. I've got maybe a half-dozen of the originals, and I like R2's retro tributes to them.

I'm planning to do that very thing myself, after I build a '67 El Camino, using the leftover pieces. I have the Lindberg kit but haven't built it and have never noticed the problems you mentioned (but now I will). Shortly after it came out, I ran across a nice and CHEAP diecast that filled that slot on my shelf with only a couple hours of detail work.

I bought the R2 issue of the '66 Mustang just for the retro box. I already had five or six copies of that kit in the pile, so the box was the deciding factor.

I'm not an expert on P-40s, especially the early ones, but I can tell you that there are many aircraft modelers who consider this the most accurate 1/48 early P-40 kit available, even after all these years.

Wow, I really like that green '55 and the AWB maroon '57. Beautiful!

I've built the (now) Revell (ex-Monogram) 1/24, have several copies of the AMT 1/25 in the pile, and have the newer Revell 1/25 snapper on the bench as we speak. The Revell snapper has the most accurately shaped body of the three, except for the hood CI bulge, which is a little undersized. It's definitely my favorite of the three, but then I'm fine with "cubside" (no engine) style.

Zep, Stairway.

No, it was Lemans Blue. VIN 641266 (#55) Ordering Dealer: Whit Chevrolet, Fayetteville, Arkansas Selling Dealer: Whit Chevrolet, Fayetteville, Arkansas 5M22 Special 4-Speed Transmission 5A01 Soft-Ray Tinted Glass 5C08 Vinyl Top 5D55 Center Console 5D80 Air Spoiler Equipment 5N40 Power Steering 5U17 Special Instrumentation 5U63 AM Pushbutton Radio 5U80 Rear Seat Speaker 5Z22 Rally Sport Equipment 5Z23 Special Interior Group 5727 White Vinyl Trim 5924 71-71 LeMans Blue

Here's the two of these I've built--and rebuilt. This is either the one I built as a kid, or in the late '70s, I don't remember which one is which (the other one is the one I'm working on now). Rebuilt it in the late '80s or early '90s. This one is the 1983 issue which introduced the 2-piece wheels and the full cockpit. I built this one when it was first (re)issued, but at that time I didn't believe MM Glossy Sea Blue was accurate and painted it with another shade of blue. Since then I decided that MM GSB IS accurate, so I stripped it, repainted it MM GSB to match the rest of my Corsairs and other USN builds, and applied new decals. The decals are from a different kit (Heller, I think maybe) but they're the same markings as in the 1983 Mono kit.

That combo still works to this day, doesn't it?

I believe the full history including selling dealer of every one of the 69 ZL-1s is known and documented. I think I have the stuff around here somewhere. I don't believe any ZL-1s were converted to RS, but two were built that way at the factory (IIRC, one silver, one Lemans Blue).

I never wore glassed until just a few years ago, but about 20 years ago I got an Optivisor for superdetail work. It takes a little getting used to. A few years ago I had to start using reading glasses for all modeling work. Now I have to use the Optivisor for almost ALL modeling. It's presbyopia (I think it's called). As you get older, it's harder to focus on things close up. Still got good distance vision, and can still pass my driver test with no glasses. All part of God's Great Plan, I suppose.

On the one I'm currently "restoring" (more like completely rebuilding), I ended up filling the hinge holes with sheet styrene and gluing the outer wings solid, in the correct position.

Yenkos, also being COPO 9737s, were all built with 15x7 Rally Wheels (same as standard on '69 Z/28s). Yenko swapped the wheels out for Atlas mags on many (though not all) of them. I've also seen pics of them in fairly new condition with Cragars and Keystones.

Didn't say I thought they would. I said IF they did.... (Thus endeth today's Reading Comprehension Lesson.)

Refugee, the Thomas Petty Orchestra.

If R2 repops it in thier faux-66 retro series boxes, I will HAVE to buy one. (The AMT '66s were the finest model car boxes ever, IMHO.)

A good trick is to apply them to clear decal, clear-coat, then cut out and use like any other decal.

I'll try to get the '67 posted sometime soon.