SfanGoch

$17K cars are the ones that make me feel like the driver figures found in some open cockpit slot cars - cramped. Also, no rear leg room for anyone more than 4'7" tall and model car quality interior appointments. I like a hood long enough to accommodate a squadron of F-14s, trunk space I can rent out to a family of six, comfortable, roomy seating for the same number in the passenger compartment and enough headspace to wear a stovepipe hat without scraping the headliner. Something like a 1967 Coupe De Ville.

You did mention in the original post that those particular decals were 20 years old. Ageing affects everything in one way or another. Have you taken a look at Tina "Ginger Grant" Louise lately?

"Affordable" is a relative term. The new Opel GT is to be built on the existing Astra hatchback platform. That car sells for around 16,000 Euros, or $17458.68 in real money.

Ran across this a little while ago: Could Opel’s baby Corvette return after a 45-year hiatus? I always liked the GT, a pretty cool looking car.

Congratulations, Full Name: Jim! As a parting gift, you've been awarded the Faux Platinum Most Excellent, Exalted and Preferred Customer Discount Card, good at participating Earl Scheib locations in Boston Corner, NY. All taxes, service fees and additional requisite gratuities are the sole responsibility of the cardholder. This offer excludes body work and repaints requiring more than one coat. Void where prohibited by law.

UV radiation is a component of sunlight; but, I don't think it'd be a good idea to leave a built model sitting in direct sunlight for any extended period of time. I dunno.....maybe if you got a No! No! Pro laying around, that might work. I originally was going to bring up the quality of the items used to manufacture decals when I commented that all decals aren't created equally. Art took care of that.

All decals aren't created equally, or something to that effect. I dug through my decals and ran across a Scale-Master set which was included with the 1980'ish Hasegawa 1142 S-3A Viking. The entire sheet, including the portions sans carrier film, was yellowed. I decided to run an unscientific test. I cut out identical tail codes with plenty o'yellowed clear film visible. Both were soaked in lukewarm water. The first one was applied to a piece of plain white styrene without any other preparation. The second was applied to another piece of styrene that was surface prepped with some Microscale Micro Set. After both were allowed to dry, the first decal still had a noticeable yellow tint under and around the decal. The second, prepped with Micro Set, was crystal clear where it was supposed to be. The Micro Set removed the discoloration completely. I also tested this out with ancient discolored decals from an original 1962-issue Hawk Lockheed U-2 with the same results. The results should be identical with the decals Drew used.

It sure would. The yellowing is caused by the glue ageing and breaking down. If you examine old decals, it only occurs underneath the decals themselves, not the surrounding paper. The water activated glue is similar to what was once used on lick n' stick postage stamps. My late Dad was an avid philatelist and he had old mint sheets where the glue side was yellowed from age and cracked from shrinkage. This would also cause the decal carrier film to become brittle and break up. This is why I suggested printing a copy on fresh decal paper as an alternative. Yeah, intellectual property, copyright, yadda, yadda, yadda.....we all know things like this are done all the time. As long as what you're reproducing has been unavailable for an extremely long time and it's for your own personal consumption, I don't see the harm in it. Resin guys have been doing it for years.

A light coat or two sprayed on is sufficient to cover, seal and prevent the older decals from disintegrating. You don't want to apply a heavy coat of either clear acrylic spray or Microscale Decal Film. You'll only end up with thick decals which would be noticeable after application onto the model surface.

Another method is to scan and print a copy of the older decals onto a new sheet of clear decal paper, just in case. If the decals don't contain white in the design, you're good to go. Otherwise, you'll have clear carrier film where the white would normally be. That wouldn't be a problem if the surface to which it's to be applied is white, though.

I have a giant collection of 40+ year old Microscale decal sheets, 30 y.o. Super Scale sheets and piles of old car kit sheets. I store all of them in gallon-sized Zip-Lock bags. Aside from a couple few decal sets for assorted Hawk kits, I haven't experienced any yellowing or other physical deterioration. One method to get rid of the yellowing is to tape the affected decal sheet onto a window which faces sunlight. Leave it exposed to the sunlight for a couple of days and the yellowing will be bleached away by UV radiation. It only affects the clear parts of the film and the solid colors remain, well, remain colorfully solid. This was something I picked up years ago in a hobby mag and, strange as it seems, it works. Like Nick suggested, spray some light coats of clear coat (Krylon Clear Acrylic works well) or get some Microscale Liquid Decal Film. It brushes on and preserves old decals. Using either will require you to cut the decals off and trim the excess film around each individually, though. Small price to pay if you really need them.

The tires/wheels are 2 piece styrene split down the centerline. You can check out the instructions: TERACRUZER WITH MACE MISSILE This would look nice parked next to the Atomic Cannon.

Well, aren't all of AMT's automotive kit line, excluding more contemporary vehicles, produced from comparatively "old" toolings? Aren't all of the reissues which haven't, until their recent resurrections, seen light of day for "x" number of years produced from "old" toolings? Your honor, the answer to both of those questions is an absolute, unequivocal, indisputable "YES!" Cynical? Not at this moment. More like sarcastic. Yes, that's right. "Executive Lounge". Also known as the men's room. Why, I'm willing to bet that even RC 2 had johns with indoor plumbing located in the plant. With ashtrays next to the wash basins yet.

I understand that R2's, and other manufacturers', business is producing model kits and other hobby items. I also feel that redesigning packaging for the umpteenth time for items that are re-released on what seems like a regular rotation is a waste of resources. That's my opinion. We already know what the '58 Impala looks like, what parts will be in the box, etc. Do we really need another box with different graphics to sell the same kit? There are what, something like ten box designs for the 1957 Ford? Redirect the resources toward getting tooling inventoried, inspected and, if feasible, repaired. Personally, I'm not the the type of model kit buyer who sits on the edge of my seat waiting for the next new and exciting box art for a nineteen-fixty-eleventy-four Formerchrycheviac Bulgemobile Most Excellent Classic Supreme Hardtvertible Broughdan which has been recycled seventy six times before. It's still the same old kit I bought before and I'd buy again; so, I'm okay with any of the older box designs. Re the Meyers Manx, how do you know if they didn't, in fact, trip over the tooling when they walked in? For all you know, that's exactly how they came across it. It could've been used as a doorstop by the previous owners. Or, quite possibly, as an ashtray in the Executive Lounge.

If, by choices, you mean the sidebar comments, alright then. i didn't bother checking back to the original post.

There really isn't a tactful way to do it. You're gonna look like a piker no matter how you go about it.

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Color Version? I hate when "they" do that to pseudo-classics. Is AMT-978 the original B&W version?

Obviously, if the program was cancelled and not reinstituted, it wasn't a priority at any level back then and still isn't. I'd be hard pressed to think of something that would be more important, though. There must be another magical revenue generating angle to model kit production which we aren't privy to.

No release of this kit had the option of a wire front axle. You can check out four sets of instructions covering as many releases and they only show poseable steering

Thanks for posting the link, Brett. That answers my question.

Thanks for the explanation, Casey. I understand that R2 won't tip its hand until it's feasible to announce any reissues/releases. I should have been more specific. What I meant to write was "early '60s - mid'70s" kits. I meant 1962/63 Chevy II Nova hardtops and wagons, Buick Specials, Tempests and other like kits from the same period. I could be wrong; but, I don't believe that any of those particular molds were retooled or altered after their initial releases. I'm not a fan of custom cars and prefer to build factory stock vehicles, which is why I'd be interested in seeing reissued bone stock kits from that era.

Just a thought: Does R2 have the molds/toolings for all or most of the original AMT releases? If it does, why not reissue the so called "holy grail" kits? I'm referring to early-mid 70s GMs and Fords; and, I'm sure you guys know which ones you'd want and I believe they would sell well. I know I'd like to see Invictas, Chevy IIs, Skylarks, Bonnies and Tempests on my workbench without shelling out insane bucks. Or, would doing so provoke the hoarders, collectors and rare kit sellers into storming my house with torches and pitchforks for even thinking about that?

The age of a kit really isn't an issue. I've got a pile of Hawk kits which are older than me and they build up just dandy. The key word is "kit". I buy kits on evilBay. What I won't buy are ancient, painted built-up models. The chemicals in strippers and other products used by us to remove old paint can and do react adversely with plastics, both new and more so with old, to some extent. The quality of styrene also comes into play here. I don't like the idea of paying 10-40 bucks for a crapped out, badly painted glue bomb that might break apart in the wrong places after treatment in a solvent. If I really need a part(s) for a specific kit, I'd rather buy a complete, unbuilt duplicate kit and cast the required piece(s). But, that's me. Your mileage may vary.