garagepunk66

The tooling inserts were made from Beryllium-Copper alloy. Beryllium is a semi-precious metal and has considerable scrap value. No Buicks were made from them, but they certainly were melted down....

I never knew that the Cutlass was in the HSO series as well.

Not a terribly common thing to see, but basically the magneto base bolted to a special bevel gear drive unit that the fuel pump also bolted to. In the case of the SWC Swindler II, it was needed because the stock 394 water pump and timing cover were retained. Most of the later gas class cars used aftermarket timing covers with the provision for driving the fuel pump and used Jabsco electric marine bilge pumps to circulate the coolant

The Jo-Han block and heads are a 385 series, and the Boss 429 specific parts are quite nice. The SOHC attaching parrts were a compromise as I am sure the small, cash-strapped company could not afford a separate set of engine inserts for the Maverick/Comet tooling

A good number of the Otaki kits of that era list scale as 1/28 on the box. I would presume the Capri is also

I am happy to have this kit available again despite it's obvious shortcomings. It's great raw material to start with although I probably would never consider using the existing chassis and engine. I also feel that it is one of the better representations of the sedan roofline. It has the appropriate amount of crown in the windshield header area, whereas I feel that the AMT 55 sedan is too flat there, giving the roof a wedge shape in profile

Steve, I would agree. The grille looks to be of correct size and proportion. I think what might be throwing folks off is that filler panel below the grille that seems to be molded as a part of it (should be body color)

The Cooper Monaco (AKA King Cobra) was a tube framed car, very different in construction than the steel monocoque tub of the GT-40 cars.

Little known fact. KS Pittman drove for Fred Stone in this car before Doug Cook came on board. Has anyone made decals to reflect that livery?

Awesome build on this old chesnut. It's always nice to see ideas for retrofitting an older kit like this. Dusty Mojave, have you gone to the FIA website to look up the homologation documents pertaining to the Barracuda? That might provide some insight. All that stuff is online and downloadable there. I'm not really sure when the rules were changed to require sealed panels between the fuel tank and passenger compartment but you can bet when those rules went into effect those panels would not have been used any more.

The McLaren Documentary is essential watching for fans of the Can Am. I'm also reading "The Last Season" McLaren biography by Jeanne Beeching. Very good also. As far as Revell issuing "found" stock of the Corvette GS kit trees, how in the world did they wrangle the legalese behind that? Or was it part of a bankruptcy liquidation?

Just wondering aloud if the tooling is still around and if we may ever see it again released by someone else. It's a bear to build but it's the only game in town on the subject matter, and arguably the best 1/24 or 1/25 Can Am kit ever.

Bill, in effect, they are inside out, yes; but because the wheels are spindle mounted on the 22jr roadster, they were actually made that way. Almost all of the Halibrand wheel patterns created castings that could be machined either way to create any combination of offset desired. The smooth wheels on the Orange Crate do have the 8 ribs shown here on the back side. The 17 or 18 inch wheels on the Thompson Challenger LSR car are actually Indy roadster wheels machined with the smooth side facing inward also. My presumption is that more negative offset was needed on the Challenger application.

I used to see "Palmer-Winneco" kits listed in the oldies section of the old Model Empire catalogs of 1980-85ish. Was Winneco a concern that stepped in later?

I totally get it Steve. It's just that Moebius has a not-great track record of glaringly flawed final product in terms of body shape and proportion even after real test shots are made and corrections vetted. I sincerely hope that they get it right. I have a very big soft spot for these trucks.

I believe you are absolutely correct on the 1978 MPC Pinto coupes and wagons, I have seen both. The wagon body is really crisp though, and appears not to have been a rush job to have been retooled, which leads me to ponder if perhaps another set of body inserts might have been cut in anticipation for a faster changeover. That is a lot of material to remove in that cavity also

I do have a '71-72 AMT Coupe that I bought at a show years ago sans box. I was pretty disappointed with the body proportions, particularly in the quarter window area. The headlamp bezels also seemed mis-shapen. I built an MPC coupe in the seventies and I remember it being a nice kit and looking very much like the subject matter.

On another note, is it safe to assume that MPC modified the Pinto Coupe/Runabout body tooling into the station wagon and we will never see the coupe again?

Ahh. That makes more sense. I didn't realize it was basically a convertible with optional hardtop.

It is interesting to note which promo/Craftsman/Jr Trophy series kits got dedicated tooling and which did not and subsequently shared tooling with the annual full-detail kits. For instance, why did the Craftsman 64 Galaxie not share tooling with the full-detail lighted headlamp version that became the Modified Stocker? Maybe it had to do with the budget that the Automakers allowed for new tooling for promo contracts. Perhaps if the budget allowed, dedicated tooling was cut? Another thing that I'm curious about is another aspect of the whole 65-66 Mustang annual/promo saga.... We know that the Fastback 2+2 body went to the Funny Car and it's interior tub and other trees became the Mach I show car/Iron Horse. Then, lots later the promo notchback body and tub were combined with the Iron Horse guts to become the currently available kit starting with the Countdown series. But there was a full detail annual 3 in 1 65 hardtop (notchback) kit also. Did that notchback kit become the Sonny and Cher kit? If so, this is another example of unshared tooling between promos and annuals. If not, was the Sonny and Cher kit a "clean slate" tool?

Yes, I forgot about the difference in wheelbase. The Revell 72 Cutlass chassis would probably be a better choice, with the Monte Carlo engine and rear axle. On another note, does anyone offer reproductions of the Red Alert decals? I think there is a slump buster box art build in my future....

Yes, I was speaking of the 70 Monte Carlo SS 454 kit that was tooled up in the nineties as a donor. I would think that it would be a simple two-kit bash where the Monte pretty much gives everything that's needed. One might need to try using the AMT 70 Chevelle hood though.

Has anyone tried fitting the AMT new-tool 70 Monte Carlo guts to the Revell Snapper body?

+1 on this. The MPC Charger platforms were the "only game in town" back in the day for getting a more detailed chassis under a JoHan B-Body. My go-to kit was the Dukes Charger as I cared very little about the subject matter and they were often overstocked in the holiday season and on clearance afterwards!