Dave Darby

I think I missed this one the first time around. I have few to toss in the mix... Only one of these has the body painted.

That is the coolest Johan F85 build I've ever seen. Super nice.

The level of detail plays only slightly into today's prices. The real culprit is the shrinking sales base. In 1971, there was hardly a store that didn't carry model car kits. Drug stores, grocery stores, department stores, you name it. The kit runs were larger, which reduced the cost per unit. The prices jumped way up when Walmart stopped carrying kits. Today, it's a rare store that does carry kits, and even they dont have a full selection. It costs money to create new box art and decals, and fire those tools up for a production run. So even reissues have to carry that weight. The profit margin is slim, and today's model companies are nowhere near the size of Mattel. They are not getting rich, that's for sure.

By the way, for anyone wondering, The Vintage Workbench column took a break in issue 220 to allow more room for the GSL coverage. We will return for issue 221.

A stepping point, and a great vintage speed parts resource.

This build clicks all the right buttons. Superb!

I took it to mean Gregg's excellent coverage of the event. He really did a great job. Regarding the event, I hope somebody will pick up the torch and keep the flame alive.

Gregg sent me a replacement copy. Mahalo Nui loa Gregg!

The 64 Elky would also be welcome.

From the box side, it appears the custom headlight bezels may have returned. I'd love to see the rest of the Stylizing parts cloned. My guess is the originals were obliterated for the Here Comes the Judge version.

I'm not surprised some parts interchange, but the body for the 67 Comet annual ended up as an altered wheelbase "funny car". It was most recently reissued about 4 years ago. No parts are shared between the two.

The currently available 67 Comet isn't based on the old annual kit. It shares the tool base with the 66 Fairlane tooled in the 1990s. I'm with you that the 66 Comet is a better looking car than the 67.

I have a feeling I know what it is. Something originally molded in yellow.

The 1970s issues had the chrome bezels filled in to eliminate the red lens. When Ertl reissued the Elky, they had evidently found the lens tool, but blocked off the bezel from the chrome tree. I dont recall if Round 2 ever unblocked the bezel gates, but yeah, the lenses are now pretty much useless. Maybe @Steve Gwould have some insight.

Lol. I went over and checked the mailbox at my old address and lo and behold, issue 220. Gotta love the USPS. Hey though, great issue!

Fortunately, the most recent issue (out now) has all of the Bad Man parts in it except for the decals and red tinted glass.

Those exhaust parts were already there. It was just a matter of opening the gates. Nothing against the idea - self adhesive emblems would be nice, but would have to be designed, produced, and procured.

Took me right to the pdf download. I was able to open it right up and read it without signing up for anything. Do you have a pdf reader? Rather than the QR code, maybe the link would be better? http://www.modelcarsmag.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Greenwood-Sebring-75-Corvette-Build-Summary.pdf

Mine is stuck in the USPS change of address abyss. Looking forward to reading it!

I'm not sure how this slipped under my radar, but what a cool build!

I'm going to pop the seal on this thread and say all that extra effort really paid off. The paint detail work really wakes/breaks up the molded parts. Beautiful build with super nice detail. I love it!

I believe if there was a separate gas cap, that would have been a feature of the Autolite Special/Mach 1/Iron Horse/etc variation that used a portion of that tool. I don't have my annual kit instructions handy, but I'm sure Mark B would know. But I'm pretty positive the gas cap was always molded in.

I often wonder if the sliding inserts that form the sides of the body for the Craftsman tool would interchange with the ones in the annual tool. That would get you a long way towards there.

I should have said, which are "also" too short. I assumed you knew I was aware that those rocker covers were used only on the smaller 368 Lincoln Y block, the 56-57 Continental, specifically. I never expressed or implied MELs ever used those. But like I said, incorrect rocker covers aside, it's about as close to an MEL engine as AMT got to anything else they made at the time. (1960).

Most recent issues have the stock parts included. There were only a few reissues in the 1970s and 80s that didn't. Appears it's getting reissued this year.