Dave Darby

Tim and I were very excited to put that one together. I found the pic of Bob's Telstar a couple of years ago in the Petersen Archives and tracked him down. Very gifted modeler. We have a few more like that coming down the road.

It also deserves a good old fashioned open every gate in the tool treatment. Maybe the clear hardtop is still around. I see the skirts are still with us from the pre-paint issue.

It's showing up in the center of the parts layout on the bottom of the box.

I don't think the slotted mag wheels would fit into that equation. As far as oldest surviving model kit goes, the 60 kit is a second update from the SMP 1958 promo tool. The two kit releases in 59 and 60 were likewise under the SMP label. It was never released under the AMT label until the 1970s, as a "1959" in the Street Rod series box. The 1957 T Bird kit was based off of one of the AMT 57 promo tools. (According to Ertl, there were two, one of which produced the Craftsman kit). That would make the 57 Thunderbird the oldest surviving AMT tool. Especially if it (possibly) was itself an update of the 1955-56 tool.

I don't know, they certainly could have done worse. Like this one with the upside down headlights. What would you have picked?

For you guys that like the historical stuff, you're in for a treat!

I'm a fan. And yeah, those old Revell multi-piece body kits are under-rated. Not sure how much of a fight that body put up, but you definitely slayed the dragon. Well done.

This started out as my entry for the 24 build, but as luck would have it, I wasn't able to finish it until this past Monday night. It's a 1985 issue Monogram 36 Ford, molded in garnet red pearl. Too pretty for paint, I've had it in the queue since the first Bush administration. The Fiesta disks and wide whites from the Revell Skyliner were part of the plan from the first time I gazed on that plastic and had the A-ha moment. Now this was no simple just polish the plastic and assemble it operation. Besides painting the engine, interior and roof insert, I also filled the engine block seams, removed the parting lines (very few) and leveled the sink and shrink marks (more than a few). I also detailed the gauges, and added some old school black corduroy to the package shelf. The steering wheel is from the AMT 50 Ford Convertible. Hope ya like it.

That build is a winner top to bottom. Pretty on top, and dead nuts accurate with the details and colors on the bottom. Nice, nice job.

I wonder if the earlier (pre 1965) 5 bolt bell housing windsor would have fit.

That's awesome. Even more awrsome that it's still around!

Way cool!

The 360 FE wasn't in production in 1966. For that series of trucks in 66, you had a choice of the 240 cu in 6 and the 352 FE.

The Edsel annual would be a great subject for an R2 style cloning. Because the Ertl Edsel is a hot mess.

Doesn't that body still exist? Isn't that why they tooled up the new stock body?

I've been playing with the 1985 issue, myself. The plastic polishes up insanely nice. Rolling stock is from Monogram Custom 58 Tbird/ Skips Fiesta 59 Skyliner.

I don't know about better proportions. I've always found the Monogram grille too tall. The MPC kit has always looked more "right" to me.

I guess your handle makes that clear enough. Like this post if you agree we should do a 71 and or 72 Roadrunner soon. -Steve Last issued in 1987, and now as I understand it, the tool is MIA. Maybe we should put it on a milk carton? I too would like to see it back.

That is way cool. Uber nice job!

That's Hot Curl. He came with the MPC Wild Ones 29 Model A Woody/ Roadster Pickup. His history goes back just a bit farther though... https://surfsimply.com/surf-culture/the-legend-of-hot-curl/

If it does (and it just may) Atlantis will have it. Scott's build was featured of 3 consecutive issues of Model Cars magazine (211-213, I want to say?) And it's very inspirational reading. This is a seriously amazing build.

Here's my first completion of 2023. I actually started it nearly 20 years ago, and worked on it in spurts last year and this past month. The yellow is polished plastic. The wood side panels are painted Tamiya Desert Sand, to match the original 1965 Woody Wagon color. The rolling stock and front axle are from the Blue Bandito. I made the license plate in Adobe Illustrator to match the vintage box art. The Deuce radiator shell is from one of the yellow Monogram 32 Roadsters. I actually backwashed a grille insert, but it looked better plain, so... You can't have a surf woody without a surfboard, so I grabbed one from the Bandito donor and smoothed the edges and pins off of it. It's painted with Duplicolor Pure White basecoat/clearcoat. I finished it off with a decal of my own design, created in Photoshop. (Actually, I re-did it after the below photo. The next one down shows the finished board.) This is my first attempt at making my own decals, using an Inkjet printer and decal paper from Hobby Lobby. I buried it in clear, but you can still see the edges. Surf's Up!

Took me a minute to get past the no wheel opening look, but this is a seriously stylish build. Looks it could have come out the GM styling center.

Looking good. Your color change is a vast improvement!

Actually, Chevy would have had only to look at their Corvettes, by that logic. Corvettes had body exiting exhaust from 1953-55 (with the tips extended in 54 to keep the soot off the paint) and exhaust through the bumpers from 1956-60. So I doubt that was ever a consideration.