Dave Darby

The dash isn't stock either. The kit has a passenger car dash. Pickups had their own dash. The rolling stock from the Revell 40 Ford Standard kit would be a shoe in if you wanted to build it stock, and would definitely be an improvement over what's in there, even if you wanted a rod version. For a stock front axle, I bet the 36 Ford axle would be a direct interchange. This whole thread is kinda making me want to dig one out...

This is one of Terry's too... Terry is a true artist and a gentleman.

That molded in deck IS stock for a 1925 T. Only the 1922 and older coupes had separate turtle decks.

Well for my two cents worth (And I can be a pretty vocal critic - witness the Trumpeter 64 Falcon) I think it looks pretty good. The only kibitz I have is I wish you guys would have gone with a slightly older model year, like the Doc Hudson 52, with the walrus tooth grille and shield shaped taillights. Other than that, I think it's one of the better China kits out there.

Actually, putting that roof on a convertible would be pretty correct, as the hardtops and convertibles use the same windshield. I can attest to that, as my own 64 Sprint had a cracked windshield when I got it, and the replacement came from a 63 convertible at the boneyard. The headlights on the annual do stick out some, but at least the grille pattern is right. The grille should have alternating rows of thin and thick bars, and the thick ones would be indented at each end (black paint on the indentations) to look like floating bars. There is something to like about the new kit, however. The engine compartment (Shock towers and braces, etc) look pretty good. This would be a much better swap under the 64 Comet than the Revell Fairlane Thunderbolt chassis, which is all wrong for a Falcon. It would also be great for the 61 Ranchero, and any other 60-65 Falcon Comet. It's also the only kit to have a proper generatot bracket, so props for that. Here's a link to my photos of the box contents. Gotta love the two barrel intake manifold with the two runners and the offset carb mounting flange. Trumpeter 64 Falcon kit contents.

I'll say. Gotta love this intake. Only feeds the two cylinders, on the passenger side... What happened??? I hate to beat this thing up, but sheesh! The sad part is my very first car was JUST like that beautifully done build-up. I want to want 3 of them. Likely I'll buy maybe one.

You are absolutely correct about the exhaust. It would be sorta correct for a Fairlane or Mustang, but the Falcon had a center dump exhaust manifold on the driver's side that went directly across the engine, just behind the sump of the oil pan. From there the pipe went straigh back, without that crossing over the driveshaft business on the model. Not to mention, the muffler should be on the passenger side, and much larger. The rear bumper is way too tall, and the rear in general is way too flat. The front seats look terrible, and the vee trim on the front sides is a bit too wide. The generator is in scale tho, and they are correct through 1964 for most Fords. (Ford switched to alternators across the board in 1965) Whoever did the build did really nice job, at least, but again, a lot of glaring inaccuracies in the kit.

If you compare the photos from the Spotlight board with the photos you have here of the annual kit, you can see that the windshield on the Trumpeter kit is too flat, with not enough wrap around to it. I pretty much gave my opinion of it there. It looks a tad slab sided to me as well. Of course, a 64 Falcon Sprint was my first car, and I owned it for over 20 years, plus had a few other Falcons as well, so I know them pretty intimately. Hopfully Trumpeter will follow Moebuis's lead, and fix the issues, or they will just be doing another run of shelf orphans. Regardless, I'll probably buy at least one. 1960-65 Falcons & Comets

Tom didn't bring it here. Greg Myer did. He came here and reported that people were being SPAMMED by Tom's board, without providing relevent information regarding the issue. He left it open to interpretation. Noone received any real spam from Tom's board. No spammers emailed Spotlight Hobby board members. The posting field has an option to forward replies to your posts to your email. If a spammer replies to a post, then that message gets forwarded to you. Someone figured that out, and tried it on Tom's board. The solution is as simple as to uncheck the option when you make a post. It will stay unchecked by default unless you clear your cookies. I think it is perfectly within Tom's right to explain his side of the situation whenever and wherever necessary. I have been a member of that board for 11 years and counting, and I like that Tom doesn't leave personal attacks from people up there to fester. I also don't want to lose a good forum, just because of someone shooting bad/incomplete information from the hip. Tom's post was made with nothing but good intentions, and to attack it was needlessly rude. Respect should always rule the day. Flame suit on.

You done good Dave, Real Good. Those Revellogram Fiesta wheel covers and wide whites never looked better, and the flatty is great too. What's the paint on the beautiful Roadster? Dang that thing looks great. Makes me want to pull one out and start gluin'!

Actually, Mark, the Stawag turned Ranchero was a 1957. No relation to the '59 Retractable. Another multi-piece with engine was the '59 Corvette. (Later misslabeled as a 1960, last reissued with a Route 66 Coral Court diorama) Excellent kit.

Anyone notice the odd Photoshop job they did on the radiator shell, and lots of other places? What's with that? Here is the original art from the last reissue, in the early 70's.

And they ran that chassis right up through 1964.

Here's an old Skips Fiesta issue I built about 20 years ago, as a test subject before I built my 57 Conversion. It's painted with some Krylon Coral color, but the salman colored plastic is visible in the interior. The wheels & tires were robbed from the 1970's issue. The original 1959 issue had plastic tires. The Skips issue used Monogram whitewalls with Fiesta spinner caps that were a wee out of scale. I think the new kit combines the stock wheel covers with the Monogram tires. If this thing looks pretty rough, it's because my pshycotic ex girlfriend smashed it about 15 years ago. And it was in my famous orange paint explosion.... Here's a little tidbit that will improve the looks of this kit, and also the Monogram 58 T Bird... get rid of the pinned headlight lenses, drill the holes out, a put reflectors behind the lenses. I made mine from the baby moon hubcaps in the AMT 56 Ford. I had to sand one side flat so they butted together tighter, and fit inside the fenders. That is one visible laying in front of the bumper... Anyway, last year, when I was laid off for a while, I started redoing a bunch of my old builds, but I left them in their original paint for posterity... And out of general laziness and not wanting paint fumes in the house... BTW, to answer a question, these were always one version kits. The optional parts were the figures. So there's my take. A little worse for wear and tear, but back in one piece....

You sure that isn't the real one? Very awesome work!

That is one nicely styled build. If Mark Gustuvson was still doing the Custom Contest in SA, this would be a shoo-in. Well done!

Very Very cool!

Actually Ed, the Wagon/Ranchero is a totally different kit than the Retractable. It's a'57. James - Very nice work!

Well I remember back in 2002 when I gave a review of the AMT new tool Ala Kart and pronounced it a turkey. (And it was.) I even had John Mueller (the designer) come down on me - until I posted photos (He hadn't seen even a test shot.) That said, there is nothing wrong with critique, especially polite and based on facts. So don't shoot the messenger or get all defensive. Is this one perfect? Are any of them? No. But it IS a heck of a lot better than the Ala Kart, and the 58 Plymouth that followed it. It's also better than the Revell chopped 49 Merc with its blocky hood and too high in the back (subjective) roof, better than the Nova and Cutlass as well. My only minor quibbles? Too fat of side trim, and a couple model years newer than I'd prefer (a '51). But, all in all, it's a pretty nice effort, and I'll probably buy at least one. Rock on Dave!

Steve, is it just me, or do those wheel flares look just a little heavy and crude?

In focus or not, it sure looks great!

I agree. If they really wanted to do a "one in one" version, they should have used the new tool '57. The old tool 57 is so worn out (and inaccurate) that about all it's good for is the spare parts. Ooooohhh those sweet extra goodies. One heck of a nice pair of Chrome reversed wheels, the 409, Vette grille, and a nice set of Keystone Klassics for starters. If I were in charge, I'd be opening every gate on that thing, and hunting up the old box art. I do have to give Mike W. props for making that old war horse look as good as it does on the new box. When I built it in 1995 for the Chevrolet Classics set, it was kind of a PITA to build.

Not positive, but I think that was supposed to be a putty applicator. The original had a front end extension that for some reason is still MIA. They opened some gates on the chrome tree portion of the tool, but evidently neglected the other part. Or, it could be that that area needed too much work. When I did the box art for the 1994 issue of the 65 Galaxie, the body had a lot of little nubs on it from rust pits in the tool. I had to sand all of those down before painting. Could be what happened here.

That is just gorgeous. Stance, color, wheels, and detailing. Simple, yet elegant. I like it.

I started to build one of those about 15 years ago, and finally gave up on it. Yours is just gorgeous. Do tell me the details on that roof tho!