Danno

Exactly. At least in theory. The Out of Box or Box Stock classes emphasize the basic craftsmanship regardless of the engineering or features of the kit. That's one of the reasons instruction sheets are usually required; the judges can check the finished model against the illustrated parts and assembly steps whether they (judges) are familiar with the kit or not. And yes, a carefully and skillfully built snap kit could easily beat out a sloppily built high detail Pocher kit; it really depends on the talent and effort and precision of the build. Working features matter not at all, and even a high parts count doesn't factor in much. Some of the toughest challenges judges face in critically-judged contests come from the OOB/BS categories. OOB/BS is one place where mediocrity does not fare well.

Jason, Here's the one and only pic I have of Andy "Moose" Kallen's build of the Petty 43-Jr drag racing Barracuda. Andy was a fanatic fan of The King, and he meticulously researched every model he built of a Petty car (or so he told me, anyway, and we all know Moose would never blow smoke! LOL). I took a couple of other photos of Andy's build when it was fresh, and they appeared in one of the magazines prior to his death. As I recall, it was a double feature with Andy's model and another one by Bill Coulter ~~~ but I could certainly be wrong. Don't know if this helps any, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

What's so funny about that? Sounds perfectly ordinary to me!

Yeah. It's kinda like an open public forum.

Anybody want to buy a few Magnums? Special deal ...

You can. Go to your original post & select the edit option; it will display the text box and the topic box; make changes & then select the submit button. It will change your original topic header the same as it will change your post text. BTW - It used to be more complicated, but I think the recent "upgrades" in board software included a simplification.

Very unscientific survey and observation here, but I think it's interesting that 30 "1st model car/truck" responses have been posted here and three (3) of them were the same kit: the AMT/Revell 1/32nd scale 1956 Chrysler customizing kit! Apparently that series really struck a chord and inspired some modellers!

Nice!

Excellent!

I guess it just didn't make as much of an impression on you as mine did on me, Harry. Best guess.

My first car model (there had been airplanes before it) was the brand new AMT/Revell 1956 Chrysler customizing kit. I was 7 or 8 years old and a veteran car nut (I could identify on sight the year, make and model of just about every car and pickup on the roads/streets since about age 4). My parents and I went to the big city for a convention they were attending. They parked me in the hotel room with a tube of glue and the kit purchased that afternoon from the first Woolworth's Five & Dime Store I'd ever seen. I struggled with that fiddly multi-piece body kit, but since airplane kits had two-piece fuselages and glue-on wings, elevators and rudders I was already "experienced." As it ended up ... the finished build was no contest winner by anybody's standards, unpainted and unartfully glued together, but I managed to get every optional custom part and decal onto it and it looked like a tricked-out car, so what else was there to hope for? However, it just ignited a life-long hobby/passion, now, didn't it? Shortly after that, AMT introduced its annual kit series (with one-piece bodies) and I've been buying kits like crazy ever since. Sidebar: My first AMT annual was the 1958 Chevy ... the first one to hit our town (the Rexall druggist was a family friend and knew of my new hobby, so he set aside the very first kit for me when he opened the carton). PS: I bought the reissued AMT/Revell Chrysler kit a couple of years ago and plan to build it the same way ~~~ no paint, all parts glued on, no detailing, no class ~~~ before long. It should be fun.

Outstanding.

Davey, aka "Dusty" ... You have a GREAT last name!!!

I'm not a big fan of unibody Fords, but that's nice looking, Jairus.

Charlie, In my experience the Krylon sandable primer works very well on styrene and as a base for hobby lacquers and automotive lacquers. Just a word of caution: build it up with light, mist coats rather than a wet, heavy coat; you should be fine! Also, the Model Master Honduras Maroon is an excellent color choice. It looks great and should make your little Olds a real stand-out! Neat project. Carry on ...

Renee is all that. She was extremely supportive of Andy's hobby, very involved herself, and she maintains his built-ups, kit and memorabilia collection and hobby room just as they were the last time he saw them. Renee is still very active in Moonlight Modelers, although she has only ever built two models herself (at Andy's insistence), and she helps Cactus Car Modelers put on the Desert Scale Classic and she helps me put on the Good Guys Model Car and Pedal Car Shows at the Southwest Nationals and the Spring Nationals, both in Scottsdale. And to underscore it for anyone who is curious: no part of the collection is for sale. Period.

He didn't buy collections. The kits in his collection were primarily purchased off the shelf when new, many of the multiples were purchased from retailers on clearance when the kits went into discontinued status, and a small percentage were purchased via eBay in more recent years (to fill gaps in his collection).

Wayne, correct on all counts. However, as Andy told it, he was the instigator of the Klingon Kruiser Award but it came about as a reaction to a model built and entered in GSL by our very good mutual friend Mike Carroll. Andy dubbed the strange custom a Klingon Kruiser, Mike called it that, and the 'award' was born. After that, the award has been bestowed on the most bizarre creation entered at each GSL. Andy was tickled that the Klingon Kruiser Award took on a life of its own. Mike Carroll's original Klingon Kruiser is on display at the International Model Car Builder's Museum in Salt Lake City, home of the GSL. (As are a couple of Moose's builds.)

There are not and have not been many bigger NASCAR fans. I don't think there was ever a NASCAR model that he did not have at least a couple examples in his collection. And that's not even addressing the die casts and other memorabilia.

Andy, that was certainly a "Moose" story! He was a 'Moose-ific' kinda guy!

Yes. You are correct. They were built by Andy "Moose" Kallen, namesake of the GSL "Moose is Loose" award. The Camaro's "web" panels were created by burning styrene sprue and moving the model's body around in the smoke plume above the burning plastic. Not a technique recommended for children or careless people. "Moose" was neither.

He bought multiples of kits he liked. On the other hand, there were a lot of kits he had no personal use for, and he bought zero. There are quite a few "holes" in the variety of his collection, and there are other areas that he covered like an old army blanket.

Yes, at one time, he lived in WI and spent A LOT of time at the Toledo shows.

That engine stand was in several 60's era kits. The most recently released and most readily available kit that includes the engine stand is the Lindberg '34 Ford pickup kit, which is a direct re-release of the AMT '34 Ford pickup kit.

First it was prefinished models ... Now it's models that build themselves! Martay. When are YOU gonna build one? LLLLOL. PS: Attention all MCM Forum members ~~~ before Marty gets all tweaked up, let me point out that his little Jeep, while slightly out of context, is a neat, clean build worthy of acclaim, and his video production skills are ... wow. Plus, he's a great webmaster from time to time. So, no slight intended here; just obvious humor.