American 185 Heavy

Something bothered me about the LTD/Fairmont idea so I did some checking. Offering the little LTD with the option to convert to a Fairmont would be a DISASTER. One or both models would be completely inaccurate and look like garbage. Beyond the door skins, the Fairmont and LTD only shared the chassis. The nose of the LTD was more sloped, the back and front windows more angled as well. The Fairmont was a boxier car, with a more upright front windshield and back window. The only logical and practical choice would be to allow the modeler the choice of building it either as an LTD or the little Marquis. And provide both grille and tail section choices. Offered either as an LTD/Fairmont I would run not walk away from the idea completely. Having worked for Ford for 28 years has taught me what accuracy with its product line is supposed to be....

I would buy the LTD as I am a FoMoCo man. But only as a complete kit. That means glass, chassis, interior, bumpers and grille and off course appropriate lens' for the lights. Makes no difference about the engine or wheels and tires, but a body only is rather insipid, as there are no donor kits available at all. I bought the 78 LTD kit a while back from Missing Link, and talk about quality casting and what came with it, it is amazing. For the little LTD a price between $55.00 -$60.00 as a complete kit is fair. Anything less means missing pieces or poor quality and I would avoid it completely. You get what you pay for, and cheap usually is very dear......

Thank you kind sir !! As I have never had to deal with something like this at all, I am in unfamiliar territory. I am trying to duplicate my Aunts 90 Brougham, which was Antelope Firemist with a matching Antelope leather interior. Got everything I need so far, the paint and the wheels, but the stumbling block was the interior door trim panels !!!

I just acquired a trans kit to turn the Revell Lowrider Cadillac into an accurate 90-92 Brougham sedan. If anyone is familiar with this trans kit or has done a conversion , what needs to happen to the interior door trim panels that are furnished with the Revell kit ?? Or does anyone make after market interior trim panels for the trans kit ?? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance

I just tracked down a beautiful detail kit for the Starsky/Hutch Gran Torino. Was given this kit as a gift, but was too hideous as is for me to want to build it. Was never into this type of car, nor a model of it. I much prefer the daily driver, and cars the public could buy and drive off a showroom floor. The detail kit allow you to build either a straight Gran Torino, Gran Torino Sport. of thankfully even the Gran Torino Brougham. Mine will be a Brougham in factory Saddle Bronze Metallic, an extremely popular color on this car in 75, 76. The kit even includes the hood ornament for the Brougham !!! I also tracked down a detail kit for the 83 Hurst Olds Cutlass and a flat hood. Another kit that as is, I would never build. Because of the interior, going to do mine as a Cutlass Calais, and will use factory Light Briar Brown for the paint. I gave up on any and all Testors and Tamiya paints a while ago, since the quality is never consistent with either. I use Dupont factory finishes, as they are the exact color the car was, and I have had no problems with adhesion or the finish at all. Costs more, but you get what you pay for.

Finally came across two detail kits that will save me from having to build models of cars I have zero interest in. Found a great detail kit for the Starksy/Hutch Gran Torino that will allow me build either a Gran Torino Brougham or Sport !!! And I had the whitewalls already and located some luxury wheel covers, so bye bye to a model I had no interest in building. Will even be using factory paint for this one as the red it is molded in is hideous to be polite. Also tracked down a detail kit for the Revell Hurst Olds kit as well as a flat hood. Woo Hoo !!!Another kit that was given to me that as it came I had zero interest in building. Will also be using factory paint on this one. Only thing not included is a change of the transmission shift lever which is easy enough. The kit allows you to build either a Cutlass Supreme, Cutlass Calais, or Supreme Brougham. Since the interior more closely matches that of the Calais will likely build that version. Not going to post pictures of progress, I don't get in to that or want to bore anyone with it. The final result is all that matters. How you get there is irrelevant....

Beautiful build of a great car. Nice job on the vinyl top especially. I did a 66 in Phoenician yellow a few years back and love that model. Wish AMT did a 67 or better a 68 of that car. The big Mercury's always had it all over the stable mate Ford I think. Just an overall better looking car..great job on this !!!

From what I was reading this was not about any one particular castor or company. But as usual people have made it about someone in particular that is not part of the 'club' in these forums. And that is obvious from the word go. In general, not anyone in particular, most resin castors other than modelhaus operate with anything less than a business model. It is a hobby, or not enough time put in to it. Either way, if you don't have stock, say so, post real pictures of your merchandise, not pictures of car parts from real cars or those cars themselves. Legitimacy goes a long way with people, as does being up front about stock and real length of time delivery, not perfect situations. I for one avoid all of them, especially anyone trying to dump things on ebay at insane prices. Less grief and more legitimacy dealing with good old fashioned styrene kits. They can be comparison shopped anywhere, and don't have any uniqueness about them. And when a seller says 3-5 business days you can pretty much bank on it. Something you can't with resin unless buying at a show or from a hobby shop.

I could not agree more. I only purchased one resin model from what was supposed to be a reputable site, only to wait 8-10 weeks for something that I ended up having to correct numerous mistakes on that were obvious. Was advertised at 3-4weeks. Ha ha !! Some of the casting on this model could have been done better by a child. If you do it on the side, out of your garage or only in your free time, just be up front and say so. Don't spend hundreds on a fancy glamorous website, showing this that and the other, when in reality you have zero, nada, nothing ever in stock, and cast to order. Problem then is unless multiple orders are coming in for the same thing, not likely the person will only cast one and ship it right away. And some pictures of the actual casting instead of the real automobile or part it represents would be refreshing too. Tends to boarder on false advertising, but the internet is it's own world and not regulated like print ads are. I prefer the old styrene kits anyway. Less messy prepping, easier to paint, and not as delicate when holding as resin. And styrene kits seem to be cyclical for the most part anyway. The reboots and re releases speak for themselves. What is dead and gone today, will likely pop up again in 7-10 years once more. And trying to buy parts at a reasonable price on Ebay is near impossible. Gouging seems to be the in thing for parts. No thank you.....Caveat Emptor for sure is the thing with resin.....

Wow, I have seen a lot of these built but never one of this caliber and quality. Flawless paint, perfect I mean perfect foiling of chrome, and the detail you put in to this model is incredible. Take a bow, you go to the top of the class !!! And your videos are incredible as well. A true master of this hobby. Looks like it belongs on a showroom floor at a Ford dealer....

Amen !!!! What I have been thinking for the last few weeks now. Gets to a point where it is just plain crazy. This is a hobby I thought, not a way of life. You can't ever drive them unless some modeler has figured out how to make the engines work accurately and the lights too !!! Then there would be the huge problem of shrinking to fit in it to drive it. Like I said earlier today to someone who posted about my posting wip pictures, which I won't do, as I build only factory stock cars, and to my liking and not anyone else's, I had a rough day today, since I had to agonize for hours over whitewalls or black walls, and then the mind boggling decision on this 78 Monaco whether to go luxury wheel cover, or the optional aluminum wheels. Too much to handle in one day and it gave me a massive headache, and had to take aspirin and lie down for a few hours ! I could have taken at least 7 or 8 pictures and posted asking which looked more dazzling, but I won't waste my phones battery, but more important anyone's time with such silliness. I build for my fun and stress relief and because I like cars. I don't expect to win a contest, get judged or receive criticism from people who are far more talented than myself. Some of these models in the under glass section are amazing, but unfortunately I don't have that kind of time or patience. To each his own.........

For the man who told me to post wip pics....am building a 78 Dodge Monaco sedan daily driver. Agonized for hours over whitewalls or blackwalls. and then 'Agonized' even more, luxury wheel covers or the optional alloy wheel ?? Got so tired and frustrated from all this decision making, had to lay down for a bit because of a massive headache setting in !!!

Now that is a great build, and great color choice. My neighbor had one in a very similar color except with a white top. Was a great car. Always loved the 70's 8-'s big FoMoCo sedans

Some great and valid points made, and some not so great. My whole point is I don't need to read or see 'before wheel cover' and with wheel cover on. And then someone of course has to comment on it, I mean come on, its a wheel and hubcap, and that post goes up to the top again !!! Interesting to some maybe, but boring to me, and annoying when I am trying to find a model that was posted earlier and I wanted an idea or two from it. That now goes to another page, because someone sweated the details and grief of installing the wheel cover and has to show the world !!! I love to see the progress myself on certain models, just not every single piece painted or first unpainted. No need for that I think but hey, that is just me............

Is it just me or have others noticed that lately some modelers are going crazy with updates on their builds that are about as boring to see or worse read than watching your grass grow ?? Seems like some feel that we must have a play by play step by step progress report, from the time they open the models box, until the model is complete. Showing a completed and painted assembly like the interior tub, or engine bay or engine itself is one thing, but it is crazy that we must see every individual part being sanded, and then another photo of it painted. Not only is it annoying I find, but it takes up so much space in these forums that when you are scrolling through to actually look for something for either a tip or idea, here we go again, another post dragging it to the top of the list with a picture of a freshly painted or sanded wheel hub !!! And I can't wait to see it again tomorrow with an attached hub cap or wheel cover, I sit waiting for that event while holding my breath !!! BORING !!!! It might be interesting to some, but to others like myself just takes up valuable space. It is one thing with a conversion like from a Gran Torino to a Gran Torino Elite, that is interesting to see how it was done, but just building a boxed kit model ?? Most of us probably have the kit or have built it, know what came with it and don't need to see every piece yet again until the entire assembly is complete or the model itself is done. Like I said at the start no insult intended to anyone, it is what it is, but is it just me ???

I personally think that they knew exactly what they were doing, and rather slick of them too. Introduce a few new kits when the website came back up several months ago, and then wham, pull the plug completely. For certain you could tell that Carol was getting tired and frustrated with the business as she is the owner, and that was evident in some of the sarcasm both on the phone and in emails. But it could have been executed a lot better than it was merely by offering less in the final months and gradually fading in to the distance. Instead they overload, and then pull the plug rapidly never to be heard from again. I have dealt with them on and off over the years, a lot of the items I got were fantastic, but in the last 6 months the quality had slipped somewhat. Especially with the chroming, as was evident in the bumpers and wheels I ordered for several of my models that I wanted to touch up and freshen up. But as someone on another site pointed out, the shine and adhesion of chrome plating is always better on styrene than on resin, and I completely agree. And of the final kits they offered some of their pricing was insane compared to sister kits they offered. Best example is the 1970 Colony Park., offered at $140.00 ?? When the same thing in a Country Squire is selling for $100.00 ?? Yes it is a Mercury and rare, but everything has a limit I think. They were pleasant and helpful enough, but never really the same after they lost their son. That I think influenced this decision more than anything. I just hope that some other resin workers pick up some of the molds for the kits, or if they own them sell them to another reputable castor that can continue on. I avoid buying things like this on Ebay as you can't ask questions easily, and some of the pricing is really off the wall. And from pictures posted, not the highest of quality either. But to each his own. Hopefully someone will come along and take over where they left off, and move this even further forward into the 21st century.

Great build and fabulous color choice. I am in the process of building one myself, and walked away from it for a while, as the kit is annoying at times. The decals on the hood and the trunk would not adhere properly to the lettering, and once clear coated seemed to self destruct. The hood hinges are useless. I have no intention of displaying it open and if you use them that is what you get !!! On mine, the plastic windshield and rear window were a smidge too small and proper placement was an adventure in stupidity. Looks 95% correct but a trained eye would know it didn't fit correctly. Moebius should really play closer attention when casting, and their customer service is a far cry from that of Revell.

Hello fellow builders, I think I got a little too excited about applying a second coat of paint on a model, and didn't let it cure properly before doing so, for now a large spot on the roof is wrinkling. What is the easiest way to deal with this, without stripping all the paint off which I am not in the mood to do or have the patience for. Thank you in advance

Looks fantastic almost exactly like the real thing !! A near perfect build I think !!!

Wow gorgeous build. Outstanding for just getting back in to it as well. You picked the right subject, and your detail is incredible. Probably on of the best looking big Chevys ever produced.

Jack Lords 74 Marquis was given to his stunt double and in 2001 the car was still on the road approaching close to 200k miles.

Don't know if you know the history of the 68 he drove, but it was in storage for over two decades in a warehouse in Hawaii under dirt, props, you name it. The cars interior was destroyed by several mongooses until a collector saved it and fully restored it. Its home is currently Ohio with the actual plates from Hawaii on it, and I have seen the car at a show in Pennsylvania once. It is simply incredible in person. I doubt anyone will ever produce a kit of this car, a true shame. The market seems to be Mustang after Mustang, Camaro and Firebirds every 4 months, and heaven help us lets not forget the Corvette. And I agree 100%, there were some fabulous 4 doors out there in the 60's and 70's. The Olds 98, the 70's Lincoln Town Car, the big Chrysler New Yorker, and of course the gorgeous Marquis/Grand Marquis 74-78. If no one has done it in 20 years, I think no one ever will. A true shame because like us, there are a lot of lovers of the land yachts out there. The last big Mercury kit I remember ever seeing was the 66 Park Lane 2 door, which I did build. But after that it was the Comet and Cyclone in drag and funny car version only sadly.

Craig, nothing would make me happier than to build that gorgeous all black 68 Park Lane Brougham 4dr hardtop or that equally gorgeous black 74 Marquis Brougham 4 dr. But we will be fed more Mustangs, Camaros and Corvettes before that ever happens. I could never figure out why a model company didn't snatch up the rights to it, and offer modelers the most recognizable cop car in the world, the 68 Park Lane. I always thought when I was younger, JoHan might but they just never did...you would think by now, someome would have offered it in resin.

Great build and dead on accurate. I am waiting for Danny to show up now in has black Custom 500 !!!

Great choice if you go with the red. I have never ever had luck with anything that I wanted to paint black, so I avoid the color like the plague. Nice save on the body and clean up as well.