Justin Porter

Well, I've decided to see about pushing forward with another long-stalled project. In this case, rustling through the stacks led me to this California Wheels release of the Revell 1/25th scale '64 Chevy Fleetside. At some point in years past I clearly mocked everything up (and judging by the discoloration and the scent when sanding I was using Plastruct Plastiweld at the time) to see how things would go with the kit supplied "lowered" suspension and big diameter wheels and tires. Needless to say, present me is less than pleased with past me's work assembling the four piece hood and so we've employed a generous amount of Mr Dissolved Putty to address the gaps. I'm going to see what can be done to improve the stance a bit and I am playing around with a few engine ideas at the moment. Fortunately, I have a LOT of engine bay to play with. Aside from that, I have decided that it will wear a paint scheme to match up to my '67 Chevelle, only I'll be using this as a test mule for the Gunze Sangyo Mr Color Sprays since we're evaluating stocking them at the shop. The color choice is going to be S75 Metallic Red over C8 Silver. Away we go!

I'm with Brian. GOD I HOPE NOT. Johan kits were fine for the advent of color TV but they're badly dated and need to be left in history's dustbin for collectors and nostalgia seekers to enjoy. The amount of redesign the Johan body would need for modern features like separate door handles and wipers or to accept a proper floorpan chassis with platform style interior instead of a nondescript tub would put it in a position where the labor to design the tooling from the ground up would be equivalent to the labor of sourcing an original, scanning it, and modernizing it.

Happy to say that the concrete answer is "They're Here." Definitely a nice addition to the Revell section of my domestic kit section primarily because I know this is a truck a lot of my customers have probably owned at some point.

A Moebius '70 Maverick will be a tremendously popular release. Now THAT is something to get on the horn to my distributor about.

Genuinely great seeing that this turned out looking so good.

Congratulations on what was clearly a successful show for you!

Really neat concept and execution. A "what if" that looks much more like a "should have."

All finished! This build of the "Rod & Custom" release of the venerable Monogram 1/24 '37 Ford kit was a lot of fun. Using the '41 Willys Street Rod 392ci Hemi made for a nice change of pace from the kit's crate 350. I'm really happy with the Tamiya Brilliant Orange under Pearl Clear as a color and it was entertaining to throw a bit of additional detailing at the build. Likely after this it will be back to classic sports cars for me but I enjoyed the change in pace.

Interior is all finished up complete with Ken's Fuzzy Fur for the carpeting. Chassis is mounted to the fender unit, body is mounted to the fenders, and next stop will be a finished '37 Ford Coupe.

Happy to see one of these Triumphs going together. The Guards Red is a good choice!

I now have box art and a kit number - #24050

You do you but new tooling isn't some mysterious thing. Touring car builders are getting an all new Rover SD1 3500 (NuNu). Rally car builders are getting an all new Opel Ascona (Belkits) AND Escort Cosworth (DM Modelkits). Classic car builders are getting an all new 1930 Ford Model A Phaeton (ICM). Supercar builders are getting an all new Gordon Murray T50 (Tamiya). And Group C prototype builders got an all new Nissan R91P (Hasegawa). Just seems to me that as a muscle car builder you're accepting the short end of the stick by not expecting manufacturers to treat your genre with as much viability as the others.

I am saying that you should be requesting either of those companies to tool 100% new from scratch rather than pleading for something from the dark ages. Aircraft modelers didn't moan for the old Revell 1/72nd scale P-39 Airacobra. They got Arma Hobby to tool up a 100% new one that was better in every conceivable way and bought that instead.

If you really want a '71/'72 Road Runner, why get all bent and wild to get a remake of some archaic ex-annual from before the age of cable? Between Moebius and Revell you'd have a chance for a genuinely good newly tooled kit. I will say that it's sad that we only have one good 1/25th scale road car kit of the "fuselage" B-bodies in the AMT/Ertl era '71 Charger kit. If there was some possibility that Round 2 were interested in taking that remarkable kit's bones and tooling a Road Runner from it then I'd be on board with this idea.

You're not far off! I've actually chosen AK Interactive Radome Tan for the primary interior color with body color accents. I'll also use orange Ken's Fuzzy Fur for the carpeting. I've also broke out the masking tape and the AK Xtreme Metal Black Base and Chrome to get the window trim handled.

Rather glad that Moebius has done this run of the Golden Commando Satellite. Last time around I underestimated popularity and they vanished all too quickly. Now I have a much better supply of them that arrived today from my distributor along with the new Resto Mod '64 Nova.

Really liking your stance and approach on this GTR

Wiring and carb feed line in place. Really do like just how "stuffed" the engine is in this particular build.

Plenty of progress has been made! The Ford is now in color having gone with Tamiya TS-56 Brilliant Orange followed by TS-65 Pearl Clear. Also quite happy to report that the hood DOES clear the carbs so I'll be getting the hood into the paint booth momentarily. I also decided to have a bit of fun with detailing. A little bit of 0.3mm solder, a Detail Master compression fitting, and now we have a fuel line plumbed in.

This is really a kit that's quite high on my own personal "want to build" list. It seems like every build shows it as being fun to put together. Looking forward to yours!

To say nothing of the confounded metallic blue that they molded the otherwise superb Alpine A110's in!

"Black window frame sections are integrated with a single, upper monocoque part, which eliminates the need for masking and painting of window parts." That's a heck of a nice feature given how complex that shape is.

Actually wasn't planning on going with hood sides because I like the look of the Hemi valve covers and the blower peeking out. Was still going to test fit them just to see if they would work out but wasn't planning for their use.

It's very hard as a diecast collector to see a 250GT Lusso and not immediately want to paint it light green with a white interior.

The firewall/valve cover clearance concerns turned out to be pretty well founded! Fortunately, what's a little more time with the razor saw and styrene, right? The engine itself built up nicely as expected using the same Incursion Orange as the frame, while the supercharger itself was painted with Mr Color C61 Burnt Iron and AK Xtreme Metal Pale Brass was used for the carbs. I have a Detail Master magneto that I plan to add for wiring the engine but I'm genuinely quite pleased with how it's sitting in the car.