Chuck Kourouklis

Uh-huh, and maybe Steve is also wondering about cross-compatibility between the wagon's cop car parts and the sedan, 'cause the Model King squad car ain't on every street corner in the UK. Which I would guess means the jist of this thread is, oh, pretty much exactly what he was asking. The MK release has about twice the number of service graphic options, by the way, a few of which overlap with the Del Rio's. The wagon still offers a pretty comprehensive decal selection that'd probably work for the sedan. The red lenses for the siren and strobe are the same, too.

To, uh, answer your question, Steve, the radio is nearly identical, close as it can be for apparently not coming from the same mold. The small chrome tree with the strobe, siren, and other bits is identical.

Thanks, Art! Will take that under advisement on the next one I do.

Thanks, Charlie - It shoots a bit better than it really appears, and I have no idea just how accurate the coloring is, but that's just dry-brushing - Tamiya red-brown over a tan or maybe desert yellow base. Monogram's engraving provided the grain highlights for the dry brush to pick up. Not so bad for tooling from a half century ago...

Yup, heard tell on that myself from someone who contacted Moebius.

Great danm stuff, Cato. Always liked the Ambassador's fenders better, but you might just sell me one of these...

Can't speak with any authority yet, but I believe this kit marks a change in tooling vendors for Moebius, and Chuck Most's shot on the last page seems to show a more polished body mold. Tim does seem to confirm this in his captions, which I'm guessing you can't see if you can't access his review...

Now that's awesome, Dennis! VERY nice. Saw a pretty one in The Rodder's Journal that's had me thinking for a while, but now that Revell's appealing directly to my laziness with a future release, I'm prob'ly gonna wait a bit longer...

Thank you, Lee! I appreciate that.

OH. uh… woops? (Thanks, btw!)

Yup. I managed to work around mine, but Del's way would definitely make body painting easier. In the background of this little group:

We've been warned not to use model body shells as a basis for comparison to gauge a newer release's accuracy. Not to question the authority behind that advice, but as with photo comparisons, my personal experience just differs. The key with body shell comparisons, of course, is that you should establish that the reference body resembles the 1:1 more closely first. It is agreed that the AMT Fairlane has a better resemblance around the wheel arches, so this area is what's compared between it and the Del Rio. Overhead shots: Because the Revell shell flares instead of scalloping in this area, it catches light at the rear of the wheel arch that the AMT body does not. A look from underneath: The shells are comparable enough in overall thickness that it's very plain where the rear of Revell's arch swells relative to AMT's, particularly at the outer surface. From this reference, you might gauge the excess with a piece of masking tape: This was pretty quick and rude, but it gives you a more specific idea of the excess in this area. Viewed strictly in its raw dimension, that's maybe around a millimeter's variation and possibly not worth the filing. Viewed proportionally in scale, there is about an inch's flare out that's not there in the 1:1. Backing out for the big picture, though, the wagon's gross proportions, if anything, look even better than the sedan's in the aggregate.

Just as the sedan's, the area that's supposed to be scalloped in the Del Rio around the wheel arches is a fender flare instead. Where the wagon shows refinement over the sedan is in a crisper crease around that area, front and rear: The shading differs between the two, but you can still see the Del Rio's crease (top) is sharper. Also, in the area on the lower quarters just ahead of the front wheels: which is notably slimmer in the Del Rio - it would seem, because the front arch sweep was pulled a bit forward. This tends to mitigate that somewhat heavy look the sedan has around the front 3/4 view. There's also a proper panel separation line this time.

These shots err on the murky side to keep the white plastic from blowing out in the exposure, but they should provide a general idea. Here is exactly what Matt is talking about: The sedan for comparison: The insert pieces: To get at some other odds and ends, a steering wheel comparison: The AMT Fairlane a '90s issue in gray. The AMT wheel is very similar, but a bit larger in diameter and of course shaped to accommodate the separate horn ring. Wasn't any too keen on breaking chrome bits loose unnecessarily, but I did have an AMT wheel back free. Tried it in a Revell tire and this is how far it went in. It's the inner tire rib that interferes and not so much the rim diameter, so it's not looking too demanding yet to dress up the Del Rio with the Fairlane wheel covers. This of course is the wheel back for the slicks and not the stock tire, so a stock AMT wheel back may fit a bit differently. It was given a go with the Revell tire because it fit pretty neatly in the AMT stock one.

Fwiw, if you're gonna check out Novas of that vintage, I'd go digging for some of the MPC counterparts too - those look a bit closer, at least to my eye.

Yes Sir, Mr Hamilton. MUCH appreciated.

Anybody remember the MPC/AMT '69 Charger with dog dish caps on the cover? With this, the stock '76 Nova gaffe, and any number of AMT boxcover cars from that period also showing wiring and plumbing in the engine bay, I halfway wondered if some of the boxtop-building regulars phoned in a few already-built cars when AMT needed something for the latest reissue. Turnaround time and compensation on those were usually so miserable, you could hardly blame 'em...

Yup, Harry, and just to clarify - it's the circumstances leading to you locking the thread I was referring to when I mention "what happened to it".

Well. Looked at another way, some might humbly beseech the removal of the flags in the pic above - but I wouldn't suppose that had anything to do with the pattern itself. I personally could leave the stars 'n bars a lot sooner than take 'em, but yeah, James, straight BS what happened to your thread. Makes you feel any better, I went and had a look 'cause people here said the model was good, and it do indeed live up.

Hmm. How 'bout that. Good with the truck, VERY pleased about the Cadillac I voted for. Easier to believe it was an actual survey this way - I coulda sworn the results were gonna come up Ford pickup and '65 Impala, 'cause the patterns for those have already been established.

You ain't exactly renowned for building wallflowers, Mr P, but even so, this is some pretty mighty work! Hope the eye thing clears up for you, and soon.

Well now that we've drifted here, let me explain exactly what I was talking about in post #811. 'Cause there's an instant response to the whole price point angle (and on that, by the way, several critics agree wholeheartedly with the central component that car modelers are generally, uh, a bit penurious) that I did genuinely table only because I first saw that little canard as the discussion was calming down some and trying to lurch back on topic. And for reasons that should be self-evident, you can bet I'll get a great deal less satisfaction out of pointing this out now - doing so just doesn't feel any too sporting. But the matter does ask to be addressed: "This is what you get for 25 dollars". Fine, except it's not. Not by any absolute standard. You can get a handful better for 25 - those sweet little Midgets, for example? You can get even more accuracy, anyway, in the most correct truck model of 2015 so far, Revell's '14 SVT Raptor, for less (though you give up detail). And to the credit of this '57 Ford tooling, there's quite a good deal worse you can get for 25 bucks. That's the whole cornerstone of what a lot of critics say - why the inconsistency? There's the start of a really good answer to that question in the price point angle, actually, and unsurprisingly, it's Tim Boyd who expressed it best. But to try to contrive such an absolute out of the price angle, you can't acknowledge that inconsistency. An incremental header panel dimension is just the same as a scale-two-inch roof chop is just the same as a wholly unrepresentative chassis and suspension. It ALL needs calipers. It's ALL rivet-counting. There's NO diffident and circumspect pointing out of minor flaws, it's ALL "beating stuff to death". From all appearances and content, the reality that some manufacturing gaffes are so much more obvious than others must not enter this line of reasoning. And so the preoccupation with gas is actually quite appropriate - all it takes to blow this premise into burnt smithereens is a poorly governed break of wind. But let's ACCEPT it for a minute. This kit is absolutely representative of what you get for 25 dollars. All other 25-dollar kits developed from new tooling are more or less equal in quality. And hey, let's grant the far more agreeable claim that this Del Rio IS pretty dang nice for 25 dollars! Exactly how does that entitle anyone to judge what's acceptable in discussions about that model, and harangue anyone who doesn't meet his deeply arbitrary standards? 'Cause when you pare away all the rationalizations, that's where the trouble starts, over and over again. And you wanna talk "acting the victim" - WHAT IS half of what we see around here if not assuming some victimhood of behalf of the kit manufacturer du jour, and using that as an excuse for personal attacks? Just glad the manufacturers don't act that way. That speaker grille would still be popping up otherwise.

Wow! Assuming that's the case, let me offer my hearty applause to Revell!

Watch out now, Mr H. Pretty soon you're apt to hear allegations of "playing the victim" (which we all know is code for "not taking their garbage quietly"). Hear tell from a fellow scribe who emailed that the grainy finish was as much a surprise to Moebius as it's been to any of us, fwiw. Far as the slidey hoods go (and they do get to flyin' when the cab ain't perfectly level), I'm thinkin' scratch up a tab, make it look like a hinge latch, position it on the underside of the hood so it butts up against the core support, m'self. Cowl edge of the firewall holds the hood laterally, so it's the forward slack that needs checking.

I was letting things go just fine - mostly out of pity - until the personal garbage started up again. When that stops, so will I. And the attempt to qualify my content as gas-throwing speaks volumes - where exactly is my last unprovoked assault on somebody's character?