NYRich72

Built one of these a few years back and pretty much agree with the pros and cons. One thing that still annoys me is that the bloody "bonnet" cannot be opened all the way without it touching the "ground". It lines up perfectly in the closed position and I went over the instructions more times than i can remember but never could figure out if I screwed up or if Revell did.

Great paint color choice. I'd also go with the black interior. Never owned a '67 but did have both a '68 and'72 (1:1) and am a big fan of the Chevelles from that era. Dumped the stock 307 from my '68 in favor of a 327 from a wrecked "vette which eventually ended up in the '72. Several model 68's in my collection but it doesn't look like there ever was a '72 made or, if it was, they have long disappeared from the market.

I only got back into the modeling hobby about 10 years ago (after an absence of more than 50 years) so I really haven't experienced the "price creep" that has occurred from year to yeat. However, I have noticed the jump in prices these past few years and, for someone like me who's on a fixed income, it's come down to being very selective about purchases. Many kits that were in the $20-25 range two or three years ago are now selling for over $40 and many do not even have engines. It may sound counter-intuitive, but lately I've been buying mostly the mid-priced Tamiya kits as they seem to be a better value. For one thing, the quality is exceptional and the more complex ones take me more time to build. Having no way to set up an airbrush system, I find that rattle cans meant for automotive use are less expensive than those meant for modeling and the color selection makes them more accurate for matching the actual factory colors. I'm also an amateur photographer and if anyone thinks that modeling expenses have risen, they should compare current camera/lens prices to what they were only a few years ago. I've managed by simply not going after the "latest and greatest" in favor of getting the most out of what I already own.

So many good products available to strip chrome quickly that I always strip it before painting. My favorite is EasyOff in the yellow spray bottle as it can simply be poured into a small container with no waste and much better control than the aerosol spray can.

I always love to see well done chrome work as it usually gives me fits. Beautiful overall build.

Nice model of a very under-appreciated car with a lot of potential. My sister-in-law owned a 1:1 1988 model which I got to drive several times. Nice handling vehicle but the 2.2L base engine made barely enough power to get out of its own way. Perhaps she should have sprung for the turbo version and skipped the 8-track tape player.?

Super build! I have a real soft spot for the '62 Impala as a 4dr 283ci version was the first car that I ever owned.

One of the joys of living in NYS is the onerous sales tax and it's even worse in many of the cities.? The merchant that I usually order from is not in NYS and does not collect sales tax. I believe that it does not meet the the minimum amount of gross sales to be required to collect sales tax. That said, I take a hit on my tax return whether or not I also pay sales tax at the point of sale. I honestly don't know if it's an actual hobby shop or is run out of a warehouse as is rather common these days. As I previously mentioned, the only shop here in Manhattan prices its goods way over what the internet shops charge and has a much smaller selection. Even allowing for shipping via UPS its much less expensive for me to shop online than to have my pocket picked locally. No doubt the NYC shop has a much higher overhead but I'm retired and, with inflation running rampant, I save a few bucks wherever possible.

Believe it or not, here in Manhattan there is (at least I think that there still is) exactly one "local" hobby shop. Hundreds of places to buy, alcohol, tobacco products as well as products used for smoking just about anything, but one can no longer take a child or grandchild to a hobby shop to pick out a model kit. That said, I have no choice other than to shop online which, in any case, is one heck of a lot less expensive than buying from the guy who (literally) owns the only game in town. I grew up in Brooklyn and spent many happy hours at the Brooklyn Hobby Shop which has been gone for at least half a century that I know of. Too bad that my children and grandchildren can't experience the fun of gawking at all the stuff they want for their birthday or Christmas. Alas.....the "good old days" really were pretty darned good! ?

Wow! Amazing interior and engine. I've never built a Fujimi kit but that will be happening in the near future based on your build..

My #214 arrived here in NYC a few days ago. As usual, I found quite a bit of information that will help me with my builds. I was away from car modeling for nearly 50 years before getting back into the hobby when I retired several years ago. I subscribe to six magazines but this is the one that I most look forward to receiving. No doubt whatsoever that I will be renewing my subscription "forever".

Don't even know where to start but the attention to detail calls for more superlatives than I can find in the dictionary!

Really excellent build considering that the kit is "junk". ? Not sure why anyone would consider this kit junk but there's no satisfying everyone. I built one several years back and, other than for my painting skills (or lack thereof at the time) didn't find any major issues with it. On a personal note, the '63 split window has been my all-time favorite Corvette since the day it went on sale at a local Chevy dealer in Brooklyn which was only a short walk from the long-defunct Brooklyn Hobby Shop. My best friend (and eventually my best man) were drooling teens at the time but I love it more now than I did then. He eventually owned a modified '62 Corvette convertible which he raced successfully at the local strips with yours truly as his one-man pit crew. I haven't seen any kit available other than the AMT but I am going to try another build now that my painting skills have improved.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll be looking into the bookbinding leather which seems to be pretty much what I'm looking for.

No doubt that there are responsible electric bike riders just as there are responsible drivers and responsible firearm owners. Unfortunately, we tend to hear only about those who abuse their rights/privileges. After driving for more years than I care to remember, I'm a pretty good judge of speed and there's no doubt in my mind that many of these bikes can go a lot faster than 20mph. I'd say that many of them can hit twice that speed. As you say the sidewalks in New York City tend to be crowded with pedestrians which makes for a very dangerous situation. At least you and your wife have bells on your bikes but I don't recall ever hearing a warning bell from the bikes/scooters etc. that are being driven on the sidewalks. As you know, electric vehicles are nearly silent and we have a lot of background street noise here making it nearly impossible to hear an electric bike approaching. I'd also guess that at least 50% of those riding two-wheel vehicles of any type here do not wear a helmet even though required by law. I've driven in Canada (mainly Quebec) and shamefully must admit that I feel a lot safer driving there than in the USA. As for trusting other drivers, I totally agree. I've always taken the position that every other driver on the road is crazy and out to kill me. Of course that isn't true but I've seen far too many instances of lunacy to make me alter my thinking. About 25 years ago, while I was between jobs in my regular vocation, I drove a tow truck for a friend who owned a towing company. What I saw at accident scenes scared the living daylights out of me, especially after speaking with the law enforcement officer on the scene as to what happened. To this day, I will not drive or ride in a vehicle unless every passenger is belted in.

I might be biting off more than I can chew, but I'm considering actually "upholstering" some seats with real or imitation leather. What I am considering is either to cut and glue the leather to the seats or to make covers to go over the seats. Perfectly willing to experiment and waste a few dollars and some material to give this a try. My biggest problem has been in trying to locate leather thin enough to have the required flexibility. I'm thinking that leather of about .5mm in thickness might work but have yet to come across anything that thin. I'm guessing that someone else has come up with the same or similar idea and hoping that I can get pointed in the right direction as to a possible source for the leather.

Here in NYC (and no doubt elsewhere), idiots on electric bikes/mopeds, dirt bikes and ATVs riding like they own the streets and, even worse, the sidewalks. My wife and I are in our 70's and are constantly on the lookout for these jerks. We've seen countless pedestrians injured on the sidewalks and in crosswalks and many auto accidents caused by these dolts cutting in and out of traffic. If these aren't motor vehicles then I don't know what a motor vehicle is. Yet, almost every one that I've seen is unregistered (no plates), uninsured and driven (mostly) by the irresponsible. Whether they even have driver's licenses is anyone's guess. Can't get into the politics of it here but I can't say that I'm surprised that there are more and more laws being totally ignored or in need of implementation. I have nothing against cheap transportation and these vehicles are not evil unto themselves. I'll also be the first to admit that they look like fun to ride lawfully. To top it off, there have also been a rash of house fires caused by owners charging their batteries, which seem not to be of very high quality. We've had quite a few deaths as a result of the fires. END OF RANT!

Great. Hopefully yours will arrive as quickly as mine did.

I emailed Revell at....service@revell.ge I told them what the problem was and supplied the kit and part numbers. They replied to my email in a couple of days and the part arrived 6 days later.

I also built a highboy version a few months back and will also be doing a channeled version to sit alongside it. Hopefully the windshield frame in the new kit will be better than the one that came with the last one. At least Revell sent me a replacement frame that got here from Germany only 6 days after asking for it.

Since we can't get into politics here, most of what irks me daily can't be addressed. Anyway, I'm sure that most of us see things happening that might make us throw the nearest handy object at the TV screen if we didn't have to pay to replace it. What does irk me, pretty much every day, is that almost every cashier seems incapable of saying two simple words....thank you. For many years I worked at a company that served the public (mostly some very demanding corporate attorneys). We did an annual survey each year asking our customers what we could do to make their doing business with us more pleasant. While I no longer have the exact figures, the vast majority said that a simple "thank you for your business" would be very welcome and make them feel that we didn't feel entitled to their business. We actually incorporated this into our training program for new hires. Ever notice how many retail customers say "thank you" to the cashier instead of the other way around? Next time you're at the supermarket, drug store or wherever, take notice whether or not the cashier displays even the least bit of courtesy to the customer. Not saying "thank you" won't fix what's wrong with many things that irk us, but when even the little niceties disappear, it makes one wonder about the serious stuff.

Jerry, sorry to hear about your boxer. Growing up I spent a lot of time with my aunt's boxer and came to love that breed. About a year ago one of my neighbors adopted a boxer from Turkey who rolls over every time she sees me to get a belly rub.

Just unboxing one that was given to me last Christmas. Your great build is giving me something to strive for.

One of our pugs who, sadly, passed a few years ago. She was watching me download some photos from one of my older Nikons which just happened to have an 85mm f/1.4 lens mounted. Great lens to isolate details and who can resist a pug's eyes? No way to replace a beloved dog but our Boston Terrier sure won us over.

Waiting for UPS right now which is delivering a Tamiya Porsche 1988 911 Turbo and a few odds and ends. I don't know why, but lately I've had the urge to build European sports cars instead of my usual muscle cars and hot rods.