Casey

Content pics of the 1/24 Monogram '30 Ford Cabriolet Special Interest Series (i.e., stock only, no other options) kit here: http://modelkitreviews.proboards.com/thread/771/monogram-cabriolet-special-interest-series

Gorgeous, John.

Lots of pics of the 1/25 Revell SnapTite '70 Chevelle SS 454 kit's contents here: http://modelkitreviews.proboards.com/thread/772/25-revell-1952-chevelle-454 Another version of this very same kit has the body parts molded in blue and the interior parts white, so pick your poison, or mix and match as desired: https://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/builds/rm/build_rm_1932.shtml There's also the original issue of this kit in the Wheels of Fire packaging, with a body shell molded in dark green, but which included stock Magnum 500 style wheels: I would definitely chose this kit as a starting point for a '70 SS build, curbside and all. I don't have an MPC/AMT '69 Cutlass nor a Revell '72 Cutlass to test fit under the body shell, but my gut feeling is it would be a little snug, do to the slightly thicker-than-a-glue-kit nature of the body shell. This kit has some very nicely molded details, the bucket seat fabric (vinyl?) texture and the nameplates/emblems on the body shell in particular-- very crisp and as well detailed as any glue-together kit. The separate headlight bezels/buckets are a nice touch, though the pinned headlight lenses (and matching holes in the bottom of the buckets) sort of cancel that detail out.

Nothing ever disappears on the internet. I've spent the better part of the last year and change laid up after breaking my left ankle and leg in two places. And, since I had annoying "404 ERROR" issues and couldn't post here, I spent the time performing historical research of events in my neighborhood over the last century. I came across an interesting and sad story about a young girl who happens to be a relative of old friends of mine. Susan Scanga's murder became a nationwide sensation, bringing attention to, and prompting civic leaders to combat and develop solutions for the increasing rise in juvenile delinquency during the immediate post-war period. While conducting my research, I realized that the world is, indeed, a small place. I didn't realize that I actually knew all of the people involved at one time or another when I was growing up. I wrote this story and contacted the City Council member for the area so he could present this narrative and petition the community board to rename the street where Susan lived to honor her memory. I decided to research and write this as a memorial to a young girl whose life was cut short and was never able to fulfill her dreams. Her tragic story is all but forgotten by Greenpointers of today and I felt it deserved to be retold. Here's the story: On Wednesday, November 21, 1945, residents of Greenpoint were shocked to wake up and learn of the tragic rape and murder of 16 year old Susan "Susie" Scanga by 16 year old Nicholas "Nicky" Fomkin. Susie was born on July 13, 1929 in Vandergrift, Westmoreland, Pa., where her family lived in 136 Jackson Ave and later at 531 Maple St. In addition to her parents, Nicholas, Sr. and Nancy, Susie's family consisted of her sister Rachael and two brothers, Nicholas, Jr. and Frank. In 1939, the family moved to Greenpoint and settled into an apartment in 309 Oakland St. where they lived until moving to 178 Kent Street sometime after 1940. The Scangas were a typical working class family. Nicholas, the patriarch of the family, worked as a laborer at the American Manufacturing Company on Noble St. Mother Nancy was the homemaker, caring for Susie and her siblings. Susie worked as a salesgirl at one of the local stores to help her family and took night courses at a business school. Nicholas "Nicky" Fomkin was born on January 18, 1929. He and his family, father Michael, mother Helen and older sister Anna, lived in 132 N.1st St., in Williamsburg. Michael died on Dec. 24, 1938; the family seemed to move around until they settled down in 233 Huron St. in the early 1940s. Nicholas was one of the aimless youths which were prevalant in Greenpoint at the time. No parks, playgrounds or places to congregate in a safe, wholesome environment. Many kids, like Nicky, turned to hanging out in vacant lots, like the one on the corner of Huron and Provost Streets, just up the block from where he lived, drinking and frequenting the pool halls. Nicholas had a close friend, 16 year old Leonard Runkowski, of 211 Huron St., who would become entangled in the events leading to, and following, what later transpired. On the evening of Tuesday Nov. 20, 1945, Nicky was drinking beer with Leonard and Walter Litwin, of 111 India St.. He decided to take a walk down the street to see Susie, whom he considered as "his girl". He saw Susie walking with a mutual friend, Ed Danowski, of 189 Green St. Filled with envy, he grabbed Susie by the arm and told her to walk with him. Nicky took Susie to one of his hangouts, a shack located in the lot on Huron and Provost, where he shot her. Investigation determined that she was raped before being killed. Her partly dressed body was discovered by a watchman at 8 A.M., on the 21st. She had been reported missing by her family early that morning. He father provided identification. A memorial service was held at Smolenski Funeral Home on Saturday, November 24th and she was buried in Calvary Cemetery that same day. After killing Susie, Nicky and Leonard took a bus to Philadelphia and, from there, hitchhiked to Mobile, Alabama. Detectives got a break in the case. They found his name scratched into the wall of the shack, just above where Susie's lifeless body laid. Nicky had a propensity for carving his name at all his favorite hangout spots and, by strange coincidence, fingered himself as the suspect. Danowski and Litwin were held as material witnesses. Out of money, with no place to go, Nicky placed a long distance call to the 94th Pct. from a phone booth in a drug store. Nicky said that he and Leonard wanted to turn themselves in. The desk lieutenant who took the call told the boys to stay where they were and contacted the Mobile police to pick them up and hold them until detectives could bring them back to New York. Upon returning to New York, Nicky confessed. "She was with Ed Danowski", he stated to police. I took her away from Ed and we walked down to the shack. I told her I didn't want her going out with other guys. I said 'you're my girl' and I drew the gun, which I got from Leonard Runkowski in a trade or a hunting knife, and put it before her face. The gun went off accidentally." Nicky told detectives that he was scared to death, broke the gun with a rock and threw the pieces into Newtown Creek. It was soon after when he and Leonard decided to get out of town. Assistant District Attorney Burton Turkus, famous for indicting, prosecuting and sending eight members of Murder, Inc. to the electric chair, insisted that the shooting was intentional. He said the gun had no trigger and that Fomkin must have drawn back the hammer himself. The powder burns on her face indicated that the muzzle was placed directly against her head when the fatal shot was fired. A sad aside to his confession was when Nicky asked the detectives, "Can you please tell me her surname? I never knew her surname." Nicky didn't even know "his" girl's last name! He was held at the Raymond Street jail pending trial. A grand jury was convened on Tuesday, Dec. 4th and Nicky was indicted on the charge of second degree murder and arraigned on Wedneday. His trial date was set for Friday, Dec. 7th, only three days after indictment, which was a record at the time. Nicky changed his mind about standing trial. Ater conferring with his mother, Helen Pohoriwki, and his attorney, Nathaniel H. Kramer, he asked the court to change his plea to guilty of manslaughter in the first degree. D.A. George J. Beldock and Asst. D.A. Burton Turkus reviewed the case. They felt the interests of justice would be fully served by the plea. Under questioning by Judge Goldstein, Nicky admitted he had been "in love" with Susie. The judge granted the request for the plea. 72 years ago this week, Nicholas Fomkin was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his crime. He seemed to have disappeared after being released from prison. He died on Feruary 1, 1974, at age 45. The Scangas remained in Greenpoint after the death of Susie. Nicholas, Sr. and Nancy later retired to Florida, where Nicholas died in 1977 and Nancy in 1992. Rachael, Nick, Jr. and Frank all remained in the neighborhood into the present. Ed Danowski also remained in Greenpoint and passed away in 1989 at age 59. Walter Litwin moved back to Pennsylvania, where he was born, and died in 1976, at age 46. Leonard Runkowski, 88 years old at this time, remained in Greenpoint for many years and is presently living upstate. Edited 30 minutes ago by SfanGoch

I will have a look inside the kit (well, partial, most of the content is identical to the earlier releases) within the next few days, Bill. The intake manifold appears to be Weiand, however:

Both the W30 442 and Hurst AMT/MPC '69 Oldsmobile Cutlass kits include the 455 engine. That said, you could easily modify the 455 in the kits to pass as an Olds 350, as the block deck height is the only major external difference.parts The W-30 442 version is scheduled for reissue in early 2018, so it might be worth waiting for, depending upon if the few parts which differ from the 2014(?) Round2 reissue of the Hurst version are a difference maker to you. There's a review topic for the Hurst version here: Both are good donors for upgrading other GM A-bodies (especially the JO-HAN '70-'72s), but so is the Revell '72 Olds Cutlass, which I feel makes a better engine donor over the AMT/MC '69s. Neither of the three are a bad choice, really, just depends upon your particular needs and tastes.

The only thing I would change would be the ballast bar ("push bar")...the heavier the better back there. Nice looking model, Donn.

https://www.stushepherdart.com/ Picked up the attached two reissues and an original Green Hornet over the last few days.

I didn't realize there was once a trailer included with the 1/25 MPC World War II/Korean Conflict Jeep kit, but it looks like it was replaced by a stretcher and some weapons, and the soft top replaced by the surrey top in the most recent reissue. Hopefully the tooling still exists and Round2 can reissue the kit with the trailer parts included next time.

Thanks, Mark....*dons reading glasses*... Yes, they do appear to be the same, sand any sidewall detail/lettering, as the stock tires found in the R-M Pro Modeler '48 Ford Convertible kit: The '40 Ford Pro Modeler kit's stock tires have a recess to accept a separate whitewall insert, but they do appear to be of the same design: Not sure if any of the other issues/reissues of these two kits included the same tires or not.

Looks like about $150 U.S. on average. Not bad considering what you get.

A few extras found in the AMT Blazing Bison Puller Tractor, pics from SMN review: http://www.scalemodelnews.com/2017/01/the-blazing-bison-125-scale-mega.html#more

http://www.scalemodelnews.com/2017/11/funky-music-announces-112-scale-fiat.html

"I got this." I thought only Revell use those tires back in its pinching pennies days when they skipped chrome plating parts, too?

I think it would be one of the more difficult kits to reissue in its original form. Looking at just the paper parts, there would be a healthy bill from the printer/puncher alone: Factor in the Ding-A-Ling parts haven't been used since 19...well, the very early '70s or very late '60s, so who knows if that section of the mold remains, or if they were separate inserts, if those can be found, or if they even still exist:

Not sure it ever made it onto a kit box, but it was described as such here: http://nostalgiaonwheels.blogspot.com/2009/10/1960s-aurora-motorcycle-model-box-art.html

Yeah, the sidewall would be too short it looks like. I measured the Armstrong tires and the styrene halves, and the O.D.s are 1.090" and 1.084" respectively, so that's close enough for me.

I think those are a better choice than the styrene tires (one half of which is shown above in the image I posted), but I think there are better options available. Now, I will grant you "better" is a subjective word, so to each their own. The kit's narrow tires have a really chunky tread that I don't care for, so I would replace them without hesitation. Would the tires in the Sunny kit be an upgrade? I'd have to go look at your review topic to refresh my memory, but they might be a good choice, too. There really are not a lot of close-to-stock small pickup tire options out there, though, especially for 2WD trucks. I mean, which kit includes a 6.00 x 14 tire like this:

Try sending a PM to Dave Ambrose. See here...:

As Bill said, just ask if you can't tell for sure after a Google search. Some engines have funky plug locations, some are covered my a metal shield, some under a passageway/cover on the cam cover, and so on. It's not universal, but getting the location correct does make a big difference in terms of realism.

Were the trailer tires found in Revell's 1/25 Midget Racer kits used in any other kits?:

For those looking for alternatives to the stock styrene tires, consider the Armstrong bias-ply skinnies found in the IMC and subsequent Lindberg reissues of the Little Red Wagon Dodge A-100 pickup kit. They are very close in O.D., have a much better zig-zag tread pattern, and the stock Datsun wheel/dog dish hubcap pieces fit inside them quite well: