Casey

Fair enough. My point was that a store like W*M sells based on price, and when price is the #1 most important factor, other things like quality are secondary. I was trying to tie in Dave's comment about prices going up and added some proof it's already happened with Round2's most recent releases. What interests me is the point at which spending more on a kit's R&D becomes either advantageous or prohibitive when it comes to selling the kits to the distributors, and how that point seems to be changing. Now, that change might be bad or good, depending upon one's viewpoint, and if there's a tradeoff between price and quality.

I don't think Moebius is going after the low-hanging fruit, thank goodness. Those $7.99 checkerboard kits didn't do anyone any favors, except the cheapskates for whom price is the most important consideration when buying a kit. As Dave mentioned, the cost of production is going up. If anyone's noticed the prices at most online retailers, Round2's most recent round of kits are their highest priced group compared to previous batches. If the cost of getting a roofline or the leading edge of a fender correct is an additional $10/kit retail price, I'm all for it. I think Trumpeter tried this angle, but failed miserably in the accuracy department, so I'd love to see Moebius give it a try, even if it's just one kit on a trial basis.

Perfect, thank you. Saves me from asking you for more shots from that '59(?) you had access to.

Fuel tanks are sanded, so I made four tank brackets from 3/32" square brass tubing to mount them to the frame rails. I simply cut a V-shaped notch on the inside of the bend, cold bent the tubing to 90*, then soldered the bend to strengthen it a bit and fill in any gaps. After measuring twice and cutting both legs of each bracket once, we have these: I drilled a hole in two of the brackets and used some R.B. Motion bolts for holding them in position temporarily against the frame rails: I started on the one of the rear leaf spring packs, but still need to trim some to length and shape the ends a bit, too. The piece of 1/16" brass rod is holding them together temporarily:

Builder's bloc? Are those the AMT(?) early Halibrand kidney beans on lo-pro tires?

This might work better in the Aftermarket & Resin section, so moving it there...done. Miles, click here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26136 and here: http://public.fotki.com/antikainen/1969-saab-96-/ Contact info (e-mail address) here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=71864

The wood is good, Jeff, as is the rest of the interior from what I see. I love a white interior.

Now I'm ready. There was too much overlap between the work needed on the interior and the body, so it was time to cut out the doors. The wheel houses are already a very good fit to the body, so I will concentrate on filling the jambs, making door hinges, and tweaking the dash mounts.

This pic is a bit small, but according to the eBay listing, these are MH's two ton wheels and tires: https://www.google.com/search?q=modelhaus+two+ton+tires&biw=1372&bih=783&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=6QOWVK6rE4SRyQSZxYGQAw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg#imgdii=_ I can't link the expired listing but here is the body: "This is an excellently molded resin set from Modelhaus, one of the finest resin casters out there. It is their 2 ton 3 axle kit. It includes 4 sets of duals and a set of fronts with separate wheel hubs. The tires are black resin two-piece and fit together perfectly."

I know nothing about them, but they are definitely very detailed and aimed at the experienced builder, judging by this Porsche 356:

I finally picked one up, and took some pics of the contents: http://modelkitreviews.proboards.com/thread/91/amt-ford-8000-race-hauler There's a lot of plastic in the bed parts alone, and there's plenty of kit bashing material, especially the bed sides/compartment door pieces and the diamond plate ramp bed. Kudos to Round2 for reissuing this kit. FWIW, the frame rails in my kit were mostly straight. There was some very slight waviness in one rail, but very minor. Not much flash and nothing warped, either. The chrome plating is flawless, too, but those rear hub pieces are soooooo tight to the sprue runners, they're nearly impossible to remove without damaging the chrome plating. My only other gripe? Excessive use of exclamation points on the side-of-box description. Six sentences in a row ending in exclamation points?!? I guess the folks at AMT were really excited about this kit back in the day.

Sooooo, Rockford? Jeff and Fred, please update us when you can. I realize this is a very busy time of year for most people, so we just want to make sure we keep forward momentum going on this project, no matter how slow.

I bought this one when it was reissued as part of the SSP in the early '90s(?), and I was surprised how well detailed it is for the small scale. My only wish was that the cab was one piece, so that the interior floor could be installed before the front cab wall, but IIRC that's not possible with the way the kit is designed. It's a neat little kit, though.

Parts by Parks' Moon disc style wheel covers can still be found on eBay, and the are the nicest I've yet to see. I would definitely recommend finding a set.

Done. Well, I filled the holes where the step indentations were, so hopefully tomorrow night I can get the two tanks finish sanded. I removed the gauges/instrument cluster from the AMT '53 Stuebaker Starliner kit's dash and added it to the truck's dash, butt I still have some blending to do. I figured with a semi-experimental turbine engine, a few auxiliary gauges would be a necessity, rather than a luxury: I cut away the sides of the interior tub, too, as seen above, but I'm not quite ready to make the cab's doors functional just yet. I wanted better detailed door panels and might make a few more changes and/or additions to extend this project even longer. I picked up the AMT Ford LN 8000 Race Car Hauler kit today, too, so it will donate a few things to this project.

Maybe?: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=722&p=1045408

Updates would be appreciated, and I'd love to see everything head to Ron in IL for some final assembly by the end of 2014.

Start with the 1/25 MPC '74 annual kit, add the recent AMT '70 Camaro subframe/chassis/floorpan/suspension, and modify the interior as needed. For the Pontiac engine, the Revell '66 GTO or '68 Firebird 400 would work with some tweaks. The Rally II wheels, trim rings, and whiteline tires shouldn't be too hard to source, either. Buy the resin Firebird/Esprit hood from Missing Link.

The Trucks section has some quirks when using the attachment feature, so it's best to use the images from your fb page here instead of using the attachment feature. I edited the forst post and added the images from you fb page, but I think it would be helpful if you could take clearer images of your work so people can see the details better. I also added the link to your fb page, which you may want to add to your profile page and/or signature line, too.

I think he's looking for Elaine Benes. All of the recent AMT tires/slicks/wheels parts packs are 100%, never before offered. The recently reissued parts pack Chrysler and Chevy engines, etc. are old creations from the '60s:

Diamond, very rough. It does have a ton of character, though, which makes for an interesting model. Are all six tires mismatched, too, on it? I see the LF tire is, um, rather worn.

There are many differences, and since there were base Firebird, Esprit, Formula, and Trans Am models for most years in that range, there will be many small differences. '71's were the only year to have fender vents, too, so that might rule out '71 Formulas, too:

Like a yoga mat, or an old seat cushion from an RV type (that gold stuff) foam?

Terry, you are sharing your opinion regarding sellers on eBay who charge what you think is an unfair price for kit parts. That's fine, but it's not a truck specific topic, since it happens with all kits, not just truck kits. The same topic comes up every few months, and usually one particular seller is mentioned, too. "its not worth what they are trying to charge." This is why eBay is so great-- the market and buyer decides if the price if fair based on whether or not s/he purchases the item at the stated price. You may think it's not worth the asking price, but someone else might, so each person determines the part's value for themselves. "This is just another example of these sellers trying to drive the price of a kit up" How does it drive up the price of kits when a seller parts out a common, easy to find it?