Casey

It sounds very similar to what both Revell (and AMT) tried a few years ago with their pre-finished line of kits, based on their snap-together kit offerings, and similar to what already does with many of their SnapTite kits, the Star Wars line especially. The Pro Finish line comes to mind, though these new kits will have a much lower parts count:

Here's the full press release: http://www.briefingwire.com/pr/revell-reveals-essential-model-kits-at-the-american-international-toy-fair-in-new-york Revell Reveals Essential Model Kits at the American International Toy Fair in New York • Expanded product line introduces plastic models with durable play value to younger kids • Pre-finished bodies and less delicate parts helps older kids graduate to glue assembly BriefingWire.com, 2/17/2014 - NEW YORK, February 14, 2014 – Today more than ever, parents look for toys that pull their children away from isolating electronic gadgets. Chicago-based Revell® — a worldwide hobby industry leader — now unveils two new groups of plastic model kits that have been created to keep kids (and all developing model builders) engaged in a fun, creative, authentic experience. New Revell Snap-Tite™ models have fewer than twelve total parts. Even six-year-olds can put them together in just minutes and begin to play! Featuring durable bodies and smooth, rolling wheels, the cars in this entry-level line include such popular titles as the all-new 2015 Ford Mustang. At last month’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and again at this month’s Chicago Auto Show, the Mustang earned raves from over 10,000 children who participated in Revell-sponsored Make ’n Take™ model building events. Modelers who are ready to step up from snap assembly to using glue now have an easier option of their own: new Revell glue kits. They can develop the skills needed to succeed with glue and brush-on paints, without yet having to master delicate spray finishing techniques, or dealing with tiny parts. This new line will include the 2013 Camaro® ZL1™ and 2013 Challenger SRT8, and is packaged in window boxes to spotlight their attractively pre-finished car bodies. “The plastic model category has been stagnant for decades,” Revell Vice President and General Manager Lou Aguilera Aguilera explains. “We set out to make the first model-building experience a more enjoyable experience so that kids and first-time modelers will want to repeat the activity and become passionate about this hobby.” See the new Revell Model Kits at the Revell / Estes booth #5363 during the 111th American International Toy Fair, taking place February 16-19, 2014, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. For more information about the show, visit ToyFairNY.com. About Revell® *deleted the rest*

Comparing chrome sprues from both a JO-HAN branded issue and the above Testors issue, there's a difference in the "tag" (not sure if this is feed area or something else?) on each sprue's runners. The JO-HAN tag is vertical and slightly tapered, while the Testors tag is horizontal, and looks much like what we see in Revell and Monogram kits. Maybe this was done to allow for the tooling to be run in more modern injection molding machines? I think the Testors kits are not leftovers, but new moldings, and maybe they were able to Testors chrome sprue: JO-HAN chrome sprue: The Testors non-HSO issue of the Comet also had this new "tag" present: The HSO branded kits appear to have included both stock and lo-pro tires (which fit the pewter wheels), so maybe their inclusion was something Testors and JF worked out.

Will a 20 oz. Coca-Cola be OK?

Earl, please click the below link, and see if clicking the Compatibility View option on IE fixes the problem: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=81824&p=1059026

Nicely done, James. That's a HUGE improvement. How does the top edge of the windshield "glass" look now with a little bit more exposed?

Hmmm, never thought of that. Has Meng done that before?

I am not much of a Sprint Cup fan, but will watch the Daytona 500 next weekend. With that out of the way, I can totally understand why NASCAR is tweaking the rules and format every year-- to keep people interested. In this day and age, they have to keep changing some things to stay in the news, and every tweet, call-in-vote, and online article generates interest. Maybe it doesn't put butts in the seats as much anymore, but that's becoming a smaller piece of the pie. Same deal with NHRA and the NFL. Attendance is down, yet profits are up, so it's not necessarily bad news, just different than it used to be. I recall a few years ago when John Force went on his winning streak (and this has probably happened not long ago in the Sprint Cup series, too) and the championship was decided by mid-season. No sports league wants that and the fans don't want to see their team or driver play in meaningless games or drive meaningless races. The multiple fans votes and elimination rounds sounds like American Idol, but guess what? Millions of people watch, tweet about, and call into that show, generating interest, and in turn, money for the sport. The NBA has let fans vote for All-Star game starters for years, and it's had no detrimental affect on the sport. While NASCAR isn't quite the same apples-to-apples comparison to either American Idol nor the NBA, both do show how major sports and entertainment events-- sometime both at the same time-- compete for fans and their money, and how intense that competition has become over the last decade. Hey, it could be worse...name one Indy Car driver.

I think y'all need to pick up these:

Good memory: Looks like the Mercury Comet, too:

It's complicated. The best starting point might be here...but there is no ending point: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20855&p=185823 I would love to know how Testors got ahold of the tooling, and where the kits were actually molded, but who to ask? Steve Goldman: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20855&p=186177

Ideal made a Lincoln Continental Mark II?

Lesney-era AMT box art.

Not sure of the scale, but I would say 1/8 scale, as it was 24" long from what I recall. No name nor manufacturer was visible on the handwritten price tag, and what you see, as you see it, is all I saw of it: Hmmm, now that I posted the pics I see a nameplate on the rear quarter panel, a rip cord(?) at the back, and not sure what the black strap like things running across the trunk are, either...

I think part of the problem with streamliners is almost everything is hidden from view. Transparent windows/canopies are kept to minimum, so you can't see what's inside. There's no hood to lift off, hinge upward, or remove to show off the engine like on a typical passenger car, and if the streamliner has a full bellypan, you have nothing to see underneath should you pick it up to look at it. The Challenger I model has removable panels, true, but there's also a very famous name attached to that car, too, which I suspect helps a lot. Mickey was a great promoter of his own LSR attempts, too, and had established relationships with the press which helped get the word, and his name, out there and visible to the general public. That promotion sure didn't hurt Revell's odds of selling more Challenger 1 kits. LSR racing is not like NASCAR, NHRA, etc, with a ton of sponsorship money pouring in, plus they run 20+ events in a season, all of which are broadcast. These are still mostly unknown racers spending most of their own money, so the drivers don't have name recognition with the model buying public.

It was definitely in the '90s, as this magazine ad is from '97:

Spray your brownish-black color of choice through an airbrush with either too much air pressure, too far away, or with paint thicker than what you'd normally use. You want the paint to start drying before it hits the model, so it can't flow and level out. I think anything out of a spray can would end up looking too coarse, even on a 1/12 scale model.

The owner, Mark, mentioned in a previous topic (I think it was Mad Max related? he wasn't associated with AF/X. Found it: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=75292&p=949826

Take this discussion up via PM, please. This has nothing to do with models, and it's only going to go downhill from here.

Gorgeous work, Thomas.

I've wondered that myself, and the Mercury Comet Pro Stock kit, too, which Testors also released.

I added it for further clarity. I thought it was clear Daniel was asking about Testors Hobby Shop series of kits, as James did too, but that's why I added the clarification post. Sometimes I will add to or edit a title or correct misspelled words to make it clearer and easier to find when searching for a post or subject.

The Hobby Shop Only (HSO) series of kits Testors released is what Dan is asking about/discussing, so let's try to keep this topic about those specific kits, please. Here are some of the others:

That might not be the best idea, and is why we frown on people posting active links to eBay listings, too. We recently had a member post a link here to his own eBay listing, so we don't want to have to police those sort of posts. There are so many places to buy kits online, all of which are just a Bing/Google/Lycos/AltaVista search away, that it should be easy to find what you're looking for, and at the price you wish to pay.

Looks like there are two "PRO STRT" license plates, four side marker light housings, and two 390 "V" nameplates on the fret?: