Casey

Monogram "Great White 'Cuda" Funny Car, same as the Snake & McEwen cars. One needs to look at the last 50 years of model kits produced by the "Big Five" to see why 1/25 scale is the preferred automotive scale for American builders in general. Jo-Han, AMT, MPC, and Revell produced the vast majority of their automotive kits in 1/25 scale, with Monogram being the 1/24 scale rebel. Once Monogram was acquired and merged with Revell, they changed to 1/25 scale, and 1/24 scale is all but dead for new American kits. I grew up building Monogram kits, and still like, build and enjoy them, but there's just something to be said about a standardized 1/25 scale which appeals to me.

If you own a vintage Mopar, one of those and a spare ignition control unit should always reside in the vehicle's glovebox.

What fun would that be? Tom Coolidge better get geared up to fill some orders.

QFT.

That's a good point, Mike. While I love to go to the four or so local swap meets we have each year in the Milwaukee area, there's no guarantee I will find the kit(s) I'm looking for at any one of them. Online, I can see and know it's on hand, ready to buy, and at what price. Plus, I don't have to go anywhere to get it, as it will be shipped to my door. I usually leave swap meets with parts kits, parts bags, or one or two kits, and rarely ever a new kit...but I go whenever I can.

I got the battery and tray sorted out, but the lower brace still need some work. Making the flange around the tray's perimeter proved to be too difficult using thin styrene sheet, so I settled for thinned edges and some scribing to visually separate the battery from the tray: You can see where I still need to add the sheetmetal flange where the inner fenders meet the framerails in the image above, so that may be my next step body-wise. I also got the holes for the K-member bolt drilled, but used a bit which was slightly oversized, so I may need to do some fine tuning for a better fit and better K-member alignment. Make sure you measure the bolt shaft diameter before drilling your holes, to make sure they are the advertised diameter. I also got the headrest support holes drilled in the '68 seat backs, so the headrests will be posable and I can paint and BMF them separately. I still need to bore the holes out slightly so the stems aren't so obviously angled:

I bet it has something to due with the '55 Chevy Street Machine version.

I guess from these comments, we can infer there will be at least on more version of this kit, and possibly two? One a NASCAR version and another a drag version, due to "nearly all" vintage '50 Oldsmobiles being coupes? It does follow Revell's pattern of recent releases ('69 Nova, '72 Olds (can't wait for the fastback announcement at iHobby 2012!), etc.) which allow multiple options of the same car, but only available in separate kits. I guess I can't blame Revell for not putting all of their eggs in one basket and releasing the Olds as a 3'n1, with stock, NASCAR, and drag versions. People would blow a gasket at the $35 price tag and the box to hold it all would likely not be the standard size box we all are familiar with, and retailers love because it's a standard size. While I don't think it's unprecedented for a kit maker to include decals to be used with an aftermarket body based on their kit, I can't agree with the "one of the most famous American race cars with historic legacy" comment. Yes, maybe to die-hard vintage racing fans in the 50+ age range that's true, but how many of us even heard of this '50 Olds Panamerica car before this topic? And how many of us consider the '50 Olds to have a "historic legacy"? Sorry, I'm not thirsty, and I never liked Kool-Aid. I understand these are nit-picks to some, and significant fails to others, and what it boils down to is,"Will we buy the kit?" I think for all who are interested in a '50 Olds the answer is yes, but some of us are still passionate enough about this hobby that the decal/body style mismatch gives us good reason to wonder aloud and question Revell's decision.

I don't know if these are 10" wide or not: Pics found here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=456675

How much finer is the texture on this new media compared to the Ultra Frosted Detail(?), which IIRC, was the finest TDR previously used? To be honest, it's the texture issue which is holding me back. It's fine for cast metal pieces (engine block and cylinder head exterior surfaces) but that jut kills the accuracy for parts which should be smooth, like stamped steel valve and timing chain covers, etc., especially at smaller scales where that type of rough surface is more noticeable.

Scale Hardware sells nut drivers for their scale nuts and bolts, but the smallest size they have is .8mm. I am using these for attaching the K-frame to the frame rails and for leaf spring eye bolts on my '69 Dart project.

I was actually looking for bolt heads smaller than .5mm, but that was the smallest I could find. How I'm going to get the nuts threaded onto the bolts is still a mystery.

I received my, um, scale hardware from Scale Hardware today: I think I need to go buy an Optivisor now...and some tiny mechanical hands.

Except for the wheels, tires, and decals, the Badman kit is essentially the same kit as the Monogram Revell 1/24 '55 Chevy Street Machine kit which (I think) was just discontinued, but is still easily found for under $10.00: "Revell" '55 Chevy Street Machine instructions: http://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/instruction_sheetsh/instruction_sheets/revell-2/revell-55-chevy-str/ Monogram Badman instructions: http://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/instruction_sheetsh/instruction_sheets/monogram/monogram-badman-55-chevy/ You can see the remnants of the original issue's molded in exhaust system when viewing the underside of the chassis/floorpans, as well as how the suspension is set up:

Technically, this kit isn't a Tom Daniel-designed kit, but more accurately, is a modified reissue, designed by Tom Daniel, and based on the original 1/24 Monogram '55 Chevrolet kit.

You might want to pass on the Badman kit, Virgil. The kit includes some decent American 200-S "Daisy" mags for use with the rear slicks (which aren't all that great), but the headers/exhaust manifolds and collectors are complete fantasy. The bucket seats are very '60s, but the rest of the interior (tub, dash) is straight from the original Monogram hardtop/convertible kit from 1964(?). The engine details aren't all that great, either, but the straight front axle is decent.

Using the "Use Full Editor" feature you can modify both the post title and the body of the post.

^^^ This is the one you want. It has great detail, including the "towers" which are almost always missing from others' distributors.

Nice. Are you using bolts and washers on the underside of the bed, too?

Congrats on your win, Chris.

I am. Please leave it locked. I sent you a PM, Jim, so please take a look at it.

I think that may come in a modified reissue, similar to what Revell did with the '72 Olds. Release the first kit as a "Special Edition" featuring stock and a close-to-but-not-quite-stock versions, then release a non-SE version as a race car, custom, or drag car.

Isn't the point of steampunk to backdate or make something new (or post Steam Era) look like it was from or could have existed during the Steam Era? There has to be some element of realism to make it believable and fit the time period/genre it's supposed to. Imagination is important, but you also have to look at the completed model as a whole and come to your own conclusions. The very fact that anything of this genre is based on what never was allows it some leeway, but just being labelled or classified as "steampunk" doesn't give it a pass when it comes to criticism and opinions. I would agree 100% that it is art, but it it good art? Let the debate continue.

Nice color, and I see you've already started filling the hole in the engine block.

The resin will be plenty strong, and good point about all the brackets and such which mount to the axle tubes. Without saying too much, trust me, 4x4/off-road stuff will sell, especially a nicely detailed axle assembly. I wouldn't offer the knuckles, stabilizer, steering parts, etc. separately from the front axle, but rather as all one package. Regarding the leaf springs, I want to say a company once offered some p/e leaf springs with separate/individual leaves, but I think a more "generic" kit which could be cut to length (at least the longest leaf) would be popular and would allow the buyer to fine tune and modify them as necessary for each project. Also, yes on the granny gear first transmissions and matching BHs. These off-road specific parts will not appeal to everyone, but in my experience, people who do want them will be willing to pay for them, and pay a little more if they are nicely done and a significant upgrade over the inaccurate kit parts.