Casey

It's a multi-piece stock bed, with separate L & R bed sides, inner and outer tailgate, front bed wall, and a bed floor with inner bed walls as the last piece. The bed is far more accurate than the Fleetside bed in the MPC/AMT '84 GMC 4x4, but it's not perfect. Also included are solidly molded chains for mounting the tailgate in the lowered position. Here's an assembled bed from one of the Chevy monster truck versions:

Is this the engine in the ZR-1 kit which was released in 2011? I don't think anyone is casting it, and I doubt anyone will. I realize your location makes things much more expensive, but here in the U.S. we can buy that kit for about $15.00 U.S., so if someone were to cast it and sell it for $8.00 or so, I think most people would buy the kit instead, then use or trade off the extra kit parts. Corvette kits (especially late '80s and early '90s kits by AMT) are $10.00 at most here, and almost every Corvette engine imaginable has been included in a kit, so it's probably not worth a caster's time and money to make only the engine.

I think it was a company policy at Monogram that any street pickups/SUVs/vans had to have at least a rear mounted spare tire, with the jerry can being included at the designer's discretion.

A resin-cast eight-foot Fleetside bed would be nice when this kit is released, but then again, there's plenty of room for improvement in all areas of this kit.

Are the six-lug, five slot chrome wheels in the GMC Jimmy kit the same wheels included with the first and last issues of the Dodge Ramcharger kits?

It was the same with the '77 Chevy van, until the mirror position was corrected for the final box art. There's something funky going on with the bed on the GMC, too, as it appears to be lower in the rear, and the body line angles noticeably downward. It will be interesting to see which style plow is included, as I recall older plows needed some extra space between the body and bumper for mounting, but it appears the bumper in the box art above is in the stock location. I fully expect the box art to be finalized once the plow is finished and an accurate sample can be built, painted, and added to the pickup.

They probably recognized your e-mail address again.

Yes, it would not be a good idea.

Our local Goodwill stores (we have about seven within the metro Milwaukee area) all re-sell partial/incomplete kits. I've picked up about ten or so in the last few years, but only if they interest me or would be good trade fodder. Same for Salvation Army stores.

The MPC BFG Radial T/A tires are similar to the Rally GT tires AMT issued with many of their kits, which is to say the tread blocks are heavy, too agressive for a performance street tire, and the scale of the tread makes the tires look like an off-road tire. The Arii tires are 1/24 scale only, and you can tell they are out of scale on a 1/25 scale model. They also tend to have that odd "kinda close" look where the sidewall meets the tread area, and some come off looking overinflated...not good. I think if Joeseph could make two different sizes in both 1/25 and 1/24 scale, he'd have a huge hit on his hands. I know that's a ton of work, but he clearly has an eye for details and that is much appreciated.

Thank you, Jeff.

Which do you prefer? Original issues, early reissues, or current/recent reissues?

If he wanted to haul more bananas, he should've gotten a van and Gone Bananas

We had nice weather today so I decided to prime and paint two of the Eagle GT tires. Both were primed with dark grey Duplicolor primer, and one was topcoated with Krylon semi-flat black, the other with Testors Flat Black enamel. Those were the only two black spray colors I had on hand, so that's why those particular colors/brands were used. Anyhoo, here are two detail pics showing the raised white letters revealed and the beautiful tread block detail:

I would say make a buck then vac-form the "glass".

Yes, I only use the yellow Easy Off, so maybe I just need to soak them longer and make sure they are continuously submerged. It seems to be the same as it always has been, as it still dissolves chrome plating in about ten seconds. IIRC DPD uses lye (sodium hydroxide) as it's active ingredient just like EO, but maybe the concentrations are different.

Thanks. DPD it will be.

I've tired Easy-Off and 91% isopropyl alcohol, and the chrome plating undercoat is not coming off. Dave Z, if you read this, does Dawn Power Dissolver work for this? The wheels in question are from AMT's prefinished Phantom Vickie kit.

Most of the 1/24 Monogram engine you'll find will be simplified, so I guess it depends upon how much upgrading you want to do. The Monogram '29 Ford roadster pickup has a Cadillac engine, and the Boot Hill Express and Lil Coffin both have early Hemi engines.

IIRC those wheels/hubcaps has a hex-shaped center cap, and these don't appear to. A pic taken outside of the plastic bag would make them easier to identify.

You need to sand off the raised ring.

A few things I noticed... 1) The Blazer and Jimmy kits have front (maybe rear, too?) bumper with wide, raised rub strips...: ...while all of the pickup's bumpers do not: The GMC Jimmy also includes a unique aftermarket style (Hickey, maybe?) hood, which dips at the front: 2) The stepside pickup version seems to have a side-view mirror issue, as they are missing in the first issue, back for the second, then missing again for the most recent reissue. Then, the Pulldozer and Mad Mudder both have the mirrors, but none of the monster truck versions do. 3) Did the most recent aqua blue version of the pickup include the axle trusses all of the other "street" versions did? You can see the axles due to the high angle, and you can see in the image Revell has provided for the forthcoming GMC reissue that the axle trusses are not present. 4) Did any other Monogram kit include the wheels pictured on the GMC High Roller box art? They look different than those on the standard GMC pickups, but maybe they are the same? 5) No GMC emblem on the grille of the original issue? It appears to have been included in the kit, so I would guess the box art model was built pre-production.

The top bracket looks fine, as one bracket should be slotted for adjustment, but the rectangular block sandwiched between the brackets and cylinder head(?) looks totally out of place. Is that the Pontiac engine from a Monogram kit? The problem with adding these brackets is that most are specific to the engine and specific options the vehicle has- A/C. air pump, etc. You also have to trust that the cylinder heads are positioned and/or molded in place correctly so that when you attach the scale bracket to the scale engine, the pulley offests are correct.

Looks like you need more light, and the background/base is too dark. The focus looks good to me, though.