Casey

Bingo. The "perfect" model does not exist. I've never seen one, and doubt I ever will. I've seen a which some close, but you can always find a flaw or fault and that's a good thing. It motivates us to improve, and IMHO, that's the goal with each successive build. Listening to other people's opinions and critiques is just another tool we can use to improve, but the opinions and critiques must be honest and genuine for them to tbe truly helpful.

Yes, but those had a wrinkled sidewall IIRC. Tim and Roger, thank you, that's what I need to know. I'm not losing it...yet, or at least not totally.

Thanks for the help so far. Can one of you with a pair of hard plastic sytrene slicks confirm that both halves are of equal width, instead of one piece being just a sidewall? I know the slick half I once had was molded in black styrene, like the '80 AMT Old Pro Nova kit was...which is maybe why I am thinking that's the kit they were included with, but maybe I'm not remembering correctly and both halves of the slick were not of equal width.

Lately I do. I never bought the 1/32 vans when I was young and they were out, so I'm getting them now.

I picked up an unbuilt MPC 1/32 scale '77 Dodge van today:

Does anyone recall which kits included two-piece styrene (as opposed to vinyl or rubber-like) slicks? I swear it was the AMT "Old Pro" Nova Pro Stock kit from the original early '80s issue, but can't confirm it. The slicks I'm thinking of had small ridges spaced around the inner circumference of both halves, and I think each slick half piece was the same size/thickness, so the seam between the two halves was right down the center of the contact patch when assembled. I'm 99% sure these had Goodyear raised lettering on the sidewall, too.

Those MPC big 'n' little 5-slot wheels are great. Street Freak alert!

Probably no much help, but just in case, Steve: http://ultimategto.com/modbox4.htm

The Caravan die-cast is 1/26 scale or the trailer is?

What was the story with Revell releasing kits under the Advent label?

I am loving this build. It would be cool to see the tailgate angle match that of the upper rear cab wall/fender trailing edges, with a slight forward lean to it.

Thanks for the comments. Tonight I separated the two rear Gremlin roof sections from the C-pillars, removed a little material to lower the rear of the roof a bit, and reattached them: I also shortened the AMX's roof section to mate with the Gremlin sections, since the Gremlin's roof contour is a little closer to the AMX GT's roof: The roof will need some contouring as it's a bit too flat as it sits, but I still need to fill the gaps in the roof and tail panels first: I smoothed out the C-pillars, so after I fill the roof and tail panel gaps, I can begin work on the full tail panel, including the addition of a semi-recessed rear bumper, recessed tail light buckets, and a new fuel filler cap:

Oops, you're right, the flares are separate pieces.

You'll need to remove the molded on fender flares, too, but that's not too difficult. I agree about the grille- you could use the headlight buckets from a similar pickup, and the center section could be scratchbuilt with Evergreen or Plastruct styrene shapes. The good thing is the original issue versions of this kit are the same price as a new kit, and they are plentiful on eBay.

And considering it could be a modified reissue in the form of a '68 and '70-'72 Chevelles, it's a must do. Revell has already covered the '65, '66 (wagon and ElCo) and the '67 Chevelle in two versions, so a '68/9 makes complete and total sense. Can part of the AMT '68 El Camino (dash, seats, etc.) be used for a '69 Chevelle? I'm not sure what the '68 ElCo kit's contents are, either.

Is the AMT '70 Chevelle SS based on the '69 kit? I've never looked the '70 kit over to see if it's any better or not.

The only issue is those wheels tend to have high positive offsets, so they tend to look out of place on any older vehicles. I think the Lindberg 1/20 scale kits of the early to mid '90s had some optional wheels and tires, but opinions vary as to how well executed those are. I have some of the early S-10 wheels and Goodyear Gatorback tires if you can use them, Darrin. I also have a nice looking 5-slot wheel which I suspect originated in the MPC 1/20 Mid Ford Van kit: And these Hurst wheels are close to 1/20 scale, too: There's just not much out there for 1/20 scale.

The "scale model car" must've been added to the tooling at some point after '84, eh?

I forgot about the super-deep Chevy Rally wheels in the AMT '69 Chevelle kit, too. I don't know that I'd say the Rallies in the Revell '69 Camaro or '67 Chevelle are a huge upgrade, but they at least seem to be of a more accurate stock width.

Which is exactly what this thread is. Topics which are worthy of continued discussion will get bumped when a new reply is posted, and those which are not will fade away. You can always bump an existing thread which has slipped off the front page if you feel it needs more attention, too, but that always seems to come off as self aggrandizing and implies the specific topic in question is more important than others.

The engine is the easiest thing to replace and absolutely should be replaced since there are far better replacements available. Are you putting in a small or big block Chevy engine? There are plenty of choices from Revell alone for either engine- '65 Chevelle SS396 Z-16, '66 Impala, '69 Camaro, '69 Nova, etc. If the chassis from the '72 Olds is close to correct, I would use that instead of the MPC '69 Olds chassis, though the '69s chassis is not bad. You're still stuck with the shallow interior from the AMT '69 kit, though.

Are the wheels in the Pop Corn Wagon truly 1/20 scale, or are they 1/25 scale with tire O.D.s adjusted to make them fit the 1/20 scale model?

Yes, it's the same kit for the most part, with new decals, the figure, Hurst wheels, and some narrow slicks for the rear IIRC.

I think the closest you will come is Bandit Resin's '71 Plymouth Scamp conversion: http://banditresins.com/1971_plymouth_scamp.html I recently ordered this very kit and took some pictures of it, so you can check those out here if you like: http://s916.photobucket.com/albums/ad9/tramhl/Plastic%20Models/Reference/Resin/?start=all

Hmmm, it looks like the tires (and maybe the wheels) in the reissued version were not the same as the originals: http://www.showrods.com/gallery_pages/popcorn_wagon5.html