Casey

I took some pics of the VW Beetle Funny Car body today: It needs a ton of block sanding, and I remember what I was really not looking forward to doing- adding the beltline groove for the chrome trim pieces which got buried when the body was extended. This one's gonna be dusty.

Oh, now there is a good idea.

Kenny confirmed this morning the Magnum AAR hood is no longer available from Bandit Resins. I will check out RMR, Steve.

Guess that settles it. At any rate, it's nice to have this one back, especially for the Christmas tree...and just in time for Christmas, too.

I don't want to poke the hornet's nest by bringing this topic back up, but the G-body Cutlass topic fascinates me. It seems to be a much wanted kit/conversion, and there are certainly kits available to base a Cutlass Supreme master on, but nobody has attempted it. I don't believe the Revell kit/built-up which was shown a few years ago will ever happen in kit form, but is there true demand from builders to see this conversion produced? Maybe it's the scale which is causing hesitation? I would assume both the Monogram 1/24 '86 Monte Carlo SS and Buick GN/GNX (Regal) kits would be used for the basis of the Cutlass Supreme, but maybe it should be done in 1/25 scale instead? And just to sharpen the stick a bit more, here are some pics of what Revell showed off a few years ago:

I asked Kenny @ Bandit Resins today about the Magnum hood and was told it was out of stock, which I took to mean "no longer available", but I asked for clarification.

Jonathan, I sent you a PM regarding disc brakes, as I cast some which measure 12" in 1/25 scale:

Pick up the Moebius '55 Chrysler 300 when it comes out in a few weeks. It will have a nice early Hemi engine.

That's perfect, George, thank you.

Considering he's probably not a native English speaker, I'd say he's doing fairly well, and very likely better than anybody making fun of him could do in Korean. Heck, his pronunciation is a lot better than some native English speakers I've heard talk.

This kind of falls in line with the one major problem of model kits' chromed parts, specifically the one or two tiny areas where the part is still attached to the sprues, and once trimmed free, you see the colored plastic underneath the plating. Ideally, one would strip the plating, sand the part smooth, and treat it like any other painted part, but send it out for re-plating instead of painting it. It's easier to remove parts from the sprues and paint all visible areas, leaving no visible evidence of a former sprue attachment point(s), since plating is so final, while paint can be re-worked or resprayed. Very few parts on a model will have the entire surface area visible on the completed model, so you can get away with mounting individual parts to a toothpick, scrap of sprue, etc. in order to finish and paint each part properly, or at least the best you possibly can.

Brad, do you (or anyone else) have a pic of the brakes and/or one of the wheel styles?

I did a little Googling, and based on what Bob Downie (ZoomZoomMX-5 on that forum, a person who I think has a pretty good handle on the auto modelling world) said, I would have to suggest you pass on the XS Tuning wheels: http://www.automotiveforums.com/t415688-xstuning_wheels_what_happend_to_them_.html FWIW, I've never seen the XS Tuning wheels, but if they scale out to 16" in 1/25 scale,I see little demand for them, as Bob stated in his post. It sounds like they're auctioning off what's left of Accurate Miniatures, which I believe was based in North Carolina. I think Revell picked what they wanted off that carcass (Grand Sport Vette), so I'm not sure what's left.

That's exactly what I was thinking when I looked at his builds. Clean, with just enough detail to grab your attention, yet no visual hiccups to interrupt the flow. You do some fantastic work, Cruz.

Agreed...the '78-9 Magnums weren't the pinnacle of Chrysler's late '70s fleet either, though they had some nice features...'cept that Cord-like grille.

Consumers associate names with experiences, which is why Volare, Edsel, Pinto, and Cimmaron will never be used again. Chuck, I'm sure you know of the 2.7L V-6 which powered many 2GN LH cars, including the Intrepid. How many people will now never buy another Chrysler product after experiencing the 2.7L enigne siezure firsthand? I know loyalists wanted the Charger as a 2-door, but it's on its second generation as a 4-door sedan, and has outlasted the Magnum, and seems likely to outlast the Challenger, too. People want to have their cake and eat it too, and they can get everything on the Charger and still haul three kids around comfortably. If it wouldn't be selling (see the Magnum) Chrysler would've axed it already. Coronet makes me think of horns or Rosemary Clooney commercials. I did like the Hornet name that was rumored, so maybe that will be applied to a different car? I'm sure some AMC die-hards will complain about that, too.

Chrysler has needed a competitive, sub-compact car for many years, and this one looks like it will finally be what Chrysler needs. No funky styling, no cheap, hard plastic interior (Caliber), and three engine options certainly help its cause, and it's based on a proven Alfa platform. Looks good to me.

I have one one which dates back to '96, so going on 15 years now. I had started it when the Revell AG 1/16 '52 VW Kafer kit was first released, and it's just about to be re-issued, so maybe that's a sign I should get to work on it again. I actually thought I lost the model over the course of two moves, as I could not find it anywhere, and I knew I hadn't thrown it out-- it wasn't that bad. To make a long story short, I found it inside a suitcase (shows how often we travel), and I have done nothing to it since. In fact, I can't even find the pictures I took of it, so I'll have to take some new ones. Now that this project has a companion 1/16 Funny Car build, it may see the workbench soon.

I try to follow the "treat every part as if it were a model unto itself" credo, which to me means make each individual part which comprises a completed model as nice as you reasonably can. If there are mold seams on it which aren't on the 1:1 part, remove them. If the part would look better finished after removing it from the sprue, do just that. Some tiny parts (say the ignition coil in Revell's '69 Camaro kits) are difficult to do this way, but you can always figure out a way to make it work, or touch it up in a way that isn't noticeable (like repainting the entire bottom end of the coil) after the part is finish mounted. I can think of no parts other than a cast iron type cast exhaust manifold which would look more realistic with the mold seam left in place, and that's assuming the part was laid out such that the scale mold seam matched the 1:1 part's mold seam. As far as painting areas which will never bee seen, such as the inside of a trunk, I see no good reason to do that, but to each their own. I'm sure we could all use the time, materials and energy spent on things other builders see as wasteful or unnecessary on our own models to improve something on theirs.

If I were you, I would break out the polishing papers and remove the blue overspray from the white area. That's not a huge area, and if you're going to clear coat the entire body anyway, you should be able to wet sand the overspray right off. DO NOT use any liquid polish at this stage, though, only very fine polishing cloths/paper.

Again, without knowing what the "quantity manufactured" under this "limited run" is, I'm not sure how significant "selling out" is. If it's 5,000 kits, I don't think it's even surprising they sold out to distributors. If they contracted fro 100,000 kits, there will be plenty available. And who are the distributors going to ultimately deliver the product to? Hobby shops? I don't see any cause for mass hysteria nor panic. Much like the more desirable Model King releases, some of these Hudsons will likely find their way to eBay and you'll fork over $35-$50 to get your hands on one.

I attended Model Empire's open house today, and as usual, came home with a big bag of goodies. Parts, decals, tires, and even some complete, sealed kits for $1.00 (I won't mention they are 1/32 scale Entex Jeep kits ). I found some 1/16 Aurora Funny Car slicks and wheels, as well as some other 1/16, 1/20 and maybe 1/12 scale tires, some fantastic 5-slot wheels in 1/16 scale, and a very nice Nitro Yellow Green '95 Dodge Neon Sport Sedan promo for $4.00. Altogether, some nice parts for my stash, some nice stuff to trade, and some parts to give away. If you ever find yourself in the Milwaukee area the first week of December, make sure you make it to Model Empire in West Allis, WI by noon.

Thanks for the great explanation, Tim. I did page through the Shapeways/TDR catalog, but I should've clicked the "How Our Stores Work" link first, which would've answered most of my questions: https://sites.google.com/site/tdrinnovations/b-how-our-stores-work I just looked at the functional 1/8 rods ends, and to be honest, they are nothing short of amazing. Is it possible to make the same hardware (at least the bolts) in 1/12 and/or 1/16 scale at this time? I would definitely have a use for those.

I was curious why Model King was involved, but I don't think they plan to produce 100,000 of these kits. How many kits are in this production run?