Bainford

I think the worst kits made were Revell tools of the mid-late 70s, or at least they were the most forgettable. I'm thinking of those custom Courier pick-ups with out-of proportion squared off bodies and generic features, including the engine. No technical accuracy whatsoever. The custom Chevy vans also, such as the Charlies Angles Van, etc. Every release was the same except for decals, and they were all bad, again with generic engines and features. The Pontiac Sunbird, the custom Mustang II, the Sneaky Pete. Just about everything new Revell produced during this period was junk. I've also noticed since joining forums several years ago that they are the only models that are never seen. Some pretty obscure stuff shows up from time to time, including Palmers, but nothing was so forgettable as these Revell offerings.

My aim is to get paint on the body as soon as possible, to allow as much time as possible for it to gass out before I polish it. This means doing everything necessary to determine what mods or adjustments are needed on the body, such as mocking up the major subassemblies to check for tire clearance and fit problems, check the fit of bumpers, lights, and grill, etc. The front and rear valance and facias are glued to the body, and chassis mods are made where necessary to allow it to fit the body with these glued on. Then I do all required body work, such as cleaning up mold lines, opening vents, and making the adjustments as indicated by the mock ups. Any small parts fitted to the body will be pinned, so the holes for these are located and drilled. Then the body is prepared and painted.

Now this is exactly why I think it is a shame that AMT fell into the hands of RC2 when they did. AMT was really switched on prior to landing in the hands of RC2. The type of thinking described above is exactly what model car enthusiasts need from a mainstream model producer, especially one that was producing kits at such a reasonable cost.

It seems the Drag City hoods mentioned by others are the way to go. As for taking the lead on the project, unfortunately you'll probably be waiting for some time. I tend to build very slowly (though getting better), and have a couple of projects 'on deck'. If I hadn't just started a Boss 302 project, I probably could have been talked into doing the Galaxie right away. It is a project that I'm excited about. Seems as though a couple of others have lightweight projects on the go, too.

Not sure about a PE set, but it sure would be nice to have. I just check Model Car Garage, and they don't have one (though they do have one for the 60 Starliner). As for the hood, I was going to attempt to graft the tear drop from the T-Bolt onto the Galaxie hood. Other sources for a tear drop are the AMT 66 Galaxie and the Model King release of the AMT AWB 66 Mustang. There are other that will come to mind immediately after posting this reply

Whoa! That is downright BAD. I love this build. The low profile of a front mounted blower is very neat, but fitting one to a Boss 429 and stuffing the works into a stock body Stude ... now that's cool. One of the best sleepers I've seen in a long time. Nice work on the weathering, too, and the black wheels give it just the right amount of attitude. Nice work.

An excellent and correct chassis is found in the AMT 60 Ford Starliner kit. It also includes a great FE engine and 9" diff. The perfect doner for your project. I'm collecting bits to creat a 427 lightweight 64 Galaxie, using this same doner.

Hhmmm... very good news indeed. I was starting to become concerned that the tooling may become neglected if insufficient interest was shown. It will be very interesting to see what they plan to release. Are there plans to repair some of the long forgotten tools that haven't been released in recent decades due to various problems?

It's true, SMBC does offer a resin Cleveland, but unfortunately, they omitted the lettering on the valve covers. It seems like a minor issue, but I've been waiting for a decent Cleveland for a long time. It is my favorite of the Ford V-8s. I have several projects that could use a good Cleveland, including a replica of my 1:1 69 Mach 1. No matter how modified the engine, I think Clevelands look down right mean in Ford blue with the factory lettered steel valve covers. Perhaps the after market will respond, but I imagine these would be difficult to master. I've considered it myself, but not sure how I would go about duplicating the lettering. Of well, I am happy to have a decent Cleveland just the same.

I was pleased to see this kit arrive, and very excited to hear that it has a 351 Cleveland and non-shaker scoop, but very disappointed to learn that the otherwise stock Cleveland has after market aluminum valve covers as it's only option. I so want a set of Cleveland factory steel valve covers with the "Powered by Ford" stamping. Oh well. It's good to see Revell give us everything needed to build the Mach 1 or the Boss 302 (including the Cross Boss intake and carb). Mix and matching parts will also creat a regular Mustang sportsroof from this kit. Now if they would just throw in the Boss 429 parts, we'd have a complete 70 Mustang kit. Nice work, Revell!! (now about those valve covers...)

Polar Lights 64 GTO Convertible. I built this one as a 'quick builder' so I could manage to get something finished off of the bench, but it still took too long. This kit is not without its issues, but overall I'm more pleased than I expected to be. It's built pretty much box stock with some basic painting and detailing. The paint was polished with Tamiya polishes.

Beautiful GP, Pokey. Very clean, and nice style. An interesting kit, too. Wouldn't mind getting my hands on one of these. Nice work.

Very nice build on the Bently. This is the first one that I've seen built, and it seems like a nice kit. It is very high on my 'must have' list. Thanks for the opportunity to check it out.

This Mustang was my daily driver for six years. Unfortunately, it hasn't turned a wheel in almost ten years. With any luck it will see action again summer 09.

A couple pics of the stash. These are about three years old, so about 60-70 kits have been added since the pics were taken.

I'll join in. Here's my work area. A rare neat moment between projects