Art Anderson

Looks pretty good to me! Art

Acetone is the perfect solvent (or glue) for acetate plastic, always has been. Some have asked why early 3in1 model car kits were made in styrene, while promo's were made (from very nearly the same tooling) in acetate plastic (later Cycolac --also known as ABS plastic): That's pretty simple. Acetate was probably the very first plastic compound that could be melted with heat and then injected under high pressure into steel molds to make molded plastic parts. In the middle 1930's, acetate (known then by the brand name under which it was invented by DuPont: Tenite) plastics were used for many products, knobs and trim for home radios, knobs, and even dashboard trim for automobiles (Ford promoted their use of acetate plastic made from soybeans--one of the very first "biorenewable" plastic products!). Acetate's principal advantage (besides being the first injection moldable plastic) was, and is, it's relative toughness, and resistance to shattering. After WW-II, along came styrene, which showed promise of being an inexpensive plastic material that could also be injection-molded. However, straight styrene is very brittle, shatters easily into shards that present a laceration and puncture hazard--particularly for kids playing with toys made from the stuff. So, when Cruver, AMT, Product Miniatures and Ideal Models (which later changed in name to JoHan) began producing promotional model cars for the auto industry, they quickly settled on the relatively shatter-proof acetate plastic. Anyone who remembers the very earliest plastic model car kits, particularly from AMT and JoHan, which body shells were molded in promotional model tooling, will remember just how brittle those bodies (and other parts) could be Acetate however, has always had its drawbacks: It shrinks somewhat over time, as evidenced not only by warped promo's of the era 50-60 years ago, but also steering wheels (which were molded from acetate over steel structures) with rims that cracked into segments of plastic with gaps upwards of 1/8" all around the wheel rim. In the very late 1950's, ABS plastic was developed. This material resists shattering very much like acetate, but doesn't have the shrinkage problem, nor is ABS affected by moisture (either from immersion in water, or merely the humidity in the air) that are also drawbacks of acetate plastic. It's little wonder that ABS quickly found a place in toymaking, and is still used to this day. AMT Corporation made the transition from acetate to ABS with their 1962 promotional models, while of course retaining styrene for use in molding model car kits. JoHan made the shift sometime in midyear 1962 although their first full year of molding promo's in ABS seems to have been 1963. MPC, when introducing their promotional models for 1965, along with several 1/25 scale slot car kits, heavily advertised their use of Cycolac ABS for these products. Art

When fitting the kit whitewall tires up on my Revell '49 Mercury wagon, I noticed that there is lettering on them!!!! Yup, that's right: FIRESTONE, with the Firestone "F" shield, and almost readable "Gum-Dipped" lettering. So, it does appear that tire lettering is back at Revell. Art

Key to the shiny spot indicating an uncured defective place in the casting should be quite simple, actually: Is it sticky to the touch? If not, if it's click hard and tack-free, more than likely it is just a surface anomaly, nothing at all serious or paint-job preventing. Just my considered opinion.... Art

Mini-Exotics/R&D Unique did a 1/24 scale resin transkit to convert the Monogram 1/24 scale '53 Corvette to the Motorama Corvair (Corvette fastback), but those are hard to find anymore, as R&D Unique closed up shop several years ago. As for the Corvette Nomad, while that has styling cues from the '53-'55 Corvettes, it was actually a much larger car, built as it was on a stock 1954 Chevrolet station wagon chassis. As a result, it's longer, AND taller than any Corvette. That said, someone did do a resin kit of that car back in the late 1980's, don't remember who now, but it was a limited run kit. Art

While not everybody's cup-o-tea, this thing is very much in the mode of those outrageous customs by say, George Barris, etc. from the 1950's to perhaps the mid-1960's? Considering the various components all welded/leaded/bondo'd together on a Dodge Magnum station wagon: '59 Lincoln headlights, grille surround, with '57 Cadillac Fleetwood "Dagmar" bumpers, '1960 Chrysler tailfins and taillights, and 1960 Cadillac rear bumper ends, it doesn't really look all that bad--save for the fact that the Lincoln front clip doesn't really do that much for the front. Granted, the flame paintjob is a bit much dressing on top of the salad here, wonder how different it might look in a more subdued but well thought out paint job? Art

The 16-valve, DOHC chain drive head by Frontenac, to be exact. Art

I did the woodgrain work on my Revell '49 Mercury wagon as follows: First, I masked off and painted the entire woodie panels (sides, and the tailgate at the rear) and airbrushed them with a mix of Testors #1141 Gloss Wood Tan that was lightened up with a bit of #1145 Gloss White. After this was dried completely, I used some small foam eyeshadow applicators (found the cosmetics department at my local Walgreen's) to wipe on an artists oil paint straight from the tubes--"raw sienna" darkened with just a bit of "burnt umber", to get a wood grain effect. With a bit of practice, and really spreading it out a good bit, I was able to get a very believable, almost scale-appearing woodgrain effect. Artist's oils take a long time to dry, as they are mixed using linseed oil, which has to "oxidize" (combine with oxygen in the air) to solidify. In the case of this woodgraining effect, that took a good three days. Once the oil paint was dry, I added the kit decals, which in themselves are a pretty decent rendition of what Honduran mahogany looks like. After the decals were dried, I brushed a coat of Tamiya Clear Yellow Acrylic Enamel over all the woodwork, my wood graining as well as on the decals. The clear yellow really "warms up" the tans and browns, giving a very believable color, along with wood grain, not only in color detail, but even a very slight effect of woodgraining to the surface itself: I think it's pretty convincing! Art

I managed to find several pics of '50 Oldsmobile 88 interiors--although none of them very good nor very complete) online, using Google Chrome, searching "1950 Oldsmobile 88" in the "advanced search" box, then clicing on the "images" button when my search results came up. For the colors for my Olds interior, I used Modelmaster light ghost grey (flat finish), with "Euro 1 Dark Grey" flat finish enamel in the Modelmaster line on the seats and side panels tor replicating the colors of the upholstery. On the dash and the moldings atop the side panels (on the real cars these were painted stampled sheet steel) I used one of the Modelmaster enamel metallic silver-grey colors but don't remember just which now. the darker panel in the middle and lower dash was masked off and painted Modelmaster's "charcoal grey metallic". In the midst of all this, there's quite a bit of bare metal foil work to be done, as well. Lotsa chrome trim in car interiors back in those days. Art

Ben, IMC never actually tooled up the kit for the Dodge LVT-1000. All that was ever shown was a painting of one, which likely might have become the box art painting, had the kit ever been designed, engineered and cut in steel. Art

but for one thing: Where AMT, MPC and Ertl had all the big names in OTR trucks sewed up, Dodge was never a big player in the heaviest class of OTR semi-tractors. While of course, Monogram got into big rigs during a bit of a "revival" in the very early 1980's, Testors involvement was almost all due to that company's taking over the importation and US distribution of Italeri kits--rather than making their own from all new tooling. Art

Michael, I did the same, very intense search a year or so ago--and found that 2-tone grey was the only interior color scheme I could find, as well. I used a flat light grey with dark grey accents, based on the instruction sheet suggestions, for the seats and upholstered parts of the side panels, with a metallic grey for the base color for the dashboard as well as the upper moldings on the side panels. The lower "central" part of the dash would have been a metallic charcoal grey in color, which meant some serious masking tape work for me. Here's what I came up with: Art

That one "example" was merely an artist's "box art" painting of the LVT-1000--it showed up at the HIAA trade show in Chicago's Sherman House Hotel in 1971, 72, and '73--apparently it never generated enough pre-orders from wholesales or LHS's to warrant IMC's tooling it up for production. Of course, it probably didn't help that Dodge wasn't exactly the most popular of large OTR tractors. Art

More update: Engine is now installed in the chassis, with almost all wiring and plumbing done. In addition, the column shift linkage is installed, as well as clutch linkage. Probably the biggest pain was putting in the hydraulic brake lines, as they had some seriously tight bends to get them in, and through areas of the frame. I discovered after painting the engine and transmission that the toothpick I'd used to hold the unit while airbrushing split the top of the tailshaft housing, but fortunately, it didn't split the seam on the bottom side, so this crack will not show once the floorboard is put in place. Art

Of course, there's always the Revell 1/25th scale '59 Eldorado kit, which has a tri-power setup, factory stock. Art

and, the distributor in the Revell '48 Woodie that I checked to see what it had, isn't an aftermarket "crab style" either--rather it is the last series Ford "one cap" design, which is what is in the drawing I posted earlier. In the bottom line, I suppose it all comes down to whether one wants to build a factory stock engine, or a flathead with a bit of "warming up"? Art

Actually, doing the plug wires on a '48 Ford V8 should be quite easy, as well as adding a real detailing dimension to the engine. Consider that the only truly visible plug leads are the portions that extend from holes in the sides and ends of the conduits, and arching up and over to the top of each plug. As for the conduit, that doesn't even need to be hollow--I'd consider 1/16" Evergreen Styrene rod stock for that, just bent to shape, and drilled to accept the plug wires. Art

For starters, the ignition wiring of a stock 1932-48 Ford V8 is probably the simplest there is, as it's truly not necessary to be concerned about the firing order! The reason for this is that the plug leads are all "sorted" out underneath the rather large, "two-eared" dust cover--the 4 plug leads for the right side cylinder bank all coming out of the right hand "branch" dust cover, and the wires for the left cylinder bank exiting the left "branch". From their respective branches, the wires are bundled, 4 wires to each cylinder head, inside a curved, tubular steel "conduit", each wire exiting this conduit ajacent to its respective spark plug. Here's the layout, so you can see: Note: "How did I find this drawing"? Simple! I used Google Chrome for the browser, went to Google Advanced Search, typed in "1948 Ford V8 Distributor", went to the next page, and clicked on "images" at the top of the search page. Just a couple of rows of pics down the page turned up this exploded view drawing! Google Advanced Search has become my "go to" for finding reference information, easy to use, and as quick as any other method of research I've ever used. Art

Of course, look at what Coker gets per tire. Art

Of course, it was a German engineer by the last name "Otto" who invented the type of engine used in every gasoline powered car to this day: The "Otto" 4-stroke (4-cycle) engine. Art

I'm not altogether sure whether the Prestolite system for acetylene headlights was a factory option, or whether it was something installed by a dealer--the former would seem to indicate some sort of standard placement of the acetylene generator (which is what that vertical tank is), but if dealer-installed, then the mounting spot for the generator would be "dealer's choice". Of course too, consider that more than likely these two kits share a lot of common parts, the largest being the fender/running board unit. In that case, the more rearward positioning of the Prestolite generator would have been dictated by where it was placed on the touring car (note that the touring car has no doors for the front seat passenger, while the roadster has a fully enclosed left body side, the only functioning door being on the right, or passenger side. Art

Most automobiles of this era had folding windshields--the upper part being hinged at the frame, so as to be folded forward, down on top of the lower pane. There are lots of contemporary pictures of open cars (and the VAST majority of automobiles prior to the advent of inexpensive closed body styles were open bodies) showing this. Art

Harry, Licensing has been around for about as long as plastic model kits! While not cars, aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing, Northrop-Grumman, Lockheed-Martin expect model kits of their aircraft (even aircraft made by companies they bought up but no longer manufacture) require licensing, whether civilian or military (bear in mind that US Military aircraft are designed in the private sector under "request for proposals" or "RFP's" and if a plane is the winning design, it gets manufactured and sold to whatever branch of the US military--and then of course there are civilian aircraft, from "general aviation" to huge airliners--all those planes stem from intellectual property owned by their respective makers. With model car kits (even the promotional model cars which are what sparked the hobby as we have come to know it today), licensing has always been part of the equation as well--just enforced and tightened up considerably after that decision handed down by the SCOTUS back in the 1980's. But, you raise a good point: Model companies striving to save a few dollars. That has always been an issue, just as it is with any manufacturer--after all, they are in the business to make money, not just "trade" dollars. From perhaps the middle 1960's until about 10 years ago or so, the "big hogs in the litter" where model car kits are concerned was not your LHS, or even the wholesalers who supply them--rather it was the succession of "Big Box" retailers--the "...marts" of the retail industry. And, those mass retailers were in the position of being able to literally dictate the price of the vast majority of the merchandise they stocked/still stock. Now, were say, Walmart to decide to stock model kits again all across their chain, that can easily add up to several 10's of thousands of kits of any subject they decide to buy. And therein lies the rub! When Walmart was buying upwards of 25,000 to 30,000 of any one model car kit, they were in a position to dictate the price at which they would buy them--model kit mfr's could take it or leave it. Consider that for what, a good 15yrs or so, the "standard" price point of a model car kit was pretty much cut in stone, at $10. Now, regardless of what the "Consumer Price Index" might indicate for inflation, inflation is something that affects every industry, every segment of the economy differently. Over time, the prices of some goods or services (and/or the costs of manufacturing those goods) might be pretty stable, a few might actually go down, and yet others might well rise, some more than others--all cost-driven. But, if the biggest buyer of say, model kits, especially if their focus is on low prices, ALWAYS THE LOW PRICES, says that say, $10 MSRP (actually they are concerned with the net price they will pay for whatever merchandise line they want to carry), without regard to what the manufacturer may face, then something has to go, corners wind up getting cut IF the particular manufacturer wants to make the sale to their potential massive (and largest) customer. Back at that $10 price point for a model car kit, it became a matter of mere cents per kit here or there, perhaps down to even a fraction of a cent. If labor costs went up (either wages or benefit costs, for example) then something else had to be cut (be that making a new deal with a supplier, whatever), or else the price paid to the manufacturer had to go up. It was this almost unholy reliance on the Big Box retail market, for example, that ultimately drove Racing Champions/Ertl, and ultimately, Revell Monogram, to move their model kit production overseas (for that matter, a great many other consumer products manufacturers did exactly the same thing--by reason of the power that a retailer or two had over them). But even with production gone "offshore", costs still rise. Even China is undergoing inflation, the cost of transportation across the Pacific goes up regularly anymore. So, if a model kit manufacturer is caught in that "middle" between their "customer" on one side, and the costs of production/costs of transportation on the other side, with neither being willing (or perhaps able!) to change their "mood" in all this--other things have to give--and I am pretty convinced that this was the case at Revell--the licensing costs of making a Firestone or Goodyear branded model car kit tire simply could no longer be sustained. Round2 operates on a considerably different business model than this, however--they are in the business of "Nostalgia"--bringing back those much-loved older model car kits, and not worrying about the Big Box stores anymore (for that matter, given that no mass-retailer today stocks model car kits all the way across their chain of stores, nor even year-round anymore, nobody in the model kit industry has to deal with their price-point intransigence currently), and as a result, their price points are what they are--no longer tied to the concept of the same price per kit year-after-year, and that's pretty much the way of it with the other companies as well. BTW, that's been the way of it with model kits from virtually every country other than the US where plastic model kits are widely sold. Who knows (I sure don't!)? Somehow I would suspect that the tooling sections of those old Monogram "branded" tire molds probably still exist, and now that they appear to be relatively free from having to "Kowtow" to Bentonville Arkansas, it seems to me that they could fairly easily go back to including branded tires in their kits--but of course, that is a decision they have to make--after they've looked at all the ramifications. Art

Considering that Revell's kit that you mention is not newly tooled, but rather a reissue of their Dodge Dart kit that dates back to the late 1990's, MCW's PE set probably is as close as you will get. After all, Bob Korunow produced it for the Revell Dart kit. Art

No, of course not. However, before anyone thinks "carte' blanche", keep in mind that for any company to cover it's "intellectual property" (which is what designs, logo's, the shapes of car bodies etc. are) it takes a bit of staff, and that doesn't come particularly cheap--lawyers, either in-house or outsourced don't work for peanuts. There are costs involved in protecting intellectual property, and the money has to come from somewhere. Also, licensing fees collected by a major automaker aren't a significant source of their income So, companies probably charge sufficient royalties to cover most if not all, their expenses. As for licensing free of charge to the licensor--as a form of advertising, well I rather doubt that the advertising impact would be very worthwhile, so there goes that idea. At any rate, while licensing royalties may sound huge, may grate on our collective nerves--in the larger scheme of things, they are but a cost of doing business for model companies--and not nearly the large thing on the balance sheet. Art