Art Anderson

Uh, Doing a stock version of the 30 Ford Station Wagon should be no more difficult than finding a '30 Coupe for the stock parts. Unfortunately, along the way, the Monogram '30 Cabriolet with its originally tooled side mounted spare tires sort of disappeared, and every production Model A Ford station wagon had as standard equipment, a side mounted spare tire at least on the driver's side, so lacking that fender tree, you'd have to come up with a way of making the spare wheel well in the fender, and then scratch up the spare wheel mount to go with it. Not impossible, but it will take a bit of work. Art

Certainly, factory blueprints of say, most US or British WW-II aircraft are available still, as of course are drawings for US Navy ships, but there are a few caveats even with those! With US aircraft of the Second World War, original drawings may or may not show some very visible shapes and contours exactly as originally drawn up, given that minor changes occurred either between the time the drawings were made and final production--things like wing fillets and wingtips, subtle shapes of tail surfaces, that sort of thing. Given the "hot-house" development of many fighters, for example, a design change to say, a wingtip may never have gotten corrected in original drawings simply because of time for such things, so just a revised drawing of that part might have gotten sent to a tool shop for a new stamping die, and as such never shows in the original approved drawings. When that happened, photographs of the production airplane may well have that new wingtip, even if it's not on the original drawings. With ships, "factory drawings" are simply far too large to be of much help in many cases. There is a reason those got called "loft drawings", as they were laid out on the floor in the loft (upper floors) of whatever structure containing the engineering and design offices. Even with cars, problems such as these crop up. On several of my trips to AMT Corporation and subsequently, Lesney-AMT, i saw their draftsmen and pattern makers working off 1:1 3-view drawings thumbtacked to very large easels--easy to make small but nonethless visible mis-interpretations there. When referencing an older car, NOTHING beats photographic evidence--a real car can require hundreds of photorgraphs to capture not just the look of the car, ut all the subtleties of shapes, even proportions. Even today, with 3D scanning now available (yes, there are even portable 3D scanners available at prices which are pretty reasonable), it's still important to back up the basic scans with key dimensions, just to make certain that measurements, even proportions of the final project are as accurate as possible. It does go without saying, of course, that with any model kit development of a modern car that has been designed with CAD, using those CAD files to create a model is fairly close to priceless. Art

Tom Carter at Spotlight has had those boxes made for years. However, they are NOT kit boxes, but rather duplicate the dimensions of the old promotional model car boxes from the 1950's into the early 1970's. A word of caution, though: Many larger 1/25 scale model car builtups will not fit in them, given that some of the models of larger cars back in the promo days were actually undersized for 1/25 scale (in some cases, reproportioned to fit the standard-sized promotional model car box that automakers demanded. Art

The husband of one of my niece's builds model cars, I found out over this past Thanksgiving, when I drew his name for our Christmas gift exchange. He was really excited when he unwrapped a Moebius Hudson Hornet! Clyde's also building a G-Scale garden railway (model railroad layout in the back yard). Finally, after all these years, a fellow traveler in the family. Art

Blushing, which can happen when painting with any lacquer in a humid environment. It's not the result of poor or incorrect surface prep, but rather that lacquers can attract moisture from the surrounding air. I see that you live in Vancouver, which is right on the ocean--sounds like that is the source of the high humidity. Blushing can be polished out though, or when the air dries out a bit,another coat of color,or clear will chase it away. Art

Well, if the plastic that body is made from broke or shattered easily, chances are it's the styrene kit, not the promo. Also,acetate plastic gives off a bit of an odor when it's cut with a razor saw, unlike styrene. Art

Bill, not all acetate models warped--I've seen some, and have a couple that are still straight as a die It's been said that humidity has a part to play in that, which makes some sense, given that the straightest acetate promo's I've seen seem to have come from the desert southwest. Art

Those older JoHan promo's prior to 1963 (and AMT promo's through 1961) were most certainly molded in acetate plastic (trade name TEnite), and for a very good reason: Safety. Styrene plastic in its early years was very brittle, and a styrene plastic toy, when dropped, could shatter very much like glass. Acetate plastic doesn't have that hazard as it is a lot tougher, more resilient. However, acetate plastic has a tendency to shrink after being molded, as well as being affected by humidity, which leads to warping of complex hollow shapes, such as a promotional model car body. For 1962 promo's, AMT switched to a then-new type of plastic: Cycolac, which was the early trade name for ABS plastic. JoHan made this switch for their promo's for 1963 (MPC came along a couple of years after the introduction of ABS. Art Acetate plastic can be glued though, just not with the cements we are used to using on styrene plastic. Revell and Monogram both produced their first plastic model kits in acetate, Revell marketing what they called "Revell Type A Cement", which was acetone based. In fact, acetone is the solvent for acetate plastic. However,while acetone will also dissolve styrene, it's the dissimilar molecular structures that prevent acetate and styrene from bonding with any strength with the use of solvent-based cements.

While I am not privvy to what the actual cost is to create an injection mold for a model car kit tire, there are some things to consider here: Back in the early days of model car kits, tires seldom (if ever!) had anything like scale appearing tread patterns--rather, if you look at any tire from an AMT kit from say, 1962 or thereabouts, the "tread" is nothing more than a series of concentric grooves that run straight around the circumference of the tire. That was both a function of cost (I'd be pretty sure about that one) and lead time (It had to be much faster to cut the "ribs" into the dies to make those "rings" than to lay out, figure out just how to pantograph any sort of "zig-zag" pattern on the inside of such a tool. That was in the days of manually operated 3-dimensional milling pantographs translating "male" surfaces on a tooling mockup to "female" surfaces in a block of steel. CAD/CAM doesn';t really simplify that process, rather computer aided work can cut some of the time required, and of course does reduce the labor costs--but even that comes at a price. Every bit of tooling cut on high-tech equipment has to be priced in such a way as to "amortize" (pay back the cost) of the equipment, provide capital to replace that equipment, and hopefully leave a bit of money left over at the company when the tooling is finished and all the bills and amortization are paid (otherwise, why would anyone invest the money in such equipment?). Of course, the tooling created for molding such as model car kit tires will have multiple cavities--almost always in multiples of 4--depending on the size of the tool base and the injection molding presses available, that can be anywhere from 12-36 tires per mold base. One thing to bear in mind however is this: The finer, more crisp the tread detail, the shorter the life of the tool, as with model car kit tires, they are ejected from the molds sideways, the tread detail being pushed out of the individual cavities across the detailing of the steel die. It may seem odd to say this, given that PVC or whatever is being used as the material, it will be softer than the steel die, and of course it must be pliable upon being cooled to a solid state. However, most all plastics are at least somewhat abrasive (otherwise, why would razor saw blades and needle files grow dull with use on styrene?), and this sideways movement across the mold surfaces will wear down, soften the detailing over time. So, tire tooling does eventually have to be replaced if quality is to be maintained. Balancing this would be that it's likely possible to run a die such as this for a million tires or more before the tool is worn significantly. I would guess that $20,000 for a single tire mold cavity might be in the ball park though--but to mold tires inexpensively for mass production, that figure would have to be multiplied by the number of individual cavities in the mold base. And, just as importantly, while the tooling time and labor input may be reduced, the cost of the technology and equipment likely is a lot greater for such modern, hi-tech machinery. Art

the GMC badging is, IIRC, a separate panel to mount on the tailgate, for the higher trim level. Art

Yes, and the team that came up with that idea for Moebius was able to note a lot of reasons for the fame of the first Chrysler 300's: Styling was one, certainly the first 300hp (354cid Hemi) was another, that being the first mass-produced automobile with 300bhp (yes, the Duesenberg SJ reached 320hp, but only about 25 of those were built (doesn't count Model J's that had superchargers added after the fact) 1932-37, which does not qualify that version of the Duesey as mass-produced; and last but not least, the '55-'56 Chrysler 300's dominated Nascar both years, with FAR fewer cars in the race fields than Hudsons enjoyed 1952-54. In addition, '55-56 Chryslers period have a fair level of customizing potential. All of those characteristics gave the nod to the Chrysler, for their potentially "long legs" as model kits out there in the marketplace. Art

Ed, the '55 (and now forthcoming '56) Chrysler C300 had a lot more going for it. First of all, across the range of car enthusiasts, the first two years of 300 letter cars will turn heads--on the street, on the shelves of the hobby shop, and I would suggest on display tables at a model car event--far more emphatically than a '52-54 Lincoln, simply due to their literally legendary status. Those years of Lincoln, on the other hand, while they would fill a void in a fair number of model car collections, just do not have that almost built-in recognition unfortunately. Granted, the 52-53 Lincolns did well in the Carrera Panamericana (Mexican Road Race), but that was about it and those were sedans. Couple that with the rather stodgy styling of the 52-55 Lincolns (little more than gussied up Mercurys, which in themselves were basically a longer version of the Fords of those years, a Mexican Road Race Lincoln wouldn't be much in the way of customizing material either I suspect. Now, this is not to say Lincoln didn't produce some cars that would make great model kits, for they did: Any '36-'39 Lincoln Zephyr coupe would get my vote in an instant, given that such a kit would build up sharp as a stock model, and the customizing possibilties are nearly endless. It's even amazing that the Lincoln Motor Car Company/Lincoln Division even managed to survive to reach the 1961 model year, given that from Lincoln's inception in 1921 through the 1960 model year, the company (sold in 1922 to Ford) never even managed to break even, let alone turn a profit, in spite of being assigned the production of Ford and Mercury bodies from the middle 1930's well into the 1950's. Art

Nice car of course, but I would wonder if it has the desireability in mass numbers? Art

I'd much rather see the '57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser though. Art Methinks it's way past time for a new, 21st Century state-of-the-art '57 Thunderbird. Art

Finally got the interior parts painted and foiled! Those raised moldings on the interior side panels were chrome trim on the real cars, so foil got the call--hadda use Microscale Metal Foil adhesive due to the flat finish paint though. Colors are, based on a couple of decent reference pics found online: Light grey is Modelmaster Light Sea Gray enamel, the dark grey is ModelMaster Gunship Grey enamel--same colors on the seats. The molding along the top of the side panels is painted sheet metal on the real car, so that got painted Modelmaster Metallic Grey spray enamel (decanted, shot through an airbrush) and the same color used as the main, lighter color on the dashboard. The darker, inset panel on the dash is Modelmaster Charcoal Metallic lacquer, also decanted and sprayed through the airbrush: Art

One of the characteristics that gets looked at anymore when considering a new kit of any model car is what I would term "versatility". That is, does the subject have some "legs" to it, or can it stand alone, as a "one hit wonder". By "legs", I mean can the subject be presented in different "roles" from say "factory stock" to drag racing, to Nascar, perhaps even a street rod, or does it have enough popularity to make it sell successfully just showroom stock. Just the sheer number of kits that must be sold in a reasonably quick time from introduction practically dictates the type(s) or make and model of cars that make good subject matter. How many? Well of course, model kit manufacturers are loathe to reveal numbers of that sort, but rest assured, it's many 10's of thousands of any one model car subject. It takes sales of such a magnitude to replenish the bank account after paying for all the development and tooling that goes into any new model car kit--and that kind of money will still buy a very nice house, or a VERY serious exotic sports car! Now, 50-some years ago, model companies almost could not miss--the market for model car kits was made up largely of kids, mostly in the age range of say, 10 to perhaps 16 or so (you know,that age when guys discover real cars and girls), who gladly scraped together allowances, paper-route and lawn mowing money to fund trip after trip to the hobby shop, variety store or wherever they spotted model car kits. Considering that in those years, several 10's of millions of potential model car customers having very little in the way of "competing" activities (cable TV had yet to be invented, computers were massive consoles with flashing lights and bearded scientists in white lab coats, electronic and digital games had yet to be dreamed of--all of that). Model companies were not that far out of their infancy, so the choices of kits was a lot smaller than it is today and model kit manufacturers were virtually guarranteed that whatever they tooled up to squeeze molten styrene plastic in would sell, and often in HUGE numbers. Contrast all of that today: While kids certainly do build model cars nowadays, their segment of the market is much, much smaller than it was in say, 1963; the bulk of the model car kit market being adults--the oldest of whom still remember being teenagers in the 1960's and 70's. In addition, where a half-century ago, in any given month of the year, there might have been 50-60 model car kit subjects available, today there are several hundred, if one takes into consideration not only the American brands, but also model car kits from Europe, Japan and of course Korea and China (hey, there are even model car and truck kits being made in Russia!). All this means that any new model car kit subject that reaches store shelves has to be able to make an impact sufficient to pull sales from all those other competing products. Any time that a new model car kit can be laid out so as to be able to produce several versions of the actual car, that's a huge plus--often that alone is the "make or break" or "go-no go" decision point. A 1956 Thunderbird is a 1956 Thunderbird, about the only option being to include the lift off hardtop or not, while a '55 Chevy came in several different body styles, and I've not even mentioned the concept of a racing version. In the latter case, provision must be made, going in, to make possible future variants--once that steel has been cut, it is both expensive, and rather "iffy" as to the idea of doing even a second version "after the fact" can mean very expensive tooling alterations which may or may not be possible to undo later on (Revell's '57 Country Squire of 55 years ago comes to mind--the tooling was irrevocably changed to produce a Ranchero a year or so after the Squire was put on the market. So such planning almost has to be done from the get-go. And these are but a few of the decisions that must be made, and of course, the subject matter being considered, and how that might be produced weigh in very heavily indeed. Too many kits generating mediocre sales and the company may well not survive. So, today much more than in the distant past, careful subject selection is key to the success of any model kit manufacturer. Art

Gunze Sangyo actually produced the kit. Revell USA bought bagged shots of the kit in bulk, packaged them in California for US distribution. Art

Yeah, back then, Pontiacs were almost always at least 6" longer than Chevrolet's, the extra length being between the firewall and the centerline of the front wheels (a concession to the years of Pontiac straight 8 engines). Art.

Are you suggesting a series using common parts? If so, not much way that can happen and be accurate: 3 different body shells due to styling differences, 3 different chassis, 3 different engines, two different chassis (Olds and Pontiac used Hydramatics, but the Buick used Dynaflow), not to mention interiors. This is quite unlike the Tri-Five Chevrolet thing--where the engines of the '55 and 56 are virtually identical (the '57 could be, IF modelers had been OK with a baseline 265cid instead of the newly introduced 283 for 1957), one common chassis, two dashboards, three sets of interior parts, two sets of hubcaps/wheel covers, and a very universal popularity. For any of the BOP's to have some success, the car(s) selected would need to have at least 1 or 2 variants that could generate popularity and sales beyond the fairly obvious hardtop subject, Not to say that none of these wouldn't be most interesting, of course! Art

Kyle, every AMT, Lesney-AMT and AMT/Ertl, even Round2 AMT '32 Ford was kitted with 15" tires. Bear in mind, the tire diameter is measured at the inside of the tire bead, not the OD of the flanges on the sides of the rim. Those kit wheels are closer to the wheels on a '35 Ford than a '32, as the Deuce left the factory on 18" rims (for those wanting exact scale wheels and tires for a 1/25 scale stock Deuce, Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland makes them, and they are as perfect as perfect gets--oh, and Norman includes tires with them too. Art

It can be done, however, don't expect it to have much power, as Dremel tools are not designed to have a lot of torque to the motor, rather doing their thing with high rpm's. But yes, it is possible. Art

AMT, Monogram, and Revell all sold "triple car kits" at various times in their history. In the trade, those were termed "gift sets", and generally appeared just before the Christmas season. They were simply a different way of packaging individual kits. Art

36 to 39 Ford hubcaps at least started out as 2-piece affairs, made in polished stainless steel, not chrome plated. They were "spray-masked" at the factory to give the color and polished stainless look. Art

Charlie, Have you downloaded the latest version of Java? Java gets updated almost weekly anymore. Art

For whatever reason, Testors, when formulating their Model Master spray lacquers, went to a "base coat/clear coat" system, which is the way most real cars are painted nowadays. Without the clear coat, most of their MM lacquer colors do not have a ready shine to them, and in the case of metallics, polishing out without the clear coat will expose some of the metallic chip, which will alter the color considerably. Art