Art Anderson

No hottrodders at Indianapolis? You never heard of the Winfield Brothers, Ed and Bud? (think Winfield carburetors and camshafts). Among their other pursuts, the Winfields created the firebreathing Indy cars known as Novi's--with their track-gobbling 183cid (eventually down to 161cid) supercharged Novi V8 engines that started out pulling dynamometers at 550hp, eventually ramping up to well over 800hp YEARS before the likes of turbocharged Offenhausers, Ford V8's and Cosworths. Art

To flesh this out a bit: Beginning in 1938, on a "request" from the Administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the basic dimensions of American built trucks in general became more or less standardized, for the stated purpose of making it more possible for aftermarket truck body producers to standardize the dimensions of the various truck bodies they were building--a way to "stimulate" the profitable production of these items. As a result, the basic lengths of pickup truck boxes, certainly from the major producers (Ford, GMC, Chevrolet, IH, Dodge and Studebaker) became available in two standard lengths: 6.5' (78") and 8' (96"), with the difference between these bing 12" forward of the rear axle centerline, 6" behind. Even frame widths became much more standardized, and passenger car frames phased out of pickup truck production within just a few short years afterward. This standardization lasted until at least the early 1970's. Art

In real life, the body structures (which include the roof stampings, roof pillars, windshield and back glass) are all the same 1955-56-57. It's a very doable conversion! Art

Quite possibly the most unique US-built panel delivery trucks of all: Dodge built these to have a very low cargo floor, which dictated their mounting the differential unit in the rear solidly to the frame itself, eliminating the need for clearance for bouncing and rebounding on bumpy pavement, so........ This model was built using a DeDion rear axle setup, not at all unlike the rear axle/suspension systems used in many high-performance European sports cars from about 1930 until well into the 1950's. The DeDion setup consisted of a solidly mounted to the chassis differential, the rear wheels being attached to a separate, solid rear axle. This axle moved up and down completely independent of the differential, to which it was connected by a pair of half-shafts not unlike today's high-performance sports cars, even Formula 1 and Indianapolis cars While not really "independent" suspension, the DeDion axle setup certainly reduced "unsprung weight" while not posing the problems of correctly locating the rear wheels in relation to the ground or vehicle. In the case of the Dodge truck shown, the advantage was in not requiring nearly as much clearance below the floor for a conventional axle and differential to move up and down. However, as an article about this series of Dodge trucks in "This Old Truck/Vintage Truck" some years ago pointed out, there were two notable drawbacks: The first was that in order to provide extra clearance for the spring perches (it used 1/4 eliptic springs above and below the axle, coupled to a pearch at either end of the axle (in very much the same layout as the DeDion front axle setups on Miller '91" front drive race cars, and the 1929-32 Cord L-29 Front Drive cars) there was a considerable "hump" on either side of the rear of the cargo floor--which turned off a lot of commercial buyers; and the second disadvantage being the price--the DeDion rear suspension, having many more parts than a conventional solid rear axle, cost a lot more to produce. Most interesting vehicles those! Art

Packard Eight sedan, about 1927-28 or thereabouts. The shape of the radiator shell is the dead giveaway--note the "ox-yoke" shape at the top of the radiator--that motif never changed for Packard from about 1902-03 clear through to the end of the "Packardbakers" from South Bend in 1958. Art

I was also disappointed with the Trumpeter Chevy II kits. Art

Actually, it isn't all that "advancec"! If one breaks down what I did on my Mercury Woodie--everything there is either as simple/basic to learn or something you probably have already done at some point on a model car. Feel free to PM me, I can guide you step-by-step. Art Anderson

FWIW, Hobby shops have been closing ever since the first ones opened up roughly 80 years ago. Let's face it: The vast majority of hobby shops are just that, shops a/k/a "mom & pop" sole proprietor operations (regardless of whether or not they have "Inc." or "LLC" on their letterheads. As such, they, like most small retail establishments, tend to be built around the interests and practices of their owners, and if successful, like Al's and Venture were for many years, their "formula" for success isn't necessarily something that can be packaged up, sold to a new owner wanting to get into the business. And of course, there's also the matter of location. While I'm not gonna comment one way or another as to the wisdom, over time, of a store such as the two mentioned, being in the wrong area, this has been the problem for many hobby shops over the decades (and a good number of other small retail establishments as well). What was a dynamite location at the outset or in the particular store's heyday may not always remain that way. Another issue, of course, is the financial strength of whomever might buy up a successful retail business such as a hobby shop--that's almost always a huge obstacle to survival/success. In short, too many unknowns here--but I agree, Al's will be missed, and for a long time to come. Art

Chances are, even had the court case not happened, that Tucker would not have survived past the production cycle of the original 1948 model, given that the company was very thinly financed. For example, Chevrolet Division of GM spent more money restyling and modestly re-engineering their 1941-vintage chassis for 1949 than Tucker Corporation ever had in the bank account. Also consider that Kaiser-Frazer failed to made any serious impact in the postwar auto industry despite the then tremendous capital resources of Kaiser Industries (then flush with wartime profits from shipbuilding). Preston Tucker had acquired a reputation by the war as a promoter extraordinaire--just dig up old Henry Ford, ask about the 1935 Tucker/Miller/Ford Indianapolis race car project. And yet, the Tucker family remained in business in Indiana for decades--FC Tucker, Indiana's largest realty firm was started by siblings of Preston Tucker. Art

It would be a simple matter of reworking an Ecto 1 or 1a body to hearse configuration. Ecto 1 was a Miller-Meteor built on the '59 Cadillac professional car chassis, and while it was an ambulance to begin with, there are very few differences between ambulances and hearses in M-M's case. Google for images, you'll see how readily a hearse can be made from one. Art

Well, I wonder if Jimmy didn't make that one to fit the AMT/Ertl '34 Ford kits, which are 1/25 scale? Art

It was a ton of fun accompanying Dave to the NNL and back again (hope he had as much fun as I did--only got him lost once in Wayne--funny story about that for some other time). There was nothing like the "shock & awe" when those first attendee's walked up to the Moebius tables and they finally spotted the "stand-up" poster with new model kit announcements in which that '65 Plym was sorta hiding. And, the puzzlement on faces as modelers tried to process not just one '54 Hudson, but two of them. And the almost collective sighs of relief as modelbuilders came to realize that those long-awaited Ford pickups were right there (in test shots of course) in complete 3-dimensions. Thanks, Dave, for the opportunity and the privilege! Art

There are TWO NEW Hudsons coming from Mobius (both test shots were at NNL East, BTW)! One (of course) is pictured above, the 1954 Hudston Hornet Special (a lower trim level Hornet) Club Sedan, the 2dr sedan version of the long-roofed stepdown Hudsons; AND the Hornet Club Coupe (same body type as the 1953 Hudson Hornet previously released by Moebius in 2012. I was at NNL East with Dave Metzner, and had the pleasure of scoping out both kits (test shots) and they are just that cool! The Club Coupe will have a set of optional Hudson wire wheels with spokes that are open clear through and have to be seen to be believed/ Art

Thanks for looking!

(Well, except for license plates) Art

The simple answer is no (unless there is a stock Zephyr coupe out there in resin someplace) other than in 1:43 scale. Monogram (now Revell) has reissued a pretty nicely done '41 Lincoln Continental Convertible, which as you may know, was a highly modified version of the '41 Lincoln Zephyr. Art

Bear in mind that unlike many modeling tools, machine tools such as hand-held rotary cutter/grinders and certainly such as lathes and vertical milling machines--you will get very much what you pay for. By that I mean, sincerely, precision and the ability to create model parts with decent precision will be almost directly in proportion to the cost of such equipment. I have a Sherline vertical mill, with most of the attachments, including the rotary milling head mentioned above, and I gotta tell you--that is about as precise and high-quality piece of equipment as you are going to find for anything like a reasonable price as far as we modelers are concerned. Anything appreciably less expensive will suffer, I would be very certain, from loose tolerances (meaning lousy parts for a model car) and/or a distinct lack of available accessories that will be compatible with it. Of course, there will necessarily be a "learning curve" with this or any other machine tool, but you'll be far happier going through that with a good machine that's not going to make you wonder if it was your inexperience or a poorly made unit. I know the stuff coming out of China is attractive certainly on price, but what good would that be, if you cannot make it do what you want it to do because of quality factors beyond your control? Art

You ask where this kit originated from--and that answer is really very simple: It started out as the Monogram "Li'l Duece", circa 1965-66. As such, it is very typical of model car kits, particularly models of 30's cars (either stock or hot rodded) of that period in the 1960's. Most model car kits tooled up in the 1960's were designed with younger, less experienced (and probably less patient!) hands than those we see nowadays--and for good reason: For most of the 1960's, model car building was dominated by the same generation that still does--those "Baby Boom" kids born in the years 1946-64, the majority of whom were perhaps 10-perhaps 17 or 18 yrs old when Monogram released this kit and many others that are still the stuff of nostalgia. Monogram had their fling at multi-version model car kits, as of course did AMT and others, but by 1966, the handwriting was on the wall for those so-called "3in1" model car kits. While kits of new cars (those so-called "annual series" kits) still came with custom and racecar bits in them, hot rod (soon to become street rod) model kits were being reissued as single-version model kits, or at best only a few rudimentary speed parts still on the trees. But, by the time of the '32 Ford kit in question here, Monogram, just like Revell, and to a lesser extent AMT, had taken a pretty big financial hit from jumping into slot car racing sets, only to see their racing set line die within a year or two, and within another year, Monogram would be swallowed up by Mattel, the toy company. But, one thing to keep in mind: Built out of the box, this kit is as buildable as the come, the bit of flash on some parts, notably the windshield and windwings not withstanding--in short it was apparently designed with 12-year old, rather impatient hands in mind. As for the "cut glass" engraving on the windwings, that was added much later when custom etching of glass on rods and customs (even on restorations!) became very much an "in thing", that was never a part of the original "as introduced" Li'l Deuce, as I remember it. All that said, built box stock this kit does build up pretty nicely, albeit a bit spare for details as we older modelers of today would like to see them. And for sure, to remove the fenders & running boards, then channel the body would be a challenge, certainly as a one-day build! Art

To me, "Best Kit" is almost always a subjective thing--as just about everyone has a favorite, a "best kit" they ever built. Why subjective? Whenever I see (or listen in on) a topic such as this, almost invariably what comes out, on an individual basis, is that kit which best represents any one model builder's favorite subject. On that basis, with many, no other model kit even dares try for that honor. Art

Chassis is finally done! Still needs muffler and tailpipe installed, along with assembling the interior and then dropping the body down on the frame. Bottom view of chassis, showing the brake systems: I think it will be done in time to take to NNL-East! Art

I've seen a real wartime ZIL--the one that Stalin gifted to Mao ZeDung in 1949. Chairman Mao gave it to his commanding general of the Chinese invasion of Korea, where it was ultimately captured by the US Army. Truthfully, other than looks, there is no comparison whatsoever between a real Packard and that ZIL: Where the Packard 180's had a level of fit, finish and trim rivaling that of Rolls Royce, the ZIL looked like it'd been hammered out with 9 lb hammers--very crudely finished. IIRC, the ZIL had a huge 6-cylinder engine, where Packard's senior cars were a mix of straight 8's and V12's. Art

Except, they are NOT all Packards! The Josef Stalin Limousine is a ZIL, which was a Soviet-era, rather loose copy of a 1939-41 Packard 180 Limousine. By loose copy I mean that while most all of the styling was copied, that's pretty much where it all ended. Oh, I know about the supposed shipping of Packard 180 dies to the Soviet Union during WW-II, but Packard historians have very much debunked that rumor--in fact, the ZIL is considerably different from a Packard 180 in most of its dimensions, absolulely no body panels are even clise to interchangeable as well. Oh well! Art Anderson

Sheesh! They missed two "concept" or "dream" cars that reached production nearly unchanged: The 1952 Motorama Corvette (put into production as the 1953 Corvette with only very minor trim changes) and the Dodge Viper which also reached production with very little about the car being changed from the concept car originally shown. Art

Having some 15 years of resin casting in my background, allow me please to offer some observations: Bill, Harry, Andy and others have laid it out pretty well, especially regarding the upfront costs of injection-molding anything, particularly model kits. In the general scheme of things, however, when injection molding is applied over large quantities of any product thus manufactured, the costs of producing that particular product, per piece, come way, WAY down. With resin casting, on the other hand, there's very little "up-front" investment to be made--the mastering is a lot simpler, making the molds is, while not cheap, VASTLY less than cutting steel dies for injection molding. However, with resin casting, the "upfront" costs while low, are actually added back into the equation constantly, for as long as any item is thus produced, in that silicone RTV rubber molds have a definite, and short useful life--often as few as 25-30 castings before the rubber surfaces degrade to the point of producing what modelers would consider to be unsatisfactory qualit. RTV rubber itself is quite expensive. While I've not priced it lately, I suspect that this material now runs in the neighborhood of $17-$20 per pound--and it can take upwards of 5-lbs of RTV rubber to make a mold for a 1/25 scale car body. The polyurethane resin isn't inexpensive either--in fact it's several times more costly than the equivalent volume of polystyrene contained in a model car kit body shell. Add to these considerations the factor of human labor--resin casting is far more labor intensive than any injection molding process--and there you have the basis for the much higher price for a resin body or transkit. On the flip side, of course, most resin cast items are of subjects that pretty much don't have nearly the market potential needed in order to justify the really significant upfront investment. Art

And yet, if one looks closely at the tires in Revell's '49 Mercury station wagon kit---they are clearly engraved in raised detail....FIRESTONE! Of course the lettering, and the Firestone logo are quite small, as in keeping with tires of that era which could be made either white or black wall, all lettering was outboard of the "scuff" bead, as the space between that bead and the bead of the tire against the rim had to be kept open, so that the black layer of rubber could be buffed off of the tire casing to expose the layer of white rubber which made the white sidewall. But, the tire mfr information is clearly on those tires. Art