Brett Barrow

What!?!? No mid-air freeze frame with Waylon Jennings voice-over!?!? I know he's dead, but that would have been a cool throwback to include in there.

In the interest of real world actual data, here are my company's top-selling 1/24-25th automotive subjects of the past 12 months, ranked by pieces sold. Revell Slingster Monogram Li'l Coffin AMT 1978 Ford Pickup Revell 1949 Mercury Woody Revell Fireball Roberts 1957 Ford Revell Peterbilt 359 Wrecker Moebius 1956 Chrysler 300B AMT Goodyear Polyglas GT Parts Pack Tires AMT LN 8000 Race Car Hauler Meng Ford F-350 Revell Jeep Rubicon Moebius ProStar Revell 1953 Chevy Panel Gasser AMT 1963 Corvette Revell GMC Pickup with Snow Plow AMT 1936 Ford AMT Gasser Tires and Wheels Parts Pack Revell D&M 1962 Corvette Gasser AMT Firestone Deluxe Champion Tires Parts Pack Revell Ford Expedition Police Snap-Tite Revell 1970 Hemi 'cuda Revell Snap-tite Enzo Ferrari Moebius 53' Great Dane Trailer Revell 1990 Mustang LX 5.0 AMT 1967 Shelby Mustang GT350 Top 25 26 ranked by dollars sold: Revell Peterbilt Wrecker Meng F-350 Moebius ProStar Moebius 53' Great Dane AMT 1978 Ford Pickup Revell Slingster AMT Ford Race Car Hauler Monogram Li'l Coffin Moebius 300B Revell Mercury Woody Moebius Bat Tumbler Revell Fireball Roberts 57 Ford Tamiya La Ferrari AMT 1936 Ford AMT 1963 Corvette Revell Jeep Rubicon Revell 1953 Chevy Panel Gasser Revell 1962 Corvette Gasser MPC Ohio George 67 Mustang Malco Gasser Revell 1970 Hemi Cuda Revell GMC with snow plow AMT Ford C600 Pepsi Delivery Truck Moebius LoneStar Moebius 1971 Ford Pickup (just preorders!) Polar Lights Deluxe 66 Batmobile Revell 1990 Mustang LX 5.0 I see a few trends in there - Big trucks, Ford pickups, nostalgic racers (especially gassers), reissues... As for Volkswagens, I don't know. I've sold exactly 2 of the new Revell VW's, with a handful of Hasegawas and Tamiyas. OOPS! I goofed the report!

Oops, quoted myself instead of editing.

Nope, they're not in there. They'd be on the stock height front suspension sprue I mentioned, which also has the stock exhaust manifolds. Race kits have the special Z-11 long manifolds and headers. This is the sprue in question. Only found in the showroom stock Bel Air and Impala convertible. I just noticed they mention the wheel backs in the instructions, but not any of the other parts,they use the part numbers for the raised suspension Also just noticed they call this a "Deluxe 2 in 1 Customizing Kit - Racing - Stock" on the box. If that's the case this tree should have been in there. I didn't think they called it "stock" anywhere on the box. Since Round2 hasn't run this kit before maybe they were unaware of the differences?

"I think it turned out OK"? Yeah, I'll say it turned out OK. Better than OK!

Yes, he "invented" the process they've been using to silver mirrors for hundreds of years...

If they could make a modeler's size kit for maybe $40-$50 and it stayed usable for a couple years it might be worth it. It still needs a glossy basecoat unless the plastic is already really shiny and will need a clearcoat if it's going to be handled so you'd still be breaking out the airbrush.

Try it first? Guess you don't remember "Treehugger Dave" and that whole fiasco... Problem with this stuff (it's all based on the technique used to make mirrors) is the chemicals have a short shelf life and one kit is probably 25 lifetimes worth for a scale modeler. So you'd never use up all the chemicals in time to make it practical. Maybe if a group of guys got together split the costs and did everything they needed chromed in one shot it might be practical cost-wise, but what advantage would that have over just sending batches of parts out for plating? Could be something someone could invest in and offer as a service like the plating companies. I just don't see being practical for small-volume occasional at home use. Stuff's not cheap.

Water based chrome! All the MCM veterans will have fond memories of this subject!

At least it's a Ford in a Ford! Personally, I'd go the Street Roadster route with something blown - Chrysler or Olds or maybe even a Ford Cammer.

There are R12 substitutes available as well. Basically they're the newer type refrigerant but with the older type oil that R12 systems used.

Yeah, in hindsight I would rather they had included the stock suspension tree and just made it a retro-Trophy Series 3 in 1 kit with a fictional race version. It is a kit that deserves to be in regular rotation in the AMT lineup. Good to have it back. I have 4 now, plus 2 Revell 62 Impalas and a Lindberg 61, love my 409's! As an OOtB replica of the Northwind A/Stock in 1964 with the gold trim, it's a little disappointing. They cold have done the earlier all-red version which plenty of pictures show with painted wheels, but that's not as attractive IMO. Still a great kit. Maybe Round2 will consider the 3 in 1 version for the future.

Race-specific sprue: Decals are a bit disappointing, the passenger side "Northwind" should be straight across the bottom and slants upwards, they made them both in the style of the driver's side which is straight across the top and slants downwards. Also the "Engine By" and names are gray, in photos these appear to be light blue. Noticed I forgot to take a picture of the clear sprue and clear red tailights. This kit is a rarity in that it has full side windows..

Here's a peek at the kit contents. My kit came from a case that was badly damaged during shipment to the distributor (a freebie - one of the perks of working in the business!), so some parts were broken off. The full stock exhaust is int there, it's just broken off on mine. Note that only the race kit specific tree with the raised front suspension, headers, and Z-11 engine parts is included - if they had included the equivalent tree from the showroom stock kits then we could have had a true 3 'n 1 style kit with stock, custom, and race variants. It's still nice to see the Torq-Thrusts (probably the best AMT-sized Torq-Thrusts out there) and the cool Offy cross-ram intake and ribbed valve covers in there. Some folks have pointed out the the box art shows chrome wheels, but since the wheels are on the tree with the hood and the engine parts it wouldn't have been feasible to plate that sprue. I suppose Round2 could have thrown in the chrome wheels from the 36 Ford, but those aren't the right style. So Alclad, plating, or alternate parts will be necessary if want chrome rims. I couldn't get a decent picture of the tires - you get 4 of the parts-pack Firestones (without any tampo printing) and 2 of the Parts Pack Goodyear slicks (also without any printing). Bit surprised they didn't use the pie-crust M&H slicks like the 62 Catalina, but it's possible they might not fit this kit. The new hollow Parts Park Goodyears are the same size as the solid Goodyears used in previous versions of this kit. Molded in scripts are still sharp, this tooling has held up well. There's only one spot on the engine sprue where flash affects any kit parts. Corrected grille, of course! My stock exhausts were broken off, they're in the kit.

They are cool, would probably make a good resin kit subject. I'd say the 50-51 Bulletnose Studebakers would be the most likely candidates for styrene kits. I could see Moebius doing it. Funny that the other cars in this picture (Olds and Hudsons) have been done recently. Stude would fit right in...

I've seen very realistic shattered glass done with microscope cover glass laminated with clear packing tape. Makes it pretty much exactly like the real thing. Problem is you can only do flat glass. See page 3 of this thread: http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=2277.0

See Airfix' new Quick Build series. Fit together just like Lego (pieces are even compatible). So far only 2 cars (Veyron and Aventador) but they've done several planes. I expect to see more of these, sales have been promising.

Well you do get 2 sets of the Parts Pack Goodyears. And it has the flat hood, so it's got that going for it...

If that's actually the case (and for the record, I don't think it is) then you sell them kits and continue taking their money for the next 15 years. Dance with who brung you, as we like to say where I come from. You think if Revell and AMT could trade in those tuner kits they did in the early 2000's and have done Hudsons and letter series Chryslers and 50 Olds and bulletnose Studes instead they'd take that trade? Better believe they would, and they'd be better off today had they done those subjects instead. If old fogies is your market in 2014, then you better cater to the old fogies of 2014. Now's not the time to worry about the old fogies of 2029... And having said that I think Revell's upcoming new snap kits and prepainted glue kits are a step in the right direction for attracting newer and younger modelers.

Ummm... Revell's all-new 67 Camaro will be out in a couple of months. They had a built test shot at NNL East.

Revell just reissued this kit with all the custom parts Revell just reissued it, kit #4315. I think the last couple of reissues of the hardtop didn't have the custom stuff, but this one (and the last reissue of the convertible) does.

More renders here: http://www.carscoops.com/2009/10/chevrolet-camaro-rendered-amls-race-car.html

I like it! Thie concept looks a lot like a DTM car. The actual Camaro GTR race cars aren't that far removed from the street car:

Mark's correct except that Learning Curve wasnt just a name change, it was previously a separate company. In 2003 Racing Champions/Ertl acquired and merged with Learning Curve to form RC2 and continued to use the Learning Curve trademark on many products. Learning Curve is probably best known for making the wooden Thomas the Tank Engine toys. (Fun Fact: Ertl also made plastic versions, after the merger they were rebranded "Take-Along Thomas"). I remember that version of the Switchers. They used the original MPC box art, but without any MPC logos. Pretty sure these were done as a third-party reissue, but I can't remember who did them. Dirt Track Racecars, maybe?

I've recharged my own A/C several times, there's tons of DIY options now. My dad was a mechanic and had the professional manifold and all that, but the new DIY systems are super easy.