Brett Barrow

"Bill Barrett"??!?! I take it that's supposed to be me? Did Don Banes tell you to do that? He gets a kick out of always calling me by the wrong name, usually "Bart"... Even on this ratty woody that Dave Lindsay posted earlier in the tread, one can see that there's no visible texture, except where the plies are delaminating. I'd love to see someone attempt this weathered look on one of these. I'm thinking about it, but I doubt I have the skill to pull it off...

mrknowetall: "Is that oak or maple in your posted pic?" Almost positive it's maple. Maple has very distinct figuring when it's quarter-sawn. Might be birch, too, as Art said. Birch usually has a much wider and more wavy figure than maple, which can be very tight and straight (known as "tiger maple") This is an oak-framed woody, you can see the visible grain on the tailgate, it's not glass-smooth like maple or birch. I don't know if oak was original on this Buick, but I know it wasn't on the Ford/Mercury. It probably is, since it's so thick and sculptured, it's been cut from one solid piece of oak, not the laminated strips on the Merc.

They weren't for a while, when they went under along with Airfix and Humbrol, Heller was split off and placed into receivership by the French government while Airfix and Humbrol went into receivership in the UK. Airfix and Humbrol were bought almost immediately by Hornby, while it took a few years to get a buyer for Heller, but French toy company Joustra eventually acquired them about a year or so ago. The man now in charge of Heller is a relatively young guy, in his early 30's, he interned at Tamiya in Japan and helped with the design and tooling of some of their recent super-kits like the 1/32 Spitfire IX and P-51D. He seems very ambitious about doing new tooling at Heller.

Somebody at the factory screwed up the mold halves for the slicks, they're supposed to have Goodyear on one side and Racemaster on the other and the builder chooses which side faces out. But they put the mold haves together so each tire has the same brand on both sides. Looks like now they're just running double the amount of tires and throwing the Goodyears out.

Please, no woodgrain texture on woodies!!! The wood is buried under about 30 coats of varnish on the real things and is just as smooth and shiny as the metal. Plus maple (the light-colored wood used for the framework) doesn't have a discernible grain as it is in 1:1 scale, much less in 25th. The only 1:1 woodies I've seen with visible grain have been restored using oak for the frames, and that's not what the originals used.

The big wide distribution shipment hit most US distributors this week. The two days that no carriers picked up (except for FedEx on New Year's Eve) isn't helping getting them where they need to go quickly, but that's just he way it goes this time of year. We had ours on Tuesday, but only FedEx orders were able to go out. All others go out today.

US MSRP would be around $69.95. I took a pass on selling it, as I thought that was too high. There is also a Police version, so you don't have to build the bad guys... And yeah, to the 1/35th military modeling market this is targeted to, it isn't offensive in the least. Now if a 1/24th scale Mercedes aimed at regular civilian car modelers came out with this same scene on the box top and all the IED accessory parts, then yes, that would be pretty offensive. Not many in plastic. the 2 Meng Toyota pickups (Hilux and Land Cruiser) come to mind -

It's a legit kit, I first heard of it a couple months ago, US MSRP is pretty high, ~$60 IIRC, I have the email on my computer at work, I'll dig it up tomorrow.

Probably the most modified of all of the AWB cars, it lost its roof. Since it wasn't part of the batch of AWB's Model King reissued a few years back, I've gotta think the tooling is lost or unusable. I know it's one that MK wanted to do.

They did a "100th Anniversary of Chevrolet" reissue of the new-tool 57 Chevy last year. It was only available in the tin.

Yeah the chrome thing is a bit disturbing, my 'cuda was fine, and other recent Revell kits I bought were as well, but I got hit with spotty chrome on the Merc Wagon. Maybe best to wait a couple months so all the bad ones in the supply chain get used up. The first production run of a new kit is usually a lot smaller than a normal run, just in case they need to go back and fix things they don't flood the market with too many bad ones.

When/where did they say that? I've never seen it billed as anything but a straight reissue. Nothing on the box says anything about it being new.

Nit-picking I don't mind. I can do without the snark from a few posts back. Can't we just say "Hey, the distributor has 7 nubs" and leave it at that?

As I understand it, the plan was to have the Pony wheels, but with the combination of interior details and other stuff made the car too old to have been sold with the Pony wheels, so it has the telephone dial wheels. I don't know if they were tooled up or not, but they were there in the design phase, so they have probably at least been mastered. They'll probably show up in a future variant of the tooling, I'm sure Revell will get their money's worth out of this one.

Yeah, about 10 times too low... I've got a feeling we'll see a new-tool full detail "AMT" kit from Round 2 in the next couple years. We could kinda count the 66 Batmobile, branded Polar Lights since that brand has the Batman license.

As I said in my post above, the textured diorama paints are staying as part of the "CreateFX" line. http://www.testors.com/category/667790/Enamel_Texture_Paints

That's pretty cool! If I ever finish anything I might have to make one of those! Note that as existing stocks of the Floquil-branded paint is sold off, these textured diorama paints will eventually become part of the Testors "Create FX" line.

Doors are molded shut. Just the straight axle and stock IFS. The chrome is still chrome.

That would be the Monogram 53 Bel Air. It's 1/24th. The Revell kits are 1/25th.

Announced at 2011 iHobby, came out in late 2012 (December, IIRC, first WIP posted on here was Dec 23rd). I'd count it as a 2013 kit.

It has the "Powered by" part, but no Ford blue ovals. Since it's not a Ford car, they don't get Ford licensing now. Same goes for kits with other engines, like the 392 Chrysler in the Revell 32 5-window, it's not called a "Hemi" or "Chrysler", the SBC in the Stacy David car isn't called a Chevy, The Olds in the AMT 40 Willys isn't an Olds, etc....

And there are some speed parts for the flathead in there, too, finned heads and a two-carb intake. I just don't know how that old motor will look in there with the rest of the kit being modern tooling

Right, you need one with front port heads and the distributor on the side (like on a Mopar). That type of flathead (I forget the designation - 9CM?) was new in '49. Modern-tooled versions can be found in Revell's '50 Ford F-1 and Lindberg's '53 Ford.

Mercurys were "channeled" from the factory., the frame is completely hidden by the rocker panels. The Merc is a lot like the step-down Hudsons except you don't step down in a Merc and the Hudson's rocker panels are separate pieces (not just the rocker molding, but also the panel behind it), the Merc's are integrated into the bodywork. The Wagon kit is totally factory-stock on the outside and interior. I've bought a bunch a recent Revell kits and this is the first one with the chrome problems. Some folks that bought 70 Cudas had it, but mine are fine.I don't know what it is, it's hard to explain, it's almost like frost. It's possible it's something that doesn't develop until the sprues are bagged and packed, so it might not be something the QC inspectors would see at the factory.

Sweet! I've got a future project in mind that those would be perfect for.