Brett Barrow

Figure painters would love them if they'd come out with a black primer. Been telling them for years they need to do one... Smoothest primer on the market and they're blowing a nice little chunk not offering a black primer. And now pink, I guess for those guys who have to paint their scale Ferraris the exact same way the 1:1 Ferraris are painted. I remember years ago Modeler's Finisher's doing a McLaren Red set that included a pink primer.

90's Lindberg, especially the 1/20 stuff, were the most highly polished bodies I've ever seen in person.

They already do a 66 Chevelle long roof and a 66 Impala... why not an Impala wagon?!?! Too many wagons?

I'm in 150% either way. The BJM has the name and history, but that other one has wheelie bars and a straight axle - better from a parts donor perspective. I'm just hoping they don't split the difference and give us a generic 62 MSP/Gasser/Street Freak without the straight axle... Raised IFS on a C1 is easy enough to do (cut away the crossmember and stick in pieces cut from a 4" scale I-beam or scale 4x4 to jack the front up, same way the real ones were done.)

Oooohhhh - a straight axle gasser, even better modeling choice than the Mazmainian '61, as iconic as it is, since there will be more parts of use in this one... I'm planning on a Street Freak build, anyway, maybe with the AMT Sock It To Me decals. I wonder if they measured up this Tuna Boat while they were there

The orange Vette is the 67 Roadster with the extra parts from the "Sport Coupe" edition of a few years back. Minilite-style wheels, sidepipes, a Grand-Sport inspired hood. Big truck is the 1/16 KW. Please, oh please, let that Vette gasser be an actual Mazmanian 61 Vette. I could live with a 58/59 or 62 BJM-inspired gasser, but the real deal would be awesome.

Design work is still done by an individual designer and they put a lot of trust in that individual. They hire a designer to produce the drawings and patterns from which they can make model kits. Those initial designs and first patterns are always going to be flawed, some more than others, and they always have been since the dawn of modeling. Now the back and forth, the give and take begins, what do you fix and what do you leave alone? Now it becomes a bit more of a collaborative effort, between the designer, pattern makers or tool makers, the R&D teams, et al... But they don't do design by committee. That don't work. You get something down, either on paper, or in the computer. That's what you start with - good or bad, perfect or flawed. Then you tweak. And you tweak until you run out of time or money or both. Then you run what you've got, you dance with who brung you...

A ha, there's the rub - we like Moebius because they come on here and ask what we think. But they've done what, two cars, a truck and a trailer so far? Still an upstart. When they're in the position where Revell is now we'll see if they still come on here and ask for input. How long did it take the wise and all-knowing board to point out the rear wheel skirts were in the wrong place on the Hudson, or that the roof of the 300 was goofy? I don't remember that happening on the board, I just remember a lot of "attaboys" and "keep it ups". It's a lot like the Workbench section, you get very few people willing to step up and speak freely, even if the OP asks for it. I think Revell knows it (and Moebius has learned it) that folks are a lot more honest and open when they're talking behind your back and don't think you're listening... And we also assume that if they know about it, they'll fix it. Believe me, they know the issues without someone on a board pointing it out. But once we know that they know, we expect them to fix it. And that's not always possible, there are always budgets and deadlines to be met, especially the larger and bigger you get. There's always an ROI to be considered with any last-minute tweak, will the fix help sales, or will the delay hurt sales? You've always got to make that choice, and it's a tough call. What ends up on the shelf is always going to be a comprimise of some sorts between perfection and reality. There's an old saying I've heard in manufacturing and engineering that says that chasing down that last 10% on a project will end up doubling the cost and doubling the time. So why don't they get it right, right out of the chute? I mean, with all that money they spend, you'd think they'd get it right! And why don't my paint jobs come out right the first time, I mean I spend a lot of money on paint and airbrushes, but my paint jobs don't always come out right the first time. I make a lot of mistakes. And why do I snap hook my tee shots into the woods, I mean, I spend so much money on golf clubs and lessons and whatnot, and I still slice one in the weeds every now and then. Because I'm human. And humans make mistakes. And humans design model kits... Humans with budgets and timelines to meet.

As long as humans are involved in the creation of model kits for profit, there will be mistakes.

Auto parts stores are probably a better source for model car paint than the craft-oriented chain stores. Wally World, too.

Accurate Minatures' NASCAR 1999 Ford Taurus. Made it into their catalog, even made it into tooling, was never released. Test shots exist.

A tale of two taillights... Well four taillights to be correct - Original Revell AAR Cuda - pretty sure these were molded into the rear panel/bumper piece- New AAR Cuda - these were a clear part that fit into a shallow bucket in the rear panel - Neither one of these is mine, I just found these using a Google search.

70 and 71 'Cudas have different tail lights. The backup light is separate from the tail light on 71's, it's integrated on a '70. Just so we're clear here, the Revell '70 AAR 'Cuda is not based on the Monogram '71 Hemi 'Cuda, it would have been a much better kit if it were. They used the Monogram '70 Challenger (which has a longer wheelbase) as the base for the '70 AAR 'Cuda, which is where the problems with that kit originate. Revell '70 AAR 'Cuda and Monogram '71 Hemi 'Cuda are much different animals. I think a few folks might be mixing them up. I believe there were only two issues of the Revell '70 AAR 'Cuda - the original kit And the "we only made it worse" improved kit of the late 2000's - Do not confuse with the ex-Monogram '71 Hemi 'Cuda, which is not that bad - I'm sure that while I was busy tracking down these pics, 3 or 4 people probably already posted about how they're not the same kit...

I think the original Revell AAR Cuda kit is from the early 90's. The one based on the longer wheelbase Challenger chassis, photo of a real car on the box. I never bought the "improved" 2000's version, but I did give it a once-over a time or two (is that a "twice-over"?). I built the 90's one as a teen.

Like I said, I think a chrome part is the way to go for this car. A little clear red and black, with a little pearl white on the backup lens. I think it's genius to do that part in chrome... And I'm pretty sure the 70 AAR Cuda had them molded into the bumper/rear panel. It has been a long time since I've held one in my own hands, but that's how I remember it. So anyone that says "at least the AAR Cuda had separate lenses" I think is mistaken. But I could be wrong, as I said it has been a long time since I saw one. A long time and lots and lots of therapy sessions have passed since then... But sometimes, when I close my eyes at night, I still see the streched wheelbase and over exagerated haunches. And I hear the lamentations of the wimmin... And all those poor, poor kittens... My God, the kittens... #AARCudaPTSD

Seriously, taillight lenses? That's what we've been reduced to? 13 pages on a kit that's still months away from production and we're gonna gripe over taillight lenses? Seriously, if they're clear folks'd be complaining about how hard it'd be to paint or foil the chrome surrounds, clear red they'd be complaining that the backup lens isn't clear. I think doing them chrome is genius, just flow a little clear red in there and Bob's your uncle, easy taillights, the chrome bezel is defined, add a little pearl white on the backup lens I think you'll end up with a great looking taillight. I think they found the best way to do it for this particular car.

"Monster Machines" - Tommy Ivo's Showboat and Mickey Thompson Challenger I double kit.

Not really, but there is a ton of pent-up demand for these - JUNIOR STOCKERS!!! They've been giving us some nice 2-door posts lately, how about some low-level wagons/sedan deliveries? http://www.hotrod.com/whereitbegan/hrdp_0907_junior_stock_drag_racing/

I've never gotten an answer on what a typical run size is on a Revell kit, but I've done the math on the case count (each case is marked "Box #x of y") I'd say it's somewhere in the 15,000 to 20,000 piece range. SSP's are limited editions of 5,000 pieces, IIRC. Private-label runs (e.g. Model King) are usually 3,000 to 5,000 pieces.

I'm pretty sure it's Trumpeter. It's called "Master Tools, right? I have the catalog at work. There's a small drill press in there. Pocketbond is Trumpeter's UK distributor. I work for one of the American distributors. We're going to carry some of the Master Tools stuff, but I don't see the drill press in our system, so I doubt we'll get it. Probably wind up best for consumers to just buy it straight out of China or Hong Kong on eBay, I hate to say it. If there's demand for it, maybe we'll bring it over. We've been sending out the catalog for a couple months.

I wonder if they could be planning a "digitally remastered" new tri-five tooling like the 32 Ford got with the Rat Roaster? Use the same masters, but with new 3D scanning to cut new molds? Compare the common parts between the old deuces and the RR (the coil overs are probably the best example) and see what a difference it makes even with the same old master patterns. They can't be done with tri-fives. They'll never be done with tri-fives....

That's not even worst the part. I heard it's going to have 1950 La Carrera Panamericana decals. #anditbegins...

The Stacey David car and 62 Vette (the most recent kits I can think if with the new style tires) are a more rubber like material. Personally, I like em the more I work with them. I especially like that it gets the sprue attachment off the wheel lip. No more tearing chunks out of the lip or sanding flat spots in them. Put the tires in the sun or warm them in a dehydrator or with a hair dryer and the go on a lot easier. It also seems like revell and amt have finally agreed on a common size for 15" wheels after what? 50 some years?

Or are you talking about the new Trumpeter tool line? I doubt that'll be imported into the US. We're not planning on it, and I doubt the other importer is either.