Brett Barrow

Are you in Europe or somewhere that uses 220v power? If you're in the US it Might be pointless chasing down something that doesn't run 110v. Have you compared it to Micro-Mark's?

That's a spotlight on the light bar tree. And there are back window mounted flashers on the radio sprue. Plenty of those automatic engine blocks floating around out there in peoples' parts boxes, shouldnt be too hard to get one if one needs one.

Skirts, connie kit, dual carbs w/ bat wing... All this and an uptop!?!?! I think I need to lie down for a minute......

Box art was created using the built-up test shots shown here. I doubt whoever who built it (on a tight deadline, I'm sure) was an SSP Mustang expert. Box art and decal art were most likely created at the by the same artist. No need waiting for decals to print just so you can use production decals on a box art build. 'Shop 'em on and get that sucker on the shelves!!!

Was it green and yellow? Might be a Proxxon, from Luxembourg. http://www.proxxontools.com/store/pc/home.asp

The Lindberg 64 Belvedere and Dodge 330 have some decent blackwall versions of the Goodyear Super Cushion like those shown in the PM/Revell '58 'Vette. A little wider than the PM/Revell tire and without the tampo whitewall. Makes a neat period-correct bias-ply tire for mid-sixties sleeper Super Stocks, plus you can white wall or white stripe them as well. Cool tire if you just gotta have your stuff on bias plys. (I prefer scale radials - they ride better ) Here's a shot showing them (right) along with the PM tire (left), and an old MPC version (center) of the same tire (original photo credit Stu Neil from TRak in Scale).

I don't have them on hand either, but I can tell you from experience that they're narrower than the Pegasus Pilots. Probably in the 225/50-17" or 18" range.

Funny that I changed my avatar before i read your post! Yeah I dig airplanes, too. I used it for a long time. My dad called me "stinky" when I was a kid. The paint I used was Testors Nassau Blue from the lacquer line. The Super Clean was from back when it was still Castrol brand.

Ok, shows how much I know about vans (which is absolutely nothing!)

Oh yeah, they did only do the one in 25th. Does the current issue have all the bodykit and nerf bars and all that stuff from the nameless "70's Custom Van" edition? I haven't looked at it that closely. The box art is relatively stock looking. They do have the 1/32 Chevy snapper and the 1/16th "Movin' Out" show van, though. And there's also the new-tool Revell Germany VW Samba bus and upcoming VW van they could do in US boxes...

i posted them somewhere in another thread, but here goes. This is subject to change, but usually the next month and the month after are locked in, it's the 2-month and 3-month ones that sometimes change - This is just the cars, no planes or military... April: Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (die-cast to plastic) Z-16 65 Chevelle SS 396 Magnum SRT8 Miami Vice Daytona Spyder (1:24) May: COPO ZL-1 69 Camaro Bandit 77 cantcallita Trans-Am (die-cast to plastic) 90 Mustang LX 5.0 Miss Deal (SSP) June: Snap Police Expedition Original Mini Cooper (1:24 RoG) Foose 64 Impala 67 Corvette Roadster

Yup, May it is, should be out along with the 5.0 Mustang notch, SSP Miss Deal, 77 Bandit Trans.. er, um... "Firebird" and the 55 Ford pro-mod. Line-up could change, though, depending on what did or didn't make it onto the boat (which is probably on the high seas as we speak...) I'd trust Hobby Shipper or whatever they call it, even though Tower is also part of Hobbico, they tend to put some really early and weird dates up (Tower might be putting the date they can start taking backorders, instead of an actual release date, or it could be the deadline they need to have a kit listed up on the site by.)

They could "reannounce" them just to remind y'all! I knew they were going to happen, just wasn't sure if they were public knowledge yet. The Foose Impala and Mini are out in June, still no official date on the 57 'vert though, but my latest list only runs through June. Should have the new list soon, usually out by the middle of the month. Then I'll know what's coming in July.

Anyway, to get back on topic, I went back and looked at recent new release announcements and I've decided to revise my list of predictions for May's "fall" announcements. Again, this is totally without any inside knowledge. At least one Corvette reissue (I'm leaning towards the 58/59) At least two Foose editions (is the Foose 64 Impala "official" yet?) One station wagon (either a reissue or possible modified new tooling - I'd like to see something on the 57 Ford - a Ranch Wagon would be my personal favorite, but a Country Squire would please a few folks, too. On the tri-five front, I'd flip for a 57 Chevy Handyman or 55 and 57 Nomads) One modified variant of a 60's muscle car. One modified variant of a current muscle car. At least one Tom Daniel kit. At least one show car. (I'm leaning Lil' Coffin or Lil' T/Boomer Bucket/Street T) A possible totally 100% new-tool kit (but new tool announcements are more likely to happen at iHobby) At least one drag racer reissued, possibly with a decal scheme they've never offered before. One older truck reissue (I'm leaning 64 Chevy Fleetside) Another 70's van, these are hot right now. At least one tri-five Chevy (is the 57 'vert "official" yet?) Revell-Germany's new-tool VW Beetle in a Revell US box. (The new-tool Mini Cooper in US box is "official", right?) I'd like to see a 50 Olds Club Sedan (fastback). I'd like to see the F-Code 57 Ford Custom NASCAR special (I know it will happen, just not sure when) I'd like to see another issue of the Big Deuce -edit- a convertible version of something currently available as a hardtop a hardtop version of something currently available as a convertible (I know, some of these are no-brainers!)

To be specific to tire companies, one reason they don't license model tires is due to liability risks. If little Jimmy chokes on a model kit wheel and tire with a big ol' "Goodyear" stamped on the side, and the parents decide to sue somebody they could conceivably go after Goodyear, but so far no one ever has sued a licensor over a licensed toy or model part that I've heard about. The fear of choking lawsuits is the reason GM quit licensing HO scale replica cars and trucks and some larger N scale trucks - there's a test that they do, there are two tubes (I forget the exact diameters) , if the item can't fit into the larger one, it's OK, it's big enough that a child can't swallow it. If it passes through the smaller one, it's OK, it's small enough that a child could swallow it cleanly and it can pass through their system. If it fits into the larger one, but not into the smaller one, it's a no-go. I suspect that model car tires fall into that no-go zone, and that might be a reason that Revell and others (like Tamiya) don't bother with licensing them. I think Round 2 has worked out a blanket deal with the tire companies that combines all of their products, like die-casts and slot cars, so they're able to spread the licensing costs out over more products, that's why they offer Firestone and Goodyear licensed tires. And licensing isn't the money grab it appears to be at first glance - it's a neccessary evil in this day, and many companies donate any proceeds from licensing to charities, most just charge whatever it takes to hire the lawyers and file the paperwork. Most of the 1:1 companies use a licensing firm anyway, they don't even get any of the money*, and if they did it'd be chump change to them anyway. Licensing is needed to protect a company's intellectual property and trademarks. If you allow one product to be made with your trademark on it, and you don't license it, you have to let everybody and anybody use that trademark, including competitors and counterfeiters. That means that if, for example, Goodyear lets a model company use it's tradmark on a tire, and doesn't charge, then what's to stop some Chinese tire company from making fake Goodyear tires? It all stems from a landmark court case involving Chinese counterfeit brake pads back around the turn of the century. We're constantly bombarded with media from cradle to the grave these days. If the constant stream of advertisements on TV, internet, radio, magazines and newspapers, etc... hasn't done the trick, I don't think a Goodyear tire on a model car or die-cast toy is really going to influence those children into becoming future Goodyear customers when they grow up. *in fact they're paying the licensing firms to handle it for them. But they're protecting their trademarks, and that's what's valuable to them.

Not sure if they still do, but for years the chrome trees were actually dipped in the stuff, and it is usually really thick. On a bumper or something smooth it's not a big deal, but on something like a carb or valvecover or grille it can obscure a lot of detail. I've stripped bumpers that had little soft "bips" on them only to discover under the clear layer, those bips are actually sharp, well defined carriage bolt heads. I've even seen things like recessed letters or fine scripts get totally filled by the stuff. Then when we do our own Alclading or send it to a model car-specific plater, the undercoats are much thinner and won't obscure that detail. Plus, if you try to strip the plating, the undercoat can get softened or halfway stripped and lead to problems down the line. Best to get it all the way down to bare styrene, remove any mold seams and sprue bits and finish the part appropriately with with paint or fresh plating.

It wasn't you or anyone in particular that gave me that impression. Just thought about how I must come across sometimes. I don't mean to be a know-it-all, but if I don't know what I'm talking about, I will usually just not say anything. And I forget sometimes that, like I mentioned before, "Revell" to me means the current ownership and folks in charge. A lot of people hear "Revell" and think of Venice, CA-era Revell, or Revell-Monogram of the 90's and early 2000's, to me it's just post-Hobbico Revell, so when I say "Revell has been doing a good job", and someone responds, "well, in 1993 they did this", or "in 2001 they did this", or "in 1965 they did this", inside I'm screaming "I'm not talking about that Revell!" It's easy with AMT because I can say "Round 2" and everybody knows who I mean.

Drano's purty much the same thing as oven cleaner - lye (aka caustic soda). Be extremely careful with it, it will do nasty things if you get it on your skin, and it can blind you if you get it in your eyes. But it's totally plastic friendly and safe to pour down the drain!

Oh yeah, I did know of this one, but always though of it with the 2 light grille, and no side spears, I never noticed it was a hardtop, always thought it was a Savoy 2dr post. The Lawman's definitely the easier, since the body is still in stock trim.

You mean the new crossbars? I'm sure they'll come through, but if you don't hear anything in a couple days, try whoever you bought them from, you may have better luck with them. If you need them right away, like you have a show or something you need to get a model finished for I can loan you a couple out of mine until you get replacements.

Why do folks keep insisting bleach makes a good chrome stripper? It just removes the vacuum plating! What really needs to go is the clearcoat underneath, then you get to see all the beautiful sharp details buried under the thick layer of clear. Strip it and paint it the correct metal finish if it's a part that doesn't need to be chrome. Alclad/SpazStik it or send it out for re-plating if it does. We deserve to see all the sharp detail we paid for!!! That said - like a lot of folks, I use original Easy-Off (yellow cap) or the generic store brand of same.

Bah, it's just styrene. Chuck 'em back in the hopper!

Hey. lookie here, guess what just happened to be in my dehydrator with its first working coat of primer drying... A shaved, nosed and decked mild custom Revell 57 Chevy snapper. It is hands down the best 25th scale 57 in body shape and proportion. It's still a little rough, like I said it just got its first working primer coat, I haven't really started working on the mold seams yet still early days on it... Apologies for the janky iPhone pic, didn't feel like busting out the dSLR just to snap a quick pic. Their snap 70 Chevelle is the only one that comes anywhere close to looking like an actual 70 Chevelle, the Monogram and AMT both lack the prominent "beak" of the 1:1's bumper and grille.

Or he could just be an apprentice working in a body shop in California who built the car himself with help from his buddies in his car club*. And those wheels are Astro Supremes, those are not "California Wheels". Those are seriously old-school and totally period-correct for this type and style of car. *and that's exactly what he is, his name is Mario Meza-Murillo. Seriously, spend a little time on the HAMB, lots of bartering, trading, and buddies helping buddies. These aren't Boyd Coddington or Roy Brizio or Chip Foose billet everything trailer queen street rods, these are low buck daily drivers. That's the two big rules of Billetproof - No billet (or course) and you have to drive it into the show grounds - no trailers.

Sorry, "AARP crowd" is somebody else's pet phrase. I use it only for sarcastic effect.