Brett Barrow

Yeah, here's a '62 T-Bird pic I have saved in my inspiration folder. The owner/builder is a 22-year old kid. That is Billetproof... A newer pic w/ owner. Car now has wires with pinners and flaked and paneled roof.

Philly/South Jersey thing. Just realized that the better known spelling outside of Philly is "jawn". The key is the subtle inflection you give to each "jawn" to make them make sense. Like this - "Hand me that jawn right there." "This 86-tooth spur gear?" "No, the jawns with the jawn on it." "Oh, the upgraded shock tower for the Traxxas Jato?" "Yeah, man, them jawns is tight!" "Yes, it certainly is nice. Will this be cash or credit?" "How much do it bring?" "What?" "How much does them jawns cost?" "Oh, $9.95" "Ok" *hands me a $10 bill* "Umm, there's sales tax..." "What? There's tax on that jawn? *to friend* Yo man, lemme borrow a jawn, so I can buy these jawns right here" *hands me cash* "Would you like a bag?" "Nah, man, save that jawn. *to friend* Yo man, let's go, I go by the jawn and get my jawns so we can go down to the jawn and run these jawns" And that is pretty much how 75% of the R/C car part transactions I do on a busy Saturday go. For ultimate realism image the customer is simultaneously carrying on a cell phone conversation...

In my neighborhood some folks call everything "jawns" - as in "From what jawn did you get those jawns you used on that jawn there?"

Hey lookee here - "kitbashing" has a Wiki page! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitbashing And "parts-swapping" is the term AMT used on their instruction sheets.

Agreed, I think the 63 snapper is really nice. It comes from the series of promos that GM Design commissioned Revell to do back in the early 2000's so don't blame Revell, they just did what GM Design asked them to do. It sells well, especially now that it's got its stock wheels back. C2's are a slippery slope, you've got a common chassis, but that's about where it ends, they started with the hot motor being a FI small block, then went to big blocks, every year had a different interior, each year's body had subtle differences, and i think each year's wheel covers were different as well. But it's a Vette, and well, Vettes are a subgenre of modeling all their own. I wouldn't be shocked at all if we get a 63 glue kit one of these days. They've got the proper Fuelie setup now, from the 62. IIRC, the 58/59 had the ribbed intake vs the smooth one of the 62. Does a '63 count as a "late-model"? If so, then I need to find another word to use... A classic is another story, they can take their time, a 63 Vette will still be a classic 2 years from now or 10 years from now or 20 years from now. Of course, still do the classics as full-on glue kits. You'll have plenty of time to get your investment back. You don't think modelers would go for a $15 snap curbside model that comes out within the same calendar year as its model year, or they'd rather wait another year to get a $25 full detail glue kit?

I can't wait to see what they come up with for some of the Lindberg kits. Box art is such a powerful sales tool for a model kit, I don't think Lindberg ever understood that (no offense to anyone who ever built a box art model for them, I know there are a couple guys on here who did) they never had cool box art.

Agreed, a 2 door post Plymouth (especially a Savoy) would open up a lot more possibilities. The LAWMAN was the only hardtop Plymouth Super Stocker I know of. (And Eckstrand even ran a 2 door post LAWMAN at one point). But all the LAWMAN needs is a decal sheet and a box big enough to cram in all the sprues it would take from both kits.

Billetproof and similar "traditional rod and kustom" shows (usually limited to pre-1964 cars) are pretty much the antithesis of the Goodguys shows. I'm telling you, that's the next generation right there, those are the guys and gals they need to be going after. Like I said before - they already make the type of stuff they're into, and building model cars is a big part of the 50's/60's culture that they try to emulate. Put it into the right boxart with the right wheels and the right decals, and they can get them into modeling with a very small investment. First thing they need to do is stop calling them "rat rods"...

No money in it. Not enough, anyway .

Seriously, you think some old codger with arthritis and a bad hip wants to ride around in a Model A with buggy spring suspension, loud pipes, chopped and channeled 2 inches of the ground with no insulation, radio, A/C or heater? Those are the guys buying the Vettes and Camaros - they're the AARP crowd!!!

I think it would be left up to the kit designer, and how they prefer to do things. Even with CAD, you've got a lot of work to do to turn the real thing into a model kit, it's not just a simple matter of dividing by 25! I've read about some of the 1:1 reproductions done from 3d scans and data collection and how it took 2 days just to generate the point cloud (something like 8,000,000 data points) then another 80 working hours to convert that point cloud into a workable set of drawings, and that's just to do 1:1 exact reproduction body panels . It's highly likely that a veteran kit designer could do their work just as fast, if not faster, with conventional methods. And from what I understand, the Big 3 give no assistance with design of the kits, if the model companies want to do it, they have to go find one and measure it on their own dime and own time, whether it's an old classic or a brand new car.

There are, I know there are. They all have AARP cards, though, that's the irony of it! I'm the young guy and have no interest in modern cars, and I personally don't know many folks my own age who do, but that may just be the crowd I hang out with, though. We're all into the HAMB and Billetproof stuff like I mentioned.

Bottom one is a dual-carb E-code car, that aircleaner was unique to the big car, the E-code T-bird's was similar, but oval shaped. AMT's 56 Ford Vic has a very simplified version of one. Kinda hoping Revell throws one into the supercharged F-code NASCAR special when they get around to it (we know it's coming...) The red-painted aircleaners look cool, I'm sure they probably had them as well. The ones used on MEL's were a lurid bright green, along with the valve covers.

I hear what a lot of you guys are saying about late-model subjects, I really do. But full-detail model kits take around 2 years to develop, they always have, and probably always will, maybe they could get it down to 18 months or so if they moved tooling and production back to the US. If they were to dumb them down to curbsides they could shave quite a bit of time off the process, but American modelers have come to expect full-detail kits from the American companies (and Revell-Germany as well). So they know going in that they either have to base a kit off of early company press photographs or prototypes (that's how they did it in the old days, except for the promo-era when they were actually receiving design input from the manufacturers) and run the risk of it being inaccurate and representative of just the prototype, or run the risk of it being unwanted and out of date by the time the kit reaches shelves, let's face it now in the internet age we're often sick and tired of the real thing within a couple weeks of it being announced after it's been picked over and discussed ad nauseum... What are the odds folks will still care 2 years from now? If we could get American modelers more accepting of simple curbside kits of American subjects from American companies I think they would start to look at more late-model choices. It's hard to gauge right now, since the only fair comparison is the AMT Corvettes and Camaro kits based on the DoAllSer promos vs. the full-detail Revell kits, and since they all come in at around the same price-point the full detail kits will most likely win out, plus there were already alternative kits for those subjects on the market (the older AMT glue Camaro and Revell Snap Camaro and Revell's current generation Corvette kits). But when there was no alternative, like when the AMT/DoAllSer Dodge Challengers came out, they did very well until the Revell glue kit came along. I think Revell might be trying to gauge that potential by releasing the Mustang convertible as a snapper, to see how it does when there's no alternative.

Nobody got to me - I just spent all day yesterday actually doing work at the workbench thinking "I like this so much more than being Mr Model Company Defender on the message board"! Believe me, they stupify and piss me off just as much as the next guy, but the view from inside is much different from the view from the outside. And I realized I have a rather unique perspective - I work in wholesale and retail simultaneously and I am an avid modeler, I started in the business in 2001 when I was 23, all my experience is during this century. I'm probably the only person in the business who can say all that. I'm certainly one of a kind . I'm 35 with over a decade's experience and they call me names like "boy wonder" or "the rookie"! I'm under 40, and have 0 interest in any American road-going car made since 1971. I look to boards like the HAMB and shows like Billetproof or similar type shows as the market that needs to be tapped into as the next generation of modelers, Revell and AMT already make the types of models that they'd be into, we/they just need to get them into building models and a lot of them already do (the HAMB has a long running Sunday Morning Models thread, and there's a model car show and swap meet at most Billetproof shows) I don't see an awful lot of "AARP members" posting on the HAMB or attending Billetproof shows. And I think Revell sees the potential in that market as well. The fact of the matter is if you're not into rods, customs, or muscle cars, Revell and AMT probably aren't ever going to please you, and except for a short time during the WalMart-funded orgy of new releases that was the 1990's and early 2000's, they never really tried to.

I thought I repsoned to this last night, but I must have not hit the "post" button - Alclad Pale Gold and Pale Burnt Metal are my 2 faves for carbs. Testor's Jet Exhaust (the MM enamel and Acryl color, not "Exhaust" the Metalizer), Burnt Metal Metalizer and Tamiya Titanium Gold are good ones to keep around, too.

Years ago I used to make my own liquid mask out of Elmer's white (PVA) glue. Just add a drop of liquid dish soap and a drop of food coloring, and a little bit of water. Dish soap makes it easy to peel off, and the food coloring's so you can see where you've put it. I never used it to really mask anything on it's own, just to fill in inside outlines I had defined with masking tape or to seal up cuts and seams when using multiple pieces of masking materials. Now I use Mr. Masking Sol NEO, which seems to be pretty much the same type of stuff already mixed up in a bottle. As with the other stuff, I've never used it to mask an actual edge. One tip I'd share to anyone wanting to experiment with liquid masking is to always shoot paint over it before trying to peel it off, it actually makes it easier. If you just put some on, then try peeling it up you may think it's hard to peel up without tearing into little chunks, but it usually works better with a layer of paint over it, the paint helps hold it together. I learned that lesson with the Mr. Masking Sol NEO, I would purposely avoid spraying paint over it as much as possible, then it wouldn't peel off cleanly. Now I just make sure to hose it down with a good thick layer of paint just like the area I want painted and it comes up much easier. I've used Parma's FasMask on Lexan R/C bodies (that's excatly what it's marketed for), but never tried it on static models.

Well when there's NDA's and contracts involved a lot of times those who know can't talk about it. For reals. A lot of the folks working inside the industry as designers are freelancers, and if you get a reputaion as someone who can't keep their mouth shut, you stop getting work. You stop getting work, you stop getting paid... It's a small world, this business, and everybody knows everybody. You could probably count them all without ever taking your shoes and socks off .

You know what? I must come across as a ranting, rambling jerk in these threads. Truth is modelers don't understand the industry side of it and probably never will, and I don't mean that to offend anyone. I didn't understand that side until I started working in it and even then it took me years. i guess I do get a little defensive and take things personal because it is personal to me, because I know some of the people who make decisions at these companies. From now on I'll refrain from these discussions, except to just speculate along with everyone else...

If Revell would take what's become of the Lil' T and throw in the wheels and tires from the Lil' Coffin, they'd get a standing O from me... A perfect example of a missed kit-bashing opportunity on the manufacturing level is they way Lindberg laid out the parts for their 64 Super Stock Dodges vs the 64 Belvedere. It's easy for a modeler to kitbash the two to make a replica of Al Eckstrand's LAWMAN Super Stock Plymouth, but it would take almost every sprue from the Dodge kit and almost every sprue from the Plymouth kit to do it in a kit version. Had they laid the sprues out with a little more foresight it would be an easier kit to box. I hope Round 2 follows through with Lindberg's plans of doing this one, I've always wanted to do it and Fred Cady's decals were the wrong colors* *side note - has anyone else ever done corrected '64 LAWMAN decals? Rumors were that the LAWMAN decal artwork was already drawn and ready to go before Lindberg went through whatever it was that Lindberg went through...

Maybe we'll finally get this now that Lindberg is under Round 2's stewardship. Rumor is the decal artwork was already done and ready to go... Cady's were WAAAAAAY off (Brown and yellow vs. Orange and Maroon)

A recent trend? I've seen the term "kitbashing" in model car mags from the 60's... I might be wrong, but isn't it used in AMT's old Trophy Series and Styline instruction sheets as well? I use it for things that are just simple parts swaps, not even what I'd consider heavy modifications, e.g. "My ____ was built box-stock, except for kitbashed wheels and tires from so-and-so's _____"

Factory stock rocker covers are black with a Ford V8 sticker on them, BTW (included on the kit's decal sheet). Those might be repops. Pretty sure the filler cap is black from the factory as well.

Agreed, the grille opening in that kit is shaped more like a 40 to my eye. And AMT's so-called "40" has a grille opening that looks more like a 41. Go figure. Leave it and call it a 40.

A mistake in 2001 or whenever it was they came out? Not at all. Would it be a mistake to go down a similar path in 2013, given the way things are now? Most certainly yes. The days of being able to amortize a new kit on the first run are over. And it's really hard to stay on top of trends when your product takes 2 years to go from concept to store shelves. They've already cut steel on a series of kits they haven't even announced yet, and probably won't be on the shelves before the end of the year. I've known about them for 6 months. I guess the problem we're having here is that when I talk about "Revell" I speak about the current Revell, not the Revell that made the Orange Crate or the Revell that made the 59 Cadillac, or the Revell that made those tuner kits, it's a different ownership, and different people in charge now, and for the most part they've done a pretty decent job pulling the brand out of the mess it was in. Let's look at a couple kits they came out with shortly following the Hobbico purchase (both kits were in development before the sale). Take their 49 Mercury Custom and the 05 Mustang. Both kits sold like crazy when they came out. The 05 Mustang led to the Bullitt version and the GT-H, and the GT 500 KR, it was a good choice, they were able to get several successful variants off of one platform before it ran its course. But it's run its course, they moved on to a new platform (and got burned by a re-style). Late model cars are a crapshoot, they got lucky with the Mustang, but what good is it now? And then they got burned by trying to keep it going with the 10. The Mercury, however, without so much as a change in the decal sheet (though they did change the box from the original flat box to the normal square box) continues to this day to be a strong seller, and will continue to sell well for years I'm sure.