pack rat

Exactly. Some people seem to think that we on this forum and others like it make up the vast majority of the model car market, and as long as the companies cater to us things will be fine. Not necessarily so. For an entry-level snap kit it looks fine to me.

The test shot had the same panel lines between the rear window and trunklid that the updated MPC body has. There were no hood pins or wheel opening moldings (as clearly seen in the pic I posted). But...it's a test shot. Although it looked almost complete I have no idea what, if any changes have been made.

Highly unlikely. The tool was still a "work in progress" when they sent me a test shot. The body and clear parts section of the tooling weren't polished yet, meaning the body required extensive sanding/prep before it was painted, and glass and taillight lenses from the glue kit were substituted as the snap parts were unusable at that stage. I'm no expert on diecast General Lees, but this kit doesn't resemble any 1/25-1/24 diecast General I've ever seen. I can't explain the flag on the Wonderfest display kit either....pretty small pic but it looks like my build with the flag added after the fact.

The box-art kit was built from an early test shot. The decals weren't ready yet, so they sent a sheet from the glue kit with specific instructions not to apply the flag as Warner Bros. wouldn't allow it. I'm guessing the decal sheet for this kit won't include the flag, but I could be wrong.

Here's a preview

Happy to help. Yes, it's too bad Testors chooses not to market certain products in Canada. This has been happening since the early 80's when we couldn't buy Car Colors on this side of the border...don't blame Testors, blame our labeling laws.

I heard the same thing from my LHS, which would be typical (like the Model Master lacquers we no longer get). I've never seen them anywhere else on this side of the border, and the cans I bought have no french labeling on them.

Wayne..about a month ago I found some Metalizer sprays at a shop in Dundas.

That was the practice in the Ertl days, but it certainly isn't the way it's done at Round2. The box art kits also make the rounds at trade shows, etc, ultimately ending up in display cases at the Auto World store, providing they have survived the packing/shipping etc. Having built 70-odd kits for them, including 30 box-art kits, I can assure you they're not done using hand-selected extra-special test shots, nor do I have the luxury of "taking my time" to make sure it looks good. Typically they're rush jobs (usually 1-2 weeks on my spare time) using previous issues of the kit I have on hand, or early test shots sent to me which may be a little rough around the edges, have no chrome-plated parts, no clear parts etc etc. Yes, they add little highlights to the photos here and there, but basically what you see on the box is what you get. And no, I don't "leave parts off" or take similar short cuts (give me a break!).

The Round2 Baldwin/Motion kit comes in two colors (white/green) but the Z/28 only comes in orange.

There is one minor difference between the John's Jr Trophy issue and the light blue Craftsman; the Craftsman has no rear fender skirts.

Looks like an original '63 annual with a '64 hood. The '63 annual Roadster had a separate gas cap, I believe the '64 cap was molded to the body.

Here's the Spiderman engine....not the clearest engine pic but it's all I have.

Not really a blooper. The '68 Z/28 reissue will include eight pad-printed Polyglas tires, four L-60 and four F-60 (basically the parts pack minus the packaging). They wanted to include a built-up stock version as well as a street machine on the box. To highlight the fact that two complete sets of tires are included in the kit they wanted the F-60's on the stock version, and the meatier L-60's on the street machine....and that's the kit they used in the add.

The last RC2 street machine definitely had all of the '68 details in place; the red street machine on Round2's box art was built from the black and gold RC2 issue you mentioned, and was identical to the pre-67 street machine with the exception of the molded-in rear view mirror on the windshield. Ertl apparently eliminated the mirror long ago. Apparently the '67 conversion didn't eliminate the possibility of the '68 being re-issued. Looking at all of the changes that were made it would be easy to assume otherwise.

Correct. Back in the day I picked up the "Derby Champions" '69 El Camino, and it contained a separate sheet for the Soap Box Derby version plus TWO of the sheets in your pic (score!)...and I still haven't cut them up. The Derby Champions kit was re-issued shortly after the regular annual so I would assume this sheet was included in the annual with the Derby stuff being added later.

Nope, sorry. A single carb for the stock version or a tunnel ram for the street machine

64 1/2 - generator 65 - alternator The only obvious difference I can recall.

It was also used (modified into a 4-wheeler) in the Piranha Drag Team and the Fireball 500.

Sorry about wandering off-topic Tom. I have that kit and it has chrome-plated five-hole Centerlines like the pic Monty posted, with the holes not molded open. The back of the gas tank is blank...but my Streaker Vette has "MPC Mt Clemens Mich" molded to the back of the tank. Like Monty, I'm puzzled about the 4-hole wheels. Maybe someone did some parts-swapping back in the day?

I assumed the Street Machine version always had chrome-plated Cragars; the only one I ever had in my stash was a '90's Ertl issue (black/gold car on the box). When Round2 contacted me about the box art builds I was told there was a past issue with both versions in one box and unplated mags (?)

Thanks, Casey. I was told both builds will be appearing on the box. I've done quite a few builds for them but this is the first time I've done two versions for one box.

I'm curious too. I always assumed the '64 had metal springs until I purchased one last year. The springs are plastic and the lower A arms are molded together as one piece with no provision to pivot. I have an incomplete '66 with separate A arms that looks like it had the metal springs (springs and instructions are missing). Looks like the metal springs were introduced in '65 or '66. I know someone who has a '65 for sale that I'll be seeing this week....I'll have to check it out (I'll probably end up buying it..LOL)

I don't think so. I'm pretty sure they're the F60/L60 tires from the #006 parts pack

Not only that, they're including TWO sets of pad-printed Goodyears in this one.