Rob Hall

If you guys want to argue about this, take it off the forum...I think this is the wrong place for such arguments..

Picked one up this afternoon...seems pretty nice..lots of parts...two interior buckets (Mach 1 vs. Boss 302 trim), two sets of seats, two hoods, two tail panels, a separate chrome tree for the Mach 1 (side trim, wheels, etc), two engines. Decals w/ the Mach 1 and Boss graphics (Boss graphics in white and black, Mach 1 in black only) and wood trim for the dash are provided... the new parts look great at first glance..

Same here..I got an HLJ shipping notice email yesterday for the TR, a Tamiya AMG Merc, and a couple sets of Aoshima wheels..sweet.

I saw about Paul Frere on Winding Road yesterday...I've read R&T for 30+ years and remember his writings.. sad to hear about Boyd as well.

One thing I've thought about doing is trying to make a '69 Galaxie grille from a '69 Fairlane grille (from the AMT Torino Cobra kit). The '69 Galaxie grille looks a lot like a wider version of the Fairlane grille...

That's a pretty sweet wagon...I'll have to order one... he's mastering a '72 LTD 2dr ht now (saw it posted on the other board recently). When I build the wagon, I'll probably use the hubcaps from the '69 XL kit..they are more plain.

There were a few on ebay the other day..doesn't look half bad..

I had the same thought about kitbashing the Revell kits..I started doing that myself about 10 years ago but never finished it...I should have bought the AAM resin kit when it was available, was supposed to be nice.

I still see it around in hobby shops and on ebay...I think Revell has dropped many of their 1:25th diecasts, and have been converting many of them to plastic kits (like the '58 Impala and the upcoming '68 Mustang, '70 Challenger and Subaru, for example).

I got the AMT '27 Ford Police car the other day..neat kit.

Any of their '90s era 1:25th tooling is quite good.. I've built the '53 Fords, '64 Dodges and Plymouths, the '61 Impalas and '67 Cutlass. Most of these are currently available. I've also built the '90s era 1:25th snap kits, also nice--the Caravan, Sebring, Dakota and Crown Vic. Lindberg has a variety of tooling that has origins with other companies---for example, The '34 Ford truck 3n1 was an AMT tool, and the Little Red Truck & L700 were IMC tools, by the way. The Lincoln, Cord and Auburn are ancient Pyro tools or something similar. etc, etc..

MPC made a nice one.

The AMT F&F Evo and 350Z look pretty dreadful also...cartoon wheels, cartoonish proportions, just plain bad. Their F&F "70" Charger and '69 Yenko Camaro were pretty bad also ... As far as first appearing bad but turning out nice, when I was a teenager I got the Revell '59 Skyliner (Skip's Drive In issue) and remember quite well opening the box and wondering where the body was...it was the first time I'd encountered a multi-piece body...pretty scary, but it did build up into a nice looking kit. As far as worst ever, I'm not sure what I'd pick.. Palmers are in a different reality and don't really qualify, IMHO. I do remember being severely dissapointed by the first Revell '70 AAR Cuda..just hideously malformed. I was also dissapointed by the recent Trumpeter '60 Pontiac ht (the roof is so nasty).

Lots of reasons...the main appeal to me for a lot of diecast is subject matter..there are just so many subjects that are available in diecast that never were and never will be available in a styrene kit...

I haven't bought anything new lately, but have several Japanese kits on order from HLJ (just got the shipping notice on some, so they should show up later in the month--Fujimi VW GTI and a couple '70s Celicas). I did snag a few old, restorable builtups off ebay a few weeks ago--a customized AMT '59 Ford Galaxie convertible (with the rear fins clipped), '62 Merc Meteor, '62 Merc Comet, original '65 Galaxie ht. All need some Modelhaus chrome and TLC, but are restorable.

I currently have a 2br condo (about 1200 sq ft), and one bedroom (my home office) has about 300 vintage kits and 100 resin kits in the walk-in closet, and some builtups in a display case. I also have about 1200 unbuilts in a 10x10 climate controlled storage unit. I'm looking at buying a house (about 3500-4000 sq ft) in the next year or two with enough room to have a dedicated hobby build area, storage, and display area...not to mention at least a 3 car garage, as I currently have a 1 car garage and 3 cars..

I was 8 in '78 when I built my first 2 1:25th scale glue kits---the Revell '56 Chevy 2dr sedan 'Bad Dream' and the Johan '60 Plymouth wagon. I had built a number of Revell and Lindberg 1:32nd snap kits for a couple of years before that, but those two were my first gluebombs.. For xmas '78, I got a number of AMT 'Countdown Series' kits (incl. the '66 Tbird, '66 Merc, and '69 XL) and then in '79 my older brother gave me a box of 24 '61-67 AMT annuals from when he was a kid... the rest is history, I was a styrene addict.

I'm a software engineer/software architect... I work in Dilbert-like environments and sit in a cubicle. I'm currently working a contract at a major aerospace company.

The limo is one I should have acquired back in the day..I have only 4 AAM resin kits in my stash--'71 Olds 88, '71 Riviera, '67 Firebird, '87 Mustang LX notchback.

I find myself using an xacto knife as a letter opener and package opener...

I saw several cars you would like, Albert, at the Barrett-Jackson show this past Saturday..I saw a silver blue '62 Catalina ht, a black '61 Catalina ht, a couple '61 Bonnevilles, several early '60s Impalas and Bel-Airs, etc.

Looking at the pics on HLJ, looks like it's going to be a great kit...went ahead an preordered mine (I already have 5 other kits on order w/ HLJ, but what the heck...)

There are usually a bunch of the Hendrix '56 Ford conversions (2dr sedans, wagons) on ebay..I've got their '53 Ford 2dr sedan and it's pretty nice..

I have the Jimmy Flintstone '61 Olds 88 2dt ht...I think the body is cleaner than the R&R one...with Modelhaus chrome, it looks pretty good. I have the R&R '62 Olds Starfire ht, and it's fairly rough, esp. around the taillight area.

Those are some wild Fords..very creative. I have a couple 'phantom' builds in mind using the '60 Starliner roof... I want to use the Starliner roof on a rough '61 Mercury convertible I have in my stash, to do a phantom Marauder, and one on a '59 Ford body (or use the '57 Ford roof).