Mr. Metallic

This is perfect timing with the Revell #2 roadster bout to come back (already hitting shelves in Europe). The quality looks good, thanks for sharing Bernard. @68shortfleet , what is the best way to get some of these?

My guess would be that would be one of mock-ups Mr Keeler showed at the IPMS show last year based on the former Tweedy Pie kit. Looking forward to more details Although based on that press release they missed the Q1 2022 release mark for the T based kit

I was confused that you said you bought a Rat Roaster, but thought maybe you actually found a RR in an Austrian hobby shop. You mean that you got one of the new 32 Roadster kits, which are not Rat Roasters (but maybe I'm being pedantic) Thank you for sharing the pics. It's a little bonus that they actually still included the chopped windshield even though you can't use it without some surgery to the body. I'm certainly glad to have it. It sure does look like they might be having the same issue with warpage that they are with the 29 roadster and 30 coupe kits. It appears this tree was warped enough to actually break these parts away from the tree. The rest of the parts look straight though( especially crucially the duvall windshield) it's just something for the rest of us to keep our eye on as these hit the shelves.

I don't think the 32 5w has left the catalog since it was introduced 10+ years ago. I agree with you on some of the rest, although they did versions of the 48 Ford tooling after the chopped version, with the Greased Lightning version done most recently. Apparently extensive investigation was done by the previous owners of Revell (Hobbico) into releasing a Ranchero based on the 57 Ford tool but decided it was tool expensive. Maybe Blitz will give it a shot? Out of all those the 32 Sedan is the one in most ""dire" need of a rerelease. That was a limited release the only time it came out (I think 2007, oh how time flies) and really should be ready to just run some plastic through the mold. That kit was just about perfect as is, but if they wanted to throw a little money at it even better.

Work has been continuing. I had a small delay while I searched for materials to do a real wood bed floor. Once I got those secured and worked out a technique I was able to move forward. It may not be prototypical to 1:1, but it looks good, and replicates something a builder could have done in 1965. Here's the materials I ended up using. There are more prototypical materials (H or I channel strip, photoetch rails, etc), but these materials are what a builder in 1965 would have had reasonable access to, or at least be able to achieve similar results. I cut 5 strips of wood and 6 strips of plastic all the same length using my handy dandy Chopper. This is a great tool for repeatable cuts over and over. I hit the wood strips with a couple coats of Testors clear and then assembled everything together. And just a taste of the finished product.

I've been buying from MAD for years, but placed my first online order earlier this year. Got a confirmation email right away, and then about 5-6 weeks later I got an email that my items had shipped. His distributors and magnetos are the only thing I use anymore. Can't beat the realistic look at the price point with no work. Rep+Min makes beautifully cast distributors, but you still have to wire them. MAD's are just as nice, but without the labor.

Great color choice on the body. Cool build.

Nice to see another one of these fine Drag City bodies built. And I love the 348/409!

Good movie, cool car. You did a nice clean version of it, well done.

Man that is sweet. One of the finest examples of a finished Monogram A coupe I've ever seen.

That's pretty much the long and short of it. If you see the thread about the Polyglas tire parts pack overt the the car review section.

Any updates on this one? I'm hoping Q4

Sorry, I'm late to the party, but these builds came out great. I especially like the blue one, great color. Thanks for sharing

I think they look great. That's one sweet little hot rod you have their, even though it's a little bigger than most of us are used to. Did you follow along the channeling how-to from the first 2 issues on R+C Models or just do your own thing? The Big D, well played ?

Few things. First, congratulations. Second, I thought you were supposed to sleep when the baby sleeps? But seriously, these are great little kits. They are so well engineered that with the pre-painting done it was a great choice for a quick build. I think the kit came with a small prop rod to put on the tail so it would sit up level without being attached to a tow vehicle.

The Ala-Kart didn't "end up in" the Mod Rod, it's the same tooling. Ala Kart/29 Ford roadster kit was a double kit (meaning you could build two fully detailed models out of one box) and reissued a few times. They altered the tooling to create the first Mod Rod version which still had most (if not all) the parts required to build the Ala Kart. But over time some of the AK specific parts disappeared. AMT, riding a hot steak in the late 90's of well engineered and accurate kits took the opportunity to create a new AK from the ground up, rather than try to fix the old tool. That would have been a very savvy move at the time because the traditional hot rod and custom movement was building steam and nostalgia for well known 50's/60's cars was also gaining momentum (see the launch of The Rodders Journal) and would have been great for the hobby. Sadly, mid-development of the new AK apparently most of the design staff was let go at AMT, and we got the kit that is about to be reissued. @Dave Darby is one of the experts on the matter, so if I'm wrong on any of the details he will set the record straight.

Repop of the 90's tool

First up... The Yellow Beetle For those that don't know the history on this tooling the Blue Beetle was the first version and debuted in the mid-60's along with the Little T, Little Deuce and Woody Wagon. It was released twice, and then the tooling was modified in the late 60's into the Tom Daniel designed Boss A Bone. Then in the 70's the tooling was modified again for the Early Iron release. It received yet another freshening in the 80's, and then was released in the 90's in the 70's street rod configuration. A few years ago Revell decided to backdate the tooling to the Blue Beetle configuration by retooling some lost parts as the Blue Bandito (Blue Beetle is now a registered trademark for another product, hence the name change). Ok, now that I've set the scene here are the issues the tooling changes has presented me with the yellow version. Gone are the 6 carb intake and Cadillac script valve covers. Also gone are the great wheel/tire combo, and a few other BB specific parts. Most of this is easily rectified by stealing the parts from a Bandito kit (so the chrome brightness all matches), except the Cadillac valve covers. R/M didn't resurrect those for the Bandito. Fortunately I have a set from a BB to steal. The big issue is that the yellow version now comes with the interior and other formerly white parts now molded in tan plastic. Fortunately I have a decent molded-in-white interior bucket I can use, along with an up top. Once you take a look at the initial mockup photos you can see the problem with using all these different molded in white parts presents, they all have different opacity. Hopefully that can be rectified by painting them all white. A necessary concession to these mostly No-paint builds I have going. My rules, I can break them. Anyway, enough talking, here's the first mockup

"No, not those mop-tops"- To quote a DJ in the film That Thing You Do (love that movie) This post is to bring together a few builds in my ongoing affinity for the early Monogram hot rod kits. If you recall, last year I built alternative molded in color versions of the big 4 kits. One of them was the Red Beetle, which was built by combining original Blue Beetle specific parts with the molded in red parts from a Boss-A-Bone builtup (the horror, I know ) Since then I have been intending to build alternative versions of the Beetle, using every color Monogram (later Revell/Monogram) offered kits based on this tooling in. That list is as follows: 2 shades of blue the Blue Beetle came in, Red (done), yellow, silver, and lastly the light blue that they released a few years ago as the Blue Bandito. I also have the obscure Japanese motorized knock-off of the Blue Beetle that is molded in an almost purple color. Since these will be mostly "box stock" builds with the kitbashing necessary to backdate the kits to the Blue Beetle configuration I decided to combine them all in one thread rather than a separate thread for each color. For 2022 I challenged myself to try to put 12 completed builds on my shelf over the course of 12 months. that may seem aggressive, but I knew I wanted to sprinkle in a few on these Monogram hot rod based builds through the year, so it seemed fairly reasonable to me. The year started off well enough, but the summer has really put my behind on that goal. With 5 weeks until our Fall KKIM meeting I thought I would try to build as many of these Beetle variants as I can before then. Hopefully you'll come along with me for the ride.

I looked through my Fotki and apparently haven't taken any pictures of it. Maybe I'll dig it out.

On first glance it looks like pretty standard build of the Revell 3W with a wheel/tire swap, but I knew better than that coming from your bench so I kept scrolling and am glad to discover the amount of well done work you did to the underside. Extra points for the W motor!

Nice slick hot rod. Just the right parts choices, as always from your bench. I found the Extreme (former OneCoat) turquoise on the rack recently, and don't remember it being in the line originally. First time I remember seeing it on a finished model.

It's great when the early Monogram hot rod kits get some love, and you did a great job adding just the right parts. Well done.

Well I'm glad you shared it because it's a treat. Not a lot of finished hot rods shared on this board, especially to the level you always bring it. Love the color and the W motor.

Nice builds Tim, but the RPU is stunning. About 15 years ago I started turning the Vamp Van into a closed cab pickup, maybe I should drag that out again while you and Roger are providing inspiration.