Mr. Metallic

I work in quality control for a major manufacturer that deals with plastic and many other materials. I can see both sides of this coin presented by Bill and Art. I agree with Bill that quality control is paramount to a sustainable good relationship with customers and long term profits. They should be (and probably are) doing checks on their raw materials to make sure they are within specifications However I also see Art's side. You can do all the testing you want of your raw materials before, during and after the manufacturing process, but you can't always predict long term durability of those raw materials. Even if you do tons of environmental and situational testing on your raw materials and finished product, it's not 100% foolproof. The industry that I am in, we do have safety standards we have to meet regulated by a governing body, while the model kit manufacturers do not live within those constraints. So, it doesn't necessarily make sense for them to invest the capital it would take to do this constant testing. People constantly complain about the rising costs of these kits, so imagine the added cost of the much higher level quality control. Food for thought.

It the time this kit came out (1988) it was lauded as one of the first true domestic kits to go after the "enthusiast" market. Designed and made for the "serious" modeler because of the parts breakdown and subject matter. I remember it quite handily one a lot of awards that year in our hobby. With the exception of the rearview mirror/windshield issue (which was addressed by AMT after it's initial release with a mold revision) the stock version of this kit is still highly regarded. And because it sold well it is credited for opening the door to other serious subjects in the early 90's

Cool concept and nice execution. Well done

Guys, I'm pretty sure this is all in fun. If it takes you more than a hour to type up this proposal they you're probably doing it wrong. While Luc does do this on the off chance that a manufacturer may be looking and intrigued by the proposals, I view it really more as an educational exercise for all of us to see a little slice of what actually goes into the process.

I can recall a few Revell kits from 10-15 years ago had an issue, specifically the 59 Chevy Impala 2n1 kit. The tires with the separate whitewalls are known to melt the really sweet 4 bar spinners wheels you put in them, along with anything else. But aside from that I don't think this is much of a problem with kits made in the last 20-30 years at all.

Cool build. The black looks great

It's cool. I dig it

Glad to see this one back on the bench!

Some of the newer bodies I've gotten from JF have a very stubborn mold release on them. So, after you clean it, shoot it with primer before doing any bodywork. You will be able to tell if you got it all because the primer will not stick.

Those are pretty sweet looking. Any other news sets?

Very cool build Wish Round2 would release those wheels and tires as a parts pack. I don't remember what the parts breakdown is in the kit if that would be workable, but at least the tires could make a great parts pack

I enjoy this kit, I've built a couple of the coupes already. I really like your accent color on the molding, and the added benefit is that it will help hide the gap between the roof and body. It's a small gap, but on lightly colored painted bodies it's very difficult to hide it.

This is a cool build, and I've been following along. I give you credit for the way , when you've come upon an issue, have found your way to work around it. Just a small nit from me, but would you consider swapping out the seats, or at least modifying them? IMHO, they are far too tall. I know you're probably keeping them because they are from the Viper, so if you could possibly sever the seat at the bottom of the back and remove some of the height. This is just my suggestion. And, so you can keep the Buick style brakes, but simulate a performance upgrade to discs, there is already a 1:1 solution in place. The aftermarket sells disc brake sets that look like the Buick brakes. On a quick glance the only way to tell is there is a scoop on the backing plate to facilitate cooling. You could replicate this by adding the scoop. Sorry, I don't have an image, but try Googling it.

For the engine, keeping with the theme, you should be able to use any of the engines from the early trophy series kits (40 sedan and coupe, 34 pickup, etc) and the engines should drop right in.

Just to be clear guys, this is brand new tooling from just a few years ago. It's based on the 60's Sizzler dragster, and shares similar box art. But the Sizzler was larger than 1/24-1/25 scale. John, your buildup of this kit is really sweet. I love your choice of colors. Looking forward to seeing this done.

Very interesting bid. I'll be following it now

Love it! Excellent proportions.

Very clean build. The little details you added to this great kit really set it apart. Nice job!

Nice clean build. That is one of my favorite hobby colors. I think the guys in my club have gotten tired of me using it. I like the additions you made to a great kit, the side windows, exhaust and firewall really complete the look

Looking good Kerry I wouldn't mess with the hood sides. That is right where your hairpins or split bones are going to reside, and possibly your steering. If you bring those hood sides down you may conflict with the suspension. Plus, I think the cutaway to expose the frame looks cool.

While the guys might be correct about the Shelby Coupe specifically, don't shy away from Scale Motorsport for other items. Their quality is top notch, and the owner, Matt Wells, is a builder himself. Their decals, especially their range of carbon fiber stuff, is excellent. Photoetch stuff is excellent as well. Quite some time ago I purchased their C5-R detail set and was very impressed. I would purchase from them with confidence.

You had a concept in mind when you started, and just ran with it. Thank you very much for taking us along for the ride and showing in great detail exactly what you did. It's a beautiful concept, but the innovative techniques to execute it are to truly be applauded.

I just spent about an hour thoroughly reading this entire build thread. Inspiring stuff. Makes me want to drag out a couple big scale builds I started. Please stay on this one Bill. It's too cool (along with most of your other builds) to not be finished. Press on!

Thanks for the great series. It is much appreciated.

Follow the link that Doug shared above, that's my Fotki page. It doesn't have everything he sells, but it has a lot. I don't have some of his newer stuff because I haven't order from him in awhile. But it's still one of the biggest photo libraries of his products. Norm is great to deal with, and I applaud him for taking the action to not sell at NNL East again and focusing on existing orders. He is another vendor that will be sorely missed when he does decide to close shop. Hopefully that's not for many years to come.