Jordan White

Surprisingly, it may be tough to adapt the Olds front end to the S10 chassis. The suspension mounts end up a bit wider than the frame, there aren’t any buckets for the “coil springs”, and it pushes the wheel hubs fairly close to the edge of the wheel well.

I do have both kits actually, so I could test it as long as I haven't already glued the Cutlass suspension to the frame. I will check tonight.

Good to know. Yeah the 2wd wheels have a deeper offset compared to the 4wd wheels, so perhaps the Olds suspension will still be more accurate.

Bump back up to the top. One interesting thing to note is the 4WD kits have what appears to be an NP205 transfer case, which is incorrect for the third-gen Broncos. They should have the NP208, which is what looks to be in AMT/MPC's version of the 1980 Bronco. From what I can tell, the NP205 is used across multiple kits because it was easy for Monogram, which is why it ended up incorrectly in the Bronco and F150 kits.

Thanks! As for color, you must have scrolled past my post above, I'm going with Geo Tropical Green Metallic (aka teal green).

Scale-wise, it would need to be the Oldsmobile since the rest of the G-Body kits are 1/24 while the S10 is 1/25 (assuming they are true to scale).

Agreed, they are getting harder to find for a decent price. They are always fun to build since they go together well, have plenty of optional parts, and can be built in so many different ways.

They must still have the molds for these since they were released after the first run of the USA-1 monster truck kit. I'm going to guess that the long bed version however is gone, but that can be made by mixing the 454SS kit with the monster truck kit.

If you want the 2wd version, then it’s good you found those kits since the recent release only has the AWD Syclone parts.

Haha the magenta is actually one of the accent colors, though I do plan on having splashes of it in the interior!

Paint arrived the other day, and I got the rad Geo Magenta on the engine/transmission! ?

Paint arrived the other day, and I got the rad Geo Magenta on the engine/transmission! ?

I have several Doyusha/Otaki kits and despite their parts count, they are a bit disappointing. I acknowledge the fact that they are generally all 40+ years old at this point, so I'm not hung up on some of the accuracy issues (though they do have proportion issues that are just enough where you can tell the shape isn't quite right). The fact that they were designed for motorization however is their main downfall. Because of this, they all have basic blobs for rear axles to house the gearing and oversized and lengthened engines/transmissions to house the motor. They also tend to be a bit over complicated in their assemblies, though I do appreciate the opening doors, working steering, and working suspension. I would not suggest one for ones' first foray into building a large scale kit, but they turn into something alright with a bit of work. I'm personally going the route of using parts from the 2010 GT500 kit to make it a pro-touring style build, as well as to give it a more accurate appearance. I don't have the 65 Mustang so I can't really use it for reference.

I will say that even though I'm not big into building muscle car kits (most of mine are larger scale, including the Doyusha '71 Mustang), I am anxious to see their test shots of the kit considering how there isn't a "good" kit representative of the 1.5 gen Mustangs.

I like it, very clean! Only thing that I would suggest is to blackwash/Sharpie the slots in the wheels.

Would it be possible to cut the decal apart and rearrange the letters?

What’s the piece next to the windshield? It almost looks like the piece that mounts under the grille.

Looks like the biggest visual difference is the BW1372 (Syclone) has a longer section to the rear shaft along with angular bracing, while the NP231 (manual shift) has a shorter rear and no angular bracing. It actually looks like if you switch the front and rear outputs to the opposite sides, and remove the angular bracing, you could get pretty close.

I'm planning to try that myself, I know there will be a bit of work involved since the suspension height will need to be raised.

I find it weird to see that they still offer the manual transfer case lever when it appears they have switched to the rotary dial for the transmission in the HD trucks. Granted the manual transfer case isn't offered on many of the models, so I suppose in most cases it's not going to be configured that way.

Thank you for the tips Alan, I will keep them in mind when I get around to the body work!

Got started on putting the engine and frame together. I cut off the automatic transmission and spliced on a manual transmission from my Trans Am GTA kit (converting that one to an automatic). I also added the TPI intake manifold, the kit oil pan, and timing chain cover (I had to fill in the bottom to close the gap). I got the frame pieces assembled together and I filled in a couple gaps. I also puttied in some of the low spots, but there are a couple I still need to get. I also am going to add new motor mounts (transmission is slightly longer), and am going to add frame extensions for under the running boards. My current plan for color is keep the yellow frame, and have the drivetrain/suspension be Geo Magenta Metallic. Engine will also be magenta, with yellow intake, distributor, plug wires, and pulleys. Should be a nice contrast against the teal body.

Got started on putting the engine and frame together. I cut off the automatic transmission and spliced on a manual transmission from my Trans Am GTA kit (converting that one to an automatic). I also added the TPI intake manifold, the kit oil pan, and timing chain cover (I had to fill in the bottom to close the gap). I got the frame pieces assembled together and I filled in a couple gaps. I also puttied in some of the low spots, but there are a couple I still need to get. I also am going to add new motor mounts (transmission is slightly longer), and am going to add frame extensions for under the running boards. My current plan for color is keep the yellow frame, and have the drivetrain/suspension be Geo Magenta Metallic. Engine will also be magenta, with yellow intake, distributor, plug wires, and pulleys. Should be a nice contrast against the teal body.

For the price and the fact that it has resin tires and all of the parts aren't included in the base kit means I am passing on this kit. I am interested though to see it built, since it does appear to have plenty of detail and it is a modern subject.

Which F150 kit are you using? As for the box, a bunch of sheet styrene is what you will need. The image you posted appears to be a 17' (5.2m) long box, so you will definitely need to stretch the frame. Try to search for "chassis cab" images of the year of truck you are building to get a better idea of how the frame looks.