SSNJim

That is almost exactly what I was describing without the # internal bracing, and built of wood. It ain't rocket surgery; pretty much any available material can be used that is sturdy enough to stand up to a mild vacuum. The red part is the perfboard. Thanks for the pictures and instructions, Jon! I would support the part with modeling clay or something similar to prevent distortion or damage to the part, especially with a part of questionable quality.

I'm liking that rear bumper. I've been trying to figure out a front bumper for a similar 49-ish custom I'm working on. It's loosely based on Hot Rod & Custom Stuff's M80, a Ridler award winner from a few years ago. Maybe some thing like that will work.

Maybe I should have used the word frame to describe what is built out of the 1X4s. The end result is a box with a perfboard top, and a hole in the side for the vacuum source. The box shouldn't more than about 6x6 inches, so a decent vacuum cleaner with a clean bag and unobstructed hose should work. I wouldn't try an upright vacuum without a hose.

It's pretty easy to build a vacuformer. Grab a piece of perfboard; Radio Shack is where I found mine years ago. They used to carry plain perfboard without any metallic surfaces (at least on one side). Take some 1X4 lumber, and build a box just large enough so that the perfboard sits on it. The box should be 4" tall. Take some brads and fasten the perfboard to the top of the box. Cut a piece of Masonite or plywood to the same size as the perfboard, and fasten it to the bottom. Drill a hole in one of the sides large enough for your vacuum cleaner hose (it should be a tight fit), and tape all the joints of the box. If you can't find perfboard, try the home improvement stores. They have perforated sheet metal that may be useful, or maybe you could even use hardware cloth as a base, and cover it with window screen.

Interesting that there would be that much difference in what I would assume to be identical kits, Mine had all that except the tires and possibly wheels, There were optional wheels, one set of which I assumed to be stock.

The AMT one was a shortbed stepside. Apparently it was reissued once or twice. https://www.modelroundup.com/1972-GMC-Stepside-Pickup-Stock-or-Custom-AMT-6081-p/amt-t-409.htm You could probably mix it with the AMT Chevy fleetside longbed pickup to come up with that truck, but both kits are getting hard to find.

The one I built (red and white car on the box) had all the stock pieces in addition to the racing parts. The only things missing were the street tires; only slicks were provided. I built mine as a street version with slicks. I probably could have found some suitable street tires in my parts box, but, you know.... It was a fun kit to build.

When did Revell do a 1997 T-Bird? Or is this a conversion? I know of their 88-92 SCs, and the 2000-era two seaters. Are there others?

Had you seen the pictures before?

This is all I could find on anything similar so far. Sorry for the long URL, but that's the way Walmart created it. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Asewin-Hobby-Wooden-Ship-Models-Boat-Ships-Kits-Sail-Boat-Wooden-Model-Kit-Toy-White-Apricot/804849646?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=7215&adid=22222222227138444423&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=247874718609&wl4=pla-408281065641&wl5=9007722&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=115056135&wl11=online&wl12=804849646&wl13=&veh=sem There are some pictures of it assembled; not very large, but pictures. Just so you know, that ship isn't a ship. It's a schooner. There are many different types of sailing vessels, but the only one called a ship has three masts and is square rigged. Narrowing the Google searches to schooners may help.

What vessel is it? It is coming along nicely.

You know, you could probably get a good start on that with a Karmann Ghia. Look between the hood and trunk lines, and above the tops of the wheel wells. Lengthen the roof a bit, rework the c-pillar/rear window some, and there's the basic structure.

Valspar has a color called Gloss Cobalt Cannon which might be about perfect. It is an enamel, but it is not metallic. it might be a little darker than Gunship Gray. I got mine at Lowe's.

Thanks, that's good to know. The rocker panels were the largest part of the reason my SSR project stalled. I'll have to dig it out and get it going again. Weird. The response I thought I posted 5 hours ago never showed up. Let's try again....

Nice looking SSR. One question, though - how did you get the interior in? It's been a while since I looked at mine, but I seem to remember that if the rocker panels were attached before the interior was placed, there wouldn't be enough room to get the interior in. Your rocker panels do seem to have some custom work, and I imagine that was part of the trick.

And motorcycles. Honda built the CX500 Turbo and CX650 Turbo motorcycles in 1982/1983.

Originally this car in particular was a Tamtech car. Tamtech was a line of 1/24 scale hobby-grade radio control car kits using pretty detailed bodies issued by Tamiya in the 90s. You'd assemble the chassis, charge the battery, apply the decals (no paint), and go racing. I had this one as a Tamtech but it disappeared over the years. They were fun, but designed to take a fair amount of abuse and absorb some crash damage. There's a bunch of weird things about this kit due to its heritage - the fixed windows, molded in headlights, and odd way it attaches to the chassis. IIRC, even the rear spoiler was molded to the body. The windows are smooth and flush to the body - the window trim/frames are decals applied to the outside. Without them, the car would be a hardtop. I too recently picked up a built copy of this kit, and was also looking for tips to get the window unit out. It is pretty solidly mounted.

I prefer and really try to buy at my LHS, but they make it difficult. Limited stock, slow reordering of out-of-stock items and receipt of new items, and limited aftermarket items. I was looking for a sheet of chrome Bare Metal foil, and not one of the 4 or 5 within an hour's drive had it. In general for retail, I do shop locally. I like going in and browsing, picking things up and looking at them, and the chances of finding something else, which may be related or not. For example, when I go in to the LHS, if there's a new issue of MCM, I'll buy it. If I ask for something and the sales clerk says they can order it, I'll tell them so can I - quicker, cheaper and delivered to my door. I don't know if the clerks have ever heard of the internet, but if I do buy the item I'm looking for, it won't be from the store's website.

Easy - make a trailer out of it.:

Some promos were AM radios, too, The stock chassis and interior were replaced by the radio. The speaker was in the passenger compartment, and the battery/dials were on the bottom. The radio is hidden fairly well so it is not very obvious. I have two 1968 Thunderbirds that are radios, but there are many others.

Interesting. The Laurel, Rockville and Bel Air stores are still open. Seemed like Fairfax was a pretty decent store with quite a few customers - I haven't been there in a long time. The Laurel store has some stock from Piper Hobby, mostly military stuff.

My guess is Z scale (1/220) or thereabouts, much smaller than N. A 20ft car in Z scale would be about an inch long, and an adult male (in other words, my) index finger is about 3 inches. I think Z scale is pretty popular in Europe. Wikipedia says Z scale was created in 1972, which is much later than the article. I'm sure 1/220 was around then, though.

The motorcycle club I rode with in San Diego had an annual ride called the "Three Climate Tour". It started at the beach, went up into the mountains, then out into the desert and back - all in a few hours. What a blast that was.

Maybe because it was the wurst vehicle they made?

Here's a link to the model test: