Chuck Most

You must have missed this...

I hope this one doesn't have undersized wheels like the new 1992 C1500 kit has. I swear I want to ship a 1:1 wheel to Round 2 HQ, with a note reading "measure this".

Yeah, but the initial wasn't. Kind of like this in that it has a separate hood and inner fender detail though.

Good news about the motor then... This version doesn't have one. It has a full engine bay (another advantage to this kit... No more interior tub mounting tabs in the cowl!) And I'm assuming at some point they'll 1963 Nova it into a full kit.

Sheesh... And nowadays people say Revell kits have strange proportions. And sure, some do, but it looks like Premiere took it to a whole 'nother level. 🤣 It has Pixar proportions five decades before Pixar. Love the end result, and my hat is off to you for wringing such a nice model from a questionable kit.

This is a completely new kit. Shares no tooling with the 1988 MPC kit and spinoffs. The wheels in this kit wouldn't look to far off in a 1:32 kit...

I don't know about you guys but Roger has left a legacy at my workbench. A looooong while back there was a thread about removingy the thick clear undercoat that kit manufacturers use under the chrome plating. His suggestion was LA's Totally Awesome. And by golly.... It vaporizes kit chrome in hours (sometimes minutes) and eats away that stubborn coating in an overnight soak or three. It's my go-to for chrome stripping and I doubt I ever would have tried it had he not suggested it in the first place. Godspeed, Plowboy...

Hopefully it isn't true but things don't look good.

Six in one, because you could build this what if but with the stock running gear. 😁

This is the new AMT curbside kit. Not terrible, actually stands up pretty well for itself when you compare it to the 90s promo. Right off the bat, the wheels and tires suck. The wheels are painfully underscale, and the tires would look more at home on something two decades older. To "fix" that problem I went the other way and stuck giant Hoppin' Hydros Venetian wheels on it. 🤣 Body looks good but the same lousy outside door handles carbon copied from the original. Too bad they couldn't carbon copy the Tahoe kit door handles, as those actually look good. Compared to the original the character crease at the belt line isn't as defined. Interior door panels are slightly better than the original regular cab tub. No "elephant ear" towing mirrors, but a choice of two different aero mirrors. I used the set that don't look like the 454SS mirrors. Maybe this will end up with some homemade 262SS graphics. 🤣 I applied foil to the back of the parking light lenses for a more realistic look. The actual lenses have a kind of "frosted" look. Ease of assembly? Yep! Kit has, like, nine parts total, and everything fit with minimal fuss. I managed to build the thing in a little over ten hours total. I hear 24 hour build projects are somewhat popular. So if you need a subject for such an undertaking... Here you are. Paint is the same as the Tesla Dodge I built a while back. Colorshot Splash distressed with Vallejo's rust and steel paint set. There's also a great deal of exposed grey primer. Interior is a mix of Revell anthracite and tank grey. The chassis and engine bay were trimmed to fit the wheels, and the side trim was shaved. I also cut away the air dam, which is molded to the chassis. Otherwise everything is as it comes from AMT. Finishing touch was a Three Inches Under Michigan plate.

It's a shame so many people like this one because it might get repainted Earlier this evening I was dusting/shuffling stuff and I found a few models with clear coat that had gotten... Sticky? I guess is how I would describe it. Rambler was one example. The boat looks good but the Rambler has this weird matte blue jean texture going now. Not sure what happened there, unless it's the clear coat breaking down.

As far as brands, it's like model kits. Every manufacturer has their fair share of trash and treasure, generally skewing more towards trash but that's how it is. 🤣 That being said, I tend to favor Motor Max, Maisto, and Welly. First Gear is pretty good too, and they do a lot of light commercial stuff, which I like. M2 makes some nice small scale stuff but I tend to find the 1:24 scale models from them a bit on the chunky side as far as appearance. As far as bang for buck they're hard to beat and their newer stuff could pass for an old "mint" model appearance-wise. Scale can be inconsistent (a model listed as 1:24 might actually be 1:27, for instance) but the same thing is true of 60s model kits and that never stopped anybody from singing their praises. Unless you're planning on flipping them for profit, why not modify them? I usually at least add a license plate to the ones I have. I've had a few where I've just added stuff like decals and some stuff in the interior or cargo area. Makes for a quick, fun, "instant gratification" kind of project. And of course if you're good at working with metal, the sky is the limit. Just take a look at what people like the Read brothers are doing with modified diecasts. A lot of modelers seem to largely ignore diecasts, and I'll never get why. It's the only way you can get quite a number of subjects in scale. If it looks good on the shelf it's doing it's job.

I'll be dragging this out on select weekends. 1946-ish Michigan Noiseless reel mower by REO. The name says noiseless but it's only about 80% accurate. 🤣 Needs a roller (original is a bit rotten) but works well enough. No, I don't use it on the entire lawn. I have a rider for the yard and a Ferguson 30 with a 3 point mower for the "back 40". I've so far been too lazy to jump it so for now it's actually a mowing obstacle.

People keep saying the economy is in free fall. And yet, record numbers of people are remodeling perfectly good houses they already paid wayyyyy too much for, paying well over MSRP for vehicles that wouldn't have left the lot without a 5k rebate just a few years ago, and paying a million dollars for a Challenger because... it was owned by some knob nobody ever heard of? Who street raced it? Like everyone else who owned a muscle car in the 70s? Okie dokie... Stuff like this is why I drink. 🤣

Not as curvaceous as the other Seven of Nine, but it looks good anyway. 🤣

The history books will tell you that the two oldest Chevrolets exist in museums. Both are 1913 models. Serial number #323 is restored to it's original glory and resides in the Sloane Museum in Chevrolet's ancestral home of Flint. #93 is in much shabbier condition and calls the Reynolds Alberta Museum in Canada home. But, at one point, there were three known to exist, and this third example has a unique story. And a little mystery... as far as anyone knows, there's a chance it might still be out there. It was 1958, and Harlan Henderson had a plan. Chevrolet was going to be celebrating it's 50th anniversary in 1961. He hit upon the idea of displaying an example of each decade of Chevrolet production in front of his show room for the summer, and he had already lined up some of them. A local farmer had agreed to loan a 1921 stake truck, a friend of Harlan's offered his 1931 coupe, a customer would provide a 1941 sedan delivery, one of his mechanics was the proud owner of a 1951 Bel Air. He also had a backup of a 1941 pickup, which ended up being a part of the display alongside the sedan delivery anyway. And he had planned for the entire 1961 lineup to represent 1961, of course, with a Corvette and an Impala taking pride of place. One problem. Harlan really wanted a Series C Classic Six to represent 1911. Thing is, only one was ever built, a prototype that differed a considerable amount from the production version. After two years of beating bushes, Harlan was able to track down a 1913 model, serial number #352, which had been parked in an unused grainery since 1933. Having secured the car, which was understandably in somewhat rough shape, Henderson Chevrolet's mechanics treated the car to a cosmetic restoration. The car was also modified to resemble the 1911 prototype, although the guys did miss a few things. The nickel plated radiator shell differs from the brass version used on the prototype. They were able to locate nickel plated cowl lights to at least match the appearance of the prototype lights. The car's body was also painted blue, while the actual prototype was most likely black. So it wasn't totally accurate but... Harlan at least had his Classic Six to stand in as a 1911 model. And at least the plates were authentic 1911 vintage. After the summer spent basking in the glory of Chevrolet's first half century, the car spent a few years living in the Henderson Chevrolet show room. The guys were never able to get the car running particularly well, but the spongy old cast iron block still dripped oil, despite the crankcase being empty. This was the main reason it ended up in an unused service bay, as Harlan (and others) began to wonder if having an always-wet drip pan under the car in the showroom was a fire hazard, or at least a particularly healthy thing to have in a common area. After the dealership was sold in 1964, so was the 1911-in-air-quotes car. It bounced to a couple local collectors, before ending up in a warehouse in Chicago. It was beloved to have been destroyed when that warehouse caught fire in 1984, but rumors persist to this day that the car is squirreled away somewhere, waiting to be found. It might still be in Chicago, at least one guy swears it's in northern Minnesota, and a few people (incorrectly) think it's the Sloane car. Maybe it'll resurface one of these days. Okay. So that story you just read is total BS. Mostly because I can't say much about the actual model. It is the Missing Link 1911 Chevrolet. I got it just after Kevin stopped casting them, around 2014 or so. It sat around all this time until last weekend. Actual assembly took mere hours. It's a simple kit and Kevin's castings are always wonderful. It's built straight from the box aside from a crank bent from brass wire (because I lost the kit crank) and 1911 Michigan plates from Three Inches Under. The backstory about a 1913 dummied up to resemble the 1911 prototype came about because it was fun ( for me at least), and let me avoid the whole making a windshield, cowl, and top and changing the lights to make it a proper 1913. This kit is oddball enough I didn't feel like going the extra half mile. 🤣

They're just whatever font I had that looked kind of close and printed on clear decal film. 🙂

That's just a Moebius F100 bumper trimmed a bit to fit the Chevrolet.

Oldsmobile may be gone, but Heider Auto Sales, which sold them from 1932 all the way up until the end in 2004, is still around, selling and servicing all used makes and models. Every car show season, service manager Dan Hopkins, takes it upon himself to get the old shop truck ready for summertime cruise duties. The truck is stored for winter in a room that was once used to prep new Oldsmobiles for delivery to their new owners. Now it is just where the 1963 Chevrolet "company truck" lives. Over the years Dan and Dan... The other Dan being Dan Heider, owner of Heider Automotive, have decorated the room with Olds and Case signage (as the Heider family got their start selling Case farm equipment almost a decade before they got into the Oldsmobile game). The display itself is just two pieces of Midwest plywood, fastened together at a 90 degree angle. The floor is Evergreen tile, and the various filler items are from the spare parts pile. There are also a sprinkling of Iceman Collections items... A spray can, a milk crate, and a beer keg.

The Pierce Brothers have spent the last twenty odd years making a name for themselves doing Cummins 6BT retrofits. But Arvid "Pat" Patrick came to them with a different project. He wanted to try an EV conversion. He had an EVs West Tesla S crate motor, some Foose wheels, a 1978 Dodge truck with a blown 360... And a saddle toolbox from another light blue Dodge he owned years ago. Eager to try something outside their normal projects, the brothers put the pieces together, adding big disc brakes, LED headlights, and a touch screen, along with an updated sound system. Aside from the door markings, the truck's worn original finish was retained. Model is the MPC kit with a Tesla power unit from Iceman Collections , Olson Brothers tool box, Revell USA Foose 56 Ford wheels and tires, and door decals from an MPC Vega stocker. The paint is Colorshot Splash, distressed with the Vallejo Rust and Steel Weathering Set, and sealed with Revell flat clear. The LED headlights were made with plastic discs and photoetched rings.

Simple build of a simple kit. A simple, lumpy, warped kit. The wheels came from a 1970 Ford cop car, printed Firestones came from the spares pile. I robbed some side mirrors from a 1960 Ranchero. The rest is box stock. The matte Krylon teal was distressed with a Vallejo rust paint set.

Moebius kit weathered and "laid out" on an air suspension. The wheels and tires are from the AMT 1949 Ford. I don't remember where I got the air suspension setup and fuel cell but they're a combination of cast and 3D printed resin. It also has the Olson Brothers wraparound rear bumper.

Grandpa's old farm beater updated with a 6BT Cummins. The engine came from Iceman Collections and the 1969 Monaco wheel covers came from Fireball Modelworks. Aside from that it's alarmingly box stock. Eventually it might get an aluminum topper with some kind of fishing related mural on the side.

In my mind it started out with a 361 but it has what's left of the kit Caterpillar diesel engine. 🤣 Much like the model is a hodge podge of parts for a couple incomplete Louisville kits, I wanted it to represent a truck that's a hodge podge of salvage parts. So it's called an 800 mostly because the cab in my scenario came from one.

So... I had an incomplete AMT plow truck, a box or two of spare Louisville parts, some AITM rear wheels and tires, and some Models by Dave cab steps. I decided to combine the whole mess into one tattered tractor. The quad headlights came from a White Road Boss, I added them after seeing a junkyard Louisville that had been fitted with a similar setup. The paint scheme on the hood was inspired by a neighbor's old LNT dump truck.