Chuck Most

I don't think so. I got my M months mixed up.

I asked my local shop a couple months ago and they said their supplier was saying late March. Well, I think they blew that deadline. ?

I slept on this kit until yesterday. It's a convertible, a muscle car, and a Chrysler product. Three things that normally don't grab me. Any combination of two sure, but not all three in one subject. ? But I'm definitely getting a hardtop version whenever that materialized, as long as it still includes that trailer. Anyway, I bought one just for the trailer. But the kit itself has got me thinking. I've been searching around online (with no luck so far) for a four door sedan body. Have it be a police car, or leave the R/T badging and do a what if '60s performance sedan.

Jay's wheels and tires are always good. Those look perfect on this one. Awesome work on that bumper... looks like it's up to the job of pushing another vehicle and/or light demolition work. ?

Very nice! I used the same mirrors on the two I built. Weird how AMT provided those mirrors in the '92 and not in the kit they actually belong with. ?

Kitbash of the old MPC Heavy Pedal kit and the AMT Ertl GMC Sportside. The wheels and tires are from Scenes Unlimited. The whole mess is hosed off in Krylon Sea Mist. Needs some cleanup on the side markers and some touchup on the grille but I might weather it later on. Guess we'll see what happens.

All I'm going to say is... Hey ... Lockheed? Might be an opportunity to get back into the airliner business. Jeez, tap into the retro zeitgeist and make a new L-1011.

Sucks about the decals, that's been an on and off Round 2 decal problem for a while. I know this kit can be a bit of a challenge but it looks like you got a nice finished result. I'm definitely getting a couple anyway, mostly for the four wheel drive drivetrain doodads.

I got the idea for this from a Dodge Caravan converted to a dump truck that went viral a few years ago. And a bunch of oddball conversions I remember from Farm Show magazine in the '80s and 90s. Not sure why I settled on the Nova but here we are. Base kit is the AMT Nova wagon, with a scratch built dump box. Apparently the brakes have at least been upgraded, suggested by the five lug wheels. Front wheels are from a 60s Corvair, while the rear wheels and tires are from a Revell first gen Bronco. For extra kitch i added some cab clearance lamps, West Coast mirrors, and a spotlight. I left all the trim in place and even used some C-channel strip for trim on the dump box. Paint is Tamiya Orange with a dull clearcoat over everything.

They're the wheels that came with the Lindberg F150. There was an "off road" version of the kit with basically these wheels and tires and a rollbar.

This one came to life in the Power By Ford Community Build. Basically it is an AMT '53 cab set up on a Lindberg 1997 F150 4x4 chassis. The engine was upgraded to Lightning specs with Revell parts. The bed is made up of Plastruct fencing, Evergreen strip and basswood. The hood ornament is a Miniart 1:35 scale pigeon. Paint is distressed Revell Matt Yellow. Door art was done by hand with a Gundam marker.

Next time you see the '53 it'll be in Light Commercial Under Glass. ?

I think I mostly have the F100 flat bed dialed in. I also made up a bumper and used Jeep fog lights as taillights. The bed planks are actual strips of craft basswood.

I started this back in 2011 or 2012 when the Moebius kits first came out. It sat around 95% finished until today. Why'd it take that long? No real reason other than I just wasn't "feeling it". Base kit is the '71 Ranger XLT, with the engine and transmission from the Model King '69 Custom. The trim was removed and the '69 seat and door panels were used, to make the truck more closely resemble a base, no frills kind of truck. It has Plastruct ladders, an old VCG Resins saddle toolbox, and a ladder rack made from Evergreen strip. I believe the hubcaps are old MBP Detail Products resin pieces. The distressed door graphics are the TV repair markings from a '90s reissue of the Revell '56 F100. All of the paint and weathering was done over a decade ago, except for the rust streaking on the bed sides, which was done with Vallejo acrylics, and the tailgate lettering. If I did it today it would no doubt look better, but it's nice to have an example of how far you've come to keep you in check, right?

Started messing with the stake bed. The sides are sections from some Plastruct fencing. Not sure yet if I'm going with a wood or diamond plate floor.

Nice job on a kit that can be a little sketchy as far as fit. ? I really wish there was a kit of the second generation Brat to go with it.

That looks so much better than the kit version, not to mention it appears more practical. Fewer worries when approaching a low overpass now!

And... That's why I didn't get into the laws/regulations part of things. They're so relaxed it's almost like not having any, so it seems. And then you arrive at the point where that 737 is basically being treated like the local NAPA store's Chevy Colorado that's running around on bald tires, has the same oil in the crankcase that it had last summer, and nobody's even sure if the headlights work because "we only make deliveries in the daytime, right". And even when the FAA is onto something, they'll often look the other way for any number of reasons. If I remember that's basically how Chalk's International kept flying ancient Grumman Mallards into the early 2000s. The "FAA guy" who's job it was to look into their operations basically assumed "bah...these guys know what they're doing", meanwhile the mechanics are slathering epoxy on a plane suffering from major structural damage.

I saw this. And I still don't quite believe it. Wonder if it's converted for wheelchair use but it was parked pretty far from the nearest handicap space.

Here's the thing. Airliners are, essentially, fleet vehicles. Having driven a few of those, I know that companies are loathe to do maintenance, and always happy to cut corners. They'll stretch the schedules, use replacement parts of questionable quality, and hire the contractors who will do the job as fast and cheap as possible. If you don't buy that, just look into American 191, where an engine broke off during takeoff because the airlines were too cheap to buy a special sling for engine removal and just used a forklift, which damaged the mounting pins... or Alaska 261, where the airline stretched the maintenance schedules so far that lubricant on the jackscrew wore off and caused the vertical stabilizer to fail in flight. And those are just two instances I can think of where maintenance caused a fatal crash. There have to be more. I seem to remember a windshield blowing out in flight because a mechanic reinstalled it with the wrong fasteners but I think that plane actually managed to land safely. And that's an honest accident, which is a whole 'nother ballgame. And that's before you even dig in to any ...shall we say.... Compromises in the design and/or construction of the aircraft. I really do believe the people who design, build, and fly these things have good intentions. But once the thing has to earn it's keep and generate revenue for the owner, lots of stuff can go sideways.

I've actually seen one of those in action, powering a buzz saw. It was easily the third or fourth most terrifying thing I've ever seen. ? And one of the coolest.

There was a member here casting that exact scoop a while ago. Not sure if he still is. But there's a discussion about the scoops here and he's in it.

I always wondered if these kits tanked in the market. If so it's a shame because it's probably the best model kit of a then-current light truck. I would even give it a couple points over the '97 F-150 kits (which one? Pick one. ?) Really nice work on this one. I recently built one from the current reissue, and I toyed around with the thought of scribing in the fourth door, but I chose the lazy man's path of just keeping it '99 spec.

Wow. I have models that I built five years ago that don't look good anymore. Tire burn, discolored chrome, and so on. I wonder how some of you guys just preserve these classics. These both look fresh off the workbench! Oddly enough it was the AMT '70 Impala kit that got me to subscribe to Scale Auto in 2005 or thereabouts. Or rather, an article about that kit where the builder modified one to resemble the real one he had owned years before. He reshaped the roof, opened and hinged the doors, detailed it and weathered it. I can't remember the issue or the author's name now, but that article still sticks with me.

This was my favorite of the Revell '32 (1996 tool chassis). I always wondered why they slept on it so long but it looks like I'll be able to forgive them for that here shortly. ?