Chuck Most

Have no fear- They're all molded in white no matter what's on the box art.

Got my Kitchen Table Flathead six today... hopefully it won't be long before the '48 FINALLY gets done...

Might want to take a trip to Vassar, Michigan- Cook Chevrolet prides themselves on stocking what they call 'Plain Jane Pickups'. It's weird to me- once you get into the 'rural' areas, most of the trucks you see on the lots are the loaded versions, while dealers in big cities stock more of the strip-o models.

Would I be embarrased to be seen in a Corvette? Well, having driven a couple, I can say absolutely not in my case. Would I care about what people think of me if they see me in a Corvette? Nope, but I don't care what people think of me in any other circumstance either. More people need to adopt that mentality, if you ask me. Am I jealous of Corvette owners? Again, absolutely not. On the other hand if you are driving an Aston Martin DBS, not only am I jealous of you, I hate you simply because of it.

A blue Farmall? Still- nice save and a really nice model!

Both the AMT kits are Deluxe cabs- the full-glue and snap kits.

And many don't seem to care if the car resembles a toaster on wheels- witness that parking lot full of Camrys, Malibus, or What-Have-Yous. Now out of left field- if Chevrolet had never produced the Corvette, and this were some all-new product for them, and it still had the Camaro rear end treatment, would it be as 'offensive' for some for the back end to look like that? Probably not. But now let's take the Corvette's history into consideration.Don't look at how this design compares to past Corvettes- look at it in this context... Look back on the past generations of Corvette- yeah, they were unique from other Chevrolet products. And they always had a stronger resemblence to their European sports car competitors than any other American car. Camaro tails aside, that's what this design looks like to me- in fact it looks a bit better to me than some European and Japanese sports cars it will be competing against in the market. (SOME, not all, yes.) Personally I think it's a good thing to see that Chevrolet is at least considering moving forward with the design, rather than get stuck in some cheesy and completely pointless 'retro' rut. Style the car to modern standards, and if it's remembered 50 years from now as a classic design, great. If not? Well, it's still a Corvette- it'll be remembered more for its performance prowess and being a bargain for what it is. After all, isn't that how they designed all the previous generation Corvettes? And if they do keep four round taillights on the back, I don't think it's a huge deal in the grand scheme of things one way or the other.

'60 Ford FE and hubcaps? Tasty.

We survived KY2 or whatever it was called. We survived both raptures. And so on. We'll get through this just fine.

What exactly is 'Corvette-ness'? It's a performance car, right? Why does styling even matter? You mention Ferrari- I never hear anyone say anything about how the latest Ferrari doesn't 'look like' a Ferrari. And yes, Ferrari is a manufacturer, not a single model, but still- nobody knocked the Enzo Ferrari for not looking enough like an F40 or a Testarossa.

Speaking of taillights, didn't they try messing with things in the '90's, when all 'Vettes got the ZR-1's 'square' taillights? People didn't like those, so they went back to an oval shape, which finally came back to round-shaped again. If they do stick with the Camaro-ish tails, who's to say they won't revert to the more familiar style if enough people, well, complain?

S-W-E-E-T...

Picked this one up at a Gehl dealer, but I've seen them on Amazon and Ebay every so often as well.

That's cool! I'm diggin that weird hybrid first and second gen Ranger tow truck, too.

Just picked this up a few days ago, it's a 1:25 promotional model by Die-Cast Promotions, which is owned by F.F. Ertl III, Inc. That's a completely different Ertl company from what many of us know, but the same family. Even though at $32 it's about eight bucks pricier than their other 1:25 Gehl skid loader promos, this one has a few more working features like an opening hood and cab, and more comprehensive and better-printed graphics. About the only letdowns are the oh-so-obvious bare metal rivets, the lug nuts not being picked out in silver, and the molded plastic hydraulic rams for the bucket don't quite match the yellow paint on the metal parts. But for the price and how nice it is overall, those are fairly minor gripes if you ask me. And here she is with her little sister- another FF Ertl 1:25 promo of the Gehl 5635 model, which I took apart and weathered a little. I might do the same thing with the 7810, haven't made up my mind yet though.

All very nice!

Nice!

Speaking of tradition, I wonder if this 'Vette will still have transverse leaf springs like the current car. Or a Model T. Or some stage coaches...

Progress on the Mack so far...

I've heard a few rumors from Meijer employees that they might not be restocking them after the 24th, that may explain why they're now 50% off.

I noticed. Mine might keep a few more of the stock Mack parts, but even stripped down of the uneeded truck stuff it's still pretty big!

Well, I hope nobody minds, but my little tractor conversion isn't going to be so little. It'll be a little bit jumbo-sized, actually, because I'm starting out with a '26 Mack AC.

Those Fujimi Enthusiast Series Porsche 356kits are best enjoyed when select parts from them are adapted to the Tamiya Beetle. Awesome!

I've gone through quite a few Super Saws... NEVER saw a pink one until now! Or a supercharged one, for that matter.

Thanks guys! Niko- the rust on this one is a combination of washes and brush-painted Tamiya Hull Red, exposed Dupli Color red oxide filler primer, and actual rust from a dissolved steel wool pad. I mix the rust with 70% alcohol and apply it in washes, or get the rust down into the sediment in the bottom of the bottle and dab it on for heavier applications. Sam- Odd you mention that- that's more or less the kind of 'feel' I was going for- right down to the '68 plate. And there's a good reason the taillight lenses aren't red. I forgot about them until you mentioned it.