Chuck Most

I was just thinking about it- once these kits come out, every generation of F-series truck will have been available as a plastic kit at some point, with the exception of the most recent two generations of the F-150 (2004-2008 and 2009-Present). You'll still need to go with resin for certain model years, but the Bumpsides are the last ones from the early years to be kitted. I'm hoping for a repeat of the '90's- an upswing in popularity of light truck subjects. Maybe then we'll finally get a Super Duty Diesel, Dodge 2500 Power Wagon, and maybe even a GM HD Duramax or two. Fingers crossed!

There actually used to be a 240Z in my area that looked like this one- duct tape a trash bag over the driver's side quarter window and your model would be a dead ringer for it.

Sweet!

Wonder if that's an agreement with Ferrari- if you recall a few years back all Ferrari kits had a window so you could see some of the contents inside the box. I've seen a few other Ferrari kits with photos of the sprues on the box.

I guess the sales pitch for it was that it was a heavy duty design, and could carry more weight than a typical coil-spring or torsion bar IFS. As to why having a heavier duty front suspension on the FRONT of a 2WD truck would be needed, never sure on that... I've never had any issues with the TIB setups I've had except for on my current truck- but then again it's a year shy of being eligible for an Antique Vehicle plate, so it's bound to need some work by now. I've always had worse luck with those rear shackles rusting out.

Hmmmm.... build it as-is and plop it down on the back of a Jada International Durastar rollback? Seriously though- that sucks! But hey- that's kind of the risk you take. Nothing bad happens if you don't work on it, right? If you don't work on it, just plain nothing happens!

Gimme a day- or two. The car is in the middle of a bodywork session at this moment.

Was the J30 the car they unveiled with that weird ad campaign, remembered best for not showing an image of the car itself?

Hey Mike! Dig this one out and finish it already!

Nah- not this one. Now, if one of Infiniti's later (and MUCH prettier) models were produced in kit form- such as the G35 or G37, THEN I'd most certainly do a factory stock version. And at least one tuner version. Of each.

Well, decided to forge onward with the XS wheels and tires, which are now permanently installed with the included rotor/caliper castings. This is as low as the car can possibly get with these wheels and tires, without carving up the inner fenders like a Thanksgiving turkey. I've also removed the mud guards at this point, but there's still a bit of bodywork before it's close to paint ready. I'm still considering shaving the door handles and the front plate frame.

Mine doesn't. And yes, you do need to get back to that Infiniti.

So I take it you scratchbuilt everything on your display shelf- scripts, tires, glass, and all, right?

It has been a while since I've so much as looked at a project, much less finished one. So I thought I'd try something (relatively) simple. So far not much done... The car is the Aoshima kit, and the wheels are 17" Street 17S from XS Tuning. Right now the body is sitting on the molded-in mud guards- those will be removed later on, once the ride height and wheels are dialed in. I'd planned to try this with an Aoshima Lexus LS 400, but I've built two of those already, and wanted something just a bit more esoteric. I don't think I've ever seen the Aoshima Q45 built up. I'm not sure if I like how the wheels look on it or not yet- they look a bit small, even for 17s. This car is pretty big- about the size of an LS 400 or a Crown Vic. I might stick with these rollers, but as always, I'm open to suggestions for or against. For paint I'm thinking of a red/white/blue motif as seen on Datsun race cars of the '70's, and there will be a few very MILD Bosozoku touches here and there (I'm planning some slightly longer than necessary exhaust tips, for one thing). The interior is RHD only, I'm thinking of leaving it mostly stock, just color-keyed with the exterior.

Six pages... and the kit doesn't even exist in the real world yet. Don't tell me these things won't be a hit.

Niko- did you cut the fender skirts along the existing vertical lines? I'm not sure if the cut lines were corrected for the '52 kit- if not they're too far forward and the tire won't be centered in the opening. I know it's fixed on the '52 convertible, not sure on the Model King NASCAR versions.

220 MPH... exactly 180 MPH faster than the typical Cadillac travels. On a serious note though, that is pretty cool. The CTS-V is one of the few GM cars I'd actually consider buying if I had the cash.

Lansing... Dodge... I'm guessing the vengeful spirit of R.E. Olds may have something to do with these spontaniously combusting Dodges.

I've heard one explaination of this engine being in this kit (I believe it was offered up by Terry Jessee in an old Light Commercial column in the other mag)- the kit was originally a curbside (it was based on a Galaxie promo), and when they decided to offer it up as a kit with engine detail, they just simply grabbed the first Ford engine tool off the shelf, and that engine mold just so happened to be for a Boss 429. Whatever the case, somebody was seriously asleep at the switch when the decision was made to power this with the Mustang-only Boss mill.

I'd have just given up after the first clear coat didn't dry... much less everything else that happened! Yeah, those AMT '51 Chevys always, always, always have a warped chassis- something to watch out for. Even if this had been a trouble free build for you it would have been cool- all things considered, it's nothing short of impressive.

I get updates from Tom via Fotki- he ususally posts stuff as he makes progress. I'd say just keep an eye on that link.

Wonder if it's too soon to hope for a '49 convertible transkit for this. I've got a set of Fred Cady Indy Pace Car decals I'm itching to find a use for.

What? No lifeless body of Buck anywhere!

One piece. Less for me to fiddle with, and since the bed of a pickup should be filled with stuff anyway, the lack of detail on the inside panels shouldn't be as much of an issue. And it'll divert attention from said underdetailed inside panels if you put a few trinkets back there.

First question- yes, raised spindles and lowering blocks- but a little cutting and fiddling could revert those to stock height. Second question... again, yes- I forgot that the Revell Merc is channeled. That would be a serious problem if you wanted to build it totally stock! But here's the thing- If I recall correctly, Mercury's Woody Wagon was based on the shorter Ford body- it was just the Ford with a Merc nose bolted on, different doors, and Mercury interior bits. So if that is true, they'd need to do up a new floor as well, because the length would be different. In any case you could probably adapt an AMT '49 Ford or Merc chassis to this body if you wanted to go totally stock. I'll experiment a bit once I get one on the workbench...