Chuck Most

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...

Nothing finer than a hot-rodded Ford pickem-up with a lived-in look.

I'd certainly be interested in an XNR. Not sure on the others suggested, but I'd think there'd be more than enough demand.

Oh... my white Neon also had the popular bare metal option on the roof, and the majority of the trunk lid by the time I got rid of it.

Every GM vehicle I've ever owned was complete and total trash, except for the series of '81-'83 Delta 88s I had. But since this is asking for the worst car... I'd have to go with the early Neons. My 96 two-door Plymouth version had a mere 74,000 when I got rid of it- by that time, it was on its second instrument cluster (both fixed for free, but a total of four days I had to find alternate transportation), near the end the engine would only run for about ten minutes at a clip before it needed a break, and the three-speed automatic (yep, three speed- Chrysler didn't offer a four-speed so they could run a passenger's side airbag) started to sound like a coffee grinder at about 70,000- not to mention the hard 1-2 upshift. And there was that weird high-speed vibration no shop could seem to track down. And not only was it starting to fall apart rather rapidly- there was quite a bit of built-in badness. The upholstery pattern looked like a microcscope slide of some nasty bacteria, the wiring looms looked like they'd been strung by Chef Boyardee (the guy I sold it to went through said harnesses and managed to fix about half of the car's electrical ailments), and the interior of the car reeked of cheap plastic, especially on hot days. I will say that it got fantastic gas mileage, but that's mostly due to the fact it spent so much time not running. I hear the later '96 and newer Neons were actually halfway decent cars, but I'll Never Ever Own 'Nother Neon. The '98 Tracer which replaced it (320,000 miles and counting with no significant problems, though it is obviously due for a little R&R at this point) was like some kind of starship by comparison.

If Don and Carol have absolutely no plans to ever reissue the '58 Plymouth, you could always ask them if they'd grant their permission to have someone else cast their old kit instead. Worst that could happen is they'd say 'no'. But since this kit is coming back out, and there seems to be more than a little demand for the better-looking ex-JoHan body, maybe they could be convinced to reissue the kit or at least just the body if they get enough people asking about it. Just a thought...

Sweet! Love that orange- kind of fitting given the incendiary nature of the early Pintos too, when you think about it.

Prospector was an option package on the W and D series Dodge Trucks- not sure if it was available on the Rampage or if the owner added that later.

If you're looking for a heavy duty Rockwell rear suspension, the AMT Autocar dump truck kit has one. Speaking of- there's quite a bit of easy interchangability between the AMT Autocar, White Western Star, Diamond Reo, and White Freightliner Dual Drive reissues regarding tire/wheel options, engines, and the like.

Can't tell you how many times I've told myself the same thing. This year alone...

If there is I haven't seen one- and I've been looking for the same thing myself. JoHan's '75 two-door snap kit is the one you're most likely to find- you might be able to rework one of those into a '73 four-door.

Exactly. Now toss in what cachet the Cadillac name still has left and you'll have the only two factors that'll sell this car.

It's from a third-world country- where US vehicles are allowed in but parts for same are not.

Nice! Only thing I'd have done differently would have been to cut out the entire rooftop. Not saying I don't like the way you did yours, just putting it out there.