Chuck Most

That's basically what I did ? On the other hand, why limit it to modern wheels and tires? Some period 16" or 17" Boyds or Budnik style billet wheels could have been something an owner would have added in back in 1992. I don't know how many spinoffs for this you have planned, but a period custom "sport truck" version would hardly be the worst idea. Aforementioned period wheels and tires, smooth bumper, a billet grille and steering wheel, maybe a roll pan. Maybe even a ZR1 roll pan with taillight filler panels. I don't know. Go crazy and throw in a cowl hood and a phantom grille. I have a feeling quite a few people are going to build these like that anyway, why not make it easier? Something like what Testors tried with the Eddie Van Halen truck but without the unfortunate body proportions. All a builder would need to do beyond box stock would be to remove the side trim and trim the ride height posts.

Maybe this is weird, but I'm 41 years old and I don't recall ever having a milkshake. Ever. Maybe way back in my childhood but if so I have no recollection whatsoever. Today on lunch break I hit McDonald's for the first time in I don't know how many years and I thought, why not, let's celebrate Grimace's birthday with one of those meals that includes the purple shake. (I got the McNuggets with said meal instead of the Big Mac if you were curious) Out of everything today, that freaking purple milkshake made everything else going on just a bit more tolerable. I think I "get it" now. ? Regarding beverages this world could use more milkshake and less Monster. ?

I don't have any "guilty pleasures" really... I like what I like. But as a metalhead (mostly), people are shocked when they find out I listen to Depeche Mode, The Sisters of Mercy, and Enya. Earlier this week at work I was cranking Bjork more or less all day and today there were a few tracks by Michael McDonald mixed in with the more typical Death and Morbid Angel.

I wasn't around in the 40s either but I've had Ford N Series tractors and currently have three Fergusons. For some reason. ? Passing off a Heller Ferguson as a Ford N only bothers me in the same way as those Rolls Royce grilles they used to make for Beetles bothers me. It's like come on, you aren't fooling anybody, but on the other hand it is kinda cute so whatever.

Basically the same except that a Ferguson and a Ford N series are two different tractors. The Ferguson was developed to compete against the N series after the Ford/Ferguson deal fell through. It really bothers me every time I see somebody paint the Ferguson kit light grey and red and say hey look it's a Ford N now. ? As far as the wrecked Ferguson, it might look rough but I'll bet you 20 bucks it'll fire right up with a new condenser. ?

It came from the old AMT annual kit. I got it in a bag of spare parts years ago. The truck itself is the AMT '60 with a Revell '64 hood.

You know... I forgot all about the phone company graphics with the Nova wagon. Wonder if Round 2 has investigated a license with AT&T or somebody. That'd get you a 3 in 1 phone booth kit. ?

Probably the worst was one I'm still fond of ... 1984 Jeep Cherokee Pioneer. Most of it's issues revolved around the GM 2.5 four cylinder. Made no power, got lousy mileage, leaked from everywhere. At one time the carburetor studs had backed out so far that when you went to lift off the air filter housing the carb kinda wanted to go with it. Hmmm... That explains why it wasn't idling... At one point the clutch master cylinder saw the engine leaking and thought "hey... I can do that too", resulting in a brake fluid soaked fuse box. This led to quite a few electrical woes until I figured out what was going on. Basically one day the clutch wasn't working and I noticed the firewall under the dash was wet, and I kinda put two and two together. New cylinder, junkyard fuse block, and a box of new fuses fixed that up. I can't even remember how many times the exhaust fell off, how many times the transfer case lever jammed, or how many times I would hit a particularly sharp bump and completely lose electronics for a couple of seconds ... Both before and after the fuse box was replaced. Despite that, for 17 year old me it was an easy to fix vehicle, and the hodge podge of AMC, GM, Ford and Peugeot parts mostly worked in harmony. It only ever left me stranded once, fortunately within a mile of home, and the interior was something to behold. Tan vinyl with plaid cloth inserts is a look I would be okay with coming back. ? Worst worst would probably be my 1975 El Camino but my therapist says I'm not ready to get into that quite yet...

Since everyone seems to have phone booth madness... How well are those accessory sets selling? Because it sounds like you should probably tool up a phone booth for the next one. I mean, it can't be much more difficult or costly to create a phone booth than a vending machine, and how many Coke branded kits include a vending machine whether it's appropriate to the subject or not? Then you can mold the A100 in Chicago, ship over some loose phone booths from the Chinese facility, and pack everything into the box wherever you do that. Yes, that would likely add expense to the kit but sheesh... An awful lot of people seem hellbent on getting that phone booth with their kit. Worst case scenario, die cut like the push bumper and stakes for the Texaco 1950 Chevrolet 3100. I actually liked the die cut parts better than the molded equivalents they provide now.

That paint job. Just wow...

Very nice! Those Fireball wheels and tires are subtle but make quite a difference.

I bought two on Friday. Threw the first one together over the weekend, cracked open the second one earlier tonight. Second one had a bonus extra dash loose in the bag with the one still on the sprue. I wish it had accidentally included better wheels and tires but... whatever. ?

Yeah, at least a few must've been stared by reptilian space lasers, right?

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.