Chuck Most

What's with the '57 Chevy? Or the first gen Camaro? Or any other car I personally don't care for? It's a kit of a unique subject that hasn't been reissued in a very long time. A breath of fresh air after years of nothing but endless reissues of Muscle cars and '50's/'60's car kits. THAT's where the enthusiasm is coming from. And what's wrong with a Morris Marina... other than the fact they're piano magnets?

I stole that from a blog... Any more pics of that thing?

LOVE that Brockway! And any IH in scale works for me. Can't believe it- forgot a couple more of mine- Early F-series Cabover ('56 shown, any year '38 to '56 would do, though.) And a Big Job F-series (or T-series if it's a Tandem)

Well, this is it... do have one more in the works, and another that's being coverted to a four-door baby Lincoln.

I've seen quite a few threads based around wants of new rigs. But not too many about the classics. A Peterbilt 281 would be a great addition to somebody's lineup. Looks cool as-is, and of course more than a few would end up as Duel trucks. So... would you guys like to see a newly-tooled kit of an old truck? And if so, which one(s)? Don't hold back, now! A few I'd like to see (please forgive my Binder Bias...)

That you're not! THIS Charles would love to see some more vocational trucks as well. An off-highway rig or two wouldn't kill me, either. Won't stop me buying semi tractors in the meantime, though.

Feel like an idiot now... just sold the one I had. Guess I'll live vicariously through this buildup now! I like it- kind of a Shelby-tuned Tiger vibe about it.

This is the one I voted for. It's probably also the reason I just kind of gave up on my oh-so-booooooring mild custom '62 Buick project for that build off, as well.

Jim... that begs the question: Whatcha gonna do with the rest of that Ambulance body?

Pretty fancy for an AMC dealership, eh? (They do say 'eh' in Wisconsin, right? )

Or- he himself is a professional modeler, but this particular model isn't one he built himself.

Nice.

I've been watching her show for about two years. I still don't know how to turn on my oven.

Cool! What kind of paint is that- it looks like re-entry into the atmosphere didn't phase it one bit.

I like it. Has a very Olde English feel to it.

First time I saw a photo of the Big Drag Challenger kit, first thing I thought was 'how fitting'...

Here is how I see it... You can take apart a 1:1 '32 Ford and rebuild it as a hot rod, and nobody will dispute that the end result is a hot rod. But, if you take apart a factory-assembled die cast car and rebuild it, suddenly a dispute comes up in certain circles that it somehow isn't a model. I don't see the difference, really. It's a lot like the 'steel vs. fiberglass' arguement in the 1:1 rodding scene... again, who cares what material it's made from? Somebody built the thing. But because one has a body made from a material that isn't accepted by a somewhat small but VERY vocal segment of the hobby, you run the risk of being shunned. When you think about it, fiberglass reproduction bodies and parts kept the hot rodding hobby alive during a few lean stretches- I think if more people accepted starting out with diecasts in scale modeling, the hobby would be stronger and more diverse. As far as some diecasts not starting out in kit form... I don't see the validity in that arguement, either. Promos came from the factory fully assembled, and I've seen quite a few very killer models built from dissassembled and rebuilt promos. Quite a few resin kits you can buy are basically reproductions of promos, sold in kit form. In both cases, no one questions the.... legitimacy, I suppose you could say, of the finished product. Such activity only seems to be viewed in a negative light when the subject starts out as a diecast body model. One other thing I've noticed- there seems to be quite a bit of apathy toward snap kits, as well. Those are plastic too, right? Again, I don't see the point. Sure, the majority of them don't have an engine, but neither do a lot of the high-end Japanese curbside kits, and the diehards among us swoon over those. If you want a late '70's Coupe De Ville, a '75 Cutlass Supreme, a late '90's Dodge Ram 2500/3500, or an '88-00 C-series GM dually, a snap kit is your only choice. If you're so inclined, you can kitbash any one of these with a common full-detail kit, but a sizable number in the modeling community overlook them simply because of the skill level number printed on the box.

I suppose the shed kit would be a better anaology now that you mention it. I don't always agree with the kit itself being anything interesting, though- when the kit is unbuilt, yes, there's an appreciation for the work that went into it, and perhaps even some historical value if it's an old or long-gone kit. But to me, a kit really doesn't become anything interesting until somebody takes the time and skill to built it into something. Sure, an unbuilt kit may have some intristic value to some, but just sitting there in a box it's just a bunch of plastic castings, no more special or noteworthy than the thousands of others churned off the assembly line the same day. I think for me it's more of a symbolic thing. A kit is meant to be built. By buying a kit with no intention of ever building it, (and I can think of at least three guys in my somewhat sparsely-populated are who do exactly that, though I will concede that they are in the minority) you're depriving it of its purpose. Yes, I think some kits should be preserved in unbuilt condition for historical reasons, but for the most part, if I get a kit, it's getting built, period. (Diecast or not! ) And I know in most cases building the kit kills its value, but I'm a modeler, not an investor.

The collector thing might have quite a bit to do with it, now that you mention it. Still- I know quite a few guys who collect unbuilt plastic kits. That's another thing I don't understand- to me buying a kit with no intention to build it is like buying 2x4s, sheets of plywood, siding, and shingles and just letting them sit on a shelf in the garage instead of using them to build a shed.

All it needs is an apostrophe between the D and O. Danno? What's your favorite car of all time? I think I'm gonna build a General Lee version of whatever it is.

Toyish- no, not those particular examples! I think the majority of those aren't exactly 'project fodder', though, due to price. I don't know about many of you, but I'm not about to take a very nicely done model that retails for about a bill and a half (or more), then blow it apart and rebuild it! You can find good deals on them- sometimes something as simple as the orignal box being missing amounts to a 50% discount. (That's how I got my Franklin Mint '39 Ford Convertible model... which is VERY nice, by the way!) The more 'bargain priced' stuff is toylike, though, but even those are getting better. Heck- Kinsmart makes quite a few diecast pull-back toys ('98 Ford Police Interceptor, Dodge Caliber, and a Lincoln Stretch limo) that actually appear to be pretty accurate as far as body details and proportions go, and they can be had for right around five bucks. I'm well aware of the resin section, but it seems that section serves reviews of resin pieces more than anything. (And some very heated debates every so often.) I'm thinking the OP was suggesting having the diecast section as something more like the trucks section- where WIPS and completed models are displayed in the same sub-forum. Again, I don't see why they need to be 'quarantined' from other models with different body materials. Speaking of... I always wondered why there was a separate resin section, but nothing for photoetch or decals. Wouldn't having an 'Aftermarket' section be more useful, than just highlighting one particular medium used? I don't think having separate categories simply because the body or parts of a model aren't made from styrene plastic serves any real purpose. As far as the 'diecast aren't models' crowd goes- I don't get it either. What I really don't get is the 'styrene or bust' attitude... and then the guys with that mindset have no issues at all using resin, photoetch, machined metal, and other 'NOT-styrene' parts on their plastic kits. Besides... ALL of the diecast models and kits I have in my possession at the moment are largely plastic anyway... the interiors, chassis, engines, wheels, bumpers, etc, are all plastic... it seems even on a diecast, diecast itself is the least-dominant material in the whole works! If you are willing to use metal and resin parts on a plastic kit to build what you want, how is a mostly plastic kit that just so happens to have a diecast body any different?

Al has a busy work schedule, and he has to be away from home quite a bit. Patience is key sometimes. Haven't tried calling him yet, but if Frank says it worked for him it's worth a shot.

The Rambler suffers from that gigantic hole in the block- to me that's the worst offense on that particular engine. Sure, you can patch them shut, or just cross your fingers and hope the inner fenders and exhaust manifolds help to obscure them. Heck, I've done it myself... That's the SC/Rambler engine in a '53 Hornet. (By the way, that's not the kit air cleaner- I dug it out of my parts box, and the decal is a spare from a Fred Cady SC/Rambler sheet). Me? I'd still have to go with the Monogram Jeep CJ-7 piece- it's probably the best example of the second-gen AMC V8 in scale. The only deal-breaker (for some) is that it's 1:24 scale. That and you'd need to do something about replacing the transfer case with a proper 2wd tailshaft. The Revell Jeep J-10 engine (done in 1:25) isn't as nice as the Monogram engine, but still passable, though that kit isn't quite as easy to track down as the CJ kit. I suppose it would all boil down to how much work you wanted to invest into the finished model, and how dead-nuts accurate and realistic you wanted it to be in the end.