Chuck Most

Local K Mart had them for the longest time. I was just in yesterday and they're nowhere to be found- guess they redistributed them out to all you guys.

One particular Christmas season a long time ago, Santa was getting ready for his annual trip, but there were problems everywhere. Four of his elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce the toys as fast as the regular ones, so Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule. Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her mom was coming to visit. This stressed Santa even more. When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out heaven knows where. More stress. Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked, and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys. Frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hidden the liquor, and there was nothing to drink. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider pot, and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw end of the broom. Just then the doorbell rang, and irritable Santa trudged to the door. He opened the door, and there was a little angel with a great big Christmas tree. The angel said, very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't it a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?" Thus began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

Nice! Makes me want that IMC reissue even more that I already did,

I was going to suggest Petty Blue, then I remembered this is a Dodge.

I have something similar in mind for an AMT/Aoshima Lexus LS 400. Awsome job!

I can't see any pics, only a 'This photo has been moved or deleted' placeholder.

Dragging out another one- one that I haven't posted before. It is the AMT '09 Dodge Challenger SRT8 kit, and I'm making it into a phantom '11 Hemi 'Cuda. I just attached the Challenger chin spoiler to the modified nose- which is a combination of the AMT part with the grille and splash apron openings from a Revell '71 grafted in. Eventually it will get the fender 'gills' and taillamp panel from the '71 kit, as well.

Nash is back! Wasn't happy with the tan paint job, so I shot a new coat of primer then went with a blue over white scheme. Still the same plan as before... 'beater/sleeper' look.

Great- now I need to seek out a couple Fujimi Porsche 356 kits!

The Tim Flock car already has a '52 grille, and the steel wheels you would need, but using the more common '53 kit would still be feasible- you'd need to make up the triangular center piece in the '53 grille, and dig out some narrow steel wheels. The car in Porky's was a four-door. I know R&R makes a '48 4-door transkit, but 1. being an R&R it's probably on the rough side, casting wise, and 2. If I recall, it is meant to be used with an AMT '49 Merc as a donor kit, so it's just an eensy, teensy bit smaller than the Moebius Hornet. Hendrix does a couple of Hudsons, too, but I believe they are all coupes like the Moebius kit. It does sound like a cool project, Jacen- I've been planning to use the '48 4-door body on the Moebius chassis, might need to go ahead and try it out just for 'research purposes' now. Other than the conversion to a four door, modifying the interior side panels and reworking some hubcaps to resemble the Hudson units would be the toughest part of that conversion.

Whoa- where did those wheels come from????

Agreed, and at any rate, it's a lot closer to done and way cooler looking than my Datsun 7, which I haven't so much as looked at for a couple of months now.

Another attraction in Ypsilanti- the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum, and home of Miller Motors, the last surviving Hudson dealership. Between that and this model shop, sounds like a great reason to plan a road trip to the area.

:( :( Looks like I'll have to hurry up and get a few of those '35 Ford Truck grilles... if he has any left.

Other than the interior, it is a really rough casting- lots of flash, pinholes, and warped parts. Thickness varies quite a bit, and a few of the parts are 'double poured'. The first one I got was so rough I just made a beater out of it. I sprayed the interior black and dirtied up the windows to hide the 'too-new' interior.

The R&R has an incorrect interior- it's basically a straight repop of the more common '79 kit. It would be easier to convert this to a '68 than the '79, but be advised- if you have never worked with resin, R&R kits aren't the best beginners projects.

Well.... you could probably pass it off as a 332, but keep in mind the 427 had a taller deck, and was thus also slightly wider. If I wanted to replicate a 332 I'd probably start with the Starliner 352 from the '60 AMT kit. Then you'd just need to work out the heavy-truck specific stuff like the oil filter, engine-driven accessories, etc. The AMT 352 is also better detailed and a bit less fiddly to assemble than the Revell 427.

I think the wheels are Modelhaus- the tires look like the old 1:32 scale AMT big rig tires.

I would have to concur. Even if it takes a while, I'd be willing to bet money Revell will kit a 'Stang with the Coyote mill, it will only be a question of when. Given Revell's track record of kitting almost every '05-up Mustang variant (V6 versions aside), I'd say it's a sure thing.

Would a Lindberg '63 Mustang II concept be acceptable? I had this idea- let's say a guy bought a new Mustang around 1966 or so, and not too long after he was involved in a minor collison. The owner assumed that since the car needed repairs anyway, why not do a custom, built to resemble the concept car? Just a thought.

My grandfather has a 1:1 late Teens Chevy truck... I don't think he paid that much for the real vehicle.

For me, it's just letting the ideas out of my head and turning them into three dimensional objects. That's about it, Vern.

I don't build airplane models very often. Change 'airplane' to 'aircraft' and I have exactly two... Monogram's hoary ol' Ford Tri Motor, and an Airfix Autogyro. Are those accurate compared to the 1:1? No idea, but they look that way to me. I guess my personal accuracy meter is a little on the lax side- to me if it looks right, it is right, and I don't really feel like taking too much time going beyond that. But if a kit is terribly flawed I won't buy it, unless it's a subject I really like or a kit with a lot of good parts. I remember reading somwhere about a car kit being reviewed by a source better known for military/aircraft kits. In this review, the person writing the review pointed out a few inaccuracies in the kit, but ultimately blew it off, saying the inaccuracies weren't important because it was 'just a car model', or something along those lines. That might seem to indicate that auto modelers don't care about accuracy as much as modelers from other genres do- even though everything I've seen states otherwise. I do think the game is changing, though- look at the Moebius Lonestar, or the Polar Lights Batmobile. Those two kits, cleanly built and detailed, and photographed against a realistic background, are all but indistinguishable from the real deal. Granted, both were done from either factory CAD programs or 3D scans of the 1:1, but it just proves the manufacturers are getting it. It just seems that things take a little bit longer to happen with automotive models compared to the aircraft and armor models. Or at least it seems that way to me!

Shepherd- I'm about 30 miles south of there. Used to go there a couple times a week when Terry Crawley had his repair shop on 1st street.

There is a resin caster working on a '55 Desoto body for this, and I'd assume any old existing resin body or X-El promo of same could be used with the Moebius kit parts.