Chuck Most

Regarding the first part- if you think Revell's kits are so woefully deformed, I refer you to Trumpeter and politely say "Could be way worse". I do see a few trivial hiccups here and there, but nothing that spoils the buzz for me, personally. Second part- now that you mention a '57 Ranchero, I'm a bit suprised they didn't go that route. Seems it's been Revell's business model the last few years to release new tooled kits already covered (or in different body styles, years, or building variants) by older competitor's subjects. Why couldn't they have tried doing an up-to-date version of one of their own (very questionable in this case, quality-wise) golden oldies? Again though, if their new '57 kit does well, I'd love to see a Ranchero spun off that tooling.

Progress looks good so far. Any idea who cast that body?

Weird- I use Fotki, and I've never had any issues like what you describe. The only time I get any problems is when I try to post too many pics on one thread, but in that case it doesn't matter what photo hosting site you are using.

I'd love to see the vintage three wheeler in 1:24. Thanks for jogging my memory on the 1:16 kit, I'd forgotten all about that one. Hey- speaking of three-wheelers, nobody ever kitted a Reliant Robin, right?

I said decent London taxi kit, people. No, sorry, overscale and under detailed won't cut it this time.

That's the way I feel when another '57 Chevy gets kitted! I'm with you though, I'd love to see a '58 Ford done to modern standards. Maybe if this '57 sells well that will be a possibility.

Tamiya and AMT/Ertl both kitted a Jag XJ220. But no kits of anything you could call current as far as Jags, and not a peep out of the modern-era Rolls or Bentley models, before or after the German takeover. There are a couple kits of the new Mini, but many argue that those are German, not British. Oh, and who needs to get killed before we can get a decent London Taxi kit? Huh?

Now that you mention it, yeah- looks like the majority of Europoean car kits in my stash are made by Japanese manufacturers.

Here's the hot rodded 308. No, didn't add the blower like I'd planned, but I still have a few kit engines to experiment on.

Digging that DeSoto grille! The striped Hornet is at a standstill for the time being- I do have the 308 six shown earlier pretty much done. Pics will follow shortly. i dredged up an old AMC V8 from a Rambler kit that might end up powering the Hornet. It's a terrible engine, really, but its least-appealing aspects are pretty much hidden once its down in the Hornet's engine bay.

It's official- Moebius will be getting an even more sizable chunk of my hobby dollars in the (hopefully) not too distant future!

I weigh a bit more than that, and I've used my desk as a step stool more times than I care to recollect. It's all about how that weight is distributed. Or something.

I'm thinking of Paris Fish's old '70's Street Machine from the bleak years of Hot Rod.

Crikey! Watch out for the rozzers! They can be bloody pillocks. (Did that make any sense?)

AMT apparently was going to do a plastic kit, but ended up doing it as an Ertl diecast instead.

Know what? I want every one of those kits!

Not bad for two bucks. Just ridding it of that big, honkin' cowcatcher up front makes all the difference.

For the most part, it seems to me the model companies specialize in their own country or reigon's product- the US manfacturers release US kits, the European firms do Euro cars, etc. There are always exceptions of course, but that seems to be the rule of thumb.

That's the one gripe I have with my Minicraft Model A pickup. Since I plan on tossing the fenders over my shoulder during the course of the buildup, I really need to dig up some alternatives. Well, that and the nasty sink marks on the cylinder heads...grrrrrrrrrrr.

This is Darin Bastedo. A model car builder from Kingsport, TN. And he is about to be reunited. Reunited with a kit he carelessly tossed by the wayside years ago, hoping never to encounter it again. Darin thought he was rid of the unwanted kit until the mailman brought him a package. A special delivery... from the Twilight Zone.

Up in central MI you can get those kits pretty cheap. A friend of mine bought the Hot Rod issue Pontiac Lemans flopper kit for $25 sealed, plus sales tax.

And, take into account that there is a fairly sizable number of modelers who don't work from kits in the first place. They are modelers strictly speaking, but since they scratchbuild most of what they build, they really aren't much into buying ready-made kits. Guys like Gerald Wingrove come to mind. Sure, probably a minority, but still something to consider. Even among guys who do work with kits, there's quite an array of genres. Some people build only 1:24 Formula 1 cars. Some guys only do 1:43 scale. I'm aware of a couple who build only sports cars, or just Corvettes. I know one guy who builds NOTHING but '57 Chevys. And I mean the Bel Air/150 type- the mainstream line. He won't do a '57 Vette or a '57 Cameo pickup to mix it up, only the standard car line. For modelers like that, the introduction of a new pickup, muscle car, '50's cruiser, or '70's car kit is pretty much meaningless.

Or how about those Jada plastic kits from a few years ago?

I have recently rekindled a stalled project, but it already has its own thread- so here goes: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=45539 Should get fairly interesting the next couple of days! I hope...

I've actually considered converting an MPC Stutz into a similar-vintage Olds, just because a Stutz isn't obscure enough for me, since it (obviously) already exists as a kit.