Chuck Most

Looks like the rear overhang might be a bit short on the kit, too. Meh- won't stop me building this stack of them!

You know... snow? Nature's wet, icy dandruff.

The axle does seem to be a tad too far back- I've got a book with the wheelbase listed somewhere. Trouble is I don't have a Hornet built up with a stock chassis to measure.

Well, if you like modern Ponycars, you're pretty well covered- at least four versions of the Dodge Challenger, half a dozen Mustangs (even one in large scale, which is weird because all the 'experts' say large scale is dead), and three Camaros- a snap and glue kit of the concept and the upcoming Revell production version. There's also a slew of Vipers, Vettes, and at least one iffy-but-workable Ford GT. Performance cars are still hot in America, trouble is most people still think 'performance' has to mean 'V8 engine, rear drive, two doors'.

Okay, Harry and Casey... so just simply churning out a kit because the tooling is workable is a sound business proposition?

I bought zero Tahoes- they're yuppiewagons. Besides, that's an SUV, not a pickup. I do have a few of the Revell Expeditions, though. Dodge Rams? Which one? The Revell VTS? Or the Ertl Snap kits of the 2500 and 3500. Five of the VTS, ten of the 2500, and about fifteen of the 3500, if ya must know. I've got nearly 30 of the AMT '97 style F-150s in various stages of 'not done yet', and a dozen Revell Lightnings. Lindberg F-150's? Twelve of those at the moment. Easily as many of the Monogram F-250, and I buy EVERY Monogram F-350 that comes near me. AMT Chevy C-series pickups? I've got all of them except the promos. Sorry- not too many of the AMT Rangers or GM S-trucks, but that's mostly because the Rangers are getting tougher to track down, and I don't care for the S 10s much. And don't get me started on all the AMT '92-'95 F-150s. If there were any kits of modern pickups (SVT Raptor, Ford Super Duty F-2 or 350, Ram Power Wagon), I'd have just as many of them laying around as I do now. I even have a stash of the Maisto diecast F-250 Super Duty kits (1999 vintage) if you're curious.

Yeah, but all the decal sheets you'd need to buy would kill you...

Brett, I do agree with 90% of what you are saying, but you are completely overlooking another aspect- REISSUES! I don't expect to see tons of new tool stuff. The Trumpeter Monte Carlo is a moot point, I mean, really, can Trumpeter to anything automotive right? But the MPC Monte Carlo has been back, and from where I sit, it's doing pretty well. Granted, much of that might have to do with the inclusion of the Honda Chopper, but hey- that Honda Chopper itself is a Seventies vehicle. And of course Round 2 is bringing back the Gremlin kit- would they be doing that if there were no interest? One of the kits IMC is bringing back is the JoHan Cutlass- can you get any more '1970's' in terms of subject matter than an Oldsmobile Cutlass? Wait- you can- custom vans- those are slated to make a comeback. And these kits that are coming back weren't the only vehicles kitted during the polyester decade- they're just the ones that are known to have usable tooling, or tooling that was close enough to be viable with some freshening. I'm sure there are more out there than just what I've listed, and the fact that a kit of fill-in-the-blank already exists precludes the need to tool up an all new kit. Maybe I'm off base, but even if a kit needed some parts completely redone it might still be workable to reissue it. I know that tooling is expensive, but it's cheaper today that it was in the past relatively speaking. And with reissued kits, we're talking about tooling that was bought and paid for when Carter was still in the white house. Ten, twenty grand to freshen something is still better than ten times that amount for an all new tool. Would people buy new tool kits of this era? That would depend on the subject. But the fact '70's kits are being reissued at all is pretty telling, if you ask me.

If I had eight grand floating around in my couch cushions, maybe...

1:8 scale Superbird? Not my thing, but I do admit that would be VERY cool. Especially if it were a full-blown NASCAR-spec rig. I'll join Andy and say I'd like a '10 Oldsmobile as well. (Know what? Put me down for a 1:25 Curved Dash as well. Something about those old motor buggies just fascinates me.) Just pepper the golden oldies with something a bit more consistent with the century we're living in now, that's all I'm sayin.

Did absolutely NOTHING model related Saturday!!!!

Try speaking for yourself and not the rest of the class, please. Just because 'we' invented the hot rod and muscle car doesn't make 'us' experts on what makes a car cool.

I was reffering to the mid '50's Dodge in Darrin's post.

THANK YOU!!!!

Not s'fast- some of the younger guys are into (in addition to or instead of above) And I'm not even going to post any tuner/sport compact pics (because I have none to post, mostly). I'd love having a kit of that Dodge pickup, though.

Why SHOULDN'T they? The only real change they'd need to make in the majority of cases would be an RHD dash and maybe a photoetched fret or decal sheet with American markings. The US (or European, for that matter) parts could just be included on a small sprue, like you'd see in a Revell-style special-edition reissue. There may be a bigger model car market in Japan, but I really think more people in other markets would buy their kits if they depicted the car they have in their driveway, not it's 'close but no cigar' cousin on another continent.

Well, 26 is on the long end of mid 20's, thats knocking on the door to 'late 20's'. I went beater with that one. Next one I'm thinking of doing up as a period Michigan State Police mount.

One thing to watch out for- the number callouts for the wing vent windows and mirrors are flip-flopped. It's in all the current kits, but it will be fixed before the next run.

Another thing the Japanese kit makers are missing- they sell all the JDM stuff, which is fine with me, but rarely do they offer a US-spec version of their kits. There are a few kits they sell which would need little more than a photoetch badge fret to be sold as a US market Lexus or Infiniti, for instance.

I got it in 2008, when I was in my advanced mid '20's.

That's probably just as well- it'll save you having to keep replacing blown axles and trannies!

Same here- I'm good for at least five of the '50 Olds kits, probably more of the Fords. Just saying- I hope they're doing a better job planning ahead than I think they are sometimes.

Digging it! Reminds me of a Roth creation.

A Lancia! Sweet! Hoping to get crackin' on the Buick again tomorrow, IF I can find the thing.

Yep. While I love the '50's cars and hot rods, the model companies do need to realize that there WERE vehicles manufactured after 1972 that weren't Corvettes or Mustangs. Again- when the interest runs out (and therefore sales) they'll wish they'd have beefed up their product line.