Chuck Most

Who here doesn't love a mediocre, or just plain bad, kit every so often? I sure do! A few of my faves... Arri '72 Ford Thunderbird... looks okay, but the grille has the wrong number of bars, it was motorized, so the engine, interior, and chassis detail are terrible, and it's way, way, WAY overscale... and who could possibly love that rear-view mirror molded to the windshield? But I love big-body Fords, and this one plugged a hole in my collection. The fact I got the kit dirt cheap was just icing. Ertl/AMT-Ertl Scout II... the grille is the wrong shape, the headlamps and bezels are too small, the body has several missing cut lines and no hood peak, and there's a general overall lack of detail (only a battery and upper rad hose under the hood and nothing else, for instance), but my love for the 1:1 Scout means I'll always have several of these kits in stock. (Note, this model has had the aformentioned hiccups and ommissions fixed). Jo-Han SC/Rambler... well, Jo-Han kits in general. Usually pretty good body proportions (some were a bit under or over scale), but generally VERY compromised engine/chassis detail, and many of them had interior tubs about as shallow as a Hollywood starlet. But how many manufacturers had as many cool 50's/'60's American subject matter as Jo-Han? Oh sure, there are more, but these are just a few of my favorites.

Ah, the old 'perfect the vehicle... THEN kill it schtick, ripped right out of the old GM playbook...

Why? Jabberwocks are so much more managable...

BINGO! Even in the event we ever DO get a 100% accurate kit produced, there will be at least a handful of people who can find a few faults with its accuracy, or at least claim to. That 'human factor' can be a dodgy thing- ever hear the expression 'one guy's Mona Lisa is another guy's Velvet Elvis'? Is that 100% accurate kit POSSIBLE, given today's technology? Perhaps. Is it going to happen? Well, this guy's not holding his breath! This Falcon isn't on my 'must buy' list, but it is on my 'likely to buy' list. I've bought several examples of some kits which were total turds (AMT/Ertl International Scout II, anyone?) and managed to make decent models out of them, and I'm rather looking forward to trying a few things with this kit, too.

This version= http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.internetmodeler.com/artman/uploads/1/First_Look_Revell_Fairlane_box.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.internetmodeler.com/artman/publish/flautomotive/First_Look_Revell_1964_Ford_Fairlane.php&usg=__PrYxPMcJIJOUX9_hyTcsOoTn3Q8=&h=424&w=600&sz=74&hl=en&start=1&zoom=1&tbnid=b2Rg0K63P8WfxM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=135&ei=Ta2nTYm8IIeDtwe8mojeBw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Drevell%2Bfairlane%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26rlz%3D1T4SNNT_enUS412US412%26biw%3D1345%26bih%3D539%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divns&itbs=1 has the stock hood and tires/wheels, and all of the T-Bolt parts. All the other versions have only the T-bolt hood and wheels. The decals are also different from each version. If you already have an earlier issue, Bandit Resins sells a flat hood for this kit, which fits better and has cast-in "Ford" letters along the front, which the Revell flat hood does not have.

You might be able to use the '63 kit chassis and engine, or if you're really up for some superdetailing, the chassis/engine room from the '60 Skyliner. I know the promo chassis in the curbside '64 kit will fit the mod stocker body, so I'm going to make an educated guess and say the engine and chassis from the mod stocker would work in the stock '64,too, but you'd need to scare up a few stock engine parts and the like.

Dr. Cranky presents... "The Jason Vorhees Guide to Killer Custom Paint..."

Oh, yeah! Lovin' it. As for painting while donating blood, maybe not a GREAT idea... but imagine the spatter patterns you could achieve...

Oh, one with a little snow... (frozen rain, for those of y'all who live in more temperate, or is that less temperamental?- climates)

Cuz we ALL KNOW... those EPA figures are undisputable and right on the money, 100%, every time... Anywhoz, here's one I picked up since last time. '89 Ranger, 2.3, 5-speed manual, 2wd. Got it for free. I think I was screwed on that deal.

First, an explaination... If you believe everything you read on the internet, this car (a '62 Dodge Dart limo wagon) was built for the Vatican, but ended up at a Catholic church in Kentucky, where it remained in service for many years. It turned up on eBay a while back, powered by a V10 truck engine and 6-speed manual, and looked as if it had been given a 'restofication' by a group of semi-mental Chimps. That being said, I wouldn't mind having one... I'm pretty sure this thing is real.

Check my post in the "Favorite Diecasts" thread, and add a bullet nose Studebaker.

Never, ever, EVER a pleasant experience losing somebody. Our thoughts are with you.

Great looking model of the coolest looking trucks Ford ever built.

If I recall, the only readily available '64 Galaxie with an opening hood was the modified stocker. The factory stock version only came as a curbside.

A peek inside the box... http://public.fotki.com/ChuckMost/kit-contents/monogram/tom-daniels-circus-wagon/

A few of mine (any one of 'em I'd love to see in kit form!)-

I've wondered that myself. "Hey, Pete? Shouldn't we check out these CAD drawings before we send them out to have the molds made?" "Nah... we scanned the 1:1 car,they should be fine. Now let's hand this puppy in and go hit the bar!" That might be part of the 'learning curve' going on with the new technology. And of course, the computer is only as smart as the people who program and operate it... As far as the "Chinese toolmakers haven't seen the car" side, I personally don't buy it. Is it possible none of Trumpeter's people have ever seen a '64 Falcon? Of course. But I'm pretty sure they have acess to Google, and can bring up thousands of images of one in half a second. When you quite literally have the world at your fingertips, finding images of something really isn't a big deal. I think the inaccuracies we're seeing in new releases are possibly because of over-reliance on CAD technology, and the good old 'human factor' being neglected. Still, could be worse... http://www.google.com/products/catalog?rlz=1T4SNNT_enUS412US412&q=Lindberg+'48+Lincoln&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=6929950365982820897&sa=X&ei=dNqlTfn1HqW60QGt8LTqCA&ved=0CCUQ8wIwAg#

Just curious, was this originally the factory-stock version and retooled into the stock car , or was this version totally different from the stock kit?

'37 (and '38) Ford truck grilles were really popular on East Coast rods back in the early days, kind of like the Terraplane and Farmall grilles are with rat rodders now. I'm guilty of buying at least one or two '37's just for the grille.

Perfect. Just got rid of my only Turbine kit... Next time!!!!

As Jim pointed out, it isn't a copy of the REVELL kit part, so the whole thing about Revell and copyrights and whatnot seems like a moot point. Sheesh- look at the photo and it clearly isn't the Revell piece! And since it doesn't have the Ford logo or script on it, I don't see any issues there, either. How many members of Ford's legal team do you wager even know what a '37 Ford truck grille looks like, anyway?

Is that the old AAM resin transkit? Or, better, is somebody casting an early Willys Jeep pickup again????

Uh.... dude? You do know dragons aren't real, right?