Chuck Most

Step one... pick up a '60 Chevy Pickup kit Step two... formulate a build plan Step three... abandon that plan about a third of the way through Step four... say "Meh..." and let it become what it becomes!

The January MCM has a review on this very kit- I pretty much second what Larry said about it. It's from about the same period as the '71 Duster and the updated midsize Mopar kits, so it has a similar style parts breakdown. Been a while since I built one, but it goes together without much fuss.

VERY nice! I'm particularly fond of the 'flow through' ventilation system you have with that floor!

Nothing today, but here's a back log of stuff I"ve picked up over the last two weeks or so...

Pretty much my sentiments exactly!

Hey... I'M that guy!!!!

THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!!!

I've heard what a nightmare that original 1:25 Bus kit can be, and you know what? I STILL want one! Even if it's one of the later, non-stock variants. The new tool 1:24 Revell kit is actually a cakewalk to build, the only reason mine isn't done is because I lost the last few parts I had to install during a move, ( ), but I'd still love to take a crack at the old Revell kit, too. One can never have too many VW busses on one's display shelf, IMHO.

Well... mine's going back in the box! Very nicely done, my good sir.

If you look through a catalog, you'll see all sorts of crazy looking headers for various applications. Sure, theoretically the best way to do it is a straight shot, but if there's an oil filter or a starter in the way , that isn't possible, so those weird bends and kinks come into play. So there is a practical side to it, but some guys just like to take a little creative licence with the tubing bender and whip up a little bit of 'performance art'. Nothing wrong with thah, eh?

That so does NOT describe me! I've noticed this about myself... If there's a particular person I don't much care for (use your own descriptive noun here), if I find out that person is a modeler, I can actually learn to like (or at least merely tolerate) that person. I may not be the most warm and jovial person in the room, but if I'm around other modelers, I won't give any of them the cold-shoulder or total-jerk treament. 1:1 cars on the other hand... I'm not even going there!

Very cool! Really dig the 'grass skirt' doors.

Some beautiful bus builds from this one, guys! Larry does bring up another strength of the Revell kit- the great inner panel detail (though it is marred a bit in places by ejector pin divots). I really like David's solution, sounds like even I could pull that off, but it does seem a bit strange Hasegawa did not provide any interior panels. I might cut this one up into a double-cab pickup, so the lack of inner panel detail may not be much of a hindrance! Speaking of which... hey, Hasegawa? How about bringing back that '67 Type II pickup kit????

I like where you're going with that second part... As for the first? That's the beauty of modeling. You can build a car that you could never,ever afford in real life and/or one that would easily get you killed (either by design or by angered fans of whatever car you 'ruined') in 1:1.

AND IT HAS AN ENGINE!!!! May sound weird coming from a hot rod fanatic like me, but I really dig this car. Must pick up a couple of these... one to build, and one to pirate the engine for another project...

Okay, so this one's been out a while. When it first came out, retail was right about eighty freakin' bucks. This one had a price of $77 at a local hobby shop, another one put it on clearance for $30, so I snapped it up then! I've seen this kit and similar versions of it going for about that much,too, so if you've had your eye on this one for a while, but didn't want to pony up the bucks, now would appear to be the time. Anyone who's built the Hasegawa '67 Type 2 pickup kit should be in familiar territory- this kit is similar to that one. It's a tradtional Japanese curbside kit- having no engine besides the lower half molded to the transaxle unit. Front suspension is steerable, and attaches via nylon donuts, as with most Hasegawa and Tamiya kits I've encountered in the past. The tires are no-name soft rubber, and the wheels are very nicely done, although there is no hub/lugnut detail, so the VW-branded baby moon caps are mandatory unless you'd like to perform a little plastic surgery to the wheel hubs. The side and rear doors are molded partly open, and only joined at the hinges. The instructions mention that they can be cut open and reattached in the open position, but Hasegawa points out that this kit does not include the inner door panels, which is correct. This seems to imply there is a version of this kit which does have those parts, and I have to wonder why Hasegawa did not include them. Hasegawa did include two HUGE resin surfboards (I guess they'd be long boards? ) with kit, each with a separately molded fin, and also two resin roof rack bars, as well as graphics on the decal sheet for the boards. Let's face it, any 'non-hippie' mircobus is probably a surf wagon, right? About those decals- Hasegawa's are some of the best I've ever used- they lay down well, and are pretty forgiving as far as positioning them on the model. Like most kits of this type, the body and interior are pretty well done, and that compensates somewhat for the lack of any engine detail. Detail freaks will pass this kit up in favor of the Revell Samba bus, due to its engine and opening,hinged doors. The Revell kit is fairly easy to build for how complex it is, but is still a bit off-putting to many modelers, the Hasegawa is a cakewalk to build. The Revell kit sells for about what I bought my Hasegawa example for, so if you can find the Hasegawa kit for a bargain basement price, I'd still reccomend it. The time spent not fiddling with the Revell's hinged doors and engine parts could be time spent customizing the van, or focusing on interior detail, as the interior is in plain sight with all those windows. I wanted this kit when it was almost eighty bucks, now that some places are selling it for much, much less, I'd say it's a must-have for any Vee Dub fanatic!

Dude... you did it way better than I would have. That's one of the tiny little things keeping me from tearing into the several Monogram 'Cudas I have stashed away...

Okay... THAT one I like.

I hope somebody kits the DMAX concept hot rod. Make it stock or show truck, and watch the light commercial and street rod guys snap 'em up!

Uhhhh... to quote Eric Cartman... "It's wrong. It's WRONG!!!!"

D-D-R-R-O-O-O-O-L-L.... Love it. Just absolutely love it. Forget the '64 Marauder, '66 Park Lane, and '64 Comet kits... they need to reissue THIS!!!!

Very sweet as usual Lyle. I can hear that Stovebolt idling in my mind...

Gives me something to shoot for with my 1:1 '67 Fury 4-door!

One of the many reasons I love old dragsters (cue choir of angels, please...) THE PIPES!!!!

That poor, poor woman!!!!