Chuck Most

As the former owner of a '75 El Camino, I can't say I'm a huge fan of '70's Chevrolets, as far as styling or engineering goes. But I do like this old girl, which is back again under the MPC logo. Why? Not sure... http://public.fotki.com/ChuckMost/kit-contents/mpc/76-chevrolet-caprice/ As with all of Round2's recent 'non-mass market' reissues, this one is molded in white plastic, a far piece better than the greasy grey stuff from a few years back. I don't know if it's just me, but it seems this plastic is a bit less prone to sink marks than the previously used plastic. The AMT suffered from quite a few warped parts, but was far from unbuildable. If you built the '06/'07-ish AMT-badged reissue, you'll be instantly familiar with the contents in this kit- it is completely identical, aside from the white plastic, the new decal sheet, and the flashers for the security car version. The molding is much better than the AMT too, way fewer sinkmarks and noticably less flash. Yes, there's still some flash and a few highly visible mold lines, but that's to be expected on a kit tooled in the mid '70's. The trailer is one of my favorite aspects of the kit. It comes with some very cool wheels which would look way cooler on a hot rod than on a trailer. The tread surface of the trailer is still marred by ejector pin marks- I'd reccomend replacing the molded in details with some diamond-plate material. You also get a hitch and some ungainly mirrors for the Caprice. I can't profess any expertise on mid '70's GM land yachts, but the model looks accurate enough. Remember, though- this is old tooling, so it is a bit more simplified than a later kit. You know- headlamps molded in place, an interior bucket with few enough separate parts to count on one hand, etc. Still, the completed model looks every bit the beached garbage scow the 1:1 car was. I'd reccomend this kit to anyone who dig's Jerry Ford-era American Land Yachts, or to anyone who likes a quick, simple build with very little fuss. I think I'll convert this one into a Delta 88!

I actually like many of the old hot rod kits- I think I have every recent Model T and A hot rod reissue from Lindberg in my stash right now, so you can bet I'll be picking up a Black Widow or ten. To me, it's a much more interesting subject than Revell's other Black Widow! As far as its ommissions and inaccuracies- I can work around those or look the other way depending on how I want to build it. Who cares if there's no tranny, and that the rear axle is just a big plastic twig- you can't see any of that when the model is sitting on its tires. Which, oddly, is the way I prefer to display my models.

The Epic Moore, Downie, and Most Lightsaber Slugfest 2011! Who will fall down the shaft? Who will lose a hand? And who will be who's father...

Okay guys- grab your lightsabers- I'm sensing a fight to the death!!!! Oh, Glenn? I'd love an Astro kit, too- I just don't really condider the 'Astrofari' a 'mini' van. More of a 'middie' van.

Lovely! I'd love to have this one and that orange one side by side on my own shelf.

And I'd be right in line behind you Bob! I'd cut in front if they added a '55 Clipper to that list...

Art Anderson... the god, patron saint, and all-round kewel kat of scale model scratchbuilding!

The thought of using the Dakota quarter windows has crossed my mind as well- I just never tried it because then I'd have an unbuildable Dakota. (I could raid the windows and convert it to a Durango... the Grand Caravan kit has the same taillamps, as the 1:1 '98-'03 Durango and '96-'00 Chrysler vans had the same taillamps... hmmmm....) One of these days I'd like to kitbash the VTS with the AMT 2500. It would be a bit of work, and the intake is totally different on the production Ram V10, but still kinda sounds like a fun project!

Minor update- I don't know what engine I'll use, but those wide tires suggest I'll use something mosterous. So, I went with a Dana 60, aka the Flying Anvil, from AMT's 'Rescue Ambulance' Dodge Cargo van.

I'll keep her in my thoughts. My cousin had a similar surgery done when she was a baby- she's almost 20 years old now, and you'd never know.

DON'T LET IT GET TO YOU! Here's what I've found out, in my over-two decades of modeling (Jeez, I feel like such an old geezer when I say it like that...) When that model is done, sitting there pretty on your shelf, you'll feel more pride and a greater sense of accomplishment because it fought you every foot of the way. You proved you would NOT be outsmarted by a few lumps of styrene plastic!!!! And, you'll learn from the foul-ups and boo-boos on this one, so you'll know what to do (or what not to do)next time you run into a similar problem. Besides, kits that just fall together kind of get boring after a while, anyway!

I wish there were a Geo Metro kit- I'd love to have that three-banger!

Only thing I'd watch out for on this kit (and the pickup version) is to be carful not to gunk up the hood hinge with paint or glue. Other than that, it's a pretty forgiving kit.

Wasn't AMT considering a Hudson kit years ago, but opted to pull the plug later on? Yeah Mark- I built that Caravan kit when I was 14, back when it was new. I wondered even then who'd want to model a minivan!

Years ago, that 'other mag' used to run a list of kits modelers wanted to see produced with it's kit of the year results. If I recall, there was ALWAYS a Hudson on that list, year after year. Don't tell me this kit is unwanted! Then again, a Dodge Caravan made it to that list, too...

More bad news... "Death" is the only one I have any good ideas for so far. Gimme a few minutes,though...

And it's a GOOD twist, not some lame-o, M. Night Shyamalan twist! I'd be afraid to run a slot car that nice.

The Famine horse is a rolling food court? Love it!!!!

A random collection of derelicts from a few random boxes of parts... Here's what we've got so far- The wheels and tires were the first things to be done- I took some wheels from the AMT '25 T kit, and used some old Gatorback tires up front. For the rear, I slipped the wheels into the inner wheels from a Revell Saleen S281 to increase the diameter so they'd fit inside the 1:20 scale Firestones from an old MPC kit. These assemblies sat for a few months, before I recently dusted them off, painted them Sage green, and added the baby Moon caps from an AMT Deuce 5-window. Two old Ford Buggy spring front ends (one's from the '40 SD, not sure the other)were also dredged out of the spares pile, not sure which one I'll use yet. The gauge panel was cut from a '53 Stude dash, and the piston had its connecting rod removed and was drilled to fit the end of a needle. Now, what's all this stuff going onto? Well, no idea. I'm thinking of some nutty 'truckster' rod, but I guess I'll just see where this path takes me...

DROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL....

Even cooler when you consider it's 1:25!

Love that grille, too- minimalistic, but oh, so cool. Is that a 1:8 scale kit?

I don't like the paint- I LOVE IT!!!! But, I do agree she'd be perfect with a better set of tires.

Great buildup of a beautiful little car. The classic recipe for a great sports car- Small British body powered by a small block Ford!

First of this kit I've seen built up. Very cool!