Chuck Most

Seriously?

No big deal. The bodies on these cars (both in the models and the real cars) are the interesting part. (No, there's nothing interesting about early Corvette IRS). Unless you display your models on their roofs, I see no problem with poor chassis detail.

Nice! For the amount of money these NASCAR diecasts used to go for when new, it seems odd that it wasn't fully decaled. Seems lazy on the manufacturer's part.

This is the recent AMT reissue, I started on it back when the kit was rereleased. Other than the rear walls being cut away, a '25 T pickup tailgate, radiator cap, engine wiring, and shelving, it is box-stock. The items on the shelves came from various kits and sources, from the Beverly Hillbillies kit to a Bachman G-Scale accessories set. The Fulci Mobile Antiques is a nod to Italian film director Lucio Fulci, who is probably best known for his horror movies, though during the course of his career he directed everything from kid's movies to westerns.

If the decal sheet is intact, often there will be a date printed on the back. This was being done on some kits as far back as the late '60's. Here are the dates on a sheet from an MPC '82 Cavalier (dated 8/81) and an AMT/Ertl Ford Explorer dated 7/95.

Maybe the windows haven't aged well, but the car overall sure has! Other than the wheels it has nothing to "pin" it as an '80's build.

Well... YEAH.

This is the '77 Arctic Cat El Tigre 6000 from the Revell Ice Patrol kit. It's fitted with straight pipes, a pressed steel seat from a Heller Ferguson, and '59 Cadillac bullet tail lights.

That came from a First Gear die cast '38 IH pickup made for Speedway gas stations a few years back. Thanks guys!

Kind of why I'm looking toward an aftermarket firm for such a conversion. I don't even need a complete stock-conversion transkit.

Never thought I'd see a new kit of a Starion... maybe it's time to build that crappy motorized Fujimi version I've had kicking around for a while. Wonder if I should hold my breath for a wide body version, either from Beemax or an aftermarket caster...

This is a Moebius '53 Hornet Club Coupe, with the chopped top body from Morgan Automotive Detail and a Dodge 354 Hemi from an AMT '29 Model A roadster. I used the open steel wheels from one of the NASCAR kits, with hub caps from the AMT '57 Ford hardtop. The grille came from the old AMT custom grille/bumper pack. I haven't done a car in black primer for a while, so that's what I went with here, with Hemi orange accents.

That has to be the manliest ascot I've ever seen.

From what I'm told, drop-top model kits don't sell nearly as well as fixed-roof variants. I'm more surprised that we don't have a good '57 Nomad.

I've built a few Hudson pickup conversions before, but I wanted to go for more of a crude, "backyard- built" kind of vibe with this one. The trunk and rear roof section were cut away, and I laid a diamond-pattern tread plate right over the existing floor. Some framework was built above the opening, and at the back, a plank of wood is shoved between this framework and the body to serve as the tailgate. The truck has been abandoned for a number of years, so the bed has been filled with random junk, and at some point the old farmer borrowed the gas cap and battery and forgot to replace them. He also forgot to close the hood, because I've always wanted to put the hinges and prop rods included in the kit to use. The engine is a Ford 240, which may have ended up being the second-generation Hudson Hornet Six, as the Ford Big Six was designed under the eye of Bernie Siegfried, who had also engineered the 7x Twin H engine for Hudson. When he left Hudson, he took his OHV straight six designs with him and many of those features became part of the Ford 240/300. A few other Ford doodads made it onto the car- the wheels are from a Moebius F-100, and the tires are from a Revell Bronco. I stole the plow of a long-stalled '77 Jeep project for use here. The mirrors came from a Revell Jeep J-10.

Think I saw that car behind a barn in the early '90's. Nice!

I want to buy the tractor, just so I know for sure that it really exists.

This started out with the Moebius Mel's Drive In '52 Club Coupe. From there, I added the scoop from a '53, the wheels and tires from the Matty Winspur '54, a scratchbuilt header, and a hand made manifold with Hilborn mechanical injection. The car is also upgraded to a 12 volt charging system. The idea is a car early in it's career as a '60's drag machine, the "Hudsonic" lettering is just stick-on vinyl letters (Microscale decals in real life) for now, maybe eventually it will have some custom-printed Hudsonic graphics at some point. As it stands, the car is still theoretically street legal with the addition of some treaded rear tires, if you can handle the driveability issues of mechanical fuel injection on the street.

In other news, Chrysler has only had two cars in their lineup for years. Wait... with the discontinuation of the 200, they only have one. Honestly, I often wonder why any of the domestic automakers bother with cars at all anymore. Go to any Ford, GM, or Chrysler dealer and 95% of what's on the lot are pickups and SUV/crossover type vehicles. Granted I live in an area with a high concentration of hicks, but even the larger dealers seem to skew more toward trucks than anything else.

Don't hold your breath- it might be a while.

The headers look like they might be from one of the '55-'57 Chevy street rod pickup kits... but I'm not entirely certain of that. I don't think the engine itself is from one of those kits.

Just to clarify- The GMC kit is an entirely different piece- it was newly tooled for the Revell reissue. The MPC plow even had a (molded plastic) chain- a detail Revell completely overlooked on their plow. You can get the MPC Jeep plow from Replicas and Miniatures Co. of Maryland but I think the other guys are on the right track of this one being an old Don Loomis casting. I know the R&M Co. product well, it was the first resin part I ever bought. You're dead-on with the Jeepster being the resin plow's origin. You're right- the MPC/AMT 1500 kits had small hinges molded to the bottom rear corners where the hood fits against the cowl, while the photos show round pins that the Testors kits have. I think even the AMT promo hoods had the hinges, but there were mounting pins molded to the front edge to fasten the hood to the core support. #10 is from a Revell '37 Ford Panel truck, and that may also have been the source of the artillery wheel shown in #12. The same wheels are included in the pickup variant. As far as the Firebird hood- I want to say the most recent reissue (AMT/Ertl) reissue of that one came with two hoods, one of which was close to the one shown, but I'm not certain of that.

I may have stumbled across the answer on my own while looking for something else entirely... Looks like it's a Studezilla from Freeman Cars.

I've had this old custom Studebaker for a while, and I'm not sure who cast it. I've seen a few Bullet Nose bodies in the past but not with a custom hard top and boat tail style deck like this one has. Something in my brain keeps swinging between Jimmy Flintstone and R&R but I honestly have no idea.

Very cool! I've had a similar idea in mind for the Foose 56, but mine was to do an updated version of Ed Roth's shop truck.