Chuck Most

Dave- no wonder I've never seen any, then! The chrome bumper and grille do seem exceedingly rare on these old girls, though, but I guess I never gave the cast wheels much thought. Ben- COUNT ON ME checking out those PE goodies! Matt- it was my grandfathers '59 that warped me as a kid, later on I actually DROVE one of his other C-Cabs (a '60, I think). Brian- Wheelbases varied over the years- I'll try to get back with some numbers later.

Love that inline sixer!

Very cool! Not much of a 'Trekkie', but I do like Star Trek. I've been thinking of taking this kit and modifying it into the Defiant, from the 'Enterprize' episode 'In a mirror, darkly'. It's one of those famous Trek 'alternate reality' episodes, where the evil Enterprise crew steals the Defiant (not only is it in the opposite universe, it's also from 100 years in the future!) My favorite part of the episode is the on the Defiant's bridge- it looked just like the set of the original Star Trek , even had the same beep and chirp sounds going on, but they darkened the lighting and backlit the screens and it actually looked pretty cool!

Note to self... locate nearest Big Lots! (The one closest to me shut down years ago.) Yeah, conditioning people to buy the kit for five bucks at a discount outlet instead of fifteen at a hobby shop? Not good for business... I thought they reissued it during the RC2 regime, but I might be wrong. That would be a nice one to see back, regardless.

I've heard the modern stock car suspension setup refered to as 'truck arm', I'm not sure if actual GM truck parts were used but the resemblence is uncanny!

How can you tell when your product is a sucess? How about when it is on the market for nearly three and a half decades, and the last one built bears a more-than-passing resemblance to the first one built? Such is the story of Ford's first true 'cab over' truck/tractor line, the C-series. It was kind of like the Mustang of its market- from the moment it debuted for 1957, right up until the end in 1990, it was the most popular vehicle in its class, and many people wondered why Ford killed it, even though it was over three decades old. Mack and FWD also used the C-series cab in the late '50's and early '60's, and Ford's H-series heavy cabover tractor used a modified C-series cab during its brief run from 1961 to 1966. AMT just reissued the C-600 Stake, and it's a great kit. Even box stock it can be a very nice replica. There are really only two issues I have with it,and they are- 1. The box says C-600, but the door tags seem to read C-800, though you do have to zoom right in to notice! 2. The screens covered by a segmented bezel which fed air to the carb, located just behind the door handles on either side of the cab, are AWOL on the kit- this area is featureless on the kit cab. I'm guessing AMT did it to ease molding- break out the PE screen and Plastruct here. Aside from that, you're pretty well armed to build just about any C-cab you like using the kit as a base. Sadly, the 'bonus' tractor framerails are no longer part of the deal, but all the other tractor specific parts are, so you can still build a semi tractor if you're up for a little relocating and cutting. Box stock, the kit builds into a '71-'74 model. But, you can backdate it or update it pretty easily, and still keep it box stock! Though the box art shows the side nameplate located above the character line on the door, it is actually molded BELOW it on the kit cab, consistent with a '71-up model. By simply foil-copying the nameplate and relocating it above the character line, you have a '68-'70 model. Want a '75-'80 model? Sand of the "Gear and Lightning Bolt" medallion from between the headlamps. This would technicallly be correct for up to 1984, but you'd need to replace the "Super Duty" gas V8 for anything newer than a 1980 model. For a brief period (1958-60), the C-cab wore a 'four eyed' headlamp system, shown here on a 1:1 '59 model... The custom headlamp bezels from an AMT '50 Ford convertible are good stand ins for these, though for just about any '67-older C-cab, you'll need to make up your own side emblems, as they were about the only thing that changed regularly early on. Also notice the grille mounted parking lamps- used until 1965. For 1966, these were replaced by the free-standing units on the cowl, and the 'plugs' with the four-pointed stars came into being- the grille style depicted in the AMT kit. So to do a '65 or older unit, these would need to be replaced with clear lenses (actually they were kind of grayish lenses, with an amber bulb). The Super Duty gas V8s were available during this time, as were heavy duty variants of the FE and Y-block engine. Note the mangled grille- that's what happens to the C-series grille when you try to tow it by wrapping a chain around the bumper. If you see a C-series with a grille like this, that's what happened. The '57-66 side emblems would have to be scratchbuilt, though some years used a modified F-series unit- the part found in an AMT '63 F-100 kit could be modified for some early '60's C-cabs if you're up for the challenge. The side badge used from 1967 onward looked like this- this one is from an '85 C- 8000- This is the badge you'll see on the AMT kit. Here also, on the same truck, is how the missing air intake grille looks- For a 1985-1990 model, you'd need to remove the Gear and Lightning Bolt medallion and the FORD letters, and add a Blue Oval where the medallion used to be. Design of windsheild wipers seemed to vary over the last decade or so- some rested at the bottom of the glass, while some rested next to the windshield divider post. There were also a few changes to the interior, mainly the steering wheel, gauge bezel, and some of the switchgear. A few other things to consider- The kit's bumper/grille and spoke wheels are plated. I've only ever seen one C-cab with a plated bumper/grille- it was a 1990 model with a stainless milk tanker body, and also had polished Budd wheels. It's the only non-fire truck C-cab I've seen with a chrome grille and bumper. These parts are more commonly seen chromed on fire engines, so I'm not sure if it was applied by Ford or if the fire apparatus manufacturer did it. And I've NEVER seen one with plated spoke wheels, and I've been soaking up as much info and as many photos as I can get since I was six or seven years old- I think I'd have seen at least one by now, but so far, nadda. The AMT C-cab kit is every bit as versatile as the real deal, now that it's back out, I plan on doing as many as I can. That's what's great about a kit like this, you can build dozens of them and no two will be exactly the same.

Yeah- the high beltline and resulting 'turret top' don't help.

And I second your Sedan... it probably has a better shot at seeing production than a Woody, because most of the coupe tooling could be utilized. Say... couldn't that chopped custom variant you propose be the Tudor sedan? (I think a chop would look better on a sedan than a coupe, anyway.)

I think that's tapered off- the local Chevy dealer has had the same two Camaros on the lot all summer collecting dust. Same story at the more distant dealerships. Heck, the nearest can't even sell the cool green one that's had crowds around it up until the last few weeks! I don't think it's the front and back they screwed up- the car (to me) is too wide for its length, or too short for its width, and as a result it just looks 'squatty' to me. I doubt history will remember it as a beautiful design like the first gen. (And for the record, I'm one of the eleven people on Earth who don't like the first-gen Camaros. )

Worst case scenario is somebody tells you to Chuck off!

Fear not! I hear that a few ex-Pocher and ex-Palmer engineers have teamed up to develop a 1:8 scale 2011 Mustang! With the brilliant engineering and fit of Pocher and the unyielding accuracy and realism of Palmer, it should be a stunner!

Looks like a pretty good replica to start with- but the weathering makes it incredibly cool! I'd rather see an old Fordson 'wearing its old work clothes' than one all restored and dolled up. But I may be biased- my grandfather has a barnful of weathered old Fordsons!

Yep, that would be my coup de grâce for most of my 'out of box' modeling adventures!

Yeah... like I did. Doug, I love seeing the oldies built up, and seeing old glue bombs revived. I also love '60's fullsize Mercs. So I guess I don't need to say I love this one!

Can't go wrong with a first-gen Effie, especially this nice! Not to wild about the color, but on this one, with the scallops, it works.

Seventy five grand for a Camaro? The double-wide and lifetime supply of mullet gel don't even add up to that. (Rimshot...)

Yep- look for them and there they are! Thanks, Chuck. Fortunately, the body is thin enough to spread in order to engage the tabs molded into the body to the chassis plate. Of course, I could have skipped this if I'd simply read the flippin' destruction sheet in the first place-

While we're on the subject of '40 kits, I could go for a '40 Woody Wagon. I'd buy a few of those even if it were only available as factory stock! Not sure how much they could use from the existing '40 kit tooling-wise, but I think it would be a good seller for Revell.

One question... where's the pool boy?

Because it does look cool, Harry! And Felix- your model does the 1:1 justice, it's an incredible build! Tastes like rainbows...

Did NOT know that until now.

Not if you did it in HO scale!

Yeah- I didn't notice it right off, but when I used one of the earlier reissues to build a replica of my grandfather's '59 model, I realized "Hey... there's a whole second set of framerails!" The "Construction" reissue had the vestigial tractor rails, but I can't vouch for other issues including them as well. I wasn't too thrilled with the price of the Stevens tractor reissue myself, either- especially when you can get the last reissue of the C-600 stake for less. A LOT less, in many cases. Other than the lack of tractor framerails, this reissue is about the same, though the plastic is better- the white styrene they're using now doesn't seem as susceptible to sink marks as the earlier gray stuff.

Anybody hear that? It's the sound of my head swelling to about twice its normal size...

I've considered it, but I always keep thinking- "Uh... no." Still, though, I'd think it would be very cool if somebody DID make a scale model of it!