Chuck Most

Another masterpiece, John!

Tom- you are correct. The vehicles did stay in production... just not as what they were the previous season (or several seasons ago when they were last offered). And some cars did live on in other markets with new "identities"- we've all heard of old car tooling (US and foreign manufacturers alike) being sold off to third world and 'Red' nations. (If anybody can shine some light on any of these particular examples, feel free to chime in! ) Mark- I was refering to the more obscure '80's version of the LTD II (the one replaced by the Taurus). The only reason I even remember them is because my great aunt had one! Yes- Mark, you're right about the LTD II. I was refering to the '80's version, (replaced by the Taurus) which nobody but me seems to remember! (My great aunt had one- otherwise I'd have probably never been aware of it. Can't believe I forgot this... In '57, International introduced the "A" series. For '59, they added an optional V8 and a new nose and renamed it the "B" series, and for '63 another new nose and dash came with a new designation... "C" series, even though all three essentially the same truck (even though there were some mechanical updates and improvements through the years). I can't imagine Ford slapping a new grille on the F-150 and calling it a G-150! (Sorry... E-150 was taken! )

Totally NOT what I was expecting, but I love it! I'm not even going to attempt such a thing, but I'm glad you did!

A lot of times, a kit will be reissued with new and revised parts, in some cases, even as an entirely different subject. It happens in 1:1, too! Often the 'tooling' for a 1:1 vehicle gets revised into something else, even if it's been gone a few years! Sometimes, a 'mid life' design is restyled, and the company decides to slap a new name on the existing (but revised) car while they are at it. Here are a few "1:1 Modified Reissues" I can think of- can anybody think of any others. (Note, we're only counting times when a vehicle was 'rehashed' into something else and was passed off as an all new design... not when a new vehicle was released on an existing platform- Falcon spawned the Mustang, etc.) Nash (later just Rambler) Rambler- Discontinued, then brought back with open wheel arches and a different nose in the late '50's. Jeepster- Discontinued in the early '50's then reintroduced with a new front clip in the late '60's. Crofton Bug- Take the out of production Crosley Farm-O-Road, change the grille and hood latches, and bingo! You have an 'all new' product! Just about every late '70's-'80's AMC- The Gremiln and Hornet never died... they were reincarnated as the Concord! 1985 Ford LTD II- A slightly restyled Granada, (which itself was a spin off of the Maverick). '05-'08 GM "U-Vans", '04- Up Ford Freestar/Mercury Monterey- Take the Chevy Venture, Pontiac Montana, and Oldsmobile Silhouette, slap on some butt ugly pug nose front ends, give them a trendy name like "Crossover Sport Van", and rename them the Chevy Uplander, Pontiac Montana SV6, and Buick Terraza! Unless you're Ford... then rehash the Windstar, rename it Freestar, and give Mercury a version to sell while you're at it. Boom! Way to achieve sales chart mediorcrity! '04-up Buick Ranier- When rebadged Oldsmobile Bravadas are made, Buick will build them. '08-up Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable- So the Five Hundred and Montego aren't selling as well as you'd hoped? NO worry! Just restyle the front, rear, and interior, do a little mechanical spruce-up, and re-christen them the Taurus and Sable... you know, the names of the designs they were originally meant to replace! (Ex-Studebaker Avanti) Avanti II- This would kind of be like a Lindberg '34 Ford pickup kit in 1:1... somebody else did all the design and engineering work, but it wasn't the most recent company to manufacture it! Caterham 7- How good an idea was the Lotus 7? Must've been pretty good... Caterham still makes them nearly five decades after Lotus gave up on them!

I'm a big fan of rebuilding 'glue bombs' and started kits as well- I've gotten a few rare old annual kits and long OOP pieces for a fraction of their 'book value', in some cases, even for less than the cost of a current Lindberg or AMT reissue! I know for a fact that's about the only way I'll ever end up with some of my holy grail kits... without bankrupting myself!

I can also reccomend Don at Modelhaus. Short of going with an all new body, Don's roof sections are the way to go!

I like where this one's going!

I'd say raid a buddy's spares box. I'm pretty sure somebody makes a decal set- but there have GOT to be many, many unused AMT General Lee decal sheets that could be yours simply for the asking!

Forgot Cars & Parts... great source for reference on weathered vehicles!

Well, I've yet another Farmall shell, and I'm still planning having a mold made for casting, but... if you just want to make your own, keep your eyes peeled for a future issue of MCM!

Incredible work- I've never had good luck with that Retractable kit- maybe I should try this!

Yep- the '70 Super Bee Pro Street ($7.00 Wal-Mart edition... the one thing I miss about shopping there ). I think the blower, carbs, and air cleaners (it USED to have two! ) came from a Charger 500 or Daytona by AMT. What you can't see are the nasty, huge chips in the passenger's fender and the layer of dust in the cab. I'm thinking version 2.0 is just around the corner, but I'll use a second kit and display the 'new' one with this one.

Modeling!? You madman!!!!

I always find it funny when I see military guys in green uniforms... in the desert, and tan uniforms... in the jungle. What's the point of camo if you aren't going to utilize it? Anyway, I love this truck! I've yet to enter into the military modeling fray. They're one of my favorite modeling subjects to look at, though, and this one is very cool!

Scratchbashed!!!!

Like it! An F-150 in it's natural surroundings.

I was never aware that this kit was retooled in that manner- I've seen a Jolly Roger built up, but always assumed it was a scratchbuilt job! It is kind of nice AMT restored the original parts. Now, I just might have to look for that Jolly Rodger, just for fun! Yeah- it is funny how there was a huge collector market for the Hillbillies Olds, yet when it was reissued, it was a monumental flop. (Didn't stop me from buying fifteen of the things, though. )

I still don't get it... when The X-Files came out, AMT/Ertl didn't say "Hey, Mulder and Skully drive a Taurus... let's turn our SHO into a rental-fleet trimmed model, slap an X-Files logo on the box, and rake in the bucks!" But it appears that's what MPC did, even though Barnabas had no hot rod! Not saying a base-model early '90's Taurus kit wouldn't be of interest to anybody,but still...

Same here... both times. The modern-style customs in Custom Rodder still influence quite a few of my modeling projects to this day. I'm also a big fan of Car and Driver- not so much for modeling inspiration as for the sharp wit of John Phillips! The magazines which DO inspire my modeling are Model Cars Magazine (well, duh!!!!!), and 'those other two' (One's title rhymes with Sail Otto, the other with Wine Snail Toddler). Others include... Old Skool Rods Rebel Rods (which, I believe John Teresi's dad is involved with) Hot Rod Rod & Custom Street Rodder Custom Classic Trucks Vintage Truck Rodder's Journal Hot Rod Deluxe Amusin Cruisin' (Spin off of Rebel Rods and recently canceled) Jp (They're Jeep only, but they are almost as entertaining to read as the late Stuff) And the few old 'little page' publications I have

Well, you can use it for parts to restore a glue-bomb MPC Chevy.... A Vampire Van reissue will be donating most of its chassis parts to this one. The reissues can be gotten for pretty cheap prices, far less than a sealed original Panel, or even an original VV. Or, you could do something really nutty, and turn the Vampire Van into a '32 Chevy Pickup Rat Rod... Combine it with a few more spare '32 Cabriolet parts, and you could even do a replica stock or rod pickup version, if you weren't against a little scratchbuilding and kitbashing! (For a detailed analasis on the meaning of these two terms, see Harry's recent post! )

Three words... Barnabas Vampire Van. Why MPC chose to take a kit that could have had a long and sucessful life as a replica stock,light commerical, or rod model took it and butchered it into a promotional tie-in for a TV series which didn't even have a vehicle that resembled it has always confounded me! Sure, the Vampire Van is pretty cool for what it is... but wouldn't you really rather have the '32 Chevy Panel back?

I've seen the misuse and mix-up of "scratchbuild" and "kitbashed", but the one that always makes me chuckle is when a model is presented as "box-stock".... except for the wheels, intake, decals, and tires from other kits. Forgive me if I'm mistaken here, but doesn't 'box stock' mean, well, BOX STOCK!? I'm rather fond of the ones who add the "Copyright 1989 Revell-Monogram" engraving, or whatever, to various parts. Really kicks it up a notch or two!

Dig the Farmall 300 radiator shell!

Man, that thing is AWESOME! Looks kind of like the space shuttle.

Very cool and thoughtful build. A model with a purpose! Who knew all the colors from those ribbons would work so well on one hot rod?