Chuck Most

Thanks guys. It's Tamiya X-13 metallic blue, Bob.

Thanks guys. I didn't know they were- I think I paid 15 bucks for this, still sealed. Maybe rarity? I don't know why anybody would want to pay big bucks for this one when the much-superior Tamiya kit is out there.

This is the Tamiya kit, with a bunch of stuff left off.

This was built from the Penske NASCAR kit. I added the trim for the vinyl top, some side glass, and a few doodads from the spares box.

This is the Gunze Sangyo kit, mostly tossed together out of the box aside from a lowered front end, and Fuchs wheels and tires from a Revell Beetle Cabriolet

Different intake, use a plain Deuce grille shell.... maybe?

Showed the vintage SMP/AMT kit on the box (long bed, side trim, etc..) but contained the Racing Champions Era new-tool kit. Showed the Kelsey-Hays "recall" wheels (were those even available on the Daytona) which were not included in the kit, and the detail photos show several scratchbuilt parts and a chassis from the '70 Super Bee. I don't see how the Rides Magazine '40 Ford is a bait and switch, though... what you saw on the box is exactly what you got.

Years ago, an old farmer was thinking of getting a new "runabout" truck for farm duty. While he was thinking about it, the wife was rear-ended in the family's '49 Mercury sedan. The Mrs. was unhurt, but the Merc was just a tad worse for wear. The wife bought a new '66 Mercury and the farmer took the old family car off her hands. A little work with the torch and a few trips to the scrap yard later... he had his farm runabout. It served faithfully for many years, but now it's looking rundown and more than a little forlorn. And here it is with a similar creation I did a few years ago, but based on the Revell custom Merc' kit.

Just having some fun with a damaged and incomplete AMT kit.

I bought this kit for peanuts because I needed an Olds V8 and transaxle for another project, so I decided to put the rest of the hulk to use as a junker. Other than the mirrors from a Revell Cadillac and the addition of side windows it's box stock.

Nice! And since you didn't say it had to be a GM F-Body, here's the only F-Body of any kind I've built. 1980 Plymouth Volare by Chuck Most, on Flickr

Not much to say, just a box-stock build of the RoG kit. Looks like I'll need to wipe off some super glue fog on the rear windows. Isn't digital photography the best? Pretty impressed with the kit itself overall, though I did need to mess with the driver's side front wheel mounting so that all four tires would sit flat, and had to remove a little material off the hood hinges so they wouldn't bind against the inside of the firewall.

Not much to say here- just a box-stock build of the Ebbro kit. I mixed and matched a few parts and weathered it- I may go back and re-do the rust on the quarters and wear the paint in spots with sanding, but for now it'll do. The only problem I had was my own doing- some super glue got into the hood hinge, so it'll only open about 2mm before it binds. When I build the sedan I'll try not to make that same mistake.

Both of these are based on the MPC Hogan's Heroes jeep kit. The first one has a home-made half cab, diamond plate quarter panel patches, a CJ grille, and the wheels and tires from a Revell Bronco. The second is done as a hunting rig, with a hunting platform made from Plastruct materials and aluminum mesh. Years ago the rotten body tub was replaced with a CJ-5 piece- I got this from a glue-bomb Daisy Duke Jeep. It's done as a long-abandoned hulk, so it's missing a few pieces.

For a while I've had this idea for a '60's-style show rod based on a Willys MB, and just recently finished it up. The body is a modified MPC jeep piece, set up on a Barris Ice Cream Truck chassis. The wheels and tires came from a Revell Thunderbolt, and the engine is a supercharged Ford Y-Block from the Revell '57 Ford stock car. I used the Edelbrock valve covers from the drag version of the wagon, and modified Rat Roaster exhaust. The Jerry can now serves as the fuel tank and the spare tire is from a Jeepster Commando.

All I know is, someone saw a Blastolene Bros. car. And did it all wrong.

No, it has the Freightliner chassis. All of the Italeri Ford and Western Star kits have it- I think the Mack Superliner lookalike (US Power Truck?) has it as well.

This started with the AMT '77 wagon. I used the hood and grille from the MPC '78 to fit an AMC V8 cobbled together from spare Gremlin and Matador stock car kits. Most of the junk in the bed was found in a clearance bin at a hobby shop.

Their Jeep Grand Cherokee kit had it as well. So does their 2CV, come to think of it.

Well... the JK is designed for Jeep's core buyers. Boomers. There. I said it. It has to be softer and less hard-edged than previous Wranglers because older guys are the biggest group of people buying them. They like the idea of being able to go off road if they want, but they don't want something that'll beat the hell out of them on rickety pavement the way their beloved old CJ-5 would have. Sure it has solid axles at both ends, and it certainly has better off-road capability than a Buick Encore, but for the most part it pays only token homage to earlier Jeeps. Wranglers in particular have become like Corvettes, or Harleys, or John Deeres... something people buy more for the name and imagery than for the product itself. That's also why the four-door variant exists. The average owner of a four-door Wrangler would probably be better off with a Liberty, Patriot, or Cherokee, but they bought the Wrangler because it's the Wrangler. Many times, they'll even admit to that. "I looked at a Liberty, but I wanted a 'real' Jeep", whatever that means. Sure, government regulations have a lot to do with it, but so does a drastically changing market. I wonder if Meng would try a classic subject like an old Dodge? With all the activity Meng has shown in the light-truck sector it might be worth considering for them, but I also hope they'll stick with late model stuff. Could a Ram 2500 Power Wagon be a possibility? Now, as far as the kit itself. I'm extremely interested... though I dare say I'm not sure what to think about functioning suspension. That kind of thing always seemed gimmicky to me, but I could see that being put to use in a couple of interesting ways so I'll hold off judgement until I have the kit myself and/or have seen a few built up and detailed. I'm happy that a hard top will be included (and I think it would be safe to assume full doors to go with it), and I have every intention of getting a couple initially. I'm not even worried about the price- when reissues of golden oldies from the '60's are going for low $30's, typical Meng prices seem about right for a state-of-the art kit of a current subject. And aside from the exhaust mess-up with the F350 kit, Meng seems more than willing to do the legwork to make their kits accurate... I'm willing to pay for that.

Anyone who can get a gloss black paint job to come out that nicely has my respect.

Here are a few detail shots of the stock Chris Craft engine- the kit engine is a little on the simplified side but it seems like all the major doodads are present and accounted for- http://mccallboatworks.com/chris-craft-hercules-mbl-6-cyl-1958/ The Chris Craft engine was built by Hercules, but I'm not sure which "non-marine" Hercules model it was based from. RXC series, maybe?

Consider it done.

I don't remember all that went into this, so let's just call it a hodge-podge of cast off parts on a scratchbuilt frame, a front-mounted VW engine, a cut down Ferguson grille, and some Cranky decals. It's similar to one I built 8 or 9 years back- I'd originally planned to stick the supercharged engine into that, but decided to build a new model around the new engine instead.

You're a mad man. A MAD MAN, I SAY!!!!