Chuck Most

I'd love one of those... or the earlier 'frog faced' c-cab trucks that came before them.

Yes- the 727 Torqueflite automatic tranny! Don't see why you'd need an awful lot of room in that engine compartment for this tranny, but okay... You're so silly, Abe ! And yes, I do get what you say about military 'style'. I think. Maybe.

Is the body going to be removable? It would be a shame to cover up all that gorgeous work on the chassis!

Allow me to reiterate everyone else's favorite feature: Nice stance! Looking awesome so far...

1. 1994 Honda Accord... why!? 2. 1995 Honda Civic... same as above, I wouldn't steal one of these snooze boxes if my very life depended on it! 3. 1989 Toyota Camry... again, why? Can't be much demand for 20 year old 'Yota parts! 4. 1997 Ford F-150 Pickup... this I can see- millions on the road, so there's the sheer number, and plenty of opportunities to sell some parts via the 'black market'. 5. 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup... as often as these things break, it's a wonder the owners aren't PRAYING for these turds to get stolen! 6. 2000 Dodge Caravan... same as the Ram, exept it's a lame-o family box. Again, I'd rather flee on foot than go through the effort of stealing one of these. 7. 1996 Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee... yeah, I'd steal a 'Chero. Two door with the 4.0 and the 5-speed manual, if I could find one. 8. 1994 Acura Integra... I can't even look directly at one of these things, much less steal one. 9. 1999 Ford Taurus... see above, I wouldn't even steal a '96-'98 SHO (my luck, the camshafts would break while the cops were after me...) 10. 2002 Ford Explorer... like the F-150, sheer numbers and shady parts souces. Probably mostly applies to the four door- all the better reason to get the Sport or Sport Trac version. None of my vehicles on the list. And none that I would personally steal myself, I may add. Here's my 10 vehicles I'd love to steal: 1. Aston Martin Vanquish 2. '08-'09 Mustang Bullitt 3. Troy Trepanier's '60 Rambler 'Rumbler' Pro-Streeter 4. Bugatti Veyron 5. Bandit-era Trans Am 6. Gray Baskerville's '32 Roadster 7. Bigfoot (any of the 23 or so they have built) 8. Anything from Vern Tardel's shop 9. '93-'98 Lincoln MkVIII 10. The federation starship Enterprise

They had skull radiator caps as far back as the '30's. Well- okay, Ed Iskenderian did, and he cast it himself in shop class, but still, a skull shifter isn't that far fetched! Glad to see you went with a Flattie- though for future reference if you want to do a Nailhead powered rod, the one in the AMT '66 Riviera (stock or lowrider version, doesn't matter) is really nicely done, though the simplified one from the '40 Panel delivery is pretty good as well, and features a period-style Ford manual gearbox. The Riv motor is stock and lashed to an automatic tranny, but many kits include Nailhead speed parts (I'm sure there are a few aftermarket guys with Nailhead stuff as well) that adapt well to this engine, and a simple razor saw is all you need to remove the autobox and sling whatever four-speed you like behind it! I've bought five or six of these kits JUST for that engine. Sad, really...

Replicas and miniatures of Maryland makes some resin spark plug tubes for flatheads- how you can run the wire through them without shattering them is beyond me! Like how you scratched yours- just might have to steal that method for one of my builds...

Thank you, David! I've long pondered a Regal El Camino build, but since you're already doing it- saves me the trouble! Maybe if Revell ever gets around to launching that '87 Cutlass I'll do something- I've always wanted to do an Olds Camino as well!

Well- I guess you have a point about the AAR 'Cuda... maybe we'll give the new AMT a crack at that one! As for the '57 Chevys... they're like the black death. I still think the old AMT kit was the best example ever. The '32 Fords by Revell- In my opinion, there STILL aren't enough variations on this one! (Fordor sedan and/or Deuce pickup, anyone?) I'm still hoping for the drop-top Cutty as well... AND the '87 Supreme. Don't care if it has a pancake engine or not- I want it!

I got one for $16.99 at my local K-Mart, and just picked up another one as a parts donor at my LHS for about a buck and a half more. The '68 Mustang prices out about the same at both places around where I live. Still paying out the arse for the "Special Edition" kits like the '64 Fairlane, but it seems like the shops are keeping the regular Revell issues like the Jeep CJ-7, '41 Chevy pickup, and '50 Ford F-1s prices in check.

Somebody else shares my impatience... What kind of engine does this thing have in it?

I can actually live with a bad kit. Hey- I grew up building reissued AMT annual kits ! I don't recall it ever being chiseled into rock that a kit HAS to be accurate! Yes, the really bad kits bother me, but for the most part, only the 'Trekkie Types' among us will get too worked up over it. I'd rather see a substandard kit of a car I like, such as this Challenger, than a well done kit of a car I could give less about (like, say, the Black Widow kit). For the money they spent on making yet ANOTHER '57 Chevy kit -yawn- you'd think they could've tooled up an actual kit of the AAR 'Cuda!

Funny- I built this kit with a 440 as well (From the AMT '71 Charger kit). Didn't seem like much of a stretch, as the 1:1 Scouts ran Mopar 727s. (Related note: If you want to jazz up the featureless Scout's transmission, the tranny pan from the Charger kit is a pretty good stand-in.) I usually just leave the IH 345 in 'em, though. It's not a very powerful or economical engine- but they run forever. Think of them as a Slant six, only with twice the slant and two extra cylinders!

I recently did likewise- I still haven't got the 1/25 '67 A-800 I yearn for! Sheesh- couldn't Revell or somebody do a Scout kit, instead of thirty or forty more '57 Chevy and Nova variations!? Or better still, a Travelall or a '39 D-series pickup. Yeah- build the '39 stock, or as the recent D-Max diesel powered street rod built for the show circuit by International? Yep, I'd buy a few o' them!

Great job- particularly on the stance! The Revell Mustangs have always suffered from the too tall stance and those ###### featureless, clunky truck tires! And the paint may not be correct, but it looks the part anyway! I sure wish Ford would stop making Dark Highland Green unavailable on non-Bullitt Mustangs! I wanted to buy a 1:1 Bullitt last summer- I could have afforded the payments AND insurance, but I'd probably be flat broke when the time came to gas up! Plus, I didn't want to spend another three years at my job to pay it off! I'll settle for my Revell rendition for now!

I'm starting to eye that '86 El Camino kit in my stash and wonder if that four-cam Ford Mod motor from the AMT Phantom Vicky kit would fit... ... or perhaps the supercharged Shelby 5.4? No, maybe kitbash a couple of mod V8s into a Triton V-10...

the stance, the weathering, the flatmotor, and those pipes... killer, man! Just killer.

I've got one of these bodies, too- it's a 1951 Buick 'Chopper Head' custom. I was going to open the hood on mine, but I wussed out and am going to do it as a curbside. Right now, it's on a JoHan Olds promo chassis, and has a '57 Buick grille and tri-bar headlights. Still haven't figured out the glass or interior. The body is supposed to use an AMT '51 Chevy as a donor kit... right! Nothing of the chev even comes close to fitting, and the chassis is way too short! I really liked the quality of the body, though- even though it's as thick as a hippo's skull!

So far, so good Fletch!

Couldn't have said it better.

In the Blueprinter reissue, It seems some of the grilles were misidentified (one of the '55 Chevy grilles is actually a '53 or '54 version) but they're very nice! The engines in this issue were not plated, like the Stevens International issue of a few years back- you know, the one that included the Allison v-12 and the T dragster body. But they're still nice, and the lack of plating actually seems to make the details a bit sharper. I just built two of the Pontiac 421s from the Blueprinter issue- one dual quads, one blown and injected, for a club project, and I'm always picking up more of them when I find them (I think I've got five or six of the Blueprinter engines/grilles sets in various levels of 'completeness'.) I only wish they'd included a Ford 427 (Cammer or no, either one's nice) but hey, Revell did a parts pack 427, so all is good! There was another AMT parts pack reissue around 1997 or so, that included the (plated) Allison motor, a plated tubeular hot rod/dragster chassis, and the Drag accessories pack, which included a TV camera but oddly enough not a Christmas tree staging light setup! Also included was a set of plated wheels, including some six-spoke Halibrands with five-spoke no-lug rears. It would be nice to see more of this stuff reissued, if not as stand-alone products, than perhaps as 'bonus' inclusions in full kits.

Well put. So, Kevin- when's the Firefighter ambulance gonna get done?

Awesome, I can't even tell you how many times I've misjudged a drill size!- now somebody needs to come up with the solution to the question "Have you ever carved up a kit into an AFX funny car, carefully and painstakingly test-fitting along the way to make sure the axles were where you wanted them, then after final assembly realized that somehow the wheelbase must've magically shrunk 1/8" between the final test fit and final assembly and now the front tires are almost rubbing the backside of the fender opening even though everything looked perfect before all that?" At least the holes will be the right size now!

Not a car in sight, yes, but it is a diorama, and this is the diorama segment of the board... I don't see a problem. Can't comment much else other than it looks cool, as I know nothing about Mortal Kombat! And to the rest of the guys- Sub-Zero would drive a Crosley or a Nash. Think about it...

Or, just for fun, take a good kit, make it innacurrate as you possibly can, then go back and fix it all! Seriously, happy B-day!