Chuck Most

Ah, the quarter eliptic spring setup, few things look cooler on a rod! One minor thing- I'm not sure radius rods are necessary with such a setup, since the springs themselves locate the axle- at least I've never seen a quarter eliptic set up with radius rods. Are you going to run tube or early-Ford style friction shocks?

Man, I LOVE the grille! That's the most killer nose I've seen on a scale rod in a very long time!

How the H-E-double hockey stick did I miss THAT? Still... don't want to know. Again, great setup with the headlamps. Way to prove the naysayers (if there were any) wrong... this is a sweet little street rod!

Maybe this year I ought to check out the Le Mans. With my personal abandonment of NASCAR and NHRA, the lack of much good televised WRC races (usually on the air when I'm stuck at work), and the like, I'm really bumming to see some racing! Yeah, I know that the LeMans cars aren't production based, but the technology is current, unlike the four-speeds and carbs in "stock" cars. Not only that, Le Mans racers are some impressive looking machines, as well!

That's a fact... I tried to turn the Scout II into an A800 Scout. It ain't happenin', kids! You're better off starting with a scratchbuilt body and using the Scout II kit to fill in the blanks. Thanks for the info guys... now I just need to find one of those SSII versions! The underhood "detail" innacuracies wouldn't be so noticable if there were things like a heater box, brake cylinder, reservoirs, ect., to cover it all up. I've relied heavily on my parts box to fix this area on the last three of these I've built.

I was wondering if anyone knew about the history of the AMT International Scout II kit. Things like when it was first released, reissued, revised, ect. It was most recently reissued with a '78-'79 style grille, but the photo on the instruction sheet shows an earlier grille, which leads me to think it may have been an "annual" type kit at one time. Also, the misshapen hood and grille and a weird, pan shaped mold mark on the outside of the interior tub make me wonder if it was a modified A-series Scout, or if it was originally intended to be an A-Scout but AMT's management changed their mind halfway through?

They just reissued the old Optimus Prime toy from the late '80's- I had one back in the day. I'm thinking of getting a new one! It'll look sweet next to my Kill Bill action figures!

Hardest build.... does it count if it isn't finished yet, and will possibly never be finished? Some that fall into that category: AMT '69/'66 Riviera hybrid ('69 Body and interior melded with the more detailed chassis from the '66... sounds pretty easy to pull off until ya try it!) Jimmy Flintstone '51 Buick Chopper Head custom.- The body is pretty much done, the chassis (old Jo Han Olds promo) is close enough for now. Now, I've just got to figure out the windows and make up an interior tub. I'm on my third try for that last one. Tamiya '86 Mazda RX-7- I don't know why, both of these I've attempted to build ended in disaster. Jo Han "Pro Street" Rambler- not because the kit was fully detailed or had lots of parts or anything, but the thing was flash city! There was probably as much plastic in the flash as the rest of the entire kit! AMT '50 Ford Convt.- Riddled with flash (see above Rambler rant), plus many warped and not fully molded parts. I had to raid a couple of '49 kits to get it to end up decent. Not good, just decent. About the hardest kits I've done that actually turned out well were: AMT '41 Plymouth (chopped top, custom grille treatment, and lots and lotsa shaving) AMT '41 Plymouth (installing a 6.1 Hemi from a Magnum SRT, Big and little Billet wheels, adapting interior parts from a Prowler, '57 Ford, and '05 Chrysler 300C) Galaxie Limited/Jimmy Flintstone '47 Chevrolet Barnette Hearse (streching the chassis, floor pan, and interior floor/sides about 48 scale inches) AMT '28 Lincoln Touring Car (Lots of small, fiddly parts, and all the excessive flash did not help much!)

Good God, man... this thing is beautiful!

Oh... help with PAINT! Thought you meant something else entirely, Gregg!

Not only is it crude, but on the last one I built, the wheelbase was too long. If built straight out of the box, the front wheels sat WAAAAAAAY too far forward, like on an old Funny Car. It's a pretty simple fix to drill some new holes to the rear of the molded in ones, but it still makes you wonder what somebody was thinking!

I've never met a rat I wanted exterminated. Allow me to throw more praise toward your headliner designs- that's awesome!

I like the cut down Sedan body, and I even like the Jag six. I'd rather see a Flathead or Y-block, but you's de boss! This one will be sweet when it's done. I know this because it's pretty sweet where it stands now!

This one IS awesome. A 2CV gasser would have been cool as well. I'm just happy that some rich boy's Ferarri had to die to create it!

FINALLY! A good use for a flip-nose Effie kit! This one's gonna be cool.

Moving Citation! Ha! I get it! No, wait... NOW I get it. Nicely done- those look like Bandit Resins amps in the trunk. My mom had an '84 Citation 4-door when I was a kid. I can't fathom why Monogram did a kit of it, but it's good they did, or we'd have never gotten to see this one.

Or, it was those frakin' cylons, man!

I remember when Saab brought out the 9-7x (read, sexier Trailblazer SS), and all the Detroit Free Press and Lansing State Urinal...uh, JOURNAL boys were fawning over how GM had so thoughtfully moved the ignition switch to the console... as if that alone were enough to make Granny's Trailblazer into a Saab! The car magazines, on the other hand, took the 9-7 for what it was... a nicely done urban SUV, but came to this conclusion: "Senator, you're no Saab." The newspaper reviews were more entertaining than educating! I don't really like the look of the new Camaro, but then again, I'm one of the two or three people on the planet who doesn't like the look of the first gen Camaros. Bluntly, I LOVE seeing '67-69 Camaros destroyed in movies. But on the other hand, I hated the new Challengers, too, but I find that they're starting to grow on me. You know, sort of like melanoma. Maybe the new Camaro will grow on me as well. At any rate, I'd rather be forced to look at new Camaros all day than another dull, lifeless Malibu, Avenger, Taurus, Accord, ect.

I've got a few of these kits stashed away, as well as a couple Monogram '41's. I really like the "Monsoon Maroon"!

iTunes? 8-tracks? Puh-leeze! LPs are where it's at! Some of the vinyl spinning while I'm at the bench: AC-DC: Back in Black and For Those About to Rock We Salute You Black Sabbath: Heaven and Hell Dokken: Under Lock & Key Megadeth: Killing is my Business... and business is good! and Peace Sells, But who's Buying. Anthrax: Spreading The Disease Kansas: Audio Visions Alice Cooper: Alice Cooper Goes To Hell Aerosmith: Toys in the Attic Queens of the Stone Age: Songs For the Deaf (yes- it was released on a special 2-disc LP set in 2003) Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison Pink Floyd: Animals Cassettes? I've got a few cassettes- REM- Document Sepultura- Beneath the Remains/Arise Six Feet Under- Warpath Chrysler Audio System 1989 Marilyn Manson- Smells Like Children And I have yet to abandon the LP's spiritual successor, the CD, and 95% of my tunes are still "stored" in that manner, including: Neil Young, Metallica, Death Angel, Pink Floyd, Pantera, Apocalyptica (from the cello Metallica covers era), Marilyn Manson, Blues Traveler, Depeche Mode, W.A.S.P., Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Nirvana, Candlebox, Slipknot, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Mudvayne, Guns n' Roses (still too afraid to check out Chinese Democracy), and others too numerous to mention. NOT RECCOMMENDED LISTENING WHEN MODELING (OR HANDLING ANY SHARP OBJECTS): Megadeth- Good Mourning/Black Friday George Thorogood- Killer's Bluez Anything by Slayer Anything by Cannibal Corpse (the Chris Barnes era stuff in particular!) Classical Music (ever subconciously started swinging that exacto like a conductor's baton? I have. That's why they call me "Left Eye") Anything by Eminem I personally avoid "Beach Boys" style music and '50's do-wop, because I've heard enough of this junk at 1:1 car shows to tide me over for three or four lifetimes.

That '37? (looks more like a '38 in the photo) Ford pickup will most definitely be meeting my workbench. The '72 Cutlass would as well, if it weren't a convertible. Yeah, I know, I'm one of the 30 or 40 people on Earth who'd rather opt against a drop top. Maybe I'll get my hardtop '72 Cutty somtime down the road. The rest of what I could see I was either lukewarm or totally apathetic about, but that doesn't mean one or two of THOSE won't end up in my grubby little mitts! Still no damned '87 Cutlass, as far as I saw! I know it's little more than a glorified curbside, but my attempt to make one from an MPC Class Action Monte Carlo ended in complete and all-encompassing failure!!!!

Ah-HA!!!! Saving money by using bland, lifeless designs... THAT'S why Ford is the only one of the big three still afloat! (Hey, after years of listening to all these Chevy lovers, It's my turn to be smug!) Then again, the new Pontiacs are kinda jelly-beanish... uh-oh.

Daily beaters: 1998 Mercury Tracer (aka T-Racer) with 300,000 miles on the clock, most of it's Atlantic blue paint gone, and about to break in half from rust damage. 1994 Ford F-250 Regular Cab XLT pickup- temporarily in limbo cuz I don't want to fill two tanks three times a month. Projects: 1967 Plymouth Fury I - Ran and drove when I bought it in 2002... not running or driving now. 1978 International Scout II- Basically a rotten tub on a good chassis, with the impossible-to-find-parts-for Nissan Diesel. Hasn't run or driven since Regan was in office... probably won't ever run again with my name on the title, judging from past experiences. Ones that got away: 1966 Olds Cutlass, 1981 Lincoln Town Car, 1985 Ranger, 1996 Cutlass, 1996 Plymouth Neon, 1967 Chevrolet Impala, Suzuki Nomad 340 Snowmobile.

I've noticed the stuff called "Bright Chrome" seems to be sturdier than the regular "Chrome" BMF. I've gotten the "dry lake bed" looking sheets before, and they usually get relegated to small script, reflector, and masking duty. One very minor hangup about the Bright stuff- It tends to want to curl into a circle like Elvis' lip when you peel it off the backing- that does take some getting used to at first. A few tricks for preserving a GOOD sheet of BMF; Keep it in a cool and dry place, NOT the bookshelf by the sunny window just above the humidifier, in it's original envelope, in a sealable Zip-Lock type bag- this seems to help extend it's shelf life. And I try to keep mine hung up on a cork board with a push pin (ABOVE the foil sheet and not THROUGH it, naturally) , to minimize the chance of it getting kinked. I'm with a lot of you guys- at eight bucks a sheet, I wanna get my money's worth out of it!!!!

With that V-10 Engine, slick paint, and all that custom bodywork... Gawd, I don't wanna know. I like the taillamp setup, Alyn. Simple, but oh-so-effective!