Chuck Most

If you don't like it, you don't need to buy it. Obviously, the kit manufacturer sees a demand for it, so it's coming back. I don't recall it ever being chiseled into a slab of granite that scale modeling has to be about building a painstakingly realistic replica of an actual vehicle. If people want it, and it'll make money for the manufacturer... fine and dandy. Doesn't matter if you or I don't want one. As far as a subject being a waste of effort- oh well. I feel the same way whenever another muscle car or Corvette kit is released. Not my thing, but I'm still happy to see them, because I know a lot of people out there WILL be quite happy with them. And if subjects like that sell and pad the manufacturer's bottom line a bit, maybe they'll put out something I do want.

Today was a good day.... The Freightshaker and Diamond REO are the recent Round 2 reissues, but the American LaFrance is a mid '80's reissue. I"m really pleased with the White Western Star, though... it's an original '74 kit... dinky Goodyear tires, crappy decal sheet, crunched box, and all.

I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but a friend turned me onto it a couple of hours ago. Billy Joel... in a late '60's psychedelic metal band with a penchant for pipe organs. Yes, it's every bit as awful as you think it is after reading that. But... I just... can't.... stop....listening....

Well.... Right off the bat, it's a little bit smaller than 1:25. Not by much, but enough to drive you crazy if you tend to notice such things. Crude by today's standards, and maybe a little crude even by '61 standards, compared to other kits I've seen from that time period. Worst thing is the bed- for some reason, it has two semi-circular open notches at the front end, where it sits against the back of the cab. In it's favor, the basic shapes and features are right, but it'll take a little effort to get it to really look good, even if all you want is a curbside shelf model that will never meet an on-duty contest judge. All in all, I wouldn't say it's the worst kit I've ever seen, but it's pretty far from the best. I know a guy who has one he built back when it was new- I'll see if I can get pics. Seems like this kit is so obscure today there aren't even any good pictures of a built up example online.

The headlight bezels and frame were anodized aluminum, the insert was plastic.

There is (was) a 1:25 plastic kit of one. It was released by Premiere in 1961. Good luck finding one today, though.

Looks like GM flushing more money down the toilet.

It'll never win a race, but if you need to locate a dead yak along the fence row and there's three feet of snow... it's the perfect machine.

Ah... turbine mags, side pipes, chopped t-bar roof... if this thing were any more '70's it would include a KC and The Sunshine Band 8-track.

Well, mine will have a modified Hilborn setup- I just used that particular pic to illustrate how cool that unassuming little Ztec can look under the right circumstances.

I believe this one was retooled to the ZZ Top Eliminator in the early '80's. Who knows- maybe Revell will bring it back in its original form one of these days, but I'm not about to start holding my breath for that day to come.

You forgot.... add EVERY optional part to the car, no matter what it does to the final appearance of the car.

Internet forums are a form of social media....

http://stores.tjscustomcastings.com/

I keep the majority of my models in an unused upstairs bedroom- they still get dusty, but not too bad. You start to notice a fine film of dust on them after a few months. I do dust them off regularly just the same. Downstairs is another matter- they get dusty in as little as a week. All my models are stored on open shelves- though a handful of my favorites are inside Johan and Lindberg display cases.

THIS is the only '77 Fury I've managed to find online-

Probably just basic, semigloss black like the rest. I'm trying to resist the typical "slather it with shiny stuff" route people usually take with customized tractors.

Yikes! Talk about a blast from the past. Here's another pic of it with it's constant companion, a rat-rod '55 Willys pickup, in my old photo background. I used the same green paint on both of them.

STILL going to get the '16, B&P or not. People can scoff at the build and play kits all they like, but they do make pretty good shelf models when painted and detailed, just like any other curbside kit. Sometimes subject matter just trumps the kits shortcomings. But Revell can keep the more detailed, higher-parts count snap kits coming too, if they're at least as good as this one.

I had a Revell snap Kenworth in the stash. Forgot all about it. Said KW kit comes with a pretty nice set of diamond plate rear fenders. Also, completely forgot about those. I think they might look alright on the LoneStar, though...

The next time you watch some early episodes of Knight Rider (I'm talking early, first five or six episodes of season one), keep an eye on the nose of the car- it can have three different front bumper covers in as many scenes, and there's also what appears to be bracketry for a tow bar that comes and goes completely at random.

Or how about a 2.0 Ztec with Hilborn injection? I've got one from a Revell Focus SVT that I've reworked for a RWD application. I planned to put it in a Revell '31 Model A.... but I just might save it for when this kit is out.

Yes, I'm quoting my own post, but the emblem I was asking about reads "Diesel". Stumbled across a good, clear image a little while ago. On another note, here are almost 2,000 pictures of various C-Series fire trucks- http://www.flickr.com/groups/897982@N21/pool/

It would be a good choice for an updated truck, but the 385-series didn't come out until 1968. A 370 version was eventually used in the medium duty Fords, but I think that came after the N-Series was discontinued... though I may be wrong on that.

The body proportions look WAY more accurate than the Jada diecast. Separate bed rails and hood vents are a nice touch- should make detail painting them much easier. As someone who's always had mixed results tinting kit glass the factory-tinted rear unit is a good move. Looks like a step or two up from the '90's era Snap Tite kits, which were pretty good to begin with. To be honest, though, I'd still be buying a few even if they were closer to the Build And Play kits.