SteveG

From the Drastic Plastic Fotki albums, Here's The Californian original Box Art And a very cleanly built model from the same album -Steve

The last time the Californian kit was issued, the Beatles were still performing live. Underneath that love it or hate it Harry Bradley designed body is basically a stock MPC 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado kit. The Surf Shark Caddy now gives us a stock '59 Miller Meteor Combination body to work with. Those Safe-T-Vu roof lamps have never been done in scale before. Jamie hinted that there's another version coming. This kit is based on AMT's Ecto-1A which still leaves the Polar Lights Ecto-1 in the tooling bank. -Steve

All new tooling I-6 without the big axle hole, otherwise it's a straight up clone of the original customizing kit with the addition of a separate battery, radiator and brake cylinder. Plus the kit will be jam packed with all the Customizing parts and Accessory items jut like the original. -Steve

It comes with both a Manual Trans engine block and the Automatic on separate trees. -Steve

The Drag Hemi display engine will be included along with all the Customizing parts from what I've seen. -Steve

Other than the body and trim parts it's pretty much a stock Toronado underneath. The dash was slightly modified but passes for stock. If there were any gates to be unblocked it would be on the plated tree, but I wouldn't expect to see any stock bumpers included with this kit. -Steve

It's from some existing tooling, last issue of the MPC Toronado as Rob stated. -Steve

This will be the second version of the kit, I wouldn't say final or full detail to describe it. Yes, it will have an actual engine plus a trailer and many other parts just like the original customizing kit did. You could never compare it to a modern full detail kit with separate everything, I think expanded parts count better describes it. It's everything you liked about the first issue plus a lot more. -Steve

The pan notch wouldn't work in this case, The six cylinder engine sits deep enough in the chassis to require a hole through the engine block which I'm pretty sure was eliminated for the upcoming issue. Still no need to totally scratch build a wheel mounting pin, if you take a trip to your local hardware store or home-center you'll find there's a finishing nail size that's the perfect substitute for making stub axles or pins, just trim them to length. You might even already have some if your the household handyman like me. Of course since I switched to an air-nailer a few years back I can't find that box of nails now that I wanted to demonstrate it. -Steve

Those release dates are approximate at best. The AMT 1971 Ford Mustang Mach I will be molded in white this time and includes an expanded decal sheet with more stripe options. The AMT 1937 Chevy "Salt Shaker" will have it's unique parts restored. -Steve

This is a pre-production sample built by Mike Wherry. There's everything in it to build it as a 442 except the sway bar, along with all the original parts. The 442 related parts are newly tooled added pieces. For those who want to build it like the original F85 Cutlass kit just shave the 442 badges and use the original drivetrain parts still included. You could call it a 4n1 as I'm told the extra parts will be mentioned in the instructions somewhere. Box Art is loosely based on the the original '64 F85 Cutlass annual issue. I hope this clears up any confusion. -Steve

Hi Casey, The Model King builds are fairly easy to list as I still have them all; '64 Plymouth's Light Blue/white 6cyl, Copper Met. V8 (MK/Lindberg) Pearl White-Blue Fade Olds Pro Stock "Chill Factor" (MK/Revell) Nostalgic Drag Set Black '79 Ford Bronco and Trailer (MK/AMT) Med Blue Met. '78 Ford pickup (MK/AMT) Butternut Yellow '70 Buick Wildcat (MK/AMT) Sherwood Green '59 Imperial Conv. (MK/AMT) Yellow-green 72 Chevy Blazer (MK/AMT) I'm a little fuzzier on the Hawk-Lindberg builds as Jodi didn't return a lot of them as agreed, but the ones I remember are; Police Chargers, Texas DPS and Philly PA, 1/16th scale Mercedes and Stutz Racers, Three '32 Ford Hot Rods, 1/32nd ALF Fire Engine, 1/12th scale Fiat Dragster and the 1/8th Competition Coupe prototype that was never developed but the box and model were shown. Before that I did six for Racing Champs (AMT/Ertl) they used five, and few for Moebius since but Dave builds most of them himself. Throw in all the test shots and Trade Show display models over the last twenty years or about and it becomes too many to remember. -Steve

Yes, the Bruce Larson 74 Vega should be out in August but it's the Stock '64 Olds Cutlass 442 - F85 Hardtop not the Streaker AWB that's next. Unfortunately the AWB chassis for that kit is long gone and would need to be cloned if there's any hope of bringing it back. -Steve

I agree with Mark, most of the issue is in the windshield opening, Dave is aware of it and will work to get it corrected. That's the point of test shots is to look for issues before production ramps up. Although not everything is necessarily correctable after the tooling is cut, I think this one will get fixed. -Steve

Looks like test shots of the Moebius 65 Chevy II drag version to me. Probably not going to be the first release though. If they stick to their normal game plan I would expect you'll see a stock Chevy II version available fourth quarter of this year, assuming no unusual delays. Steve

Looks like the 10 hole wheels are optional per the test shot photos and Tim's original comments. -Steve

I'd say that the tooling questions on the Nova Wagon have been clearly answered. Thanks Mike and Tim !!

Casey, I can tell you for a fact that it's 100% new tooling created by cloning the original parts. It was created and tooled at a location that didn't have access to what was left of the old tools. Any injector pin marks or similar artifacts that appear to line up are pure coincidence in the tooling process. The upcoming Transtar CO4070A Cabover release is also 100% all new and it was done with same process at the same location. You can bet you'll see more new releases like this coming from Round2 in the near future. -Steve

Actually the official Government Holiday started on Feb 11 and ran until Feb 17 . Manufacturing shuts down there anywhere from two to four weeks and many Chinese workers use this shutdown time to change jobs so there's a hiring and ramp-up time to consider. Closest comparison in the US would be Auto Plant shutdowns for model changeover. CNY is nothing like our typical three day holiday weekend. Steve

Typically kits are available around six weeks after the the productions samples are received. Based on when this thread started you'd be looking at the end of March or early April assuming the Chinese New Year Holiday didn't delay the shipping. Distribution will start from their West Coast Warehouse. Steve

No hints here Casey, just coincidence as far as I know. I'm a big fan of both Municipal and Work vehicles in scale and would encourage Round2 to do more if given the chance. It wouldn't take that much more work to bring us that Indiana State Patrol 67 Impala as a kit though. -Steve

With a combination of the S/N and SS Impala kits you would have a great start on building one of these Indiana State Patrol '67 Impala's. It even makes use of the bumper guards the front corner lamps. The only think I don't I 've seen in scale are those Police Package Center caps.

Based on what they've done so far, it should have the 6 cylinder copied straight from the original issue Customizing kit with the exception of having the axle hole filled in. Steve

First off, they didn't just retool the body. They basically retooled the whole kit. Now before you consider it a waste of resources, look at some of what's required to create an all new modern tooled classic car kit. From the drawing board to the store shelves can take up to two years, more is not unusual. The price tag is typically well north of 100K and then you have to find a clean original 1:1 example to measure and/or scan to create all the needed 3D drawings part by part. Then there's 3D printed samples to check and it goes on from there. To reverse engineer a rare, long lost kit biggest hurdle is finding a pristine sample to copy. The rest of the work can be done in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of the cost. As for creating a hybrid of the 63 Nova Wagon body with say the current 66 Nova kit sounds intriguing at first, they just don't share enough parts to make it work cost wise. Which brings us right back to making an all new tool. Now there are a lot of modern tools with by creating some new parts could be nicely expanded on. Round 2 could give us a 68 Impala SS for about the same amount of work and cost as did to do the Supernatural 67 Impala 4Dr hardtop. There are so many more examples that it would deserve it's own thread but let's get back to this kit. Bottom lines is that Round 2 wanted to bring back this particular kit, warts and all. I'm really glad they did, and I'm thankful they made the effort to make some modest improvements. Think about that first discussion that must of started off with "wouldn't it be cool if we could bring back the 63 Nova Wagon kit" then consider the all the possibilities that could come after that ... -Steve

This is a re-tooled copy of the original Craftsman kit with some modest improvements. Round 2 is calling it Craftsman Plus. Updates include clear headlamps and clear red tail lamp lens that have been added along with a side view mirror. Kit style wheel covers, wheel backs and tires instead of the original promo style pieces. Glass is now two separate front and rear pieces. The front metal axle is replaced by pins. There's also a couple of optional interior accessories included and all new decal sheet with some "fun" commercial graphics and along with the instrument face and body scripts for those who prefer them over paint or foil. The box is a tribute to the original packaging. The rest will be identical to the original Craftsman kit. There will be another version Nova Wagon kit that will include an engine and other items like the original 3n1 release that's about a year out. I do not have the full details of that version yet but it's being based on the original release. Both of these are are being packaged as nostalgic items, not modern tooling. Round 2 is considering more of these recreations of other long lost classic kits, all depending on how well this and another similar item coming out does sales wise. Personally I can't wait to get my hand on one, my very first model was an AMT Craftsman kit. I hope they bring back more... -Steve