iBorg

This car just looks right, more like an actual car restoration than a model car.

Online research shows the Ridge Runner being released in 1975. MPC offered a 1977 and 1978 Pinto.

Why oh, why did they bring back the AMT Pinto? The MPC kit was heads and heals better.

Please make a set of sawhorses for the body ad leave that chassis for all to see. If I had not watched this build, there is no way I'd believe it was a 1/25 scale model.

I've known the kits history. Growing up, there was a store that seemed to have five or six of each Aurora Battle Aces of the Road. Like most drag racing obsessed kids of the era, I foolishly ignored them. The Ferrari GTO has been re-released by Monogram several times. It seems nicely detailed but the body is typically derided. Another is the Ford GT40, which I also believe has issues. There was also a Chaparral which I know nothing about. Very likely, the Porsche is the best detailed of the lot. Your build looks masterful.

Based upon this kits history, I am quite surprised by the overall detail level. I'm looking forward to this build.

Chop it and you'll have a 2019 Deora.

The Firebird looks like Monogram's. Sold as Prudhomme Pepsi Challenger and Miller High Life Warrior of Dale Pulde.

I'm pretty sure that's a 1953 Ford. Shipping weight was about 3100 pounds. With a 427, it would need to weigh over 5500 pounds to be a NHRA E/G car. As a B/G car, it would need to weigh 3843. I'm not sure when Modified Production started, but it sure looks like a M/P car to me. It's easy to get overly paranoid over the class designation. If you really want to throw the "experts" tell them its either built to AHRA or NASCAR (yes they did run drag cars in the 60's). Very few people are going to have a clue whether you're right or wrong. Adding an AHRA decal would seal the deal.

I think you got the spirit of two or three guys getting together a building a car in 1963 or '64. Its a nice build that apparently fought you along the way.

Seeing where you started from, this is a very impressive build.

That's about $200,000 optimistic. Maybe at NASCAR's zenith but when Bristol closes grandstands and Charlotte takes out seats to give fans more room, this wonderful won't bring that price.

Or you can order boxes from USPS and drop off the ones you ordered and did not use. Whatever you do, don't buy boxes from the post office. Typically they're almost $4 or $5 each and near the same size as the free boxes from the post office. I concur with Michael. free Priority Mail boxes are NOT the same as Flat Rate. I've had success in some cases with Regional A boxes but the Regional Bs have been useless to me as they're almost as expensive as Flat Rate.

Wow...... There's so much to like. MADD skills.

Kurt trust me, I know about being delayed. My shop has been slowly coming out of boxes for the last FOUR years. I'm finally able to connect my spray booth and who knows, maybe even destroy some plastic.

Actually Priority boxes come in a bunch of varieties. The Post Office often only has the flat rate boxes in the lobby. Ask for others. They have the OSHOEBOX which is great for shipping standard 1/25 or 1/24 kits. I often sometimes use Regional A boxes. I use the calculator to determine which is best. It all depends upon distance. Priority Mail 7 boxes are 12 x 12 x 8. I can get three kits in one but four can be a challenge. Fortunately, USPS has gotten better with larger boxes. The used to be a stickler for things measuring over 20 inches in one dimension. That seems to changed. As for flat rate, unless the item is heavy, avoid flat rate. Typically, it seems $5 a box higher than paying actual weight to ship.

Any updates?

A few thoughts. In some ways I compare this to the ALPS printers. When they first came out they did not sell. This was due to several reasons. First off, they needed more computer horsepower than the average computer. In fact, they needed a top of the line computer. If you could connect it, I think an iPhone 8 would power it. In addition, the software to create the required files was very uncommon when the ALPS was in production. Many high schools now teach that software. A misconception is that with larger volumes printed, the cost will go down. There are two costs associated with printing these files. Designing the files and the actual printing. The cost to design will be less per piece the larger the volume printed but the cost per item printed will remain the same. Analog printing technology allows many of one while digital is one of many. There is no cost reduction in the actual printing cost of digital printed images if the volume increases. As for quality, currently other forms of mass producing kits are less expensive and produce better quality in the hands of a skilled craftsman. If given the same quality pattern, injection molding is currently better quality at less cost per piece. If the volume doesn't support injection molding, resin casting produces better quality than the average 3D printed item but if the product is large enough and the volume small enough, 3D will be less expensive and if printed on the right printer will be equal or better quality than resin. In many ways both injection molding and resin casting are mature technologies. There will be few if any major technology upgrades in these technologies. 3D printing is very immature. The best quality printer of five years ago, is equal to today's hobbyist printer. The technology will continue to evolve. Soon hobbyist printers will equal better resin parts. This is another facet of the hobby that some of us will explore and others will choose not to

Normally I look at kits that combine different eras as bad styling experiments. That's not the case here. I could see someone taking a beater and making this beauty. The sidewinder parts work very well with this conversion. I'll admit I think that's one kit that offers a host of styling possibilities.

I often think today's builders are so talented with their photoetch, resin and machined parts. Then I see something like this. Different raw materials but still very talented. Care to share what you paid?

There's some very nice detail pics i this collection. Thanks for sharing.

That is impressive.

Funny this should come up.... Last week I sent the following email: I’m curious if there’s a possible date for your Nova gasser to be released? This is a car I really want to build and am anxious for a release date. Thanks, Mike The reply I received: Hello Mike, Not soon enough! I'm waiting for it myself. It's still sometime off in the future, but it will be getting done. In the meanwhile, the first of the new Ford trucks in getting very close now! Hope that helps some. Thanks, Erik Solie Moebius Models

Nissan 210.

I'd weather them.....I think they'll look more realistic unless you're trying to make them look like stickers.