Dave Van

Location of AM Taurus molds is unknown.......Korea last itme seen.....bet they are now part of many folks Kia's. AM Cobra.....there was to be a Cobra and a Daytona at some point. ZERO mold work was done. Drawings were adapted from other projects to 1/24 scale and that was as far as it ever got. AM no.2 in Concord closed for a number of reasons. My brother in law was in product development and art director. He died at age 49 very unexpectedly and that started a chain of events. I and even my kids 'worked' there from time to time. (if you have a B-25 we packed it!) It was great to see how a model company worked. And helping in a small way was fun. A tiny bit of luck and we'd be sitting here talking about new AM kits........but that's fate.

That's the one!!! Nice build and thanks for giving the name to go with it!!!

I have two each of the kits....passed on some sitting on the shelf at Hobby Lobby......they will return.

I have dug out my box of AM Taurus test shots....I will REALLY try and get photos....I have been saying this for a year!!! I'd do it today but about to leave out of town...I need to do it....I want all to see what a great kit it was to be. Thx Then maybe Ill take photos of the stillborn rail kits by 1320.......

As stated Life Like started in the model train hobby.....not just HO but many O scale scenery and accessories. The Chuck wagon and chariot were tooled by Athearn model train manufacture during the plastic kit boom during the late 50's. The Honest John was Renwall and is now owned be Revell. Life Like was just making sure their injection machines were running as much as possible.......do not think they ever cut their own tool for a static plastic kit......buying Pyro and many others molds floating around in the 60's and 60's.

Nice work...I have the kit...yet to touch it. FYI...I bought the JADA S2000 from Fast and Furious series as a stand in until I build the plastic kit....the JADA s2000 is listed as 1/24 but is much closer to 1/20 or 1/18!!! HUGE!!

While cleaning out the garage today I found my box full of RCHTA catalogs.......Here are 4 kits I had forgotten.......any one else recall them??? All American Satco with help from Model King

Great work.....always love stages.

Balsa foam is made up the street from me.......but they will not sell it there.....yet to try it. When I stopped by to ask there was a chunk of it out back the size of a 1/1 car!!

Because the Dodge and Plymouth versions were almost exactly the same looking.......we dubbed them Omnirizon 024TC3!!!

WOW.......clean build.....

Well....it was a blessing AND a curse.......I found the receipt for my 66 Mustang the other day throwing out old papers.......a 2+2 car, 279/289 and top loader 4 speed trans. NO RUST....average paint. $800. Part of the reason is this was still the old south. Funny thing I moved from SoCal in 1969 to NC.....and I was thrown into what seemed like the 1920's!! NO one had any money. That went on for a number of years before things caught up with us. I was cool!!!! NOT!!! TODAY.......

I have two answers......First the one I could have bought but didn't: At the corner of highway 29 and Morehead Rd on Charlotte Motor Speedway property sat the NASCAR shops of Harry Hyde. They had a bunch of old race cars at the back of the yard. This was 1974 or so.....a buddy of mine and I had skipped school and went race shop visiting for the day. We had seen a Dodge Daytona, still fully painted and numbered, sitting at the back of the yard the last few times so we stopped and walked into the open yard. After a few minutes a fellow walks up and says he the shop manager......were we the guys that called about the car. We said no we were just looking and then he said if we had the $2000 cash we could have it....he was tired of the other guy never showing up. Well I literally had a car and less than $5 to my name.....might as well have been the million it'd be worth today......but I still think of that as the one that got away........how I wish..... The car I owned and let get away....... I bought a 1970 Mustang Sportsroof from another buddy. It was 1973 and he wanted $600 for it......it was a very nice car.....A/C, auto P/B, P/S etc. I had to get a loan for $500 from the folks......kept it for many years. Then in 1978 I owned my 66 Mustang, the 70 and I bought a new Fairmont for $2800. One had to go.....I made the right pick.....I still have the 66 Mustang......but wish I had toughed it out and kept her. The guy I sold it to wrapped it around a phone pole 3 weeks later.....I felt like I had failed 'Orange Tang'......The 70, me and my girlfriend.....now wife of 38 years at Myrtle Beach 1974.

GREAT WORK.....love the finish.

The AMT flyer show a 'narrow nose' Pete which is different than the kit issued.....

The Round2 guys, Tom Lowe for sure, have some good connections in the licensing world and are not scared to use them. I talked to them at Toledo NNL 2014 about getting Coke and how many projects they could spread it over......they may have been working on it already......but they did it no matter the path. They are doing the showrod 'Coke Machine' and NASCR Bobby Allison Mercury as well as others. They set a high bar. PS ...I did licensing in NASCAR for 20 years......I know how hard it can be!!!

Turned out GREAT!!! Super Sharpe!

That USCHI logo is a little scary......or maybe I watched too much 'The Man in the High Castle'!!!!

Agreed.....never had a bleed through issue using silver base. I must be the luckiest man in the world.....

No issues here....but on my stock build I used all Tamiya spray cans and on the Bill Elliott it was Dupli-color #1699 sealer and then Testors through the air brush.

Pyro Lincoln..........difficult......but came out OK.....

Fantastic build and photos!

Thanks.....I love your subject having seen a real one I want a model.....but I have 5000+ plastic kits and 200++ resin kits looking at me now.....maybe if I sell some I can justify bringing another one home.

I didn't spend any time fact checking or number crunching your data.........one reason is I am a ex-resin producer. I produced a few kits before throwing in the towel. The cost is more than silicon, resin and other media.....it's all the time to create masters to stuffing boxes (a lot of time for a full detail kit.) I enjoyed my time producing kits.....but the effort start to finish took it's toll. I had masters complete or near for 3 other kits that will never see production. The main reason is the cost....in time and money. My last kit.....

I want to build more of these.......great kits that NEVER sold well per those in the know at Monogram....