Don Sikora II

You can find a surprising amount of supplies on amazon, many with Prime shipping. Prices are all over the place, but there are some good deals to be found. It's also worth looking at mail-order houses that specialize in Gundam models, especially for Japanese brand paints and tools.

Interesting.

A few days ago, Round2 posted on Facebook box art for an AMT-branded reissue of the '34 Ford pickup. It was based on the original issue, but the wheels were changed to some chrome steel wheels with a "bullet" center. A friend said they looked similar to what was in the original-issue Ala-Kart kit. Maybe that's what's going to be in this parts pack?

The Firestone 500s are in the MPC '64 Corvette too.

The Revell Ed Roth Beatnik Bandit includes a pair of skinny M&H piecrust slicks. Don't have the Parts Pack, but wouldn't be surprised if it included these same slicks, and the Beatnik Bandit should be easy to find and inexpensive.

Looked at my kits, and I do have kit #7124 in two post-Hot Rod boxes. Box with red band at top is copyright 1996. Revell-Monogram box with blue band is copyright 1998. It's the dreaded one-piece box style, and this version of the kit was molded in white plastic rather than metallic blue. Hosted on Fotki

Yes, the dark-blue '56 Ford remained in the line after the Hot Rod license ended, and used box art that followed the then-current Revell style. I'll have to check my stash, but the '56 F-100 might have stayed around long enough to have actually been in two different post-Hot Rod boxes. Other Hot Rod kits that continued past the end of the license included the '57 Chevy hardtop (as you mentioned), the '69 Yenko Camaro, and the 1976-or-so Chevy street pickup. Pretty sure the pro-street C4 Corvette carried on too, but the non-Hot Rod box is scarce.

Great build! Really digging the stance on this one.

I have a "generic" aluminum handle (that I think came in a Testors boxed paint set about a decade ago) and it is surprisingly good. Also have a 1990s X-Acto handle very similar to the red one Casey posted above. Mine is green though, and I think X-Acto called it the "Gripster" Recently bought an OLFA Ltd-09 which is beautifully made in Japan and has a nice heft to it. The handle appears to be painted black, not a soft rubber covering. The OLFA comes with a pack of very sharp blades that are shaped differently than the classic #11, but the handle also holds X-Acto-brand #11s very well. Haven't tried any other brand blades in it. https://www.amazon.com/OLFA-Saw-knife-Spare-blade/dp/B075L95GMS

The Hot Rod magazine issue (#7124) with the dark blue street machine evolved quite a bit over the decade or more it was in production. Kits made from 1986 until the early 1990s include most of the old custom parts and the extra Pontiac engine, while kits made after about 1993 or 1994 received many of the retooled parts Mark describes above and had much nicer BBS-style mesh wheels and better big n' little tires.

Some SMP 1957 friction cars, including this Chevy wagon, came with a small tree of “customizing” parts. Not sure why they didn’t include these goodies in the kit versions. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

That looks like a dealer promo with a “toy store” friction box. I think there are at least a couple box styles for early SMP frictions. The ‘57 Chevy dealer promos came on a small cardboard tray in a bag. This car is in my collection. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

Casey, these are old pics of my kit. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

Thanks, Casey. I have a SMP ‘57 Chevy convertible kit that’s been I’m my collection for 15 years or so. Have to dig it out to be certain, but I’m pretty sure mine has chrome ‘57 Pontiac hubcaps in the sealed parts bag.

Based on the plastic color it’s probably from a USA Oldies ‘66 Marlin. The same basic chassis with wheelbase changes was used in Jo-Han Ambassadors and Rebels too.

I’m 99% sure the original issue of the stock kit didn’t include a decal sheet.

Could it be a test shot with that stamp identifying the material the mold was sampled in? Sounds interesting, if you can please post pictures. Also some 1980’s Hot Rod issues of the Beatnik Bandit were molded in a creamy pearl white plastic. It was sorta translucent, so I suppose that’s a possibility too. But that doesn’t explain the stamp.

Glad my memory was correct on the year. Thought mine was light green, but went and checked and it’s a very light blue. It’s a neat kit, but I’ve never seen one built. Mine hasn’t even been started.

I have one of these and IIRC it’s actually a ‘55 T-Bird.

They made at least a few other products. I have this AMT “Mouse House” mouse trap. Really. Probably from the Fifties Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

The only kit I’ve seen with the ‘68-‘69 interior with the headrests added is the AMT Trophy Series boxing of the ‘69. It uses a different box than the 1969 annual kit that’s shown above.

Revell (Venice and Germany) issued some Fujimi Enthusiast Series 911 kits, and the Germans have issued some Italeri 911 kits. Revell has also made some 911s themselves, and reboxed the Monogram kits too. Just too complicated of a situation to generalize. If you post a specific kit you want to know about, that would be best.

AS paints are aircraft colors. From my experience the AS paints work the same as the paints in Tamiya’s general TS line.

Interesting that the Hasegawa R91 CP has separate nose and tail sections. From memory, the much earlier Hasegawa Group C kits had one-piece shells. Looks like more suspension detail than the old kits too.

The MPC ‘82 kit (Red Light Bandit) had a bench seat. Pretty sure it was in the monster truck too. Don’t have a ‘82 promo, but it probably did as well and one of those might be the cheapest way to get one these days.