Don Sikora II

These were in early issues of AMT's Trophy Series '57 Chevy. Original issue and 1967-issue "The Gasser" for sure.

The top ones are from AMT's Cobra kit. The bottom ones (closest to camera) are AMT Parts pack pieces.

Also a fan of AMT's 1967 style.

Found a Revell 2013 Boss 302 for $6.75 today. Only other kit I saw on clearance was the AMT fire truck...left that for someone else.

AMT's 1969 annual box style is one of my favorites. Will have to add one of these to my collection.....

Glad to see they are using this box. The hood scoop hasn't been in any of the "recent" reissues of this kit, but think it's largely the same otherwise.

The flyer says the bonus redline tires are solid. I assume these are the old AMT Goodyears that were new when they were included in the original Polyglas Gasser kit.

AMT's original Polyglas Gasser was a very short-lived reissue from 1969.

AMT likely had a mold for Sting Ray coupes and a second for the convertibles. If you look at pictures Casey posted above you can see parts distributed differently on the trees (for example, check out the locations of the stock hood and the firewall ) which is a good clue that they were made in different molds.

Thanks. Looked at it closer last night, and I think you're right that the peanuts have embedded themselves into the paint. Haven't tried any of Snake's ideas yet, but I'm not too optimistic.

Thanks for the ideas. Will report back once I have a chance to experiment a bit.

Just picked up an old built up that's probably from the late Sixties or very early Seventies. Looks like it might be painted with Testors Metalflake Blue. Apparently it was stored for some time in white styrofoam packing peanuts, and they have stuck in places to the painted body and the tires. Anybody have any luck removing this styrofoam crud from a model? All I've tried so far is some mild picking with my fingernail which did nearly nothing on the body, but did remove a couple pieces from a tire....which unfortunately is the easiest part of a car to replace. The car is nicely customized and I'd like to save the paint if possible. There might be some putty work on it too, so stripping and repainting would be last resort in this case.

Have unbuilt Jo-Han 1971 and 1972 Javelin AMX annuals, and both have the Magnum 500s. Also have three colors of the 1971 Javelin AMX promo, and three colors of the '72. All of my promos have the Rebel Machine-style wheels.

The stock version was also issued in a tin by Round 2.

Wow, that looks great. Started on one of these about a year ago, but like most of my builds these days it's stalled. Brought it up because it also has the buckets and console from a '69 Chevelle in it!

That's cool. Nice build. What tires did you use on the back?

Same here. I'm hoping the decal sheet has the black hood stripes from the first-issue Pepper Shaker.

Thank you.

I'm going to disagree here too. This might not be the best example of the type, but I think that Revell box style introduced in 1982 or so was really pretty good as photo boxes go.

I have one of these, it's ex-Palmer and it is incredibly bad. That box art model might actually make those parts look as good as possible...

Have looked at those in the past, or maybe something similar...have vague memories of a white casing with orange drawers. I like the idea of stacking two of them, and the gray looks good.

If you're a reasonable distance to an IKEA store, I'd go check it out and see what catches your eye. Here are a few of the things I've found there that I use for storage. They aren't really a cabinet system, but thought I'd share what has worked for me. I've been more of an accumulator of storage items over time, so it's kind of an evolving situation rather than a grand plan. I have three of these HELMER drawer units. They are painted steel and pretty easy to assemble. They are also sturdy, and offer lots of storage space in a small footprint. Keep bottle paints in one. Two others are stashed under my desk which doubles as a workbench.....they are on wheels so you can roll out of the way easily. Lots of miscellaneous stuff in those: sandpaper, sheet plastic and strip stock, small tools in plastic organizers, Dremel chargers, etc., etc. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10251045/ The GLIS storage box is quite possibly the best thing I've ever found at IKEA. These are stackable and quite well made. I use these to store small parts and tires. Also have used them to keep things like paints together when I'm working on a project and need to pack it away. There have been at least three variations of this basic item since I started buying them, some of them have removable dividers to break up larger compartments. Think the newest version may have done away with the removable dividers, which is a shame. Another great use is for carrying built cars to NNLs...with the old ones you can carry three built ups, each in its own compartment. They used to carry these in the home organization area, but for the last few years they have been moved into the kids area. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00283103/ The IKEA PS metal cabinet is a good place to stash a bunch of stuff, and you can use the top surface for display. The LIXHULT series cabinets are made along the same lines. I have two of the gray ones. One of the KUGGIS boxes is sized just right so you can fit two of them under each cabinet. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80100190/ http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70328669/ Don't use them for model stuff, but the KUGGIS series of plastic boxes with lids are excellent. Think there are four sizes, and they are a system so you can stack the various sizes together. These are extremely well made from a dense white plastic, so they aren't anything like a typical Rubbermaid or IRIS plastic box. The PLUGGIS series is designed along the same lines, and they make a nice set of two magazine files in that line. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20280207/ http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20234692/ Have a tall BILLY bookcase with glass doors too. Always check the as-is section, once in a while you get lucky! Shelves are (or at least were!) available individually, so mine is packed full of shelves and is home to promos and built ups. You can also look for a tall, narrow dresser. Again, lots of storage space in a small footprint. Think mine (it's not from IKEA) has six drawers and is somewhere around four feet tall. The top surface is used for display.

The plastic the tire has melted into will be soft and probably beyond saving. I'd just try to pull the tire loose with your fingers, or if that fails some kind of needle-nose pliers. The main thing I'd worry about is not breaking any of the rest of the trailer. The areas with tire damage may need to be ground out with a Dremel and filled with some kind of non-shrinking filler...think of it like a dentist grinding away before filling a cavity. If that won't work, you might need to cut away the damaged area and splice in some new sheet plastic as a type of patch panel. Good luck!

I've had good luck spraying Testors "PLA" gloss enamels from the small square bottles, with the main trick being sure to use the Testors Model Master airbrush thinner. It's hard to believe, but one of my best gloss black paint jobs is nothing more than one coat of PLA sprayed over black plastic. No rubbing, no polishing. An older guy told me the old-school trick to get a smooth brush-applied finish with Testors enamel was to warm up the bottle by holding it in your armpit for a few minutes. Before you take off the lid, of course! Wasn't sure if he was pulling my leg, but I tried it and the paint does level out better. Setting the bottle in an old yogurt cup with a bit of hot tap water works fine too if you don't want to sit around squeezing a bottle of Testors in your armpit.

That is a cool car. The rear spoiler on the real car in your picture is different than what's on the body in the early Monogram kits (Pace Car, Cobra, Cafe Racer) or included in the MPC 1983 and 1984 kits. It looks more like the bottom section of a Mustang SVO spoiler, and it might actually be the part that Ford used on the 1:1 '85 and '86 Mustang GT. Unfortunately, no one made a '85 or '86 GT kit....not sure if anyone may have made that spoiler in resin.