styromaniac

Dang Jeff...your skills have expanded exponentially since I first saw your work at an IPMS show in Fairfax Va. a few years back. Where do you find the time. You must have an understanding wife...or you just don't require much sleep.

"Shiftin'Drifter" 'Wolf Wagon" "Ram Rod" "32 Skidoo" I remember those little 1/32nd scale Aurora hot rods.... they first came out in '62....for 49 cents each. Pretty primitive...no chrome parts....plastic tires........but the box art was great.

"Gators" got their surprise all right..Saturday night in Atlanta at the hands of Alabama.

Funny you should mention that '57 Nomad TxRat...I just acquired a couple of'em on ebay to add to my vintage Revell "Tri-Five" collection..I love the box art on that particular issue.

Dang Bill ! Your first attempt at scale modeling was at age 17 ? ( That means you acquired all of your superior modeling skills as an adult, huh ? ) I cut my modeling teeth as an eight year old..my twin brother and I were living overseas and everytime our parents went out on the town our mother would toss us a couple of those little bagged Airfix 1/72nd scale airplane kits to keep us busy..they were plentiful back then and taught us the essentials of reading & following instructions..and the smell of the old styrene tube glue was rather "habit forming"...still brings back those happy childhood memories whenever I catch a whiff. My bro' and I ran the gamut of WW II fighters & bombers & ships & tanks before we graduated to our first car kit..the venerable old AMT '57 Ford Fairlane kit..which we assembled in the solarium of the U.S.S. Constitution on our return to the states in the summer of '63 ..just in time for the exploding Hot Rod / Custom Car craze. Our mom was pretty cool...she bought us Roth Rat Fink kits..she also encouraged us to enter a local hobby shop contest..where my bro' and I collaborated on a very nice clean build of a Monogram Little T...we tried our hand at the new AMT spray lacquers...think it was Aztec Gold..and we wired the 283 w/ sewing thread. With those wide whitewalls and white interior and top it looked pretty cool..cool enough to nab us second place Junior division at the tender age of 10...it was a really neat trophy...a gold '34 coupe on a walnut pedestal. That put the hook in us I guess...we left the hobby when we discovered rock music & girls..but as over 40 old farts have come back to it for its "therapeutic value". And the glue still smells funny !

" One can never have too many '57 Chevy's! " Bill Geary I agree. I have a couple of the "classic" AMT '57s...a couple of the "new tools" (including the ProShop w/ the photo etch)..and just recently obtained the vintage Revell "Tri-Fives"..the '55, the'56 and the '57 along with a vintage Revell '57 Nomad..all in their original box art..which I loved looking at as a kid. Something about the '57 just resonates deep...its a "must have". Might even get around to building a couple of them. :-)

Speaking of "not even close"...just for grins I took out my old AMT '32 5 window coupe kit and compared it to the new Revell '32 5 window . Talk about a body that looks absolutely terrible...it's nice to have a decent 5 window now.

Funny you should mention those three...cuz I just picked up all three of them on e-bay...original vintage editions too because I loved the old box art...and all three were reasonably priced and in good shape. I remember them from the old days but never bought them because I somehow sensed that Revell kits were bears to deal with ...I had a time getting that Revell Mooneyes dragster's stance to sit straight...and a kit like the Orange Crate ? Forget about it ! I built mostly AMT kits back in the day. So even though I have a couple of those AMT classic '57 Chevy Bel Air kits..plus a couple of the "new tools"..I thought I'd revisit my distant past and see if I could tackle those Revell "Tri-Fives" now. Thanks for the warning.

I think he means the AMT Tiger Shark kit...which is the re-release of the old Car Craft Dream Rod kit. You would have to do some major body work on the Shark to getit back to its original form..just as Mark Moriarity did on the full scale car...finished Jan.2009 There's great write up about Mark's restoration on the "kustomrama" website.... http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=...-dream-rods.jpg

I own a couple of the Revell "Volkswagen Bus" kits released in 2001...1/24th scale kit # 85-2355 ..which I am told are knock-offs of the Hasegawa kit. They have nice one piece bodies which I easily opened the side doors and engine/trunk lids ..they are semi-curbside in that they don't have the complete engine...just a rendition of the bottom part of the engine. The interior detail of the Revell/Hasegawa bus is kinda clunky...the underside doesn't have much detail at all. If what you show here is accurate...and its 1/24th...then I might get one of these "new" kits just to compare the detail and maybe enhance one of the two other kits I already have. I'm not really a fan of multi-piece bodies.

bigskybob - I own three of these kits ( I'm a big Roth fan..I own two or three of most of his kits ) and I can tell you that ALL of my Outlaw kits were bought within the last few years and ALL say "1962" on the box..and two of the three have "H-1282-198" printed on the ends..one has "85-4173"..that's the one released in 2001 that I got on e-bay for about nine or ten dollars...the other two were 1994 releases that I paid retail for at $ 10.50 and $ 15.89...the key for your kit could be what's on one of the sides..the side with "Build This Trophy Winner! - Check These Way Out Parts " with the pics of the bucket interior,nosepiece and nerf bars. If it doesn't have the newer copyright dates printed in tiny lettering along the bottom edge of the box.. you are probably correct in guessing that you have a 1962 original. The decals will probably look a bit yellowish green compared to the blue green of the re-releases. Since the "Outlaw "was re-released with box art very faithful to the 1962 original..almost indistinguishable really.....the demand for a genuine 1962 has gone down and consequently so has the price of an original...but a collector might be willing to pay top dollar..it all depends on whose out there and what they are willing to spend.I've seen a lot of "Outlaws" on e-bay..and the previous poster was correct in assuming that top dollar may only come in around thirty bucks or so...most builders are quite satisfied with a re-release but a collector may very well pay forty or fifty for an original..if you can connect with one and yours is in good shape. For your information.."Beatnik Bandit" kits are in the same situation..lots of re-releases out there going for twenty to thirty...."Mysterions" & "Road Agents" too. "Tweedy Pie" kits...now there's a different story...it was never re-released in it's original configuration & box art to my knowledge...I saw a couple on e-bay recently being bid up to $ 40.00 or more..one in near mint condition was listed starting at $ 175.00 and had no takers. They're extremely rare from what I've seen.

Cool subject Jeff. I remember all the old Pyro 1/32nd "TableTop" kits..some of them were actually pretty nice. I recall they also had a few larger scale cars. Assuming this is one of 'em.

Hi Jeff- Right You Are...that was a great move...I own the DVD.

I own a couple of those ...it's a beautiful piece...Norm Veber has some excellent stuff...love all his flathead hop-up parts.

Senor' Cruz ! Ola'...I know your work from seeing it in person at some of the MAMA meetings in Maryland...( haven't been to one in awhile..too much family stuff goin' on right now ...but the great thing about the Internet esp Fotki and other web sites like these is we can tune in remotely and catch up with what's goin' on ). Personally... painting car bodies is my own Achilles Heel..I don't have a good place to do it indoors and when I've spoken w/ those that do it well I get a range of experiences...suffice it to say a lot of people out there would no doubt like a display model of their favorite Hot Rod or Muscle Car but don't have the time or necessary skills to get it done on their own...hence the appearance of pre-painted models and the increasing popularity of Die-Cast. It all comes down to dollars..my bro' is an excellent detailer and would love to have a classic Candy Apple Red Mazmanian Willys or Austin Gasser but the projects he has started are on hold till he gets on top of the learning curve w/ those difficult paint finishes..maybe a reasonably priced pre-painted body would help those projects along. Just don't know what the break point is for most people's wallets..but if I was passionate about a certain subject matter and was dying to have it done well..I'd probably spend some bucks. There's a happy medium out there somewhere between the make and color ...hopefully you'll find it. One things for sure....rodders do love those Willys. As for the contests..depends on the rules..as long as it's stated honestly who did what. Frankly I'd probably not enter anything that wasn't 100% me ..that's why my few and far between contest entries in the past have not relied on killer paint finishes but unusual subject matter. ( The Rat Rod craze sure helped out the less than stellar painters. ) That's my 2 cents worth. P.S. Beautiful finish on the Willys.

My eyes ain't what they used to be either...but from what I can see it looks pretty wicked. I'm new here too...and please don't ask me about makin' pictures bigger cuz I'm sort of a Neandrathal when it comes to this computer stuff.

Last weekend I went to Richmond Virginia to visit my bro' and we spent our Saturday at the NSRA show at the speedway...came across a vendor's table selling all kinds of auto memorabilia...old Hot Rod magazines, Rodder's Journals, Hot Wheels and matchbox cars, etc. I saw two MPC 1/16 scale Corvette kits...a '57 and a '63 split window...both 1979 issues...boxes were a bit beat up but the contents looked ok..I passed them by to photograph the real cars..took about 200 pictures..on the way out I noticed that the two vette kits were gone..I asked the guy what they went for..he said he still had'em..just wanted to get them out of the hot sun. So we haggled a bit and I forked over a few bills. I was relieved when I got home that night and compared the bagged parts to the tattered instruction sheets and found both kits complete. The '63 was started..will need to remove the orange peeled white paint job..but the red '57 is untouched. The detail on these 1/16 scale kits ain't all that..but they are easy on the eyes. And you can never have too much plastic..can you?