mrmike

The Story It was getting late and McNally was hungry. He stops at a convience store and he grabs a sandwich and a cup of coffee. He drives back to the route that Rhonda walked daily and he stops to eat and think. Suddenly, bright lights illuminate the interior of his car and the places his hands on the steering wheel and he waits for a cop to come to his window. The cop asks why he is there and McNally identifies himself and he says he is working. He is told to get out of the car and he is searched with the cop finding his SIG Sauer P227 in his shoulder holster. The cop asks about the gun and McNally tells him about all the permits he has for it. The cop takes the permits and his drivers license and hands them to his partner and tells her to run his name through the computer. A couple of moments later and she comes back and says hi to McNally and that they had met last year when he bought her Jeep Grand Cherokee LTD V8 from her. McNally returns the greeting and he explains why he is there and what he is doing...searching for a missing person. The Build I painted and assembed more of the engine this afternoon. I got the wires installed on the distributor and will wire the engine. I might plumb the engine a little with a fuel line from the fuel pump to the carburtor and a line from the PCV Valve. McNally will return...

Thanks Dann! I needed something to help keep the tie rod strong. I used two pieces of tubing with one for the repair and one to match the repair. It worked out very well!

Both have their challenges. The Story PC Dunbarton drives out to the Burrows Farm and he knocks on the door. The door is answered by Angus and after a joyous greeting, the Constable asks to the whereabouts of McNally. The PC is directed to the field that McNally is working in and Dunbarton drives out to the field. He finds McNally and he asks for his help. A farmer was murdered not too far from the Burrows Farm and the PC doesn't know what to do. McNally advises for the PC to call local towns and the National Crime Agency for assistance. The PC says that this is the first murder that he is involved with and the first in the township in almost two hundred years and other than the Boston PI, he wasn't sure who to call. McNally tells the Constable to log all those he wants to talk to and everyone the victim knew. McNally asks that he be kept informed and he will be around to answer any questions from the PC. The Build I painted the chassis last week and let is dry completely. Now to detail paint some of the components and add the front shocks. McNally will return...

The Story McNally decides to "break in" to Charles Dennett's house and look around. He searches Charles desk and he finds the box with his Smith & Wesson and a partial box of bullets. He takes the gun and a few bullets and he goes back to Boston Police Headquarters to have the gun tested by Forensics. He takes the gun back to Charles' house and he places in back in the draw with the few remaining bullets and he locks the desk and he leaves the house. The gun may have been used to kill Johnny Wilson. The Build Somehow the steering shaft broke and I figured out a way to re-secure it. I used 2 pieces of 3/32 tubing cut to equal lengths and inserted the shaft into the tubing and glued them in place and then I painted them.

The Story McNally drives around the neighborhood and has follows the route Rhonda takes everyday. He will drive her route and then he'll check the side streets for her. Rhonda is about 5' 4" tall, 100 Lbs., and 84 years old. He doesn't find her on his inital drive on her route. He stops and talks with people walking on the sidewalk and he even made a few friends with those owners dogs. He drives and he stops at an intersection and he could hear a dog barking, but it sounded far away. Then the barking stopped and McNally drove on following the route again. He calls Jesse and he asks if Rhonda had called or returned and Jesse replies no. He will keep looking and he starts searching the side streets. He doesn't find her on any of the side streets and he will start searching abandoned houses. The Build I assembled the rear bed and started with the tailgate. The inner gate didn't match the tailgate and I removed the mounting bar and sanded the inner gate smooth and it matched the tailgate better. The rest of the bed went together without any issues. It was time for a mockup to check for fit. Not bad! The left rear cab is still warped and if I push down on it, the cab and bed line up perfectly. McNally will return...

Thanks Pete D! I was told that the filter was incorporated into the bottom of the pump.

That fuel pump looks kind of "hokey" to me. It's too late now as I have clipped off the bottom of the pump and will use just the top since if does look like a fuel pump to me. If I decide to plumb the engine, I'll use an inline fuel filter. The heads have been drilled out for plug wires and I'll drill out the distributor for wires.

All the pictures I have looked at show a "standard" looking fuel pump like those on a Mopar or Chevy. The filter was a separate unit mounted upstream between the pump and the carburetor. Now I'll have to fill some sink marks on the transmission pan.

I had a story written for this build, but chose not to use it for a build off with a friend. He had to pull out at the last minute, so I will insert the story starting with this post. The Story The old man walks into Boston Police Headquarters and he tells the desk sergeant that his wife is missing. The desk sergeant calls for a detective from Missing Persons to come down and talk to him. Since the man's wife has been missing for only a few hours, the Police will take a report and keep an eye out for her, but they really can't search for her until she has been missing for 24 hours. The detective walks back upstairs to Missing Persons and the old man becomes very frustrated and he cries out for help. McNally was in the process to turning in his Visitors Badge when the old man started cries out loud and he offered to help. The old man says he can't afford a private investigator and McNally tells him to not worry about the money and they would work something out later. The old man is Jesse Hawkins and his missing wife is named Rhonda and she went for her morning walk and never returned home. McNally asks about her route for walking and he will drive along looking for her on her route. Then he will search side streets and empty houses in his neighborhood. Jesse will call McNally if she does return or a ransom demand is made. The Build The engine and transmission has been assembled, but I have never seen a fuel pump like that. The instructions even show this design. I think I'll remove the bottom portion of the fuel pump. McNally will return...

The Story McNally thinks that Charles may have had something to do with the theft of Richie's coin collection and the murder of Johnny Wilson. The bullets from Dennett's gun match the slugs found in Wilson's body. The coin collection must be in Dennett's hand somewhere. He will have to search Dennett's house for the collection before Dennett can sell it. The Build I assembled the hood to the chassis with the lower valance and taped it until the glue dries. McNally will return...

As part of the request process, I was asked to supply photos of the cabs in question, which I did. Their reply was that they will replace the cab with most serious warp to it. The other, in their humble opinion, was not as bad and I could buy a new cab to replace it and since I was a modeler, I would be able to deal with that warp. This is NOT good customer service! I took the new cab and I told them I would not be buying the other. To me, this is poor customer service. It was Moebius (Pegasus) cheaping out to save a few bucks! They need to realize that good customer service will get them good customers in the future and they don't want to know or be bothered with that! This is not backing up their product. It is scamming on their behalf, IMHO!

I bought the Escalade a couple of years ago and I was disappointed that the model didn't match the box art. The box art is what drew me into buying the kit. It was a re-issue of a previous kit with the ginormous wheels and tires and a different grille. I used a smaller wheel and tire, raised the suspension and added a dual exhaust system to it. I liked building the kit as much as I was disappointed with it.

It is certainly gratifying to hear that I am not alone in my issues with Moebius! Many others sing praises to them for the subjects they produce, but they don't say anything about the issues with these kits! Warpage and too tightly packed boxes should be addressed, but their fixes seem temporary at best. Daf, I think your issue was resolved because of the fix was available to them. David, no need to apologize! Some of us feel we should say something based on our experiences with other entities. This is all part of our learning cycle! Just as long as we don't flood the WIP with constant complaints, I think everything will be fine. I originally started building this kit as part of a build off with a friend of mine and he lost some of his truck on the floor and the trash. The build off is off! I had written a McNally story for this and when the build off was suggested, I decided against posting the story. Now that the build off is not happening, maybe I'll add the story to the build.

Thanks Curtis! I found out through other sources that Moebius had repackaged the kit with simple rearranging of the sprues. Without ample time for the product to cool and harden, the product is placed in the boxes warm and the end result is warpage. A box 1/2" taller would prevent all that, but what do I know? I used to pack boxes for a living, that's all!

My new project is the Moebius '71 Ford F100 Ranger. This is a compromised kit being warped and Moebius is not willing to replace warped parts with new straight parts as I would have to buy them. The cab was warped and they would charge me for a new cab with no guarantee that the new parts would not be warped. I put the windshield into place in the cab with the hope that it would help remove the warp. It seems be working, but now that I have assembled the frame, that is warped as well. Moebius' excuse was that a modeler would be able to remove that warp. I'm a seasoned modeler with over 40 years of constant modeling under my belt and this is the first time that I have encountered a model company that wouldn't stand behind their product. Moebius is now owned by Pegasus Hobbies and they told me to that they would replace one cab for my '72 F100 Sport Custom and I would have to buy the other for the '71 Ranger. I told them that they need bigger boxes so product would not be warped and they keep producing product for the smaller boxes. I simply will not buy any other Moebius products in the future. My kit is Kit # 1208. I will be painting the body with Model Master Wimbledon White and Testors Gloss Orange (Competition Orange). The engine will be wired, whitewall tires with the Explorer wheel covers. More Ranger to come...

The chassis is now fairly complete. I'm still thinking about the exhaust tips since this 308 came with a single exhaust pipe and I want duals like the Magnum 308. I got the interior rebuilt and the rear cover installed. More Magnum to come...

I went and checked on the body and parts that I am stripping with Easy-Off Oven Cleaner. Not bad. Pretty much ready for a bath and some scrubbing in the kitchen sink. The chassis is up on 4 wheels after I made a new rear axle using some 1/16th inch styrene rod. More Magnum to come...

I'm getting the same grey circles. Tried a a different browser, turned off my ad blocker and still no pictures.

I am reminding myself of the many little things about this kit as I go along rebuilding it. The plastic rear axle was one of those things. At the time I was originally building this kit, I noticed the plastic rear axle and I thought, must be a foreign car thing and built as it was told to in the instructions. This was at a time when American car models used metal axles and was going away from metal screws to plastic pins molded to the chassis, if there was any at all. I have been looking over the instruction sheet over at DPMCC wondering if I had forgotten anything, but the model was put together and painted per the instructions. I'm going to rebuild the model per the current status of my skill set.

I got the engine wired with Radio Shack blue wrapping wire. I got the front suspension fixed with a new wheel pin and I detail painted the dash. More Magnum to come...

Thanks D.W.! The more I handle this model, the more it just falls apart! I went to drill out the cylinder heads for plug wires and the heads come off! Plus, I need to make a distributor for each head. That should be easy enough to make. I drilled out one of the wheels for a new mounting pin which I ended up making from scratch. More Magnum to come...

Another dirty rotten filthy subject for my model shelves. An original Magnum PI Ferrari 308 GTSi that I disassembled and will be getting cleaned and repainted, especially the body. Due for a good cleaning and a rebuild. There is only one Magnum PI for me and that was played by Tom Selleck! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIaXl7SqkBw More Magnum to come...

Be very careful of the decals as they might tear. A member of my model club built an Ala Kart using an original kit and aftermarket decals. He tried to match the actual colors of the decals to match his reference photos with a little success. Good luck on your build!

I have that kit as well. This AMT hood was given to me after a discussion with Barry Fadden of my model club. I got up and went to the bathroom and when I came back, the hood was sitting on the table and Barry said he didn't need it.

Here's the opening theme from Stingray. Not to be confused with the children's TV show produced in the UK.