W-409

Those are some great looking Fords! This is probably my favorite era of Stock, Super Stock (and Factory Experimental) racing, so I'm really happy to see this kind of models built. All of them are done very nicely, great work.

I knew that it was an European Van and I knew about what years it was built in. But finding out what it actually is, wasn't that easy. I think I've seen one at some place, but had no idea what it was. But eventually I found it out while surfing in Google...

Yep Dave you said nothing about the Big Block. And yes there are some "Small" Blocks that are over 400 Cid, but that can't be done with 283 or 265. Personally I don't care what size SBC someone likes to call it, but if one wants to build an accurate model out of this kit, it's good to know what the kit engine really is.

Hey, I'm only 21 years old. But seriously speaking, it's good that people buy those electric cars. That way there is more gasoline for us who need it.

Today I saw a clean late '70s Dodge Aspen here in Finland. It had winter tires on so it's probably used as a daily driver. Those are not so rare cars around here, but seeing one in that nice condition is pretty rare. Then a bit later I saw an orange Plymouth Van that has a Mopar Big Block mill. Here's a picture of the same car, taken a few weeks ago at a local garage party.

I agree with what Gaute said above, it's good that I'm not the only one who thinks that now they ruined a good COPO Camaro by installing an electric "engine" in it. I tried to post a reply a couple of times to this topic already, but I couldn't find a way to say it nicely... So I'm just going to say that I have absolutely zero interest in any of those electric cars, they are absolutely horrible. Here in Finland I drive every day with my Chevrolet Truck, yes it consumes a bit of gasoline but it's quality that costs.

The BadMan kit engine is clearly a Small Block and not a 396 BBC. The valve covers, heads and headers are clearly SBC parts... Of course it's impossible to tell the engine size, but if I remember correctly it has the old oil filter, which was used on at least 265 and 283 Cid engines and not found on more modern SBCs.

This is great news, so it looks like we get three of these Comet FX kits if the B/FX version is coming out at some point, too. I just got the Arnie Beswick version of this kit, but it looks like I'll have to get one of these as well. I really like these Comets, so great to see multiple versions of this kit.

I agree, this would be a must have kit for me. But somehow I'm afraid that it won't happen at least in the near future. That Ventura would make an excellent Stock Eliminator car...

Got my copy of the new Moebius Models & Model King Arnie Beswick's '65 Comet A/FX kit. Looks like a great kit, can't wait to start building it. '65 Comet has been one of the cars that I've wanted to build for a long time...

Yes, flash shield would look better than the air cleaner. Plus that making one is really easy, I used beer can aluminum on mine. Otherwise the Ford is looking excellent! I think you nailed the period look perfectly with it and it's great to see that not all of these old Gassers are built as "super shiny show cars" or something like that. Nice work!

And today it arrived in the Mail! It's funny how slow everything goes here in Finland, as it took less time for the package to arrive to Helsinki, Finland than what it took to go through the customs and get to my doorstep, which is like maybe 10 miles or something like that.... But the eBay seller did a very good job again, I'm pretty sure that's the way to order these Limited Production kits in the future, too. Anyway, the kit itself looks very nice, can't wait to start building it. I was so happy to see that the body wasn't warped at all, as the 1965 Plymouth kits had that problem. Looking at the parts I have no complaints, except that the window trim is molded to the windows which really sucks...When applying BMF to the window trim, only a minor slip with the hobby knife will ruin the window... Hopefully that doesn't happen to me.

That plan doesn't sound too bad either! Should be a cool project, so hopefully we can see a project thread or something when you get to it? These 3rd Gen GM A-Bodies happen to be very interesting... I understand that it's not a good idea to pay that money from one of the Cutlass kits. I was lucky to find mine with $20 price tag here in Finland, but I knew immediately that it was cheap...

Yep, those Jo-Han Cutlass headlight buckets look pretty close to '73 and '74 Chevelle ones. This sounds like an interesting project with lots of work, but I think it could be done. I've been planning on doing a similar modification as I have a couple of those Stock Car kits too.

Just had a second (closer) look on those pics and it looks like you're right. But that makes things a bit easier as I have several that kind of inner wheelhouses in my parts box. Maybe some of them will fit. I'm not a Mopar fan myself, so I'm not going to shoot for 100% accuracy. But the closer I get, the better of course.

Oh Yeah, this is great news! This is one of those must have kits that I need to buy when they're out. It's a beautiful body style and great to see it being the Flareside version. Only complaint that I have is those windows with the window trim molded in them. Hopefully Moebius would stop doing that in the future...

That turned out very nice! Probably the best version that I've seen built from this kit. I think it's cool to see these simple kits that don't have so many parts being modified into something better and more detailed. You did amazing job with this Scout. Especially the engine bay looks really nice, but your upgrades all over really make it stand out from the rest of the Scouts that I've seen built. I'm not a huge fan of Off Roads, but this is one of those cars that I've wanted to build. And seeing yours makes me want to build one even more.

Good info regarding the AMT Charger chassis fitment. Need to buy one of those kits as a donor when I find one cheap. My plan has been to build one of these Monacos into a car that could have been sold new here in Finland and install some old winter tires on it. Several of these were sold as new in here, so it would be possible to do that. But I never liked the simplified chassis, hopefully the Charger engine bay would fit as well since the inner fenders and firewall are not very good on this kit...

Yes, there are options and the engine can be mounted in any location. That's not a problem. But the engine is not very visible in the storage area either...Unless the Van has side windows. If I find a good Van to start with, I'll build something from it. I did one Monogram's '77 Chevy Van a few years ago and it was fun. But now I'd like to do something a bit different, so I'll have to see what I can find.

That Peking to Paris run sounds interesting! I had so much other stuff this year that I just simply didn't have the time to build my entry for this year's Cannonball. Hopefullu next year will be different. The rules on Peking to Paris race sound interesting. It's good that it wouldn't be possible to install modern driveline in an old body. I hate to see that happen to be honest. But other than that there would be lots of room for different race cars, so it would be fun. On the other hand the Vans-theme would be pretty cool too, but I'm not completely sold on it yet. Most of the Van kits don't have engine detail or opening hood. Of course that's not a problem, but even though a builder would modify an opening hood for a Van, often the engine is so far back that it's hardly visible. And in my opinion, one of the most interesting things in the Cannonball Run is seeing different engine combinations in different bodies. Of course not all Vans have this problem, but most of them do. Vans are cool, but maybe not the most ideal for this CBP, in my opinion at least. But whichever is chosen, I might jump in.

This one was easy. I've seen a couple of these in person, and the body styling looks so good that I couldn't forget what it was. Just had to confirm the correct year models in Google.

I had no clue either. What came to my mind was Borgward Isabella which looks a bit similar. But when I started searching in Google for that, just couldn't find anything but those Borgwards. Now as Bill said it, those hubcaps definitely are looking like VW Bug parts. That would have been a good clue if I had noticed it.

Great cover of Johnny Burnette's Lonesome Train by an excellent Finnish Rockabilly band "Greased Lightning". Seen them a few times and they never disappoint! And this video was filmed by me this summer at Västerås Summer Meet in Sweden. My favorite band, The Go Getters performing an excellent Rockabilly version of Ramones' Sheena Is A Punk Rocker.

Yes, Star Models/Steve Kohler is still in business. This summer we ordered a couple of resin kits with a friend of mine. I ordered the '50 Lincoln Custom and that particular body is very good quality. But not all of those bodies are as good from what I've understood.

Don't know anything about the company itself, but at least that Caprice front end is far from accurate...