Longbox55

I go there, too, when I'm in Indy. I also go to the Hobbytowns in Greenwood and Castleton while I'm there. Since I don't have a hobbyshop in Danville anymore, I usually go over to Champaign IL to Slot & Wing (old line hobbyshop dating back to the '60s) and the Hobby Lobby and Micheals. Slot & Wing is pretty good place to find oop kits and odd stuff, plus they have a "scratch and dent" section, which is good for finding donor kits cheap. Sometimes, they're missing parts, but I've found several kits from there that simply had a damaged or opened box. Best deals I've got from there were a Fujimi GT-R full detail for $15, and a pair of Haseawa VW Type 2s (pickup and panel van) both for $3 apeice.

I'm partial to the Paasche model V myself, the model H is pretty good, too.

That hubcap has never been in any kit, you might have to check with the resin casters. I think one did make them, but I don't recall who off the top of my head.

Yes. They had a braided outer sheath that was used to prevent radio interference. I forget exactly which years had those, but I beleive it was late '50s-'mid '60s.

I was thinking the same thing, but it would depend on ones perception of "factory stock". I'm thinking that when a build is referred to a "factory stock", it means just that, as it was when it left the factory on its way to the dealer lot.

I had to take another look at the pix, you're right. I didn't even notice the "Grant Products" printed right on the box under it!

Actually, there was a FWD COE type truck built by GMC in the '70s. The GMC MotorHome used a Tornado based driveline.

True, but the details that are there give it away. Namely, the 4 bolt main caps.

What you would want to use is the 2 part Professional Glazing Putty, which comes in a tube. Thsi is not to be confused with the old red Glazing Putty that has been around forever, which is a single component filler. You'll want the stuff that has 2 tubes (one filler, one catalyst) in the package. It can be found at the flaps, and sometimes Wal-Mart has it in stock, too. Now, on to what you're attempting to do. If you're trying to fill the taillight holes using only filler, that is the main thing that's causing problems. You should fill them either using the taillight peices (if you're not using them elsewhere) or possibly sheet plastic. That will fill the hole with a stong, compatible material with the surrounding plastic. Sand it to the rough shape, then use the filler to finish. It's basically the same as working with a 1:1, you never try to fill a hole with Bondo, it simply won't stay put. You would fill with metal, be it a patch or even welding it up in the case of small pinholes. Then use filler to finish, if needed.

Note about this engine, it represents a large journal 302 or 350 4 bolt main Smallblock Chevy, rather than the 327 that would be in the 1:1 Nova. There were no small journal ('55-'67) Smallblocks with 4 bolt mains, and the only 4 bolt large journal ('68-'00) were the 302 and 350, the 327 was never produced as a 4 bolt block, other than a handfull of experimental engines.

Whoops! I should've checked it before I posted . Don't know what made me think it was a Triumph, maybe there was one in a different kit?

Correction, Ridge Riders were made by Zee toys, which is no longer in business.

With the Maisto Harleys, if you sww onw onw you like, get it. Seems they switch models every other year or so, bringing out new ones and discontuing older releases. You might also want to watch out for the old Ridge Riders line, I beleive they were made by Road Champs. They're long since out of production, but you might find some. They were mostly '70s/'80s motorcycles, both street and dirt, but the did also make a few 3 wheel atvs, an early Suzuki Quadrunner, as well as some very nice, if dated by todays standards, bicycles. One more note, the recently reissued Class Action Monte Carlo has a very nice Triumph chopper w/trailer incuded.

You may want to reconsider using flat paint as a primer, especially if you're using enamel. Since you're planning to use laquer for the finish, you really need to use a compatible primer under it. Spraying laquer over enamel can cause problems such as lifting in the finish, requiring a strip and refinish. I would suggest Duplicolor FP101 (grey) or FP102 (red) primers, whish are high build sandable primers. They're redily available from any car parts store, and are much more economcal than using the small spray cans from the LHS. Pretty much any finish can be used over it. Something else to look for while you're at the parts store, Bondo Professional Glazing Putty. You'll want the 2 part kind, which is mixed just like regular Bondo, but comes in a much smaller quantity and has a finer texture. It won't shrink lke hobby fillers, and is very easy to work with.

Underhood pic from shop manual.It's not the best shot, but it's the first I could find. BTW, if you need a panel body, Jimmy Flintstone has both a very nice Panel and Suburban in resin. They're not perfect, the rear fenders need some work to be correct, but they are a very good starting point.

I know it's a little late for this, but there's a neat trick to figuring out what size a '41-'59 GMC 6 cylinder engine is without pulling it apart and measuring things or decoding serial numbers. On the engine unit number (stamped next to the distributor), the first 3 digits are the engine displacement (228, 248, 270, 302).

The kits from Shawn Carpenter will be a good start, if you're looking to do a factory stock '55-'57 GMC, there will be other alterations to the AMT Chevy kits to make them accurate. From the description, the transkits have all the external differences covered, hood, grille, dash, tailgate, but there are noticable mechanical differences as well. GMC did not use the same engines as Chevrolet, they had their own 6 cylinder, and used Pontiac engines for the V8 trucks. The Pontiac engine shouldn't be an issue, pretty much any of the many Pontiac V8s can be used, though an early one would be most accurate (there's a difference in the water pump and bellhousing). For the 6, you may be out of luck, as there was never a GMC 6 produced in scale to my knowledge. There are also some underhood differences, the radiator is slightly farther forward due to the longer engine, and there was pair of support bars from the dash to the core support (the Chevy Suburban also used these). The rear axle on 1/2 tons was a Spicer 45, a Spicer/Dana 44 is pretty close in appearance. The above information applies to U.S. spec trucks, Canadian GMCs did use Chevrolet engines.

That was my first thought, too. I have a full rack of it myself I got from a local shop that discontinued the plastic kits to concentrate on R/C cars. It is not the same as HOK, as mentioned. It should be mentioned, the line sold at Wal-Mart is not the same as what they sold at the hobby shops. The Wal-Mart version was sold as the "Shimmerin" brand, and is definetly a hot paint. It was sold only in spray cans. The Kustom Kolor sold at the hobby shops is a modified enamel from what I understand. I haven't tried any enamel reducers with it yet, as I bought up all the reducer the shop had, and haven't run out of yet. BTW, Valspar is the parent company of House of Kolor.

It's a pretty nice kit. Only issue I've had is the chrome was a bit fragile on the 2 I have. MCG has a very nice detail kit for it.

Lindberg has been doing that on many of their kits lately, I've even heard of a few that were actually 1/32 scale listed as 1/24 on the box.

The box is incorrect about the scale, the kit is actually 1/25 scale.

Beleive it or not, I use Testors Metalizer aluminum plate, right out of the jar. It takes some patience to hand brush it, and you'll have to give it several coats, but it can be brushed on.

Can you post a pic showing the differences? I just searched Ebay for the beds, they are identical to the shortbed in the GMC that I have.

Are yo guys sure that the Monogram monster truck Chevies are longbeds? I remember when those came out, and I recall that they were shortbeds just like the regular truck kits and the Ford monster truck the did at the same time. Most of the monster truck kits at the time were simply a lifted suspension and axles added to existing truck kits, I can't see Monogram tooling up a longbed just for a monster truck. BTW, the Monogram Chevy pickup is a '76, '79 has a different grille and hood.

Many of the older AMT kits contain items that work well for dioramas, the '53 Ford F100 (not the flipnose) mentioned is on of the better ones. In addition to the gas welding rig and the hand tools, it also includes a grease gun. The Nascar kits, which were in the Monogram Stockcar Plus series, have been out of production for a while, but aren't too hard to find. They include a nice toolbox, which is loosely based on a Mac brand box, a jack, feul can, catch can, nitrogen tank w/support fixture and regulator, and a pair of the best looking 1/24 scale Ingersoll-Rand IR213 impact guns. There is also a driver included that somewhat resembles Dale Earnhardt Sr. (the first kit in that series was his '94 Lumina). The bonus parts from those kits were also issued with the Revell Stock Car trailer as well as a combo kit featuring a Chevy Van, trailer, and an early sprint car. Fujimi has a nice Garage and Tools kit, which has most of the eqiopment one might need, full set of Snap-On hand tools and toolbox (not as big as the Monogram Mac box, though), drills, desk, shelf units, gas and electric welding rigs, jack w/stands, creeper, engine stand. engine hoist, 2 post positionable lift, plus assorted office equipment and car parts. Tamiya also has a few accessory kits, the one I have is a racing kit that has a driver, mechanics, plus pit tools (jack, impacts, jackstands), racing car parts (brake rotors, struts), laptop computer. You might check out the Hobby Gear line from Pheonix Toys. While not 100% accurate, the kits do have some intersting items that I've never seen anywhere else, like fender covers and jumper cables. Also, don't be afraid to check out G scale train and military kits. Italeri has a military tool kit that has many items that work well as small 1/24 scale items, and Preiser has a very nice 1/24 scale tool kit.