khier

All the available '55 Wagon kits are incorrect, except the One Fifty Handy Man (2DR) made by Perry's resin, and , judging the pictures, Shawn Carpenter's Beauville Bel Air (4DR) conversion kit. I am not aware of Ray Parson's kit, but if you mean the R&R kit, it has the wrong side trim (identical to Bel Air). I was following the building process in the attached link closely to see how he will tackle the trim issue, but despite his excellent skills, he preferred the easy way and ended with wrong trim treatment. Here is a short review of the all '55 Models available I posted in another forum, updates and corrections are welcome: 1955 Chevy 1. Bel Air 2DR HT. Very old kit from Revell. Avaialble separately and in the Hot Rod box with a 57 and 54 Chevys. Hendrix offers resin conversion. I think it is based on the cabrio (see below) and a 57 roof. I do not have it so I am not sure. (Now we know there is a new one from Revell) 2. Bel Air Cabrio. Revell USA and discontinued but easy to find from Revell AG. An excellent kit. 3. Bel Air 2DR Sedan. AMT, AMT, AMT,... and nothing but an AMT. Not because it is a great kit, but because it is all what you can get. 4. Nomad. see Nr. 3 5. Bel Air 4DR. nothing as far as I could find. 6. 210 2DR sedan/club cope. See 5 7. 210 4DR sedan. See 5 8. 210 2DR sport Cope. see 5 9. 210 Townsman/Bel air Beauville (2DR S/W). Resin conversion available from R&R. A useless kit because of incorrect chrome trim. the trim is taken from the regular Bel Air and is different for the S/W. 10. 150. Nothing at all. But perhaps the AMT 2DR Cope can be easily converted by removing the side chrome trim (not an easy task on the front fender), but what about the scripts and crests? There are no suitable scripts available, neither water slide nor photo etch parts. Any advice, suggestions and tips are greatly appreciated. The interior is another pain in the a... I mean the neck. New seats and door panels have to be made. However, this might not be terrible as it seems because the 150 series had a simple seat trim. 10.b The R&R kit (see 9) may be useful here to build a handy man (150 2DR S/W) by removing the incorrect chrome (God why did not they do it themselves). Again, the scripts and the interior have to be made. (Available/Was Available from Perry's resin. Body only. Very good by the way) 11. Sedan delivery resin conversion is offered by the Modelhaus. Judging the positive experience with knowledgable caster (well, if we exclude the 65 Impala S/W), I expect it to be an accurate body shell. How good actually the kit is and how difficult the conversion to S/W might be remains an open question. Personally I would not follow that route for a simple reason. If the conversion turns out to be difficult I would end with a sedan delivery which I am not interested in. Since the interior and scripts have to be added anyway, I would go for the R&R kit and remove the trim as mentioned above.

Exactly the same reason that makes someone pays more than 400 $US for a '63 corvette promo, while a kit with the same (or similar) mould and more details is available at every toilette for 15. Do not try to understand, it is Ebay.....

It is only 10 $US cheaper than the R&R version and lacks chrome parts. That is why I was asking for a feedback because the price difference does not justify the lack of chrome. Similarly, while the quality of the Modelhaus is beyond doubt, accuracy is not (compare their '49 Buick and Cadillac sedanettes), and 100 $US is a proud price.

Any idea how good this one is: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jimmy-Flintstone-NB209-Resin-57-Desoto-/380379106617?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58905c8d39 Thanks

I would rather say the '53 Hudson was sliced and extended to make a Wagon.

I like the villager idea. Just curious how you will modify/replace the side trim....

To explain this point better: Edsel design was polarizing. Many did not like the unusual 'horse collar' front. Some went far to drew similarity with,... well,... a part of the female body with sexual function. If you were in the fifties would you have loved to take your wife and kids in a car your neighbours associate its front end to a va..... ? I am not sure how wide spread the last point was, but it is sure an indication of the public's acceptance of that design.

1-Because the majority had a different opinion than yours... 2-Because of lack of image. Inappropriate marketing could not position it properly between Ford and Mercury as it was intended to do 3-Because it was full of hastily developed novelties which made it unreliable. 4-A part of quality problems was also due to being built on Ford (Pacer-Ranger) and Mercury (Citation-Corsair) lines. Edsel was a different car on the assembly line and caused a lot of confusion. 5-Price (perhaps??) Well, I guess that was all (as far as my memory serves right now).

yessssssss.............

I could not find this green tone in Edsel color charts. Could you give me the color designation? Anyway, authentic Edsel green or not it looks perfect on this car.

A silly question, why is the '52 version available in racing version only? I mean why not also stock as the '53 version??

Jimmy Flintstone makes a '53 Hornet Wagon. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jimmy-Flintstone-NB239-Resin-53-Hudson-Hornet-Wagon-/380380218438?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58906d8446 I have looked everywhere and could find a single indication for such a car. JF is also known for fantasy cars. Is this one of his latest phantoms?

I only wish this one will be a forerunner of an '61 Corvette.

Thanks for the clarification....

First thanks for your reply.... .......If you look at the interior panels, as well as the body sides, you can see were they only filed down the engraving to produce the Squire's rear doors.... Dores this mean the ranchero and station wagon shared the same door? .......For accuracy, you should start with an AMT 57 Fairlane 500, and graft the Chopped top Ranchero bed to that. It will give you the correct door size.. ok... i see the ranchero had the coupe (big) door, right...? But what about the trim? The Fairlane 500 had a different trim than the Ranchero`s, which had either its own or that of the custom 300n (or custom??) .......The wheelbase will be closer to correct versus AMT's 500 too.. I thought the Ranchero and custom shared the same short WB.... which means in case of Revell kit no correction is needed..... Sorry for that but it seems I got more confused than before....

After so many disappointing attempts to hunt a stock Ranchero on Ebay, I am seriously thinking of converting one of Jimmy Flintstone's resin wagons to a Ranchero. It should not be a lot of work, especially that I have a chopped Ranchero kit. However, I am confused with the door issue as I could not figure out whether the Ranchero had a coupe/club (long) or regular/town (short) door. I think the Revell Ranchero has the wrong door. If true, then it is pointless to invest more for a Revell kit. I have three possibilities between which I am torn: 1-Provided the door issue is correct invest more and get a Revell kit. 2-Carry out the conversion. 3-After hearing about the '57 Custom (Why not a 58 or 59?? a '57 was done by the Modelhaus), wait a couple of years for Revell to launch a Ranchero, or pray that a resin caster will do it. What about the door in Revell kit? And which way would you go? And, by the way, I intend also to make a Tudor Ranch wagon "Del Rio". It should be a straight forward conversion, or did I oversee something?? Thanks

Check this: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/t/60823.aspx

Beautiful valve covers. How to order them?

Thanks to Ebay, I have become a proud owner of a Modelhaus '49 Cadillac Sedanette. Impressed again after a couple of disappointments, namely the 1965 Impala S/W, I thought it is a petty to use that primitive chassis and to glue the hood. The problem is, however, where to get an engine? One has to be a freak to have a hobby like car kit building, but I am not freak enough to sacrifice a Franklin Mint for the engine, a '53 Welly perhaps but not a FM. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

I hate to discourage you but did you know that Hendrix sells resin '56 ford custom HT body for around 40 $. Star Models sells it in addition to Ebay.

There has been a single Edsel station wagon line in 1959, the Villager, whose side trim was close, but not identical to the Ranger series. The built model bears the trim of the top of the line Corsair. It seems that someone (probably a known resin company whose name consists of two similar letters) glued a '57-'59 Ford wagon top to an older '59 Corsair, modified the door lines and threw the copies in the market. The rear of the station wagons is different from the Coupe/Sedans. So the builder is right, he ended up with a nice looking phantom.

I checked it before posting my question. The information listed there is not up to date....

The title says everything....

Well,such modification is beyond my skills. I tried it once with the '59 impala and ended up ruining two bodies. Too much work (for my skills). I would restore an old AMT or promo instead.

Not only.... the side trim, hood ornament, rear wheel fairing,... and...and.... Better search for an old AMT kit or Promo, or a resin copy of either, and start to improve the details. The Trumpeter kit is good for nothing except the chassis and power train.