oldcarfan

I think I'm about done with the interior. The dash is mounted, the seats are in place, and I think that's about it. I didn't realize how small these car's interiors were. It's tough getting everything in. I added a spoiler to the back and am working on one for the front too. The CB is in between the seats and I think that's the permanent location. On the dash is the Fuzzbuster and to the right is a panel of switches.

Love it!

Don't think I've shared this. It's my 'new' Lexus RX350. Last July we passed the old RX350 to our son and his new family and found this one. It's a 2019 with 48k miles on it still with some warranty and full maintenance done when we picked it up. We looked at Highlanders and such but they were strangely about the same price. Two weeks after we got it we drove from the Hill Country in Texas to Orlando for my wife's business convention, then on down to the Keys, before heading back to Texas. The car never missed a beat in that 4500 miles.

Back in the late 90s, I was stationed in Norfolk, Va. A company in town sold and installed these tops on almost any car. They were thin fiberglass shells made to the shape of an individual car. When you ordered one, they would have it shipped in and then they'd upholster it your chosen shade of vinyl before installing it. Monte Carlos and Buick Regals were popular recipients, But one of my shipmates had a new Mustang GT and he took it there and had one added. The car was black and the top was white. Not my taste, but he liked it. Another guy got his Eagle Talon done in a similar fashion. I sometimes wonder what happened to those cars.

I found the cab for probably the original stepside kit. Notice the alignment holes are different than the ones in the standard kit. The more I think about, the more I remember buying several Silverado kits in a clearance sale at a Toys R Us or KayBee Toys. So that's probably where they came from.

Those things are getting expensive now. I drove a similar style Ford truck for a while. These things are so long it takes a couple of days to make a U-turn! lol

The cat remains unworried.

That Blazer kit might be a good way for Revell to stretch their budget. They could do up a nice 6.2 diesel, add some tow points and stuff and they have a pretty decent 1/25th Blazer M1009 CUCV!

I figure some interior clutter is always a nice touch. I ordered this set and the binoculars should look pretty nice when cleaned up and painted. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1043220018/124-scale-hiking-boots-binoculars-and?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=1%2F24+binoculars&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&sts=1&content_source=359427c130e3851647cb6bae2d11a4cd5302a2a9%3A1043220018&search_preloaded_img=1&organic_search_click=1&logging_key=359427c130e3851647cb6bae2d11a4cd5302a2a9%3A1043220018

That color with the blacked out trim kind of gives off moonshine runner vibes!

Something else I came across: Sears police scanners were rebadged Regency scanners. Though Cobra, Motorola and Regency made their own Citizen Band Radios, there was an RCA design (cybernet) that found itself in low-end brands like Hy Gain, GE, JC Penny and Kraco, but were often found in Midland units as well.

Testor's did two Chrysler high impact colors, Green Go and Sublime. The Green Go is definitely darker. Here is a picture of a Porsche I painted in SubLime over white Duplicolor sandable primer. You can find it sometimes on eBay, this color really pops! I really wish someone would pick up the mantle and release all these colors again in packaging you could buy anywhere.

I'm sure there are those with more direct knowledge, but these are my long-winded thoughts. Counter surveillance methods were in their infancy in the mid 70s. To get ready for a Run, there were several thing you might want. For electronics, there4 would be a CB radio, a police scanner, and a radar detector. Because of the 55 MPH speed limit speeding became the national pass time. Your local K-Mart, the Radio Shack in the mall or sometimes in the local supermarket, CBs seemed to be sold everywhere. Here is a vintage ad: https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-consumer-electronics-hall-of-fame-electrolert-fuzzbuster-radar-detector Fuzzbuster, Bear Finder, set the standard for radar detectors, and copies were coming out. From old TV shows and movies, it seems radar detectors and CBs were every where. Radio Shack, K-Mart and other big chains had them and they often sold store brands as well. You'd also want a police scanner and a booklet listing the frequencies used by the police agencies in the states you passed through. Definitely you'd want a pair of binoculars, and a Rand McNally US Road Atlas. Other items might be a bottle of No-Doze, a couple of Stanley coffee Thermoses, sunglasses, and probably a Coleman Cooler in the back. Here's some pictures I found while researching. The first shows some 1975 competitors stuck behind a helpful Smokey. The Porsche seems to have the classic dual CB antennas mounted to the drip rails. The Volvo probably has two CB antennas and a police scanner antenna. The next pictures are of vintage radar detectors. Next is a vintage CB. Someone said a CB and antenna are included in the recent reissues of AMTs Pinto runabout. If anyone has this kit, chime in and let us know. Maybe other AMT kits have them too? This last one is a Police scanner and antenna, not sure of the year, but it might give an idea of what they looked like. Okay, everyone can wake up now, sorry to bore you! LOL

I'm planning to give it a bath tomorrow to see how it looks. I can see some small paint chips, but they may not be too bad. I don't really have a use for it so I may offer it up if there's interest.

I'm actually thinking of painting the flares that way. For the original color I went back and forth between The Go Mango which is pretty close to Porsche's Signal Orange and the Green Go which is pretty close to Porsche Lime Green. But my can of Green Go has the typical Testor's leak at the bottom. I had just enouigh of the Go Mango so I went with that. As luck would have it, a hobby shop I went to recently had a good can of the Green Go, and I grabbed that, but I'm not changing colors now!

Did some work in the shop today. The bad part is I chipped the paint on the wheel arch. I still suspect the AMT yellow plastic is the issue as the original body didn't do that. The heat shielding needed something to break it up so we now have floor mats. I'm pretty happy with the seats and dash. The gauges are both ESCI originals and some old Porsche leftovers. The Fuzzbuster is in place on the dash and I scratched up a set of 9 inch Marchal rally lights.

I think I mentioned how the paint isn't sticking well to the AMT yellow plastic. I touched the wheel well today and the paint flaked off. Still don't understand why. The prep was done the same as the original ESCI with washing, scuffing the shell, and priming and sanding. I'll try decanting the last of the Go Mango paint and should be able to do some touchups. Also got the seats painted and finished the Fuzzbuster. Here they are put together. I originally planned to use some leftover Porsche seats, but I kind of like the kit supplied ones. They needed some jazzing up so here they are with plaid inserts. Also the Fuzzbuster is mounted to the dash now and the gauges are in place. The gauges are from the OG ESCI decal sheet and a few from an unknown Porsche sheet. They went on with no issues which is surprising considering they were printed in the 80s. I also made a set of 9 inch Marchal rally lights for the front end. They look pretty good for being home made. And somewhere in Stuttgart, a Porsche is missing its floor mats. In keeping with the theme, I'm going to be adding some Porsche bits and pieces here and there. I think the mats kind of break up the silver heat shielding.

I flipped it over for a couple of pictures and it seems you were right. It's a promo style chassis with the screws in the front. The back is a little loose so I must have glued it onto the chassis. In case anyone wants to know what the original AMT grill looked like, this is it. It doesn't look bad with some paint detailing.

I love the finish!

The prime suspect remains unrepentant!

So, I was poking around the attic of my shop last night and found a crushed box in the corner with this in it. I honestly have no memory of building it. I went through Chevy truck phase around 2000 so that seems likely. I also don't remember AMT offering a kit like this back in the day. Maybe it's a combination of more than one kit? The bed is slotted in the cab and everything looks stock. The paint looks like Boyd's Teal and a gloss tan color. I was going to try to save it but the paint is chipped in a few places and I may try to trade it or something. I think AMT made a step side bed kit , but I only know of a short cab version. Could this be a combination of two kits?

Two weeks ago I ordered the world's largest model kit from online. I've been wanting a place to put all the lawn tools so my shop isn't so crowded. Well, it arrived and it's not quite the slap it together fun ride the ad made it seem. Not all the screw holes quite line up so you have to improvise. Still, not too bad for a full day. I was trying to get it finished while the temperature was in the 50s. Didn't quite beat the cold front as the wind has changed around and it'll be in the teens and twenties the rest of the week. Got everything together except the doors and trim and I'll finish that next weekend.

A lot of cars deserve to be kitted, sadly, I guess the companies couldn't make a case for investing the money. That's why I'm following 3D printing with interest. It seems every year they get more sophisticated, requiring less and less cleanup work. I'm guessing in not too long you'll be able to download a program and print the more obscure cars we love. When I was little, my dad used to talk about a 34 Plymouth he had as a teen that he loved. He said he sold it because the principal at his High School told him he couldn't park it on school property. To him that was the car that he always wanted to find again.

Someone even sells lift kits for them.