oldcarfan

This is really shaping up! I did one for the Run a few years ago. Wish I'd had that conversion kit.

I love this color on wheels and am looking for something close to this. I've found a Rustoleum that's a little too dark and Behr has one that is a little lighter but is a hammered finish. Living in a small town, I need something available either from a big box store or maybe from Amazon or Ebay. Any ideas?

I resisted "modeler's math" just before Christmas. If I'd spent $10 more, I would have got $25 off the entire purchase...which meant I'd have got more stuff for $15 less. And I kicked myself all the way home. I think the lesson is that it's always the models you don't buy that you regret! LOL

We live in a small semi-rural central Texas town and there's this one guy. I don't know who he is, but he has the most amazing cars! I've seen him in an Aston Martin, two or three Porsches and I think a couple of other things.

You did a great job on a tough kit! I have a couple of these in the stack, but I'm a little chicken to tackle it.

Neither of those represents a legitimate stock dually, but the Chevy has some nice wheels on it that might be good for a project!

Have you heard of Girl Math? That's where she rationalizes a purchase, I think. How about Modeler's Math? So, yesterday we went down to Austin to see our first grandbaby and I had to stop at the nearby HobbyTown. I got the supplies I needed and looked at the car kits for a while. I love German stuff, so I got the Mercedes. That brought my total close to almost $90. That's where Modeler's Math came in. I remembered I had a coupon for $20 if you spend $100, so I got some more Plastruct I might need some day. Now I had a free $20 to spend so I picked up the GTR kit I'd sort of wanted for a while. With Modeler's Math, it only cost me $7, right? The Lamborghini came from my wife's stop at Hobby Lobby for yarn. I didn't need it, but it was too tempting to pass up. I can resist anything except temptation.

I built all the 88 Mustang versions back when they came out. I'd sure like to get them again.

That is looking good! For a grey interior I use the primer as the base and add different shades to give it interest. How is the Plasti-Kote different now? I've been using the Dupli-Color for a long time and didn't know Plasti-Kote had changed.

I think there are some that come fairly close in spray cans. Color Shot makes one called Clear Skies, Krylon makes or made one I think called Bahama Blue(?), Montana Gold has a Baby Blue, and Rustoleum has one called Maui Blue, though I'm not too impressed with Rustoleum. I used the Krylon on a GT40 a few years ago and it looked right to me.

By the way, I did a quick eyeball test and it looks like the Texas 3D engine will probably fit without a lot of mods to the frame.

Baby steps! It warmed up a bit today, so I got to do a little work. We whiplashed from 7 degrees with a some snow on Monday, to 68 today so I went out to the shop. I sanded the primer on the body and checked for mold marks, then decided to beef up the frame a bit. Since the Expedition is a Snaptite, all the undersides are molded as one piece. I came cross the frame from a Lindberg F-150 a while back and it has the same wheelbase as the Expedition so it's going under it. I had to cut away a bit to fit the SUV's interior bucket and sadly, took too much off. To keep it from breaking I added a bit of L shape Plastruct for strength. That's about all I got today. It's going to be in the 40s tomorrow so we'll see if anything else gets done. Just a side question, but my Hobby Lobby is slowly getting some Testor's Extreme sprays in. The color choice is limited, but it's better than nothing. The question is, has anyone used these new cans? Are they good paint? I recently unpacked 16 cans of older Testor's lacquers that I bought about three years ago and so far only about 5 of them are usable. I had 2 can each of their Mopar muscle car colors and they all leaked from the bottom seam, and some other cans seem to have lost their propellant.

Since it's Canonball season again it's started me thinking, which is never a good thing! This idea could apply to Revell or to Round2, but how about a duallie Chevy/GMC 4 door truck? Revell's has released Monogram's old tool Chevy and GMC many times over the last few years and it seems to be a consistent seller. Maybe they could do one of this as well. Maybe they could do it like they did the F-250 and F-350 getting a straight side and a duallie out of the same tooling. If they made it compatible with the Monogram 1/24th GMC, I can think of a lot projects this might spin off. We could even use the long bed and combine it with the regular cab and a stretched frame for a long wished for Fall Guy truck to go with the old series and new movie that's coming out. I'm sure it's more complicated than I make it seem, but this is sure a good looking truck.

I've started a WIP thread for my entry, not much action yet, but here's hoping I'll have something to show soon! Apparently, when I bought some parts bags a few years ago at a model show, there were some of the Expedition police parts from one of these kits mixed in. I don't know if I'll find a use, but the mesh interior guards might be a good idea for keeping stuff in place at high speeds. At least that's my theory.

Yes, courtesy of those molded plugs underneath, mine has those dimples. The Lindberg hood will need some adjustment, but I think it'll work.

Sorry, wrong post

That looks amazing! You did some nice work on that kit. My Cannonball entry will be one of these with some modifications. Did those driving lights come with the kit? They really fit with the look.

You make a good point. I think one of the things that keeps Round 2 viable is their tie-ins with Coke and other brands. A lot of kits get sold to people who don't build, but collect items from a particular brand. That's great in that they help support those of who are builders. I can't imagine Round 2 tooling up that 63 Nova wagon or the 60 and 63 F-1-00s without the thought of rereleasing it them in Coke versions. Same thing with Revell. I doubt we'd see a new tool Blazer, or Camaro for instance being tooled up without the guaranteed sales from those collectors. Here's hoping they'll eventually do a modified Blazer with the Amity Island markings!

Some stuff arrived today and I can't wait for the temperature to get into the 50s on Thursday so I can test them out. The last few days were between 7 and 18 degrees which is pretty cold for central Texas. That being said, here's the haul for today. First up is the twin turbo Boss 302 from Texas 3D, which arrived well packed and pretty much ready to put together. I wanted the 7.3 diesel from Iceman, but he was sold out. I already have plans to get one of those to go in my Monogram F-350. The other item was a Cobra IRS from the Monogram kit. It may not work, but I'm thinking I might be able to turn it into a 2nd generation Expedition IRS. I figure that would give it better high speed handling. If not, I've got a couple of the F350 rear ends and springs so that might be a stand in.

I got some potential parts for my Cannonballer today. Assuming it will fit, I'm thinking this twin turbo Boss 302 engine will do the trick and I'm hoping this Cobra IRS can be modified into a 2nd generation Expedition IRS.

The market has moved away from the subjects we know and love. It feels like the only kids who build muscle cars are the ones who watch Vin Diesel abuse them on the screen. If they build, they're more likely to build something Japanese. My oldest son will go to the hobby store with me sometimes and he heads straight to the Gundam, or Transformers area. My youngest does have some interest in vehicles, but it's more for 90s Ford or Chevy trucks which to him are 'classics'. Right now, he drools over mid 90s F-250 4x4s from the OLD days before he was born. I've been a collector more than a builder over the last 15 years, a byproduct of raising two boys. With time now, I'm unpacking all those kits and have found a lot of trucks that I don't remember buying. Among them are the Tamiya Jeep Grand Cherokees, a Montero/Pajero, two Land Cruisers, several ESCI G-Wagens one of their fire Jeeps, and a Land Rover, and several more. I don't say this to brag about my luck, but to say that the companies could tool up some modern accessories, wheels, tires, bumpers, winches, and roof racks with cargo and rerelease these kits to a market that wants to build such subjects. For that matter, they could offer similar parts to fit some of the car kits, as people are jacking them up and using them off-road now, too. Revell could reissue their excellent F-350 Duallie with a lift kit, some shiny chrome wheels and tires, a bull bar and updated graphics. Maybe they could even tool up a 7.3 diesel! AMT has now redone their OBS Chevy trucks and they could do the same sort of thing with them. Granted these accessories are available from the aftermarket, but if they were all part of a kit sold on the hobby store shelf it might tempt a lot of new buyers to give them a try. Plus it would get a bunch of us old-timers to buy new stuff!

I have a couple of the originals, and this one looks a lot better. Can't wait for them to be widely available.

Figures they'd reissue this, as I bought three of them at a model show last year. LOL

LOve these cars and the way you built them. Maybe Fujimi will rerelease them some day!