1972coronet

I agree with this assertion as well . Clear is truly the only way to fly ; the reds and ambres can be painted on both sides in order to create colour-depth . I absolutely despise chrome or solid-red tail lamps (or any "lense" for that matter --- case-in-point : the original Monogram 1971 HemiCuda ! Chromed parking lamps ?!? Arrrrgh !) . 'Clear' should be the rule as opposed to the exception ( ) . Okay , so for this kit , I'm going to bite the (plastic) bullet and {{{grumble}}} paint the back-up lamps with pearl white (*sigh*)

YES ! Clear-red tail lamps , but with separately-cast clear back-up lamps ! ( I hope that you're reading this , Kevin ...) Another sweet idea would be the W11 "Turbine" wheel covers . Yes , they were only in 14" wheel varity (e.g. , not *correct* for a HemiCuda and its 15" wheels) , and would be perfect for versions of this kit converted to 340 , 383 , 440 Super Commado or 440+6 replicas (or even for 225 /6 and 318 and 383 two barrel Barracuda or Gran Coupe conversions).

My thought exactly , Tim ! Paint it in a similar fashion to how the factory painted the so-called "Bumblebee (et al.) Stripes" on the 1970 Challenger ; first the stripe / stripes' colours were painted , then masked off , and then the car's body colour was painted . ( I am in no way kidding about this process , either ! The factory actually painted the painted-on stripes using this procedure ! )

Yeah , they're the typical Revell 426 Hemi valve covers . That ridiculous looking sideways-mounted two dimensional breather makes about as much sense as the moulded-to-the-windshield interior rear view mirror on the 1988-issue AMT '66 Nova ! I'm gonna use the M/T 'covers from Scenes Unlimited http://www.scenesunltd.com/

The one thing that's bothered me about the MPC Dodge Pickups -and the Little Red Express in particular- is the engine ! It's MPC's generic Chrysler B / RB engine , couplled by the 833 New Process 4-speed . The Li' Red was only available with the E58 360 / A-727-A LoadFlite / 9.25" rear . Good to hear that BNL Resins offers nice parts and good service . I just bought one of BNL's Torqueflites (A-727) and their TH 400 (for a conversion for Revell's 1969 Nova 'COPO') .

California Emissions Package engine ? ( ) . whenever I hear "doggy performance" , I automatically think , Must be a California-spec engine ! Sounds like these carburetted 262's had the obscure "Dual-jet" ; they looked like the Qudrajet at first blush , but were actually a 2 Bbl !

BTW , the one which I ordered (online) less than a week ago arrived today ! I just opened it about 10 minutes ago ; so far , I am in love with this long-awaited gem ! I haven't been able to thoroughly peruse its contents yet . It's 1740 HRS here ; and due to the combination of my myopic 43 year old eyes , poor lighting , and the tremblling excitement of a 10 year old (don't want to accidently break any of the kit's contents !). My only beefs so far : - Chrome instead of Clear tail lamp lenses ( I was already aware of this ) - I wasn't impressed with how the decals were *arranged* in the box , sitting as they were pressed-against one of the verticle ends of the box's insides . No kinks , mind you ; just a slight concave was the result . And , no , these definitely did not detract from the overall 'fun' of checking out the first all-new Barracuda kit in decades !

I agree completely . The black with B5 blue interior combo is definitely unique . Before I ever saw a photo of a car in that combo my first thought was , How gross ! But when I finally saw one coloured as such ( a 1968 or 1969 Coronet R/T , if I remember correctly ...) , I was plesantly surprised . Great work , Tim !

BEAUTIFUL !!!!

FM3 is called "Moulin Rouge" (Plymouth) and "Panther Pink" (Dodge) . While it was technically a 1970-only colour , there are two 1971 Dodges which were factory-painted in "FM3" ; however , the documented 1971 Charger R/T has a paint code of "147" on its fender tag , as opposed to the de rigure "999" (Special Order Paint) . As to why it was assigned a seemingly arbitrary paint code is anyone's guess ... The other 1971 Dodge which I personally encountered was , prima fascia , Panther Pink . It was on a 1971 Challenger R/T ( 300hp 383 Magnum , 4 speed , Super Performance Axle Package ( 3.91 / Sure Grip , H.D. Cooling w/ clutch fan and some other specific parts) , W11 Deluxe Wheel Covers , black interior , AM-8 Track 5 speaker stereo , rear defogger , etc. Its paint code was "999" , which lent some credence to its Panther Pink paint . A subsequent search for the cars build sheet(s) turned up nothing more than a shreaded-remaineder ; and under "comments" , handwritten in grease pencil , was "GB8" (another factory colour , but was limited to C-bodies) "999" simply means that a customer ordered a paint which wasn't *available* on that specific car line (i.e. , EA9 Charcoal Ird .on their 1970 Challenger . Since 'EA9' wasn't listed as available for any carline except the Imperial / Monaco / Fury , the Challenger received the Special Order Paint "999" code. ) or was a limited-availability colour ( "Rallye Green" on the 1969 B-bodies , which was shared with Chevrolet's car line (e.g. , 1969 Camaro) ) .

The metallic flakes in the "Astrotone" on the Shaker hoods was reforumlated by at least the 1970 calendar year , as the glare caused by the flakes was deemed a hazard . The info on the FE5 Shaker colour is correct . All 1971 Shakers were semi-flat black ; they were also standard equipment on the HemiCuda (probably a "build-out" deal , as the option was cancelled for 1972) .

I thought that those were Michigan plates ! The old 'Winter Water Wonderland' plates from pre-1976 . Although I personally cannot account for their accuracy (insofaras , alpha-numeric respectful order , font accuracy , colours , etc.) , I will go on record as giving kudos to Revell-Monogram for including vintage license plates in this kit . FWIW , I'm going to employ a set of my fave plates on one of my builds of this kit : Michigan '76 ! I'll post a link shortly for my source of these -and other- awesome plates ... EDIT 21.11.2013 @ 0713 HRS Here's my eBay source for vintage license plates : http://www.ebay.com/usr/bestmodelcarparts A heck of a nice guy to do business with . Highly recommended ! ( ATTN : Casey , Harry , et al. : if this link is posted in the wrong topic (i.e. , it needs to be threaded in "Resin and Aftermarket") , then please feel free to move it to its respective topic )

Thanks for the info and the links , Ace ! There's obviously a lot of potential with these 3D Printers ! I must admit ; the first time I heard my cousin mention "3-D printing" , I thought that he had consumed a few too many Ales ( ) , and I'd equated the concept with a Graphic Relief Map . Then he showed me a "printed piece" . I'm still having a difficult time wrapping my head around the , in es ., "something from nothing" aspect !

The more I peruse this decal sheet , the more impressed I am with its contents ; I'm especially in love with those custom Hockey Stick-type stripes ! My only *complaint* has to do with the "CUDA" plates . I'll definitely give Revell-Monogram credit for employing the lesser-seen 1982-1988 "Golden State" ( colloq : "Sunrise" ) plates ; however , that "CUDA" font is entirely too big , and too narrow . I believe that a 'scan-resize-and-print-on-new-decal-paper' action may be in order on an in-my-house basis . BTW , Tim , are you planning to add flocking to the interior ? Or , is this a relatively quick "build-and-review" project ?

I have been wanting -- no , needing -- one of the original 70's issues of the coveted AMT F-350 Annual kits , for in excess of twenty years (!) Back in the mid-late 1980's , there were gads of the original Big Foot kits around , and usually at blow-them-out prices ( typically , 99c - $1.50 !) . I bought them only because the two-wheel-drive suspension parts were included ( I had / have no interested in the four-wheel-drive versions ) . My first experience with one of the original 'annual' issues was the Star Truk [sic] from ca.1976 . After waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the RTD Bus with my mother and some family friends , the 6V71 Detroit-powered death trap pulled-up the stop at the curb in front of the Whittier Police Department . Thirty-five cents was pulled from my Levi's Cords and carefully dropped-into the bus fare jar . The bus' driver revved-up the noisy Detroit ; its GMC oxidiser spooling-up as plumes of spent fuel went billowing from the bus' 4" exhaust . We were off ! At the toy store in the Puente Hills Mall had a display of AMT's latest offerings . Among their offerings was the Star Truk ; I had to have it ! $3.25 later , it was all mine ! Given that I was 6 years old , my skills were , shall we say , *mediocre* , and the kit disappeared to the annals of time . So , here I am , once again , craving another one of these ...

Side Bar : I hope that as the technology grows and improves (espcially vis-a-vie applications in the medical field) , that like practically everything , the prices / costs / initial-investment costs , will drop signifigantly . Begs the question ; how well will 3D Printing grow into the realm of "1:1" reproduction parts ? Especially for one-off items (think : door panels , sun visors , steering wheels ( in pieces , as metal reinforcement is ostensibly necessary !) , and other unique pieces) .

Interesting colour combo , Tim ! TX9 with B5 interior ; not common , but not super rare , either

The only time that Chrysler used a black primer was at its Los Angeles plant . I'm not sure that it's exclusive to the L.A. plant ; however , I know that Hamtramck (where most 340 Dusters were built) used a light grey primer . You're correct regarding the overspray . For more info , check out Hamtramck Historical - 1970 Registry . 100% factory publications , 110% worth every minute of perusing it !

I wouldn't be surprised for a moment to find that one or more AAR Cuda models flew out of Dodge Main flanked with the rocker mouldings . These cars -and their T/A Challenger brethern- were built on the same lines at the same time as regular model E-bodies , and not in batches (think: Daytona and Super Bird) .

Unfortunately , I'm not sure how the 352 in the '60 Starliner compares / contrasts with the Edsel's FE , as I've never perused the Edsel kit (not out of disinterest , mind you) . Perhaps the engine in the Edsel is of the M-E-L series ?

My apologies , Mademan , as no offense was intended . To clarify ; I have seen many Lowrider builds over the years . I grew up in the western-side of Whittier ; as a result , I was exposed to Lowriders in addition to Muscle , Classic , Antique and Import / Exotic vehicles , and for this , I am grateful . The Whittier Boulevard scene was fraught with many styles and customised vehicles ; truly a sight for this young artist . Now , within the local plastic , scale model car scene , I have witnessed numerous beautiful Lowriders , with splendid paint jobs and other intricate external ornamentations . Oftentimes , these were "static" , "curbside" or built with miniaturised "hopper" hydraulic arrangements (works of art in their own deserved right) ; and just as often , little to no attention was given to the interior of these visual delights. I *believe* that this was intentional , as to showcase the vehicles' outward appearance . ( of course , there were a number of fully-detailled vehicles in this genre . Even more impressive ! ) Again , I apologise if my preceding statement seemed brash .

Good call on naming the original TorqueFlite , by its original engineering number ! As a reminder to all whom are building one of those 1957 300-C kits ( or the pending '56 300-B ) or any pre-1962 V8-specific TorqueFlites : the case was cast iron , not aluminum . The 1960 A-904-G ( "TorqueFlite-6" ) was the first aluminum trans and was available only behind the 170 and 225 Slant Six . The aluminum case 727 ( A-727 ) didn't premiere until two years later , for the 1962 models . What was the 2-speed PowerFlite engineering number ? It was "A-466" .

Love your Spearmint MCMLVII Ford , Mike ! Its colour scheme is a true standout ; a really unique combo , and just right for a working man's vehicle

My thoughts exactly . I believe that this car parts' caster's intent was to accommodate a prima fascia "Cutlass" as a vehicle for the Lowrider enthusiasts (in es , concentration on paint schemes and-or operational hydraulics) .

That is one cool shop , Norbert ! Great work ! Even his competition misses him . Bill was one of the greats ; a truly innovative person ("Slick-Shift" transmission and the development of Pro Stock chiefly amongst his innovations) . Even as a life-long MoPar enthusiast ( In addition to all makes / models ) , I have a strong admiration for Grump's racing prowess and his gorgeous cars !