62rebel

i never realized how extensive their line was.... only saw a very few "Advent" branded boxes. was that MGB also 1/24-1/25th?

i remember seeing the Porsche Speedster and the '59 Skyliner sold at Radio Shack in '80 or so. i'd never heard of "Advent" and never gave them a second look. Radio Shack was selling them at the unheard price of 99 cents.....

so Ford is making the headlines the last couple of days with a million-plus car recall for.... power steering failures. nothing trumps a mechanical linkage between my hands and the front wheels of my vehicle. not electric, not autonomous, not guide-by-genie-smoke.....

if you're working in 1/25 the engine block you need is in the AMT '25 T kits. they look similar to FE's but there are enough differences in the MEL engine to keep nit pickers busy if they start looking. the engine in those kits isn't very well detailed, either.

these were never the "shake and bake" kits that Monogram and AMT offered at the same time.... they take some skill to do well.

this is one kit i struggled with several times over the years, right up until the Hot Rod reissue. there are some things about it that i like; it has some of the nicest chromed reverse steel wheels in a kit of the era; it has a pretty detailed small block engine with several induction options; it has operating features that, while fiddly and loose fitting, don't require a master's degree in building to open as you would a "normal" kit... now; it is poorly proportioned, and there are inaccuracies that AMT long ago dealt with very effectively in their landmark kit. the chrome tree is probably 3/4's flash by now, and removing the molded-in side trim is nearly impossible... yes; modern beginner modelers would find this kit abominable. i would probably warn off ANY less-than-experienced builder except that they would learn from building it, as they would any challenging kit. sometimes you have to try a little harder than you want to get the result (or not get it; frustrating, isn't it) that a modern kit can provide right out of the box. Revell paid the mortgage with the tri-five series in spades. there must have been a rough dozen iterations of them over the years; the '56 IIRC had an optional full-custom interior; the '55 a 409 engine MUCH better than the one in the '53 delivery/sedan kits.

first time in a LONG time that i've been flabbergasted by a paint job.... excellent work, Briz. just... excellent.

without modifying the sides, no.

excellent exercise! exceeding expectations! re the 58 kits, wouldn't the rear glass from one of those work?

my first Lindberg Color Me Gone kit windshield was cracked right up the middle when i opened the box. very aggravating as the hobby shop i bought it from had a zero return policy. not sure if Lindberg would have sent a new one so i left the car unfinished for a LOOONG time, eventually cannibalising it for parts. grrr.

some really interesting stuff there. thanks for sharing!

as overheard in VW headquarters early on: "if we rustproof it, how can we ever sell more?"

another kit that Revell did a great job on; those Honcho trucks were actually pretty rare in real life... wasn't the last reissue called "Pink Poison"? in some kind of post-apoc themed line? shoulda grabbed a dozen of those.....

i carried the wrecker bed parts back from Virginia to Great Lakes NTC in my briefcase so they wouldn't get crushed in the luggage hold... the girl doing the screening looked at the xray image on the screen and couldn't figure out what they were, so I had to open it and show her. this was WAY before 9/11.... 1987 I think. I put that bed on the Hardcastle pickup frame..... not correct but it beat the heck out of the Revell kit frame. I wouldn't mind having a case of those Midnite Cowboy kits today.

JoHan 1964 Polaras have those fenderwell headers. you can find some of the first type in the AMT '49 Merc kit, the Johan '68 Fury Police car, and some not very well executed ones in MPC MoPars from the '70's.

stumped so far. left hand drive; trafficators; slab sides; pressed steel disc wheels...... hmmm. looking forward to the answer.

some gun crew or a caisson would add interest, but nicely done nonetheless.

interesting..... I thought I knew all the German SP guns; this one eludes me.

look how many mid-70's/early 80's econo-box kits have been popping up in the Workbench threads... look how well modern tuner/drift cars do, and look at the artistry that is embodied in the Bombas and lowriders..... Revell hit one out of the park with their 59-66 series of Impalas..... RC2/Ertl did the same with the '62 Catalina.... the recent although mistake-ridden LX Mustang is a big hit; seems like more than enough builders can excuse the short roof..... Moebius is due to release those long-awaited F series trucks soon; with a little luck maybe they'll do some accurate GMC/Chevy and Dodge trucks so we don't have to correct a raft of errors to build one from what is presently offered. accurizing presently offered kits would me my target; correcting flaws and adding optional trim levels if possible, or restoring parts like the IROC Camaros and Firebirds had. correcting serious flaws in NEW kits as well, such as the afore-mentioned Mustang roof or grossly misshapen quarter window on the new Duster, or cleaning up misaligned seams...... one key item that's been recently noted is that the makers have been showing potential buyers the stuff in the box more accurately... parents don't want to have a kid open a box and be overwhelmed by a hundred frail and easily lost parts if that kid doesn't have a lot of experience building.... those "promo style" kits STILL have a place and it's squarely in the lower end of the learning curve for beginners to get some nice looking completions done. experienced builders can hack 'em up and do exceptional stuff with them, but beginners need some successful completions to get their confidence up for tackling say a Revell Mysterion...

I'm not a fan of modern cars or imports for the most part (unless they're nearly my age) but I am very glad to see new products arriving. not all of us are muscle-car or classic fanatics; having something that appeals to the next generation will certainly help keep us old-school supplied with reissues.... besides, it looks like a very nice kit.

there ought to still be plenty of the Force kits out there.

hmm. if you count "stalled", I probably have around a dozen or more in the working stage.... let's see; right now, a Tamiya Mini, Alfa GTA, two Revell Novas, a Revell Camaro, the Double Dragster kit, the Revell '50 Olds, the Moebius Hudson and Chrysler, the Revell '57 Ford, and an AMT '49 Merc. then there's the sectioned AMT '49 Ford I'm rebuilding, a Revell Foose Coronet...... and probably ten more "unfinished" kits I lost motivation on or can't find needed parts to complete. and even faced with this, I still plan future builds while I'm doing the "do-something-on-it, ANYTHING" days.....

"these modern cars all look alike" bwuhahahaha! Franklin built an amazing car for the time.... well; ALL of the cars from that era had something distinctive. great choice Harry!

amazingly well done sir. Studebaker had the best looking car available in '53...

yeah, the bicentennial offerings came from every corner except Cadillac, Chrysler, and Lincoln... everybody else had SOMETHING "76" related...... some of them came off pretty well in red, white, and blue...