larrygre

"Their old kit"? They never had their own kit, unless you refer to the old and best forgotten ex-Aurora caricature. The kit issued by RoG two years or so ago was only a rebox of the old Protar tool now owned by Italeri. When someone who is in the know tells me "new tool", I tend to believe him. If I am misinformed I will publicly apologize. Fair enough? As for the SWB, the reason why you never saw the kit is because RoG and Italeri could not come to terms on a price for the run. When such things happen, you don't always get the benefit of a press release or some kind of public statement. The reason I know is, I ASKED. Then again, its my job to. Ask my boss.

Just announced from RoG, and its official...not reboxed Fujimi, Italeri, Protar, or Gunze Sangyo. The kit is ALL NEW TOOLING. July 2013 release. Woo-hoo!

It is not a styrene conversion of the diecast nor is it based on the 58-59 kits of years past. This is indeed an all-new tooling.

This is a former ESCI kit. If the body has all the aero mods, it would take a great deal of work to bring this back to a stock/street car. Of course, you could do it up as a "tuner". ESCI's car kits weren't bad, but they were very soft on detail, IIRC.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the US-boxed Revell Germany kits -the Ferrari 599GTO and the 1960s Mini Cooper. It will be interesting to compare that Mini kit with the 1980s-vintage Tamiya kit, which after all these years is still pretty darn good. And the Boot Hill Express is nice ot have back, especially for those who missed it in any one of its reissues over the years. I just wish they COULD reissue the old Uncertain T kit from 1967, though it is common knowledge that the molds no longer exist. If they could clone the Tijuana Taxi, they could clone the Uncertain T!

Looks like a perfect candidate for the new Alclad candy colors!

The last real full size muscle car...1996 Chevrolet Impala SS. Two tons of fun!

Hey everyone, The pre-molded fuel and oil lines in the Revell Mongoose RE Dragster kit are molded in polyethylene - a plastic that most paint tends not to stick well to. Has anyone overcome this problem? Thanks in advance!

Absolutely. I can';t speak for the last Pantera production runs, but the original cars that came to the USA were all powered by Cleveland engines. Either swipe it out of the Revell '70 Mach I Mustang, or use the resin example from Scale Modeling By Chris and modify the engine accordingly.

Chuck, the real Tweedy Pie was painted Candy Purple, not metallic purple. HoK's candy purple is very close.

Chuck, only the 1960's vintage Willys gassers from both AMT and Revell had the Olds engines. The new tool Revell kits all have the 392 Hemi.

Ed, I often wonder why Testors, who is also an airbrush company (Aztek) only packages these car-oriented colors in spray cans. Perhaps their market research shows the majority of model car builders prefer rattle cans??? If they bottled the stuff, I'd buy it. Period.

This looks to me as Testors coming up with a branded competitor to some of the craft paints such as Krylon Short Cuts. This was tried a few years ago with acrylic waterbased colors, but the paint never did catch on and the line was discontinued. Being that this seems targeted towards the art and craft market, the places to look for these would be art and craft stores, Michaels, A.C. Moore, and the like, rather than traditional hobby shops that cater more to the scale modeler.

Thanks for the kind words Casey. I have seen my review style used on the Web and in print (club newsletters, etc.), and I'm honored that it has become something of a standard.

Absolutely right, Boss. Too many people assume that if a product is released into the sales channel, images and ancillary materials associated with that product are "public domain", free to reproduce, etc. That is absolutely FALSE. Intellectual property and trademark laws protect such products. That is why writers like myself, and Big Kahunas like Gregg, always attempt to get the permission of the copyright holder to illustrate such items in print or on the Web, properly credited, and properly given a "Used with permission" tag. Its always been a watchword for me throughout my many years as a writer and columnist. Show the proper respect, and you'll be shown the proper respect. Hasn't failed me yet.

My two cents? It always was a beautiful kit, whether it be the Big John Mazmanian, Stone-Woods-Cooke, or KS Pittman version. Details can always be worked out with a good "spares box", donor kits, or access to aftermarket parts. For example, the Pittman car originally raced with a blown Olds hooked up to a B&M Hydro - a combination that can be gotten from the vintage AMT '40 Willys gasser kits. That would free up the gorgeous 392 Hemi for other applications. The only real complaint I have about the kit is the matte finish decals. I apprised Revell's Ed Sexton of this at NNL East and he said he is looking into it. Good thing Slixx has an alternative, for now.

All the Vantasy kit needs to build a stock panel van are two stock seats and a set of stock (non hi performance) tires. The open steelie wheels and dog dish hubcaps are in the kit. Maybe one of our resident resin casters might consider doing a set of those stock seats...!

The vintage Testors boxed kit is not Fujimi. It's Gunze Sangyo's kit. Fujimi will be releasing a second variant to this kit shortly, a non-GTS version (kit #12257) that represents the baseline model as introduced in 1970. That one has a place in my collection for sure.

Many years ago, Scale Auto ENTHUSIAST ran an article on converting the MPC Laguna S-3 NASCAR kit into a stock Laguna S-3 using the chassis and parts from a Jo-Han '75 Cutlass. The conversion is fairly extensive. The article appeared in the very early 1980s - I remember because that was before I started writing for SAE. If I can find the issue I will post the number and issue date. That might be of some help to anyone wanting to take on the task of mastering a stock 1973-77 Laguna or Malibu "colonnade" hardtop.

Only around 2000 of the Monza S were produced. Likely they were conversions of leftover '77 Vega hatchbacks, according to most reports.

I have a feeling you may see the Dyno Don Pinto and Grumpy's Toy IX Vega Pro Stocks in Round2's new "Legends of the Quarter Mile" series. As for the wagons, MPC did the Pinto wagon with its "mini-van" side panel option in 1977, and AMT, from 1971 through 1977, did the Vega Kammback wagon but only as a Funny Car. The body width on AMT's wagon was a LOT wider than that of MPC's hatchback - back then I wanted to do a stock Vega GT wagon by kitbashing both, but wasn't that good at "plastic surgery" so the idea got shelved. Anyone for a Motion Super Vega with its LT-1 smallblock - likely one of the most dangerous muscle cars ever produced??? All told, it would be nice to have stock versions of both cars back again. Preferably pre-1974 editions.

Yes it does.

I use several different "shades" for a black interior. Most hard plastic and padded areas, such as padded dashes, have an eggshell kind of semigloss to them. For those I use either Humbrol 85 Coal Black or Testors Semi Gloss Black - both are avalable in enamel or acrylic. For leather or leatherette (vinyl) seats that tend to be a tad shinier, I use Tamiya acrylic X-18 Semi Gloss Black, which is a bit shinier than either the Testors or Humbrol products and provides a good contrast. Hope that helps some!

Looks like you have all the basics covered. The Logghe chassis in the Kenz & Leslie kit is right for the car. Replace the Ford SOHC with a good quality big block Chevy and you just about got it!

That news is very welcome, especially with the flurry of vintage and classic drag racing kits coming out from R-M and Round2. Bravo!