Fabrux

I looked through my stash and found I have no less than four copies of this kit...! Unfortunately the only "correct" grille I have has been started by the fellow I got it from. The tree on the left is from the original 1993 issue with the blue car on the box and the grille on the right is from the Walmart issue with the red car on the box.

Ugh. Using the "classic" shell on a modern Windows OS just seems so backwards IMO.

The Explorer and the Bronco II are so different it would be quite difficult. There have never been any kits of Rangers 83-92 nor any Bronco IIs. You'lol have to look for diecasts or simplified toys as a starting point, or completely scratch build one like that bloke building the Aussie Falcon. The AMT 93 Ranger and 95 Explorer would provide an excellent base as the chassis didn't change throughout the Ranger's run.

Interesting! Both a chrome grille and a black plastic one. Makes lowering the trim level easier.

For the LA small block I believe the recently reissued Dart Sport has the right engine. To make a 79 Little Red Express you would need the decals from the 78 kit and the Pumpin Iron kit; the box art shows a 78 but the contents are a 79 LRE without the decals.

Yeah, XP support has been scheduled to end for a long time. Vista will be next. They can't keep supporting legacy operating systems indefinitely; one, it would be a waste of resources and two it is bad for business. How else would they entice folks to buy the latest version? I feel bad for folks still using Windows 95...

Tim, it wasn't until I picked up a six wheeler kit that I noticed the similarities with the Formula One Bronco and I started digging deeper and discovered the family tree of these kits. I actually started building the six wheeler with the chrome bits from a spare Bronco.

Another kit history article that has been waiting to see the light of day! This time we're taking a romp back to 1980 or so when Revell came out with their seventh generation F-Series pickups. Please note that these kits are 1:25 scale and completely unrelated to the Monogram pickups and Broncos covered in a separate article. The first kit on the shelves was the Ford Off-Road Bronco, released in 1980 as kit #7307. This kit depicts a custom four wheel drive Bronco with one-piece body (rear roof not removable), grille guard and off-road lights, off-road light bar on roof, sunroof, CB antennae, spare tire carrier with cover, gas cans and carrier, entry steps, and molded-in fender flares. The engine is a crude, simplified small-block Ford. The front suspension on the Bronco kits is a new-for-1980 twin-traction beam setup, however incorrectly depicted as leaf sprung (Bronco and half-ton pickup front suspensions were coil sprung). Wheels are generic wagon wheels shared with other Revell glue kits of the era with rubber Goodyear Wrangler R/Ts. Molded in yellow and black with no chrome and tinted "glass." Also in 1980, another version of the Bronco was released as the LA Sheriff's Bronco with kit #7308. The custom options in this issue were modified for a police vehicle and include all the same options in the original issue save for the roof light bar being replaced with a police light bar. The light bar itself was a single piece on a new chrome tree with blue and red decals. The wheels and tires are the same as found in the original issue, with the exception of the rims being chromed. Molded in black and chrome with tinted "glass." For 1981, the Bronco's basic tooling design was copied and modified for a line of snap kit pickups. The first kit on the shelves was the Ford Styleside 4x4 Pickup, released as kit #6411. Issued as part of the Snap Kit line, this regular cab, short styleside box truck depicts a custom pickup with bull bar and driving lights, roll bar and off-road lights. The engine is a crude small-block Ford simplified for snap kits. The wheels are a generic wagon wheel shared with other Revell snap kits of the era and the tires are two-piece hard plastic Goodyear Tracker A-Ts. The front suspension was modified from the leaf-sprung TTB to a correct-for-pickups coil-sprung TTB. The kit is molded in red and black with no chrome and tinted "glass." To date this is the only scale release of a styleside 80-86 pickup bed, albeit a bit slab-sided. The next kit out was also released in 1981 and was the Night Rider Ford Flareside 4x4. This issue switched the styleside bed for a flareside bed, and also switched the wheels to five-slot wheels similar to those offered in the Free Wheeling package on sixth generation F-series trucks. The custom options available are the same as the original issue with the roll bar being modified for the narrower flareside bed. Molded all in black with no chrome and tinted "glass." The original 1981 issue carried stock number 6414 with a 1990 re-issue carrying stock number 6439. The last pickup released in this line was once again also released in 1981 with the stock number 6415 as the Ford 6-Wheeler Pickup. This version depicts a regular cab, short box, four wheel drive dually pickup, a rather rare combination. Custom options for this version are limited to the bull bar and driving lights. The wheels are Alcoa aluminium dually rims with the same two-piece plastic Goodyear Tracker A-Ts as the previous issues.. This kit was molded in orange and black for the domestic market with international market releases molded in white. No chrome and tinted "glass." The Bronco tooling was re-issued in 1982 as the Custom Bronco. This version is an almost straight reissue of the original, replacing the chromed police light bar for the original off-road light bar. Molded in black and chrome with tinted "glass" and released with the stock number 7334. The final kit released in this tooling family was issued in 1990 as part of the combo kit Yamaha Formula One Team with a trailer and racing boat. This issue marks the biggest departure from the original tooling as the mounting holes for the roof light bar and the CB antennae are covered over, the gas can carrier is omitted (the extra hinges on the body remain), and the wheels and tire are new for this issue (five-hole swirl mags and Goodyear GT Radials shared with the Monogram eighth generation F-series kits). Molded in white and chrome with clear "glass" and kit number 7241. As with other Revell kits of the era, this line of kits is somewhat crude and simplified and frought with errors. The Bronco front suspension is all wrong and should be under the 6-Wheeler instead. The bodies on the pickups are pretty slab-sided with no curvature on the bottom of the body. However, when compared side-by-side with the comparable Monogram Bronco and pickup kits, the body proportions are much better and with some effort and parts-swapping can be built into nice kits!

Actually that is the AC compressor; the alternator is chromed and has no bracket. I guess I'm going to have to make one for it it would look funny otherwise...

Here's another mockup shot. Fixed the wheel attachments, now they don't fall off if I look at them sideways. And I managed to seriously mangle the big block I had cobbled together trying to straighten out one of the heads that was on crooked. Dug out an AMT 70 Monte Carlo that I picked up for parts and got the engine, big block radiator, and AC condenser setup for this truck. Getting kinda tight in there. According to my brochures the 454 was only available in C30 pickups but I'd like to think a fellow would've been able to order a K20 and tick the LE8 option back in 1981...

I seem to recall (or I could be imagining) that the reason why there aren't a lot if GMC conversions available is because GMC has issued cease and desist orders to resin casters.

Interesting! Maybe it's Super Clean I'm thinking of; turns resin into jelly.

You're worried about your cats breathing in paint fumes and yet you smoke in your house? That is utterly disgusting.

The tires are Super Swampers that I got with a military toy.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't resin react poorly with paint strippers?

That's a little insulting and presumptuous, Andy. As has been demonstrated beautiful paint jobs can be achieved with spray cans and you probably wouldn't know the difference if no one told you. You don't know everyone's life situation that may prohibit using an airbrush. Maybe some of us can only spray outside due to not wanting to expose their nine month old daughter's lungs to paint fumes.

Personally I paint the rockers first, then the sides, then the top. This works for me as it is a method I developed after painting bodies and not getting enough paint on the rockers. This works best for me but YMMV.

Both of those items would be a touch too big (1:24 scale)...

Thanks, James. The corners were a little trickier due to being able to see more with a step side bed. I wanted to try and build different versions of these trucks than what was put out in kit form; adding the trim to an MPC and removing it from a Monogram.

Okay, so, long time for an update. Thankfully there was no deadline on this...! Did some fiddly work with the cab: cleaned up the corners and added some strip styrene to replicate the stainless trim under the rear window.

I have a drawer for my Testors paints and they are labelled on the top.

This may only be useful to fellow Canadians, but I was browsing through my wife's favourite store (Dollarama) one day and this item caught my eye as a possible solution to my paint storage issue: I already have a paint cabinet built that has all my spray paints and Testors glass jars, but I needed somewhere to store my growing selection of Vallejo paints that would be allow me to see everything at a glance. Turns out this little lipstick organizer is a good fir for the Vallejo bottles. I also did a test fit and the Testors 1/4 oz bottles fit these organizers like a glove: Happy modelling.

I'm sure we all have one of those vehicles that, looking back, we wish we had never sold and still had. Most times it is something impractical or we now only see those good times and forget about all the hassles and troubles the vehicle gave us. So, my question for you is: what is yours? I'll start: I had a 1996 F-150 that I wish I had never sold. It was a stripped-down work truck, formerly owned by a roofing company but was in surprisingly good shape. It was a regular cab, long box, single rear tank, 4.9L six-cylinder with a 5-speed transmission and rear-wheel drive. Out of all the vehicles I had before and since, it was the most solid and had the least mileage. I replaced the clutch in it but stupidly didn't change the slave cylinder while I had the transmission out; that was a dumb move as it started to leak shortly after. Add to that a fuel problem with it sputtering and not running sometimes (found out from the fellow I bought it from it was a bad fuel rail) and finally a broken spring hanger I had had enough and sold it. Wish I hadn't! I only saw it around town once afterwards and haven't since. If I managed to find it again and it wasn't abused I'd be seriously tempted to buy it back!

I don't have saved searches, though.

I actually filter out all Buy It Now exclusive auctions. This is primarily because the items I search for most often are usually listed by a certain retailer with part out listings or high price listings...