Mike999

ERTL farm tractors, among many others. I remember a Los Angeles toy store, back in the 1980s, where those kits were being dumped at clearance-sale prices. Also remember them going cheap at kit shows, circa the early 1990s. I had a few over the years and foolishly sold or traded them. They sure don't go cheap now! I only have 2 farm tractors left: the reissued AMT John Deere and a built-up Massey-Ferguson 1155. The 1155 cab is missing the rear window and driver's door, and has a broken but repairable front axle. It is neatly built and not painted, so I'm thinking of dumping the cab completely and going the "abandoned behind the barn" route. With lots of weathering.

Worst part of those Dodge truck kits, in my experience: the doors. They use tiny plastic hinge pins that break if you look at them wrong. If you want working doors, drill out those things and replace them with metal. A common straight pin trimmed to fit will work. Or you can just glue the doors in place. But then you'll need to do some work on getting everything straight and flush. They don't fit all that well. As far as molding and flash, the Lindberg reissues of the Little Red Wagon etc. look better than some IMC originals I've seen. I have an original IMC "Touch Tone Terror," the telephone version of the LRW. Not only was it molded in a gruesome translucent see-thru white plastic, there was so much flash I practically had to whittle the parts out with an X-Acto knife.

Amazing! Some great ideas there that I will try my best to steal. Especially like the emergency brake cable/clamp detail and those open header caps.

For a modeling idea, I went looking for photos of wrecked, abandoned etc. Corvettes. Came across this heartbreaking site - a whole page of C2 Vettes, flood-damaged, wrecked, or just nearly-junked "project cars." http://www.autosource.biz/Ad/1965_Corvette.htm

That is kind of neat. Thanks for responding. SC has many streets, schools, buildings and stuff named for Wade Hampton. The state even detached part of Beaufort County and re-named it Hampton County. (Thanks, Google!) I live about a hour from Greenville myself, going north.

Hit the Ollie's in Anderson SC again today. New kits are STILL appearing! The store had 1 HAWK "Weird-Ohs" Iron Maiden. Was hoping they'd have the "Wheel Rack" from the same series but no luck. Also found 1 lonely Monogram '82 Corvette, which I grabbed to make into a Dead Disco-mobile. Only got the Vette and another '77 Monte Carlo Snapper, because that MC is a very nice kit. Didn't need anything else. This store still had plenty of: AMT Tommy Grove Mustang FC, Lindberg "Color Me Gone" '64 Dodge, Little Red Wagon, Alternomad, Crown Vic Tennessee Highway Patrol, Revell Ferrari California and some others I don't remember. Also tons of aircraft kits, which seem to be moving very slowly.

Flea Market Day! Last week I found exactly nothing. But today was pretty good. Kits and vintage reading material...

Bizarro! Saw it on the shelves last Wed. at the Hobby Connection in Easley, SC. Price was around $29, I think.

Ollie's update for Upstate South Carolina: Visited 2 stores today, in Anderson and Greenville. I realize you probably don't care if you don't live around here. But I'm guessing most of the stores re-stock etc. the same way. So if you haven't found what you want yet, it could still be lurking in the storeroom of your local store. The Anderson store has definitely re-stocked the model shelves. Last week they had NO, ZERO Polar Lights Tommy Grove Mustang FC, today they had a bunch. Ditto for the Lindberg Surf Buggy, Revell Alternomad, 2010 Camaro convertible, Dodge Magnum SR8, and some other kits I'm sure I'm forgetting. The Greenville store had a bunch of the goofy Lindberg Weird-Ohs kits for $4.99. (But not "Beach Bunny Catching Rays," which I wanted.) The Anderson store had NONE of those Weird-Oh kits. Warning: while most of the model kits are displayed on an aisle "endcap" in both of these stores, some kits were not. They were just stacked in the regular toy aisle. In the Greenville store, that's where I found the Weird-Ohs and the Lindberg 1/48 Snark missile kits.

The weekly Flea Market was a bust today. Hardly any model kits, just a few Monogram & AMT NASCARs. Last week I scored the 4 1960 built-ups (T-Bird, Vette, Corvair and Ford pickup/trailer). But that's the way it goes. Sometimes it's fantastic, sometimes nothing. After the Flea Market, I went to 2 Ollie's stores (Anderson and Greenville, SC). Also 2 Hobby Lobbys. Most of the haul below came from Ollie's. The 53 Studebaker was in the Clearance aisle of Hobby Lobby for $14.99, couldn't resist at the price. Have a couple of resin bodies the chassis should fit. The AMT Cindy Lewis 57 Chevy and REVELL 72 Olds came from the Hobby Connection in Easley, SC. Paid full retail, which I HATE to do. But after checking the online dealers, shipping would have made their prices almost full retail anyway. If you fool around with 1/48 aircraft at all, those Lindberg Snarks at Ollie's are great. They have a nice hydraulic service lift, tractor with fifth-wheel towing dolly, and NINE crew figures. An instant diorama in a box! And that's not even counting the missile and its launch trailer.

Driving down Wade Hampton Blvd. in Greenville, SC today. (On my way to Ollie's big kit sale!) Way up in front of me, saw a little white car with blue stripes on the trunk... And it turned out to be a Shelby Cobra with the rare factory hardtop in place. Don't know if it was the real thing or a clone, but it sure looked good and sounded better! http://www.brightonmotorsports.com/sites/default/files/vehicles/cars/available/shelby-cobra-replica-roadster-1966_1.jpg

The Surfite is built around an Austin Mini chassis and engine/transaxle. So if all else fails and you can't get the Surfite together (see below): you could get a Fujimi Vintage Look Mini kit (curbside) or Tamiya Mini (with engine) and do a "backyard restoration" diorama with the Surfite engine and other parts scattered around. Something I once saw that inspired me: a 1/24 Mini converted to a pickup truck, with decals for a "British Motor Car Co." shop truck. And a greasy Mini engine, tools and other parts in the bed. I'd probably do that with the Fujimi Vintage Look Mini kit. They go pretty cheap, even on Evil-Bay. And the Vintage Look kit includes Fujimi's accessory pack. Which includes a 1/24 Japanese vending machine, tissue box, sunglasses, pack of cigs/lighter and even a teddy bear. Shades of AMT circa 1962! Here's an article from Canney's Garage on his Surfite build. He warns that it's not as easy as it looks to build, and that chassis is pretty complicated. The article is old but does have some good building tips: http://canneysgarage.canney.net/showtime/surfite/index.html And over at Jalopy Journal, back in 2008 somebody was talking about building a clone of the Surfite. Has some pix of the real thing at the Peterson Museum: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/roths-surfite-clone.256929/

Is anybody familiar with this story about the Monogram Land Rover? Many years ago, I won that kit on eBay (and still have it). A guy bidding against me sent a message after the auction. He said he had worked on the real Land Rover that Monogram measured to make the kit. He said it belonged to an owner in Southern California - Burbank, I think. And the owner brought it into the garage where he worked. If I'm remembering this right...and I'm OLD...he said, among other mods, they put a U.S. built 2-barrel carburetor on it. I'd guess that might have something to do with state pollution controls at the time. Courtesy of the ironically-named CARB (California Air Resources Board). Anyway, here's Chuck Most's excellent article on the Monogram Landy. And why we'll probably never see it again: http://chuckmost.wix.com/madhouse-miniatures#!The-Sad-and-Sordid-tale-of-Monograms-Land-Rover/ccly/55232e080cf215f35a456199

OK, thanks for the responses, everybody. I almost bid on a 60 El Camino he had for sale. One of my favorite kits. But the bidding got out of my comfort zone. I found a complete, uncut and painted one much cheaper. Proving 2 things from your responses: (1) keep waiting on eBay and eventually you'll find what you're looking for cheaper. And (2) like most of you, would rather "screw it up myself."

I found an Open Road camper at a flea market for $5. All the camper parts were still there, except one small side curtain which is easily replaced. Even the small "Open Road" decals still look OK. But the previous owner slopped some thick white paint...or maybe glue...on the body passenger side. I've tried everything from acetone to lacquer thinner to brake fluid and nothing has removed that stuff, whatever it is. Not even Easy-Off, which has always removed everything. I also have 2 unbuilt original Rescue Vans with the side windows. I'll keep trying to remove The Goop from the camper, because I really don't want to sacrifice one of those mint bodies. And yes, those bodies with the open sides are VERY fragile. Even more so after you cut out the roof for the raised camper top. Nostalgia: I remember trying to build an Open Road camper when they were new. Tried to cut out the roof panel with a #11 X-Acto blade. Promptly stabbed myself and bled all over the white plastic. Or as I liked to say, I put a lot of myself into that kit...

Has anyone else seen the eBay seller "debuildrestorer?" He takes old AMT/Jo-Han gluebombs and "debuilds/restores" them. The para below is boilerplate from his listings and describes what he does: *WHAT I DO (mostly) - I BUY PREVIOUSLY BUILT 1958 THROUGH 1961 AMT AND JOHAN KITS (usually). I CAREFULLY DISASSEMBLE THEM, STRIP THE PAINT (when its needed) AND DECALS, AND REMOVE ALL CUSTOM GLUED ON PARTS. SOME ARE ROUGHER CONDITION WISE THAN OTHERS BUT I TRY TO MAKE THEM ALL EQUAL BY USING PLASTIC WELDING TECHNIQUES WITH LITTLE TO NO PUTTY, EVEN MAKING NEW PARTS WHEN NEEDED. IF THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF BODY WORK TO DO I NEED TO USE PRIMER TO ASSURE THAT IT IS WELL FINISHED. I USE AN IVORY PRIMER THAT CLOSELY MATCHES THE COLOR OF THE ORIGINAL PLASTIC WHEN NEW SO IT CAN BE BUILT IN THAT COLOR IF YOU AREN'T INTO PAINTING; " Here's one of his old listings, for an AMT 60 Corvette: http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLAWLESS-1960-CHEVY-CORVETTE-AMT-SMP-MODEL-KIT-SCREWBOTTOM-DEBUILT-RESTORED-/201535461904?hash=item2eec731a10:g:UQ8AAOSwwpdW1pc7

Good luck. I'm completely confused on how Ollies runs these sales. Went to Ollies on Monday 4/11, no kits. Asked an employee. She said the Big Kit Sale was keyed to their flyer for this week, which would come out on Thurs., 4/14. Sure enough, I went in yesterday 4/14 and found lots of kits. This made me believe all the stores would start the Big Kit Sale on the same day, Thurs 4/14. But that's obviously not the case. Since some of the people in this thread were buying these kits last week. Weird. I guess each store is free to start the sale whenever it wants. The Ollies near me had NO Revell-o-Gram 32 Fords, Alternomads, Dodge L-700 solo kits, or 55/56 Chevies. Except that ugly Pro-Street 55 Chevy sedan. It had plenty of Little Red Wagons, 37 Ford Sedans, "Color Me Gone" 64 Dodges, and 65 Shelby GT-350s. Also had lots of the Revell 69 Camaro, Streetburner 70 Chevelle Baldwin Motion, 77 Monte Carlo Snap, Ferrari Modena and Lamborghini.

OK, I guess I'm taking too much time to write my posts. Keep getting error messages. I was trying to make up a list of all the kits in the Anderson, SC store, and all the kits the store does NOT have, based on what I'm reading here. So I'll cut it short and just say that if you want any car kits from that store, you better hurry! And that store only had ONE AMT kit left that I saw - the 72 Nova "BH Cop." NO Grove Funny Cars or Meyers Manxes (Manxi?)

Report from Ollie's in Anderson, SC: I live about 20 miles away, so called this morning to make sure they had kits. They did, and I got there around 11:30. An employee told me the kits were selling "great," and she had seen several people like me - with carts full of nothing but kits.

Just a note for anybody who wonders about the MPC Gold Rush van - it's custom only, and does NOT include a stock front grille/bumper, wheels, etc. To build it stock, you'd need to rob your parts box or another 1978 (I think) Dodge van kit. Or you might be able to find the stuff from your favorite eBay parts seller...heh! Gold Rush does have some good interior parts, like a couple of bench seats and a table for the rear area. The goofy IMSA side flares and "vacuum cleaner" front pan are all just add-on parts. Except for the missing stock parts it's just a typical 70's MPC Dodge van. There's a pretty recent thread about this kit in the Reviews. Adam Rehorn wrote a great, hilarious review of it on his blog. While there, check out his other kit reviews: https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/mpc-124-gold-rush-custom-dodge-van-oob/

Like Russell C said above: you can put "-only" in your search, since he uses the word "only" in almost all of his part listings. I sometimes filter him by using "-vhtf" and/or "vtg." 2 more of his favorite things to put in listing titles. But sometimes I don't filter, just for the entertainment. It's fun to see his "VHTF VTG RARE KIT!1!" listed at $179.99. Followed by 10 or 12 more of the same identical "rare" kit starting at $19.99 or so.

Never seen any here in Upstate SC. There's a Big Lots nearby that I check pretty often. A few years ago, California had a bargain store chain called Pic 'n Save. Pic 'n Save got in big model lots pretty often. I bought tons of closeout kits there in the 1990s. But then Big Lots bought them out, and I never saw model kits in the stores again.

Congratulations! It is great when that happens. You just never know with eBay, and I've been buying/selling there for many years. I recently forgot and didn't bid on a kit I was watching. This particular kit usually goes for $75-$100 (ERTL Massey-Ferguson 1155 farm tractor). This one sold for less than $50. Drat!

I'll try to do some resto threads, thanks! I was really happy with this find. No paint and the builder didn't shave off any emblems either. While I was taking the photos, I dropped the Ford pickup hood on the floor. Both chrome louvers popped right off. I hope the old glue is as weak on everything else! Steve: the "price of admission" for all those was $40. I almost broke my wrist getting my wallet out. And didn't even negotiate with the seller, which I always do at the flea market.

Ha! Thanks for the entertainment. But...he's LOWERED his prices!1! Not long ago, he listed 4 old American SATCO tires for...(insert Dr. Evil voice here)...Ten Thousand Dollars! Same thing, he claimed somebody had mistaken model stuff for real-car stuff. Complete with the same long-winded, repetitious, multi-colored, multi-font rant about all the stupid people who try to buy from him. I'm sorry, rational adult people just don't act that way. I'd never buy anything from that guy.