Mike999

Thanks! When I went to Budapest, the tour guide was a young woman who talked about the Bad Old Days. Like "banana days." As you said, she told us that word got around quickly when the shops had bananas. Long lines formed and the bananas sold out quickly. Same for many other products. When I worked in Egypt, I learned very quickly to take my own TP to the work site. Many Egyptians don't use the stuff. There was a bidet in the hotel where I lived for about 2 years, and also one in my apartment later. Public bathrooms, like at work, had a water hose mounted beside the toilet. If you stopped at a service station, you might find a clean bathroom. Or one that had not been cleaned since the days of the Pharaohs. It was best to wait, if possible.

Have some irony, it's good for our blood. This poster is from the Museum of Communism in Prague, Czech Republic. (A great museum to visit if you ever get there.) The Museum sells a whole series of these posters, done by snarky Czech artists. They re-worked classic propaganda posters, to illustrate life under Communism. But this one sure sounds familiar right now, right here in the good old USA...

Ah, good old Palmer. The dream...the reality...the nightmare...

It has been released as a stock-only kit, but also as a 2-in-1 stock/rod kit with a 340/360-ish sort of modern V8. The stock Mopar straight 6 is nice, and is the only place to find that engine, AFAIK.

Sounds like the Parents Magazine "Young Model Builders Club." They sent out kits in plain cardboard boxes. The Revell Columbia space craft was the first YMBC kit, as shown in the ad below. Your red Jag XKE was probably the Aurora kit. It's also in the ad. I have an Aurora 1/84 scale USS Tucumcari (the Vietnam-era hydrofoil) in a YMBC box, and have owned other YMBC kits over the years. https://clickamericana.com/toys-and-games/join-the-young-model-builders-club-1967 And check out this rarity, found on Worthpoint: the Aurora 1/25 scale stock-only 1934 Ford from YMBC, molded in gray. I'd love to find one of those at a flea market or thrift store! https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/aurora-1934-stock-ford-kit-569-young-1853498134

This one may be too "lightweight" for body contours, depending on what you're doing. But I've had good luck with it filling pretty big seams etc. Deluxe Materials "Perfect Plastic Putty." It's water-based, not a solvent. You can smooth it out with a damp finger. Many on-line vendors sell it.

Bad news at one of my local thrift stores! Somebody is doing their research. I went in last week and saw a Banthrico '53 Chevy. It was in pretty good condition, with some paint flaking off. The card on it said "PROMO/BANK" and the asking price was $50. For some context on prices back in the good old days, here's the window sticker for a '64 Corvette roadster. Total price out the door: $4893.00.

I've picked up a bunch of little rhinestones and similar stuff at Hobby Lobby & Michael's over the years. They come in really handy. Red and blue ones can be used for lights on emergency vehicles. I was recently detailing a 1/24 Model T taillight, and found some red, blue and clear ones the right size. As you mentioned, when I needed some round rear-view mirrors for a forklift, a couple of the silver ones were perfect. I use small ZipLoc bags to separate them by size and color, so I can find the right one easier.

There are some differences in the Lindberg '64 Mopar kits, if you're looking at them on eBay or sealed at a swap meet. Some of the boxes say non-helpful stuff like "detailed engine and interior." Engines: the '64 Dodge "Maverick" and "Ramcharger" kits have Hemis. The "Color Me Gone" kit has a Wedge engine. The stock '64 Dodge (blue car on box) has a "383" Wedge plus that nice Slant 6 in the box. The original issue of the '64 Plymouth Belvedere had both engines, just like the latest re-issue. Interiors: the "Color Me Gone" and stock '64 Dodges have bench seats. "Maverick" and "Ramcharger" have bucket seats, and so does the '64 Plymouth. According to various Mopar experts on this forum, that means the Plymouth can't be built 100% stock. Belvederes didn't have bucket seats, those were reserved for the high-end Fury and Sport Fury. Though I guess we could always use the "special order" work-around. Drag cars often had the factory front seats replaced with the lightweight seats from the A100 truck. We can steal those from a Lindberg Little Red Wagon kit.

Wow, great score. Those 2 original ERTL tractor kits are Unobtainium. I have a built-up Massey-Ferguson 1155, with severely glue-bombed glass and cab parts. I'll probably end up building it topless, if I can't find those parts. And all those flea market scores are killing me. A few weeks ago, our closest big flea market got clobbered by the weather. Heavy wind and rain storms wrecked the place, sending tables flying and flooding it out. That's mostly fixed now, but the flea market is only open on Wed. Last Wed. here was rainy with temps around freezing. This coming Wed. looks like more of the same. So I'm having serious Flea Market Withdrawal Symptoms.

Sellers like Model Car Mountain are a good benchmark for what a kit is really worth. MCM is an old-kit vendor who has been on eBay a long time. I often check their prices when I'm putting up eBay sales. Overall the prices seem fairly reasonable and they don't gouge the buyer on shipping. I've never bought from them but would, if the right deal came along.

How did I miss that one? I couldn't resist this ICM 1/16 scale female Canadian Mountie. And her dog. ICM has also done a 1/16 female Israeli soldier of the K-9 unit "Oketz," with a much meaner-looking dog.

Thanks for the heads-up. Those look great. Meanwhile, reviews of this 1/35 scale kit are...positively glowing. ? ICM kit #35901, Chernobyl #1 Radiation Monitor Station. It comes with the guard shack, which is complete with cot, desk, telephone, dosimeters etc. This is the first in a series of ICM "Chernobyl" kits. Kit #35902, Chernobyl #2, will have an AC-40-137A fire truck, 4 fire-fighter figures and a diorama base with background. Chernobyl kit #3 (35903) is 5 figures of "Rubble Cleaners." And Chernobyl #4 (kit #35904) is 4 figures of "Deactivators." If you're buying an ICM ZiL-131 truck, be aware that they made 2 different versions with that shelter. The original issue, #35517, has a basic shelter with no detail inside. It's all green on the box art. The later kit, #35518, says "Emergency Truck" on the box, with a yellow shelter and lots of detail inside. But it's configured more like a service/repair truck, not an emergency truck. Lots of bins with small drawers for tools, etc.

Some foreign kitmakers have really stepped up their packaging. Like those 1/24 Model T kits (and others) from the Ukrainian company ICM. They come in a normal-looking box. But when you take off the lid, the box also has an attached inner lid. Those boxes are heavy-gauge and great for storing stuff after you build the kit. Some kitmakers also pack fragile parts in separate boxes inside the main box. The Chinese company Bronco did that with their 1/35 scale ZiL-131 truck. It has opening doors and hood. So the main body doesn't have much support, other than the sprue attached to it. Bronco put the body in a smaller, heavy-gauge box.

I didn't get this today, but just looked inside the box today. And got a nice surprise. This 1/35 scale "military kit" also has decals for 2 civilian versions. It's the Thunder Models Indian 741-B motorcycle. The kit includes photo-etched wheels, foot-rests and other parts. It has a plastic "forming template" to get the convex shape of the wheels right, and clear instructions on how to use the template. My version of the kit has 2 complete motorcycles in the box. Thousands of these Indians were built for use in WWII, mostly going to the British and other Commonwealth forces. After the war they were sold cheap as surplus. Here are the 2 civilian versions. Sorry for the size but it shows off the decals better. Boy, I wish they would do this thing in a bigger scale!

Yep, the wheel wells look identical. The biggest differences I can see are the extra length of the Ranchero chassis and no visible fuel tank. The Falcon fuel filler cap was in the middle of the rear panel. Since the Ranchero (and wagon) had a tailgate, the tank got rotated up, making it invisible on the model. And the filler cap moved to the rear driver's side. Weird Trivia: the internet has lots of posts from real Ranchero owners, griping about that fuel tank and its filler tube. One pointed out that in photos of old Rancheros and Falcon wagons, grungy fuel spillage is almost always visible around the gas cap. That's because of the angle of the fuel filler tube. Some of those owners said they had learned the hard way not to fill the tank all the way up.

I have a '62 Falcon body with a good roof. This thing is ROUGH. The rear wheel wells have been crudely hacked out and it has other problems. But the roof/trunk is all there. PM me with your address if you want it. We may do a trade. If not, just keep me in mind when I need something in the future. I checked the Falcon parts stash in the basement. Comparing the '61 Ranchero and sedan chassis, the wheelbase matches exactly. But the Ranchero chassis is definitely longer, by about a half-inch. You'll also need to add a gas tank. The Ranchero was built off a Falcon station wagon and had the tank in a different place than the sedan. That feature is in the AMT kits. Or just never turn your Falcon over...

No, in my case it was in rural South Carolina. I didn't realize so many "Shock Theaters" were showing all over the country back then. That was some clever packaging and marketing by Universal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_Theater

Revell 1/25 scale '67 Chevelle SS-396. One of Revell's first modern-tool kits from the 1980's, if I'm remembering right. Very nice engine/chassis/interior detail. It's even molded in metallic blue and the metallic flake is in scale, not blobular. If you like foreign cars, the ESCI/Italeri Renault R5 Gordini Rally racers, released in many versions over the years. The engine/FWD setup looks complex when finished, with separate half-shafts etc. But it's easy to build. Rally cars, so they have colorful decals and you only need to paint the body white for most of them. Out of the box, one of these could be a (almost) weekend build. And another pitch for the old AMT 3-in-1 Trophy Series kits. If you don't want to build it straight out of the box, they were designed for swapping engines and other parts between kits. Every time I open one of these oldies, I remember lying in front of the TV building them, while watching "Shock Theater." Yes, I'm a geezer, just like those kits.

Revell also did a '92 Cougar with a half-padded roof, molded in white. That was a nice example of a "mainstreamer" car right out of the box. Just the kind of "sporty" car Grandpa might have bought when he retired and moved to Florida. Because he thought it would impress the gold-diggers in the karaoke bars. ? The '92 was also released as a Low-Rider, with gold mini-wheels. One weak point in that Revell '69 Talledega kit: the thin "A" pillars. If you're buying one at a swap meet, open it up and make sure they're not broken. Especially if it's the "Highway Scenes" version. That came with a cardboard gas station and the box was really stuffed. One nice thing about the "Highway Scenes" kit was the decal sheet with vintage gas/oil signs, Desert water bags and a bunch of tourist stickers. The kind that are really useful in the windows of a station wagon or woody.

Glad to hear it! Yep, it's a real brick-and-mortar, old-fashioned shop, along with the eBay and mail order operations. Here's a pic. Glenn also sells built-ups and glue-bombs, or used to at least. I found a Ziploc bag full of AMT '66 Corvette parts there once. Useful because their hoods have the 1966-only "Corvette Sting Ray" emblem.

Not a bit surprised. Glenn Bergstrom is a great guy. When I lived in the area, I went to Burbank House of Hobbies almost every week. If anyone gets a chance to visit the store on summer vacation or whatever, don't miss it. Glenn and his wife, Gretchen, took over that shop long ago, from an elderly couple who had run it since the 1950s. That elderly couple had a lot of ancient built-ups that are still on display in the store. Aurora monsters, various car and aircraft kits, etc.

I think that was a Revell 1/25 scale Cougar, not a 1/24 Monogram. Revell did Cougar kits for '90 with a regular top, and '92 with a half padded top. The '92 was an XR-7 and even came with the special XR-7 wheels. Which would look good on a lot of builds.

I'm sort of surprised the '50 Ford "Showboat" is just now being discontinued. A few months ago, it was in Ollie's for $9.99. I got one for Christmas with part of the price tag still on it. Along with another Ollie's special, the Lindberg '37 Custom Ford Convertible.

Thanks, interesting list. I bet many of those will only be temporarily discontinued, like the NYPD Chevy Police Van. They'll come back later with Coke machines/coolers/bottles and decals, like the '77 Ford Cruising Van did.