Mike999

That's my guess, too. Suggestion to Round 2: along with the Coke decals, throw in some decals for fictional hotels and resorts (no licensing fees!). And maybe some luggage, either resin or plastic from the old Sixties Lincoln convertible kits with the "touring" option. The custom wagon version of that Lincoln is pretty close to the custom Cadillac wagons used by the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. They were called the "Broadmoor Skyview," built by Hess & Eisenhardt. Only 6 were built in 1955 and 2 in '56. Notice the skylights in the roof, sort of like the glass roof of the Lincoln kit. A few Cadillac wagons were also built for private parties in the 1950's. Burt Lancaster owned a '56. So it's not much of a stretch to build that Lincoln wagon as a custom-built studio vehicle, for hauling around stars and execs. OK, so throw in the old "Drag Strip Accessories" sprue with the TV camera, too...

Hubley did a '32 Ford hot rod that may have the wheels and other parts you're looking for. I think it was only issued once, in 1959. A search on "hubley 32 ford hot rod" will bring some pix of built-ups. Warning: the actual built kit looks nothing like the box art.

Thanks for the heads-up. Does your Wal-Mart (or anybody's) still sell the Flat White & Black Color Place paints? I haven't seen them for months in my closest store. They have about 100 cans of Color Place Gloss Black on the shelves, and that's all. No white, no flats. I have a couple of cans bought long ago, trying to hoard them.

Recently got some similar lights (probably) from Wal-Mart. They're four-foot long LED lights, about $20 each. My workshop is in the basement, with a lot of those old 4-foot fluorescent fixtures. There's a huge difference in the light put out by the LED's vs the old fluorescents.

Not nearly as famous as Mr. Bond's DB-5. But here's another Aston movie car; Tippi Hedren's DB2/4 Drophead Coupe in "The Birds."

For some time now, it seems like the 3 HL's near me have been stocking more die-cast and fewer plastic models. The 1/64 and 1/24 scale die-casts used to take up a small space near the end of the aisle. But now they're taking up quite a bit of the rack space that used to be dedicated to plastic models. That may be my own grumpy bias toward plastic, but it sure looks that way. At least some of the 1/24 die-casts are interesting stuff, like the Greenlight vintage camper trailers.

Your parts layout photo confused me for a minute. It shows 2 sets of full fenders. I have a GB '32 Chevy found at a flea market. Checking my kit instructions, it only came with one set of fenders, the ones with spare-tire wells. Which is also visible on the instructions in your photo. All four kit builds have the spare tire wells. The 2 hot rod versions just don't have the tires in them. So I guess the owner of that kit got a bonus set of fenders. Wonder if MPC goofed (not unheard of), or he just threw them in the box from another kit. EDIT: the '27 Lincoln roadster Gangbuster kit has a neat feature and a neat accessory to go with it. The kit has a golf-bag door on the passenger side, and includes a golf club bag and a few clubs to put inside it. I think no other GB kit had the golf stuff. I don't know if it was in the 1970's "Connoisseur Classics" re-issue. That was the last re-issue of the '27 Lincoln, as far as I know.

Wait, what...JAMES BOND '70 Galaxie Police Car? A tie-in to "Diamonds Are Forever?" Does Round 2 now have a Bond license to...never mind. If they do, maybe we can expect the Goldfinger '65 Mustang convertible or Felix Leiter T-Bird. Though I'd rather have Oddjob's Ranchero with optional squashed Lincoln cube. Or how about any car from "Man With the Golden Gun," where AMC had the product placement contract? The possibilities are endless...

Here's a Premier kit that actually managed to look pretty much like the real subject: the 1907 Mack 7-ton truck. It's in 1/32 scale and includes the barrels.

Shapeways items are complete and ready to detail. Some vendors also offer the CAD software, if you want to print it yourself. I bought some 1/24 scale AK-47 rifles from Shapeways not long ago. They ship VERY fast in secure packaging. Which is good, some 3D printed items are pretty fragile. A couple of days ago I spent some time idly browsing Shapeways, and found 1/24 scale stuff like this: 3 different 1/24 scale cats (felines, not hipsters) Bomber Seats x2, $8.50 (https://www.shapeways.com/product/SGNEQRAKM/1-24-1-25-scale-model-car-bomber-seat-pair?optionId=25508695&li=marketplace} Electric Guitar with Case & Small Amplifier Surveillance Cameras, pack of 5 Folding Chairs, pack of 5 1/24 scale Sofas, Ovens, Stoves, Bathroom Fixtures. Including a Prison Toilet. If you can imagine it, somebody at Shapeways has probably made it!

I know, should have been more specific. I meant convert the Heller Hotel Taxi into an American version, by replacing its Citroen body with the body from a Monogram '30 Ford. Not sure if that will work. The Heller kit looks great right out of the box anyway. Here's Anthony Hazelaar's gorgeous build-up of it: http://www.drivehq.com/file/df.aspx/publish/tonhazelaar/wwwhome/29-citroentaxi.html One thing that will work on the Depot Hack (or Express Wagon): using the recently re-issued AMT '23 T roadster to hot-rod it. The original Depot Hack instruction sheet told us exactly how to do that. See the bottom of the pic.

For those who like to build commercial vehicles...that 1/35 scale AeroPlast VW is also available as a police car! I won this kit in a raffle at the NNL Los Angeles show years ago. They're not horrible kits, but have a "short-run" look to them. Thick plastic etc. Rye Field Models recently released a very nice, modern 1/35 scale kit of a WWII-era VW Bug, complete with opening hood and trunk.

You can add: 1927 Lincoln roadster - with a female "gun moll" figure, the only woman in any GB kit, as far as I know. 1932 Chrysler Imperial Convertible Sedan - the bigger 4-door version of the roadster you listed.

The Depot Hack was the original "station wagon." Used to haul people and luggage to and from the train station. Heller is re-issuing its French version of a later, European depot hack, the Citroen C4 Hotel Taxi. We might be able to cross-kit that with a Monogram 1/24 scale '30 Ford, for an American version.

In the M561 Gama Goat, the Corvair engine may have overheated because it was overworked. Here's a picture of a Gama Goat. It's not a vehicle and trailer; it's one vehicle with an articulated joint between the front and rear halves. It often had to climb thru rough terrain, as shown in the pic. Only the prototype Goats used the Corvair engine. For production, DoD gave up and replaced it with a 3-cylinder Diesel engine. That had its own problems. It was so loud the driver had to use ear protection. When I was in the Marine Corps long ago, the Gama Goat was still in service. You could hear one coming from far away.

I do that too. Gave up on the Revell Porsche farm tractor and ordered it online. About a week after I did that, the local Hobby Lobby got it in. Naturally. But that doesn't happen very often.

Not original but it shore is purty, if you want to do a little dress-up. Corvair engine installed in a Sport Performance Aviation Panther homebuilt aircraft. Corvair engines were also installed in boats, and the first prototypes of the M-561 Gama Goat military vehicle. They were prone to overheating and breaking down in the Gama Goat and replaced by a 3-cylinder Detroit Diesel engine for production.

Sorry, double post glitch. Deleted.

Same here, with 3 HL's in driving distance. I've visited all 3 in the past couple of weeks. Hit the closest one just yesterday. No Chevelle wagons. The only place I've seen it is in the one hobby shop fairly close to me, and it's about 25 miles away. I've learned not to wait for new kits to hit HL. Many never do. And sometimes if I wait too long, the kits become "unavailable" from on-line vendors. HL only gets a few of the new kits, and they seem to get fewer and fewer all the time. But more die-casts.

HobbyLinc and MegaHobby both carry some Heller kits. I've ordered from both and never had any problems. Here are their Heller pages. For many years, until Tamiya did its kit, the Heller GMC was the only kit of that truck with an engine. I have an old Verlinden GMC 6-cylinder engine in a crate. I'm pretty sure they just copied the Heller engine and added the crate. Pic below. http://www.hobbylinc.com/cgi-bin/s8.cgi?cat_s=&str_s=heller https://www.megahobby.com/shop?search_query=heller#/filter:categories_hierarchy:Model$2520Cars

That sounds like the '62 Pontiac wagon owned by casino mogul Bill Harrah. Driving thru the deserts of CA and NV, he liked to come across young hot-rodders and blow their doors off. They couldn't believe they were being passed by an old geezer in a long-roof. Here's a Hemmings comment, though I'm not sure about that "side-oiler" Pontiac engine: "Bill Harrah had the ultimate station wagon. I believe it was 1962 Bonneville wagon that was modified from new with parts from a special racing Catalina. The side-oiler engine, 4-speed transmission, aluminum front fenders, hood & bucket seats were installed on the station wagon together with SW gauges & a Nardi steering wheel. They installed twin fuel tanks so Mr. Harrah could drive to Stanley, ID from Reno at speed without stopping for fuel. I remember it held 12 quarts of oil. Not a family wagon." https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2015/01/06/aaca-museum-celebrates-the-station-wagon-with-upcoming-family-affair-exhibit/comment-page-2/ I have a book about Harrah. It describes him trying to special-order a Hemi station wagon from Chrysler. First Chrysler flatly refused, for liability reasons. Harrah kept pushing. Chrysler finally said they might do it, but would need $10,000 up front for an "engineering study." To make sure the wagon chassis could stand up to the Hemi power. Harrah didn't like that idea. He finally said, "Sell me a station wagon and sell me a Hemi engine. I'll swap the engines myself, in my own shop." And that's what they did. Harrah had good reasons for needing a high-powered station wagon. He owned casinos in Las Vegas, Tahoe and Reno, and often transported large amounts of cash between the three cities.

High prices for new kits affect me in another way, though the kit companies won't be happy about it. With all the re-re-re-runs of so many kits I already have, I'm more likely to go to eBay and look for old stuff I don't have. I recently paid a little more than "new kit price" for an unbuilt Jo-Han '62 Chrysler (USA Oldies). I'd much rather have that than most of the currently available car kits.

Yeah, that thing is awful. When selling I always double-check it. Like you said, it always goes for the highest shipping price and its calculations sometimes seem to come from outer space. My biggest headache is still the buyers who win multiple items. My listings always say: "Do NOT "Pay Now" if you win more than one auction. Wait for me to send you an invoice and I will combine shipping." But some people still hit the "Pay Now" button and get charged shipping on each of their wins. Then they message me and gripe about the high shipping cost. Good grief, read the listing, buyers! When that happens, I always refund the excess shipping.

I may have to break my Mouse Finger to keep from going back to this one. A '64 Nova wagon with many new parts and the bulletproof 6-cylinder engine. The only mods seem to be a pair of Camaro bucket seats and a modern stereo. It's located only about 50 miles from me. Must not click...must not click... (On-topic: the ad has some close-up pix that may be useful if you're building a Nova.) https://greenville.craigslist.org/cto/d/anderson-1964-chevy-nova-wagon/7060540936.html

Yes, thanks, I knew I'd forget at least one! And thanks for all the responses, everybody. I'd also guess the "new" wagon will be the Boss Nova, the '55 Nomad or a slight variation on the '65 Chevelle. I might pick up a Boss Nova just for the accessories: a chrome torque wrench, a driver's helmet AND face mask. And the same Gas/Oil cans and big fire extinguisher that were in the early Ford and Chevy trucks and the '60 El Camino. Or maybe they uncovered a real surprise in the warehouse. EDIT: many years ago at a kit swap meet, I got a '64 Chevelle wagon in the original box. Most of the 6-cylinder engine is in there but I think it's missing the air cleaner. It had a very thick coat of red paint on it. Like the original builder had sprayed a whole can of Testors Gloss Red on the body, which he probably did. It took a few soakings in Easy-Off and a lot of scrubbing to get that stuff off. I was relieved to see that all the emblems and nameplates were still there. They were just buried in red paint.