Mike999

It sure is! At a contest once, I saw that Monogram 1/24 scale Huey heavily weathered, with broken rotor blades, beat up and chained down to a 1/24 flatbed trailer. Being pulled behind a semi-truck. It looked great. There sure aren't many 1/24 scale helicopter kits. Here's the only other one I know of, the IDEA company's 1/24 Hughes 500D. IDEA also did a Korean military version in 1/24 scale with TOW missiles. You may see it from other companies too, like Nichimo, but they're all the same kit. It's a very simple model. I've seen them go for as little as $5 at kit swap meets. But somebody on eBay recently paid $51 for it, so maybe they're getting harder to find.

Everybody else has covered the OP's question. But since he's in Long Beach, CA, I'd suggest he hit some of the big flea markets in the Los Angeles area, like the Rose Bowl or the one at Pierce College in the Valley. He should find a bunch of die-casts he can examine in the flesh...or metal...for "rash" and other problems. They're usually cheaper than eBay and he won't have to pay shipping or wait for delivery. I used to hit those flea markets occasionally when I lived in L.A. Just be prepared to sort thru a LOT of NASCAR diecasts. I'm 3000 miles away now in a rural area, but have found many great diecast deals at local flea markets. Even though I promised to stop buying 1/24 diecasts, I couldn't resist the '57 Ford Retractable and a pair of '48 Tuckers - one in Waltz Blue and the other the gold 50th Anniversary version. Those came from one woman who was selling off her late father's huge diecast collection, all Danbury and Franklin models. Crown Premiums was mentioned, and I found the Crown diecast below at a flea market for $10, IIRC. It was released back in 2000 as a premium for Lennox. Again, I just couldn't resist. Where else are you going to find a 1920 Studebaker, carrying a 1/24 scale furnace?

Here's some info about the Two Lane Blacktop/American Graffiti '55 Chevies, and what happened to them. http://unofficialamericangraffiti.weebly.com/the-1955-chevy.html

Stephen King already thought of a use for it. That would make an interesting diorama...

I'm not sure how much it really matters, unless somebody is trying to swap parts. But the Aston and Maserati are both 1/25 scale, not 1/24. Their tooling originated with Aurora back in the Sixties, not Monogram.

Here's a good video tutorial on the Salt Technique. Since the OP wants more primer than rust showing, he could add a layer of primer over the rust. Or even skip the rust layer and touch in rusty patches later, leaving mostly the primer showing. For patches of Bondo, of course, he can use real Bondo putty from a tube.

Great job! One of the best builds I've seen of that old RPM kit. Out of the box it looks very simple, but is not all that easy to get together. All your extra work paid off.

All good points. Both Takom and Trumpeter recently released brand-new kits of the German "Maus" mega-tank. The car equivalent of that would be something like 2 companies simultaneously releasing a 1930 Ruxton kit. The Trumpeter Maus retails at over $100 but has a complete interior and lots of other goodies. Here's one recently discussed in another thread here: a 1/48 aircraft kit from a new company, Dora Wings, that retails for over $40. Outrageous! Until you look at the contents: photo-etched metal parts, a big decal sheet, and even adhesive masks for painting those tricky red scallops on the Gee Bee racers. It also has a pretty complete interior, even though it's barely visible when finished. But in another nice touch, the builder can open a side hatch to make it more visible.

I've tried that because I wanted to show rust on the bottom, remains of primer and finally remains of the original factory paint. As I remember, here's what I did and it worked pretty well. It does take some time and practice: 1. Spray base rust coat. I usually start with Krylon or Rust-o-leum rusty reddish-brown, followed by different rust colors for variety. Let this dry COMPLETELY, at least 24 hrs. 2. Spray Dull-Cote clear lacquer or similar to protect the rust. Also let that dry at least 24 hrs. 3. Spray a coat of hair spray. The longer you let the hair spray dry, the harder it will be to remove. This works to your advantage. If you want to show a lot of rust under the primer, only let it dry a half-hour or so. If you want more of the primer to show and not so much rust, let it dry longer. 4. Spray a WATER BASED ACRYLIC gray primer, or several coats of different shades. Maybe dark gray on the sides/rocker panels, lighter gray on top where the sun would fade it on a real car. This must be water-based paint, because water will remove both the acrylic primer paint and the hair spray underneath it. 5. Wait a few minutes for the primer to dry. Then dip a small brush in water, and carefully start scrubbing the primer coat. The water should lift off the primer and hair spray, exposing the rust base coat. The size of the brush depends on how much primer you want to remove. For scratches, attack the primer with a wet toothpick or any very small, sharp tool. It's easy to overdo this step and remove too much primer. Don't ask how I know this... 6. When the primer over rust looks the way you want, again spray it with Dull-Cote clear lacquer to protect the rust/primer coat. Let that dry 24 hrs. 7. Repeat steps 3 thru 6 above for the final paint color. Which again must be water-based, so it will react with the hair spray and water. Good luck!

Now you can add 2 more 1/48 scale Gee Bees to your collection! The R1 and R2 from Dora Wings. Fine Scale Modeler reviewed the R1 in the Feb. 2019 issue. It comes with painting masks for the scallops. 56 plastic parts and 20 photo-etched metal for the flying wires, interior details and other parts. Here's a link to their website: https://www.dorawings.com/

I found good flathead 3-hole headers in 2 kits. Both look a lot like the #406 and #408 R&M headers shown above, with flanges: --AMT #906 '41 Ford (Custom) Woody. The engine in this kit is a modernized Flathead, with throttle-body fuel injection, so wouldn't be correct for a "period" engine like I'm trying to do. Those headers will work though, if I can make them fit. --Revell #85-4253 '48 Ford Custom Coupe (with the chopped top). For vintage Flathead fans, this kit has a Navarro intake manifold with 2 Stromberg carbs and separate air cleaners. It also has finned cylinder heads.

Here's a thread from June 2018 about that clearance sale. You're right, "none of it makes any sense." Kits were $7.49 one day, and back to $29.99 the next. But I don't think that one was a mistake. That Clearance Sale seemed to be taking place in all stores, or most of them. Ollie's irritates me even more than HL, if possible. The past 2 or 3 Ollie's model-kit sales, the Ollie's in my area got none of the really good kits like the '29 Ford Mod Rod. Just stacks and stacks of old Lindberg dreck like the Pirate Ship, and NASCAR Snap Kits.

I drove about 25 miles yesterday to the biggest Hobby Lobby in my area. No clearance sales for model kits. I checked the model aisle and the "Clearance" section at the back of the store. No '68 Chevelles, Boss 302's or '60 Chevy pick-ups yet, either. I think the newest kit they had was the Round 2 '55 Chevy 2-door sedan. Then I drove to the only hobby shop in this area, which mostly deals with R/C cars and planes. They usually get new kits in pretty quickly. None of the above kits there, either. The newest kit in that store was probably the Piranha race team.

Some minor trivia about the '23 T: the steering wheel in that series of kits is bigger and more accurate than the one in the '25 T series of kits. See the photo below, with the '23 part on the left and the '25 wheel on the right. That info comes from Model T master modeler Anthony Hazelaar. Here's a link to his website, with his collection of Model T's and other early Fords. https://www.drivehq.com/file/df.aspx/publish/tonhazelaar/wwwhome/model-t-1908-1927.html

Thanks for the photos, and it's great that so many of Tony's friends showed up. (Human and automotive.) The Dodge roadster may be a 1916 model or thereabouts, though I'm certainly not an expert. I'm guessing that because it looks like the 1916 Dodge touring car in this photo. This was a staff car for General John "Black Jack" Pershing. The general ordered 6 Dodge touring cars for his "Punitive Expedition" to Mexico, chasing Pancho Villa. Pershing never caught him, but those Dodges must have impressed the famous outlaw and revolutionary. Pancho was shot to death in July 1923, while riding in his favorite car - a 1919 Dodge.

Yep, you'll need exhaust headers. I'm currently scrounging the parts boxes myself for some, after grinding off the headers molded to that AMT flathead engine block. You probably know this already, but the flathead block only has 3 exhaust ports on each side. So we can't just steal any old headers. An internet search was definitely my friend in learning what they look like and how they mount. In parts searching, I came across a flathead engine from the 1/24 scale Monogram '40 Ford pickup. It has a molded-in exhaust crossover pipe, among other problems. But it also has a killer set of triple carbs. The manifold fits almost perfectly on the 1/25 scale AMT flathead, so I'll probably cheat and use them. This is model building, we can do (almost) whatever we want!

Thanks for the responses, everybody! For those interested, here's a detailed, 2-part history of car A/C systems from Curbside Classic. Part I covers factory air before WWII, Part 2 aftermarket systems: http://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/cold-comfort-history-of-automotive-air-conditioning-part-1-pre-world-war-ii/

What a coincidence. I'm messing with the '50 Ford flathead right now, and looked thru a bunch of other flatheads in the parts piles. One problem with the AMT '49 and '50 Ford flatheads: they have a big honking hole thru the block and oil pan for a metal axle. I wondered if that had been changed in later issues, so I opened a '50 Ford "Millenium" kit from 2000. It still had the big hole. Other than that the AMT '50 engine is well done for its age. It has the oil-bath filter mounted on the left side of the engine and the oil filler tube on the front right. I want to put an Old School flathead in a '32 Ford. But I'm too cheap to rob a Monogram '50 pickup, and didn't want to fiddle with making engine mounts. So I took the '32 flathead block and will use the aluminum heads etc. from the '50 engine on it. They fit with a little tweaking. I want it to look like a Deuce with a later flathead swapped in, so that should work.

If you don't mind turning to the Dark Side and working in the Wrong Scale, Roden makes a 1/35 scale kit of the Holt 75 Tractor, circa 1915. They were used in the Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa and WWI. The Germans borrowed some from Austria during WWI, and copied the Holt suspension for their Krupp A7V tank.

Amazing, seeing those kits clearanced. And annoying! The Chevelle hasn't even made it to any of the Hobby Lobbys close to me yet. Only one of those stores had the '34 Ford pickup and it hasn't been there long. Some on-line vendors have the '60 Chevy pickup & Go-Kart, but their price is close to HL full retail ($28-29). I'm trying to hold out until I can use a 40% off coupon. Just checked 2 big online kit vendors; both show the '60 Chevy pickup, but one says "Out Of Stock" and the other "Unavailable." That could mean they're not in stock yet, or they sold out quickly.

"Unusual aircraft" is Valom's specialty! I just searched on "Valom 1/72 scale" and all sorts of oddballs popped up: Bristol Brigand, Handley-Page Harrow, a whole series of F-101 Voodoos, Heinkel He-119 and on and on. They do seem to be improving. Their series of Fisher XP-75 kits got good reviews on-line.

That seller's prices sure are all over the map. I displayed all their items for sale, then searched for "model." They're selling a mint-in-box Rommel's Rod for $19.99, which seems sort of low. And this slice of nostalgia, or nausea: a Palmer 1/32 scale "Screamin' Demon." With chrome parts! For that one, they're asking $29.99. https://www.ebay.com/itm/PALMER-SCREAMIN-DEMON-ROAD-RUNNER-SERIES-1-32-MODEL-CAR-W-CHROME-PARTS-Vintage/382836693238

Yes, it came out back in 1996. I checked eBay. None are for sale right now, but 3 have sold this year, so it looks pretty easy to find. It's Eduard kit number 8015. Here's the box art.

Great job! I've had the 1/48 scale Eduard kit of that thing for years, and still haven't gotten up the nerve to build it. Bailing out of the PKZ-2 would be interesting. The observer better have very good co-ordination to jump thru those spinning blades. As dangerous aircraft go, the PKZ-2 is right up there with the Royal Aircraft Factory BE-9 "Pulpit." You'll notice the gunner stands in FRONT of the spinning prop and roaring engine. One on-line article said, "The pilot wouldn't know there was a problem until he was hit in the face with pieces of the gunner."

I've been looking for 1/25 scale air-conditioning system parts. Especially compressors and the belts that hold them, since those are usually the most visible A/C parts. I didn't find many. Anybody know of any other car and truck kits with A/C setups in 1/25 or 1/24 scale? Is anyone making these parts in resin or 3D printing? Here's what I found: AMT, original - searching on this board, I learned that some 1960's AMT kits had a one-piece, under-dash a/c system. AMT\ERTL '62 T-Bird '66 Olds 442 (convertible kit only) '69 El Camino REVELL-MONOGRAM: '59 Cadillac '00 Ford F-100 in the Harley-Davidson Limited Edition package (with Harley and trailer)