Mike999

Off the top of my alleged head... Along with white glue, Elmer's makes a clear all-purpose glue. That's a quick fix and might work if the Mustang is going to be on a shelf and not be handled much. It seems to have about the same strength as white glue, so not all that much. For the strongest bond, a two-part clear epoxy is probably best. It sets very strong, but still has some shear strength/flexibility, unlike super-glues. You can buy it under a bunch of different brand names at Loews or Home Despot. I've always had good luck with Devcon 5-Minute Epoxy, but I started using it many years ago. Mixing the stuff can be messy and it smells like a dead horse when wet, but it's always worked for me on these kind of jobs. I'm sure the board members will have other good advice on this.

Here's an idea for the Lambo. Bob Letterman's incredible diorama of the California Highway Patrol and its new interceptor, done way back in the 1980s. The link takes you to more pix of Letterman's work, like his 1/8 scale Monogram XKE and super-detailed Heller Paris bus. http://www.bobletterman.com/wordpress/?cat=259

Up for auction at Sothebys, no reserve. When I lived in Los Angeles, I saw several Tempests converted into GTO station wagons, but no Goat-A-Minos like this. A local independent Mercedes shop went the other way. It converted an old Mercedes wagon into a Merc-A-Mino for hauling parts etc. That one looked very good, since the shop did all the conversion work, and it was always clean and polished. It was painted dark blue with the shop name lettered in white on the doors and tailgate. Looked very classy and made a great "rolling billboard." https://www.autoblog.com/2018/08/31/el-camino-gto-auction/?ncid=edlinkusauto00000021&yptr=yahoo

I found that Packard as a built glue-bomb, cheap at a local flea market. It did still have the original box and the instruction sheet inside. You've probably noticed one of the...interesting things about that kit. It's a 2-piece body, and that dividing line between the dark and light-green plastic is where the body is glued together. The glue on mine was so old that it pretty much fell apart. Not sure if I'll try to restore it, or just leave it like it is as a fun historical artifact. The box looks good on display in my workshop.

Jan & Dean were all over that idea in 1964. No pic of a "1937 Cadillac hearse" in this video, though. The "Continental Memorial Coach" is interesting, and looks like something we could build from the recently re-issued Round 2 '65 Lincoln:

Yes, they charge for shipping, but have several options. I always take the cheapest and the stuff still gets here quick. Shipping is free if you spend over $200. Most online vendors have that same deal.

Just spent some time looking thru the Free Time Hobbies Labor Day sale. A couple of kits caught my eye because I've seen people in here looking for them: 1/25 AMT Piranha Spy Car (Kit) $18.14 1/25 AMT 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix Grand Slam (Aqua Kit) $18.14 They also have a bunch of M2 1/24 scale die-casts on sale, most for $14.99. Model Car Garage photo-etch sets are $12.23. They also have 1/24 detail sets from KA Models and other companies, and 1/25 Detail Master compression fittings in 7 different sizes. This link is pre-filtered to take you directly to 1/24-1/25 scale cars in the Labor Day sale. I have no connection with Free Time, other than being a customer. https://freetimehobbies.com/liquidation-sale/?_bc_fsnf=1&sort=pricedesc&Section=Cars&Scale=1%2F24+%26+1%2F25&page=1

It must be the week for resurrecting Zombie Threads. Not a complaint, I think it's fun. Here's a neat bunch of geegaws for anyone building an AMT '25 T Fruit Wagon or similar farm-to-market truck: veggies, fruits, cheeses, breads, wooden crates, 2 buckets, wicker baskets, sacks, an umbrella...and probably a partridge in a pear tree. Preiser Kit No. 45207 "Market Accessories." Sometimes available from HobbyLinc (the U.S. company, not HLJ). I just checked and they're out of stock right now. These are not pre-painted like the photo; they come molded in different colors. Mostly tan-yellow and dark brown plastic, with white for the umbrella and silver for its frame. And red for the buckets.

I sure hope they upscale that Packard. Having fooled with some 1/35 ICM kits like the Horch, their multi-piece chassis are "a little bit tricky" too. Every half-shaft and mounting bracket on the frame seems to be a separate tiny part. The whole kit is that way. For added fun, sometimes the tiny parts are photo-etched metal. It will all go together, it just takes very slow and careful work. Sort of joking, but ICM has a case of "Heller-itis:" they never use 1 part when they can use 5. Since the Zombie part of the thread asked about the 1/24 scale Heller Hispano-Suiza K6, it's a good example of that. The fuel pump in those cars was not attached to the engine, it sat on the fender "apron." In the kit, it's a tiny separate part. But back in the old days, Heller's instruction sheets had detailed multi-lingual parts lists. So when you find yourself asking "What the heck is that thing?," at least you can find out by checking the parts list. Like all Heller kits, the K6 has the interior panels molded in clear plastic with the windows. The limousine divider panel in that kit is nice, with storage cabinets and drawers. The clear interior panel on the left side has a clock molded in; the numbers and dials on the clock are actually readable. One thing I don't like about the K6 kit is its big plain disc wheels. Swapping wire wheels on would give it a better, more "classic" look, IMO. Since every K6 was custom-made (and only about 200 were built), some probably had wire wheels. And anyway, we live in Model World, where anything is possible.

You're right, I misspoke. Or miswrote. It's a stock-only kit, molded in Aqua Blue plastic. Which I could personally do without. One reason I picked it up: I didn't have a single one of that old-tool AMT '57 kit in the stash, in any version. And this one was cheap.

That's an incredible UPS disaster. Sure deserves a claim. Flea Market Day here, and I found a couple of cheap oldies. The seller says he has 300 car kits he will be bringing to the flea market over the next few weeks. He "isn't sure" what all of them are, they're in storage. (ANY JO-HANS???). Picked up the pickup because...well, I guess because I can always use another pickup kit. Somewhere I have a resin small tow truck body designed for the AMT 1995-97 F-150s. Not too many years ago, those kits went begging at swap meets and so did the Revell versions. Sellers were lucky to get $5 for them. Nowadays they seem a little hard to find, judging by the prices in eBay Completed Items. That '57 is the eternal 1962 kit, recently re-re-released as "Pepper Shaker." When AMT-ERTL came out with the new-tool '57 Chevy in the 1990's, with the opening trunk and photo-etch, I read somewhere that the AMT employees thought that kit would bury the old '57 Chevy forever. Funny how that worked out. The original kit is still in the catalogue and apparently selling well.

Like all Navy & Marine Corps personnel who may deploy on aircraft carriers, many years ago I had to watch the training film "Trial by Fire: A Carrier Fights for Life." I believe the Navy uses that movie to this very day. It's about the Forrestal fire. Which was caused by a "Zuni" missile accidentally firing from an F-4 Phantom parked on the deck. Incredibly, all the safety systems designed to keep that from happening, like the safety pins, somehow failed. The proximate cause was a power surge when the F-4 transitioned from the external electrical system to its own internal system. John McCain flew the A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft. He just happened to be sitting in his plane on the Forrestal's deck, when all hell broke loose. Speaking of power surges...according to a former Marine friend, the Marine Corps had a similar near-disaster at his airfield in Vietnam. A Huey gunship returned to the field with a rocket hung up in one its launcher pods. A technician ran out to look at it, with a Simpson 260 multimeter. The Simpson 260 has a 1.5 Volt battery inside. The rocket launchers were fired by...yes, a 1.5V charge! Technician connected multimeter to pod and a rocket suddenly went screaming down the airfield. Luckily it didn't hit anything.

For general work, I use the Testors Aztec. Which I swear by, even though a lot of people seem to swear at it. I like the convenience of the removable tips, and their sizes cover just about any job, from model-car body painting to fine detail. For very fine work, I use a Sotar 20/20 (made by Badger). With the right mix of air/thinner, it can spray incredibly fine lines. Because of the price I would never have just gone out and bought one of these. Years ago a friend who managed a hobby shop got some Sotars for a really low price and passed the savings along to his customers.

I lived in CA a long time and remember the closeout chain Pic 'n Save, which was similar to Ollie's. Pic 'n Save used to get bunches of discounted model kits. I still have some I bought there, including an AMT '36 Ford "Dick Tracy" 5-window coupe. Then Big Lots bought out Pic 'n Save and model kits disappeared completely from the stores. There's a Big Lots near me in SC. Never seen a model kit in there.

Here's a link to a Britmodeller forum where they talk about replacement decals for your Clipper. One poster wrote: "Fortunately, Airfix reissues this kit from time to time so it shouldn't be that tough to get another set from them." https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235028527-airfix-boeing-314-clipper-1144/ You might also try to get a set of Minicraft Clipper decals. The Minicraft is exactly the same kit; some issues of it still have "Airfix" stamped inside. Its decal sheet includes the big Day-Glo Orange panels for the top of the wing. The kit doesn't seem to be in their line right now, but they have a parts replacement service. They will charge a few bucks for processing/shipping if you can't provide the UPC code from the original box. The Minicraft kit number is #14503, Pan Am B-314 Clipper. https://minicraftmodels.com/pages/replacement-parts

"Fireball 500" was the 1966 American-International movie with a Barris car and model kit tie-in. They followed it up in 1967 with more of the same, the movie "Thunder Alley," focused on stock-car racing. A mechanical co-star in both movies was a blue 1960 Dodge Seneca 2-door post sedan. In "Fireball 500" it was one of the moonshine-running cars. For "Thunder Alley" they slapped a coat of two-tone paint on it, and the racing number "41." The movie's Barris tie-in was the "Thunder Charger" customized '67 Dodge Charger. Which IMO did nothing to improve the basic car, and turned it into an advertisement for ugly. MPC released the model kit, with a boxtop movie advertisement. And because it was the Fabulous Sixties: "Psychedelic Car Art Decal, Detailing Paint & Brush Set Included!"

Put this in "Trading Post" a while back, but I'll mention it again here: If anybody wants one of these to fool around with, I have the 2002 AMT/ERTL issue of Fireball 500. It is MISSING THE TRAILER, which I removed myself. All the other parts bags are still sealed. Got an interesting but incomplete/built/semi-gluebomb kit of your own to trade? I'm always looking for AMT Lincoln hardtops. Would like to have a Revell '32 Ford roadster (1/25 scale only) or a Monogram Yellow Jacket '30 Ford. Also open to trades for weird aircraft or 1/35 military kits. Pic below, the other 2 kits are already traded:

Very good. Here's a thread about it from January 2018. On Page 2, there's a pic of all the parts included with it.

You made me wonder, so I went and looked at some vintage and modern cab-over campers. You're right, nearly all have a "sleeping loft" in the cabover area. People would usually stick the kids up there. There's often a couch running lengthwise down the side of the camper that folded out into a bed for grownups. But most campers are on bigger trucks than an El Camino. Having said all that, we are working in 1/25 scale and can do whatever we want.

Wen-Mac did a '65 notchback and '67 fastback Mustang in 1/12 scale, and maybe others. They could be powered with gas or electric motors. So not much chassis detail, but they do have interiors. Looks like they were also sold in Testors boxes. (Pix found on internet.)

Nothing about his regular website, but this message is on his eBay Store: "Hello! I want to thank everyone for your support over the years and to let you know that we are currently preparing to move out of state. For a limited time we will still be operating our eBay store, but later we will be closed down during our transition. We anticipate being shut down for about 6-8 weeks in the late summer to early fall and will give further updates as we progress."

I just checked his e-mail again. Sorry, no mention of how the discount shows up. Maybe message him thru eBay, or email and ask. The e-mail does list his resin kits, and the Rampside is also listed at $80.00 there.

Got an e-mail today from Mike at bestmodelcarparts. For those who don't know BMCP, he does those great instrument-panel decals. He also mastered the resin Corvair Rampside kit, a '50 Olds wagon and some other bodies. From the email: "All resin kits are 10% off for a limited time. Plus, all gauge sets and license plate sets are Buy 4 get 1 FREE!" The email had a link to his eBay store, which is here: https://www.ebay.com/str/bestmodelcarparts

Thanks. Good grief, what a can of worms. EDIT TO ADD: if you have the sidewalls, you might be able cobble up roof pieces from some Evergreen corrugated sheet plastic. Maybe somebody at AMT-ERTL had a drug flashback and said: "Remember back in 1962, when we only put some parts of the go-kart and motorcycle into our pick-up truck kits, but not a complete go-kart or bike? The '65 El Camino is sort of a pickup...so let's put some random camper parts in the box as a surprise! And to make it an even better surprise...we won't mention those extra parts on the box-top or instruction sheet!" At this point, that makes about as much sense as anything else.

Here's your better image. And surprise, surprise! AMT did goof. I had never opened the "camper bag" in #31741, but I could see that it had more than the Topper parts in it (and 2 custom bucket seats). Back when the "Buyer's Choice" kit came out, I bought several of those just for the big campers and sold the de-campered kits on eBay. So I knew what those and the Topper looked like. I just opened that bag. Here's what's inside, laid out on the boxtop. It's a Topper camper with 2 extra parts from the big camper: the rear panel with door, and the cabover piece. If there is any way those parts will go together to make a "low-profile camper," I couldn't figure it out. I was relying on the descriptions from Model Roundup. They mention Topper, Low-Profile Camper, High-Profile Camper. So the instruction sheet for #31741 is correct: you can build a Topper and that's it. Unless you want to do some serious scratchbuilding.