Mike999

I found one of these 1/24 Shastas at the Freetime Hobbies open house in October. Just checked their website and it is showing as "Out of Stock" right now. You can ask them to send you an email when they get more.

Also true of their '72 Thunderbird. If you've never seen one, beware that the kit inside doesn't look nearly as good as the box art. And the box art ain't that great...

Got a Heller '34 Hispano-Suiza K6 off eBay. Reasonable price because it has minor chassis assembly, but that's OK. It just saves me some work. Love that old Heller art and will probably hang the box-top on the wall. I started on one of these a couple years ago and goofed badly on several tricks I was trying to do. Lessons learned. I want to build this as a car abandoned in the garage of a former movie star, which then sat for many years in the back row of a Los Angeles used-car dealer. Until it was resurrected as a surf wagon... Think Norma Desmond's Isotta-Fraschini in the movie "Sunset Blvd.," sort of. With the separate chauffeur's office and wicker bodywork, the 2 cars resemble each other. Weird Trivia: that Isotta-Fraschini originally belonged to the socialite Peggy Hopkins Joyce. It was a gift from her lover, Walter P. Chrysler.

You really could get anything built by Detroit, IF you were willing to pay for it. Funny story from a Chrysler employee... "One morning a caller on the distribution phone announced that he was Bill Harrah, president of Modern Classic Motors in Reno NV, a Chrysler-Plymouth-Imperial dealer...His question was simple and direct. How do I get a 426 Hemi in a Belvedere station wagon when the code books claim it is not available?" http://www.chrysler300club.com/stories/jett/harrah.html Harrah also built his own air-conditioned '66 Hemi Plymouth Satellite, when the factory wouldn't build it for him. That car is still in his museum in Reno. An earlier Harrah wagon, a '63 or '64 Pontiac, was legendary on Nevada roads. Harrah ordered it with 421 Tri-Power and a 4-speed. The legends say he loved to bait hot-rodding youngsters into races.

I found it. The lot only got 3 bids and sold for $122.50. It ended on Sept. 25. It was 6 kits, but it had 2 of the San Diego Sheriff cars and none of the Port Authority Police. A couple of kits were incomplete and 1 was started. Link below to the completed auction. You're right, these YODEL kits are often listed on eBay for over $100. But looking at Completed Items, most don't sell for that. They seem to sell more often in the $20-$40 range, which doesn't seem too unreasonable considering their age (and the current price of kits). The highest recent price I could find, actually paid, was $49.95 with only 1 bidder. Those sky-high "asking" prices look like the usual eBay nonsense. For anyone interested in the kits, that listing had big photos of them, showing some of the contents. Here it is: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-6-American-Yodel-Police-Model-Kit-039-s-Numbers-1-5-/162678862051?hash=item25e06a70e3%3Ag%3AUxoAAOSw7NpZwGmI&nma=true&si=ul8ewQrQET4YzDKcpeVN%252BstIdac%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

A few months ago on eBay, somebody sold a lot of 6 different YODEL police kits: CHP/LAPD/NYPD/NY Port Authority/San Diego Sheriff/New Jersey State Police. IIRC, the lot went for a little over $100. I've been kicking myself ever since that I didn't bid (as I often do on eBay). I just checked eBay Completed Items for the auction but couldn't find it.

1963-67, according to this book... From "Aurora Model Kits" by Thomas Graham, published in 2006: "#569 '34 Ford Stock & Street Rod: 1963-67, 1/25, $130-150. Kit contains models of 2 '34 Fords, produced from separate molds. Stock coupe in black, chrome, clear plastic. Street Rod in metallic green, clear, chrome plastic. "Scream Puff" decals. Monogram reportedly still has the molds. Box art by R. Schulz." Your '34 appears to be molded in black. Maybe it was part of the "Young Model Builder's Club" program, thru Parents magazine IIRC. The Club was still operating in the early 1970s. YMBC kits were bagged and shipped in a special club mailing box.

Maybe, but I doubt it. ESCI was an Italian company. When ESCI folded, all their molds seem to have gone to the other Italian kit company, Italeri. Both companies had licensing agreements with other companies but I don't think any were Japanese. ESCI partnered with Aurora and AMT (for some aircraft kits), Italeri with Revell of Germany. A few old ESCI kits have appeared in RoG boxes, like several versions of the Mercedes 230G. Many more have been re-issued as Italeri kits, like the military Land Rover, Rally Range Rover and Toyota BJ-44 "Armed Pickup." Here are 2 kits I'd love to see re-issued. That Range Rover Police not only had decals for British and Dutch versions - it had the dashboard AND correct suspension parts to build it as left or right-hand drive. And that Philippine Taxi Toyota is just completely bonkers. One of the few ESCI kits with chrome parts - all those chrome horses, roosters, etc.:

Thanks for the update. Interesting to hear from somebody "on the ground." Stay safe.

Another vote for leaving these in the past. And on eBay. Several years ago I bought a big lot of model junk. It included a Double '34 box full of mixed parts from at least 2 of the kits, including a couple of perfect frames. But no bodies! Sold the box and parts on eBay. I still have a near-complete '22 T. It was the Young Model Builders Club version, which was stock-only, no rod parts. It's missing a piece of the frame and some other parts. It does look a little more "refined" than the AMT, at least to my eyes. One nice touch: Aurora included the luggage rack that fit on the running board. You can see the luggage rack in Anthony Hazelaar's build-up of the Aurora:

JC, that is a nice build-up! All these kits I've ever seen came with the hood molded in place, so the builder probably cut that one out. For extreme detailers, ESCI made a typo in the decals. The co-driver's name was Hans ThorSzelius, not "Thorzelius." Good luck fixing that... Wagons and model ideas: I'm going to build this someday! When I lived in Los Angeles, a local Mercedes repair shop had a "Merc-amino." A Mercedes car/pickup truck they used for hauling parts etc. It was beautiful, painted dark blue with white lettering for the shop name. (Sorry, I don't know enough about M-Bs to know which model, but an older one.) Saw it for a long time, then it disappeared. One day in the local post office, I ran into one of their mechanics and asked about that Merc-amino. He said it started costing more than it was worth in maintenance and they junked it. He thought they built it from a station wagon. Welded up the rear door lines and used the tailgate to form the back window panel.

Good job so far on that interior! And you're giving me some ideas. I found 2 of those kits cheap at a flea market recently. One was the Taxi/Fire version molded in yellow. The other was the original police car molded in white (with the goofy oversized light bar). Both were built, but without glue, so they were easy to disassemble. And all the "Taxi" stickers were used. No big deal, I'll do what you did and convert them into decals. The original sheet was still in the box, so I just un-stuck them from the body and stuck them back on the sheet. I like those kits. Simple, but you can do a lot with them. A couple of casters made resin station-wagon bodies for them too.

I hope AMT re-issues the 40 Ford Sedan in its original box art. Maybe they'll do the "regular" issue in that box, and the "Art Box" with all the extras in something like the 40 Coupe. With art from the 1970s to fit the bigger box format. I found one of the originals at a flea market a few months ago, molded in light blue plastic. The '66 Mercury would make a good "work car" circa 1986, when it was 20 yrs. old. With lots of dents, rust and torn upholstery. In 2017 one of those would probably be either restored or scrapped. I'm guessing the Double White Stripe tires are the same as the tires in the Barris Surf Woody.

One thing you can't see in the pic: all these 450 kits have a big, long ugly molding plug hanging down from the front center of the roof interior (about where a rear-view mirror would go). If you're lucky, the previous owner already got rid of it. If not, be very careful removing it. The plastic on the roof is thin. It's easy to warp/dent the roof (or put a hole in it) if you use sprue cutters or a knife. Probably the best way to deal with it is by gripping the plug firmly and cutting off most of it with a razor saw. Then carefully grinding/sanding down the rest. (Don't ask me how I know this...)

I think you caught ESCI-Revell in a fib! And that IS a 450 SLC, not a 500. See the box art below for the Hugo Boss and Bandama rally versions of the ESCI "450 SLC." I have both of those kits. All these ESCI Mercedes 450 kits had an engine, but the hoods are molded shut. The hood lines are pretty deep, so it's easy to cut them out using the back-of-the-hobby-knife trick. Your kit looks complete, matching the loose and assembled parts with the sprues. I glanced into the Bandama rally kit and don't see anything obvious missing. Will try to take a closer look later, I'm packing up stuff to ship from an eBay sale today. I've never seen the 450 SLC in a Revell-ESCI box before, so that's interesting. Revell also re-issued the old ESCI Mercedes 190 in several different boxes, I think. IIRC, one version had some "Aero" body parts that didn't fit very well. ITALERI has also re-issued some of the old ESCI kits, but I don't think the 450 was one. From 1981-83, Automobile Year did 3 lavish, hardcover coffee-table sized books called "Automobile Year Models." In one of them, Francois Verlinden built the Bandama rally Mercedes 450 as it looked after the rally: dusty and dirty with dents and wreckage. It looked great and he didn't even paint it. But he was Francois Verlinden...

That looks like a real blast from the past! The resin color and overall style make me think it's from California Auto Replicas (CARS), a one-man company from way back in the early 1990s. Can't remember the owner's name, but he was a really nice guy who used to show up and sell at the Kit Collector/Keller shows. His resin bodies usually came in a long plastic bag, with a header card showing the CARS logo. If it's a CARS body, it was mastered off the old PMC '59 Ford wagon promo from the 1950s. I had one years ago but traded it. As I remember, the grille/bumpers from the REVELL Skyliner looked like they would fit with a little fiddling. And boy, do I miss the Keller shows! I used to drive down early on Sun. morning from Los Angeles. After the Keller show, I'd hit Brookhurst Hobbies. And until it closed, The Military Shop in Long Beach.

Some gorgeous HELLER box art for 1/24 kits, from the 1970s.

Along with the AURORA Avanti and XKE roadster, I always loved their box art for the Jaguar XKE coupe. Even if, as somebody pointed out, the background is way out of proportion. (Unless that mechanic climbing the ladder is about 8 feet tall.) I like to think that Revell paid an homage to this art, with the box of their recent '76 Torino stock kit. It has a jet fighter, girl, guy and car.

The California Highway Patrol had the Mustangs. Long ago, in the early 90s IIRC, I was on a date with a woman who had a new Mustang GT. She wanted to drive, so we got on the 405 freeway headed to a restaurant. She saw a Mustang coming up behind us and thought he wanted to race. Whoops! It was a CHP Mustang. The nice officer just gave her a hand gesture - "slow down!" - and kept going.

This looks like an easy project for those of us who like to build police vehicles. Several companies make Border Patrol decals, and I think that light bar was also available in some kits, or from the aftermarket. Other than that, I think we'd just need a roll bar. "In the early 90’s the US Border Patrol, Tucson Sector, had a program called Project Roadrunner. The purpose of the program was to reduce the number and length of pursuits using vehicles quicker than the traditional police cars at the time. The border patrol purchased a Chevy Z-28 Camaro, SSP Ford Mustang, and a Pontiac Firebird for this project." (The official museum display mentions 2 Firebirds, both Formula 350's.) http://www.sspcentral.com/u-s-border-patrol-project-roadrunner/

It sure could be. But here's an NYPD Plymouth with the electric motor missing. It's only up to $12.37 with 2 bids on it. I would pay that much, just for the police parts, dog-dish hubcaps, etc: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yodel-1-24-New-York-City-Police-Dept-Plymouth-Fury-model-kit-for-parts-restore/292329586075?hash=item4410337d9b:g:XKoAAOSwYWdaCedv This one has both sets of taillights, but not the Dodge grille. Weird. Could be that the grille was removed, or was never supplied. Or is just not in the photos.

Here's another possibility. It should be easier to get than the resin conversion kit above. Find a YODEL 1/24 scale CHP Dodge Monaco as shown in the pic, Kit Number YPM-1. It has the grille and taillights in the box to build either a Dodge or Plymouth, complete with the tiny "Plymouth" lettering on top of the grille. IIRC, the MPC kit has the center, body-colored Dodge grille bar molded in. So you'd have to get rid of that. And do some fiddling because the YODEL parts are 1/24. But after robbing the Plymouth parts, you'd still have the parts left to build the YODEL kit as a Monaco. Of course, you could just build the YODEL kit like the Plymouth in your pic. I'm assuming you want to use the MPC to stick with 1/25 scale or something. The YODEL kits turn up on eBay pretty often, sometimes with outrageous prices. You'll have to be careful because I'm not sure YODEL put the Dodge and Plymouth parts in all these kits. They released these Pl-odges in many different versions. Some had an electric motor, some didn't. Some are pre-painted in black & white, some are molded in one color. I know the CHP kit pictured has both grilles/taillights because I have that exact kit. It also comes with a radio console, shotgun and a service revolver. These kits are sort of clunky and under-detailed, but they have a weird charm about them I really like. And I've never tried to use the YODEL parts on the MPC Dodge. But maybe somebody in here has.

Here's a build-up by Korkut Varol that might help you. He does some nice little tweaks, like drilling out the "eyebrows" above the grille. Also fixes some errors, like removing the bogus engine mount on the chassis (the one that won't let the engine fit unless you do remove it). http://www.korkutvarol.com/OpelGT-01.html Something that bugged me about this kit: the interior behind the seats. Look at a picture of the real thing and you'll see the problems immediately. AMT fudged it because of the chassis up-kick; that's the only way they could get the interior to fit. I'm still pondering a solution to it. And you probably know this already, but that vertical piece of plastic in the rear of the interior should be mostly cut out. It's the space for the spare tire, since the GT didn't have an opening trunk. That solid piece of plastic should be a vinyl curtain, covering the spare wheel well.

Flea Market Day. Got really excited when I saw a JO-HAN '62 Rambler American box. But inside was...a (badly) built/painted AMT '40 Ford coupe. Drat! The same seller had a couple of older AMT/ERTL re-issues: '70 Impala and '65 Lincoln. But I already have 2 each of those, and am really trying not to buy kits just because I find them or "for parts." My basement is full enough already.

In its early days, Tamiya did quite a few armor kits in the oddball 1/21 scale. Bandai did armor in 1/30 scale. The old (and great) Historex figures and accessories are usually advertised as 1/32 or 54mm, sometimes even 1/35, but were closer to 1/30. They're noticeably bigger than those other scales.