Zoom Zoom

You're on the right track. You can use a wide, soft brush to get off the loose dust. To get the film buildup off you should first just try a damp polishing rag. Let that dry, and any other residue will need a stronger cleaner. Novus #1 is a liquid plastic cleaner/destatic, it's pretty forgiving stuff that will clean a lot of the residue. If you need stronger still, a little Novus #2 polish, perhaps mixed a bit w/the liquid #1 will do a good job. Use Q tips to get into the tighter corners around windows, etc. Automotive "quick detailer" spray may also work pretty well. You might have to reglue a few parts, touchup trim paint, but dusty/dirty models can be brought back pretty well just like a real car, just be patient and careful with it. If old decals were properly applied and not flaking off, they can take a bit of light polishing without problem.

The person who got that great deal has yet to pay for it after a week (I looked up the auction, it's a friend of mine who sold it, and we just had lunch a little while ago). The fine individual who "won" it sniped it at the last moment, and has yet to contact the seller. Don't expect to see it back on Feebay for awhile if the sale doesn't go through. It should have gone for more.

1.789 for premium today in Greenville SC; half a tank cost me all of $10.25 lowest premium here in Atlanta near me is 1.979 currently; I had to pay 4.49 for it at the highest post-hurricane price when premium was especially scarce. For some unknown reason they gouge 15 cents here for midgrade and 30 cents for premium; seems everywhere else in the country it's a 10-20 cent spread for midgrade and premium. Diesel is still about 1.20 higher than regular

I love it. There are a lot of boring folks out there that hate it Sports cars should have character and not be boring. Can't wait to see it in person. Shorter, lighter, much improved interior, and 320 HP...what's not to love?

Tough decision? '69's have always been a bit harder to get than the other '60's Impalas and they're also less plentiful by resin casters. If you do keep looking at it like you want to refurbish it, go for it! If you want to just spruce it up you could have the chrome redone or replaced, you could polish the body or clean it up and spray it gloss white and either leave it undetailed like a promo or detail the body and leave the interior/chassis alone. Or if you want to be more colorful, paint/detail the body to your heart's desire. The '69 was a missing link in my collection, I finally scored a slightly ragged promo from a friend for a great price, and used the reissued '70 Impala kit (same tooling) to replace the A pillars. Then I painted it to match the color scheme of a '69 Impala that friends used to own. I swapped wheels from a new-age AMT '70 Corvette promo. If you do detail it out, remember that AMT goofed on the emblems. The Impala emblem on the front fender should not be there, just the "SS".

Strada Sports and Model Roundup both get high marks from me.

Test your links before posting. You make frequent spelling errors and it's crucial when posting links to be accurate. Strada Sports Website They're also highly recommended by me. Kevin's a great guy to deal with, he's got a great family that also help him. His kids like to ride in my Miata

There are sure a lot of gullible souls who still believe everything that comes through their email. If it ever says "send it to all your friends" or "forward to everyone you know" and by doing so you are setting yourself up to confirm you have a working email to all the spammers in the world. Just say "NO" to these kinds of emails, even if from friends. Don't open them, don't look at them, don't be a victim. And please, educate yourself about it. Snopes is a good source for information, but don't rely on anyone else telling you, find out for yourself.

AMT already got their bailout...in the form of guardian angel Round 2. The fruits of this endeavor are just now trickling into the hobby shops. I'm itching to build my vision of the Digger 'cuda. If the gov't wants to bail anyone out, how about giving dedicated hobbiests enough money to retire early with stipulations that it's to be used to build what we've amassed (one model per month minimum or it gets cut), buy more to keep the companies thriving, and give us enough to startup aftermarket companies and travel to all the major shows. Yeah, that's the ticket

My buddy goes every year to the runoffs, he crews for Pete Peterson who is an animal behind the wheel of his Celica. Pete Peterson wins Seventh GT3 championship The racers call the place "Too Bleak-a" instead of "Topeka". 'Nuff said...Road America will be a welcome venue.

All this thread does is make me sad. We lost rally coverage thanks to Speed dropping it...dunno who to hate more, Speed or the FIA for being too greedy. It was by far my favorite armchair racing. Why did Europe get so many great rally games for the PS2 and we only got one? Now I don't even care and don't watch. Thanks, Speed Channel. Not. I'm done w/F1 until they come to their senses and kick Bernie and Max to the curb and get their sorry behinds back to North America. I'm not holding my breath. One look at next year's cars and it's clear F1 needs to be put on suicide watch. I'm with WRC drivers having to have the biggest cojones and most demanding driving skill. They are on the ragged edge of death all the time. There's no such thing as "safe barriers" in WRC.

Certainly! Darin Bastedo did a conversion body about a year ago intended to be cast in resin, but I haven't seen it hit the market. He combined the roof of the Fujimi 550 Maranello w/the Revell kit that allows you to build a full-detail Maranello. Hmmmm...I've got an idea or two that might work...

Thanks, it's Tamiya Mica Red over a gold base.

Drag cars don't normally do anything for me. I got the Digger 'cuda at our NNL and can't wait to build it. Too cool...I first saw one about 15 years ago builtup in white w/the original psychedelic decals. I've wanted one ever since. It's also sold out it's entire first run...Round 2 is out of them. Not sure if they'll pop out more or not. Model Roundup still has a few.

It's just a molded engine (part of the body) with a couple other parts that glue on. Looks decent enough but you sure can't use it in anything else. Aoshima has a version of their GTR with an engine. Try Hobbylink Japan or Hobby Search; the US distributor doesn't have them yet but they're out in Japan.

I built one OOB for Scale Auto review; it's a nice kit. A couple minor sink marks on the body and if you whittle the front spindles down you can glue the front wheels up higher in the wheelwells where they belong. No memorable fit problems, the finished model looks impressive. Fujimi's kit is curbside and has the base Maranello wheels that the vast majority of Superamericas did not come with. Revell's wheels, even though they trap the brake disc in between inner/outer wheels, look nice. They'd look appropriate on a lot of Revell/Tamiya 360's and 430's and Fujimi 575 Maranellos. I wonder if Revell will ever do a Maranello from this kit? The rotating top operates perfectly. The frame can be a bit warped (one of the three kits I have was warped) but it's easily straightened. Hoods also may be prone to a little warp. The plastic is forgiving enough for you to bend it carefully back in the direction it belongs. It was a little tricky making tape patterns/cutting C/F decals for the frame, but it was worth the effort. Fun kit to build, definitely worth $5, even $15. The US issue is molded in white. It's preferable to the overpriced Revell AG issue in the flat box that's molded in red/gray. Revell USA's boxart certainly did it's best to scare people away from the kit. They could stand to make sure boxart models are attractively finished and photographed. I was drooling over a 1:1 Grigio Silverstone/Bordeaux Superamerica yesterday when I went to look at a Scuderia before it's delivered to it's new owner.

You'll be happier w/the Fujimi; the current ROG GTO is the old Protar kit reissued. Nice engine and wheels that could fool you into thinking they are aftermarket, but the Fujimi has nice wheels, much better tires, and a far more pleasing shape. Italeri has no current licensing deal with Ferrari, so there are no Italeri Ferraris on the market. That could change and there are insiders trying to see it happen, but no guarantees as of yet.

It really depends on the viewer. Some people just don't see what all the fuss is, but I wince every time I see one because of the rear fender shapes. To me it's cartoonish, and (to me) it's exponentially worse than the minor stuff people are fussing about on the new '69 Nova kit. To me the 'cuda is one of the best looking musclecars of all time, and MPC and Johan nailed the shape while Revell/Monogram blew it completely...twice. Design is subjective, for sure. Ron Hamilton has corrected one; check w/him (search for his build) to find out all he did to fix the rear fender. The top edge from the door back needs a lot of recontouring, and the bevel between the bodyside and the taillight panel is also rather wide by a factor of two. Study pictures of a real car and the model. If you can see the issues and it bothers you, it's some work. If it's not that bad, just build it. If you reshape the fenders you'll need new decals too. That's also why it bothers me so much...the fender is so off that the decals look all wrong and magnify it.

I have both Fujimi and Protar (and Gunze and Italeri...but that's beside the point )...the Fujimi is by far the one to buy/build if you don't have one yet. Strada Sports in Missouri (Kevin's a great guy to deal with) has the Fujimi kit for $40.99 and he's got free shipping. You can't beat that even from Japan today because of the change in the dollar vs. yen and the shipping cost/time to the US. Harold Bradford is doing some nice stuff for the kit; correct tires (kit ones aren't bad, and far better than Protar), engine details. All the other kits are kind of clunky and outdated compared to the new Fujimi kit. The shape is great. To me the Fujimi is worth the extra at $41, but if my only other option was the $60 at the LHS I'd think twice, but the Fujimi is a sweet kit.

Great tip! The same basic trick can work on other models as well. Another tip to improve the front of these Mustangs is to take a black Sharpie and carefully go around the edges of the headlight covers; when you attach them to the model the halo from the thick (much thicker than 1:1 in scale) clear plastic pretty much disappears. The blacked edges also help hide the glue joint.

WOW. Nice work

Woohoo, I got it right! I didn't know the model designation, had to find that out from a friend. Even he didn't have the exact designation. Then researched...never did find the photos of the model before today. Had to closely study the 1:1 car w/the photo, and found some shape/detail issues with it. The model is magnificent. Hardest one yet

Nice work on a decent kit that we rarely see built. Too bad Fujimi made the wheels undersized. I've driven one of these STI's a few times (friend's car), it's a hoot to drive. It demands to be driven hard

And it was a V6 model w/Bullitt rims. Arguably the best looking of them all. Grille/fascia remarkably similar to current GT500.

I don't want our gov't to give them one dime if all this gets us is corporate welfare that fails to fix the problem.