Ace-Garageguy

The bodies on the T kits are CORRECTLY SCALED. They fit AMT kit parts of the same vintage vehicle very well indeed. The tube chassis are NICE. The engines however, Ford smallblocks, are significantly under-scale...and for no good reason. A correctly-scaled smallblock Ford will fit in the engine bays. It's very tight, just as it is on a real one, but it WILL fit. The '33-'34 body, however, is a joke. It's so under-scale as to be appropriate for a '34 Fiat. A '33-'34 Ford is a MUCH LARGER CAR than a T, so how anyone thought that shrinking the later body down to the T dimensions was a good idea escapes me.

They show on my screen.

I certainly didn't mean for this thread to become a soapbox, but the joke I made addresses a very real problem. Back on topic, youse guys really need to appreciate Mr. Dickash's work. For those who didn't click through, here are some more pix:

Here's a thread addressing using Duplicolor over current kit plastics. As far as Dawn goes, well, it's OK I guess. But for MAXIMUM adhesion, scrub the parts with an abrasive cleanser like Comet, a toothbrush, and plenty of hot water. Not only does this remove mold-release agents and lubricants from the parts, it also uniformly scuffs them, including down in nooks and crannies where sandpaper and ScotchBrite pads can't go. Parts that are NOT scuffed often exhibit paint pulling away from edges and panel lines, and scuffing with sandpaper can obliterate fine details. For extra insurance against fisheyes, wash your parts with CLEAN paper towels and 70% isopropyl alcohol (available in any drug department).

It's just a joke. And it's a joke because, more and more, people are taking things entirely out of context, getting hurt feelings for no earthly reason, labeling simple posting of facts as argumentative, and calling comments "bordering on abusive" that are nothing of the kind. It's almost impossible to tell these days what someone is going to take as "offensive". The finding-offense-everywhere trend is completely out of hand. I've been censured for simply stating facts...facts that I can back up from personal experience...like the propensity for overly-complex and insufficiently robust (and poorly supported) electronic systems to fail. It will be nice when some adults who are familiar with the children's phrase "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me" step forward to run the world again. Having to walk on eggs to avoid hurt feelings constantly gets to be tiresome, and it's all but impossible to know in advance what someone is going to cry over. Having posts removed because they have the audacity to express an opinion that disagrees with the main-stream, or that is deemed to be digressing excessively, and being threatened with "points" gets to be tiresome as well.

Sweet. Mo' debinately.

Yeah, this guy is one of the greats. I'm kinda surprised you can say "Dickash" on here though. Surely somebody is going to misunderstand completely and run crying to the hall-monitor.

I just saw a beautifully kept black one of these at the bank. Though I'm not a fan of these things mechanically and structurally, I always liked the looks, and I think it's vastly more attractive than the overwrought mommy-van (or is that "urban-adventurer" ?) that started this thread. And to me this is what I think of when I think "Blazer". Tough, simple, goes anywhere (and you can fix it out in the middle of nowhere).

I've seen this one before, of course, but it's still one of my favorite builds of all time. Perfect paint, excellent fit of everything, perfect panel lines, perfect foil...it doesn't get any better than this.

Wrong. I have 'em all. There is nothing called a "Competition Frame" in the lineup. Here are the two Revell "roadster" frames. One represents rectangular or channel side members, one round. Both have kickups in the rear. There is also a bigger-car chassis based on the C1 Corvette. The rest of the frames in the old Revell parts-pack lineup are for rail dragsters. AMT (NOT REVELL) shows a "competition frame" in the illustration below, but it is a part from the old double-dragster kit.

To go with those in Greg's opening post is this 392 Chrysler. And a Donovan 417. Plus a Chrysler slant 6.

Aircraft engines are out there too (again, most are also seen at the link Greg posted). Even turbines:

Haynes has a SOHC V8: And another packaging of the inline four shown above:

There's at least two inline 4s (also at the link Greg posted): And a flat six:

There's at least 3 Wankels...(these are all at Greg's link he posted above).

Don't forget Monogram. in 1954, their first plastic kit, #P1 (first issue molded in acetate, which I have) was this odd scale midget racer. P2 was the next Monogram entry. Both kits were aimed at enthusiasts more than children. And both have been reissued multiple times, in styrene.

I just bought another one for $22 and change, including shipping.

The best easily avail;able kit would be the recent '50 Olds. The valve covers are the best out there for stock, and the rest of the engine is quite good...though you'll have to do some kitbashing or go aftermarket to get a stock air-filter for a '56. I personally prefer to combine bits of that kit with the block and heads from the much older Revell Olds engines like's in the SWC Willys, and the Orange Crate, plus the front cover / water pump assembly from the ancient AMT '40 Ford kit Olds engine. FYI: For anybody who didn't see my post in the '50 Olds kit review thread, the recent Revell Olds engine is in the background for reference. It comes with a 3-speed manual Olds-Cad-LaSalle side-shift gearbox, appropriate for many hot-rod applications. ALL the speed equipment from prior AMT and Revell Olds 303-324-371-394 ('49-'63) engines will fit the new engine in the new Revell '50 Olds kit. The finned valve covers on it are small block Chevy (later Olds valve covers would have 3 bolt-holes on the bottom rail, not two) but the Olds parts fit just as well. On the green engine, the block, heads and oil pan are ancient Revell. The valve covers, fan and pulleys are recent Revell '50 Olds, and the 3X2 intake manifold and front cover / water pump are ancient AMT. The trans adapter is from one of the old Revell kits, and the top-shift LaSalle (Cad & Olds too) gearbox is from the Revell Miss Deal Studebaker.

Mmmmmm...cold roast goose with black-currant relish, corn and avocado salad, and a crisp Riesling.

I think it would be great...possibly very informative, and a source of ideas for builders who wanted something different, and technically accurate.

As part of my continuing quest to bring a modicum of critical thinking ability to an increasingly resistant-to-reason and willfully ignorant populace, I present the "Self-Filling Water Bottle", a waste of $340,000 in development money...that could have been saved if any of the principals had been awake during high-school physics.

Something else to remember is that there are MANY different plastic axles out there, with a lot of different degrees of drop.

Making a straight axle isn't hard, really. The axle shown below is a piece of styrene rod stock. The ends to the axle are cut from the same material, glued carefully with liquid cement, allowed to dry at least overnight. The ends are then drilled with a .030" bit in a pin-vise. Spindles are made from channel stock, also drilled as appropriate. Then use .030" wire for kingpins. Stub-axles are 1/16" plastic rod. NOTE: It's even easier if you don't need to have it steerable. Omit the steerable spindles and attach the stub axles directly to the axle ends. Drilling 1/16" holes to receive them makes for a stronger joint. And these are plenty stout to support a model that's handled carefully and not played with like a toy. Existing axles can also be modified to steer relatively easily. File away the spindles, proceed as above. The axle below is from this kit: And...these were drilled for .015" common straight-pin kingpins. Spindle on right is still rough. Spindle on left almost finished. Axle is from this: The shot below shows a simple jig to make sure the camber matches on both sides.

Here's one Howard Hughes had modified into a truck to haul a sailplane trailer...

Nice project. Love those deck details. Just to clarify...the Flamethrower unit was a dual-point distributor, requiring two external coils, not a magneto.