Monty

David, can you elaborate on the fitment issues? I thought MPC's cars were getting better toward the end...

James T is building this same car and apparently made or found some mounts: I just left the question for him in his thread 'cuz I'd like to know too.

OK, question for you: did you scratchbuild your upper shock mounts? Jeff K seems to be building this same kit and has posted pictures of his engine bay, but it doesn't have the pieces yours has on top of the shock towers. Double D has built this car before and says AMT apparently forgot to address this area. I dug out my '66 Fairlane 427 kit to check, and they don't mention anything about them in the instructions, and there are no parts like that on the sprues.

What was the reason for buying the truck? Did you have a concept in mind then? I'm asking these questions because the idea of someone polling the board for opinions on how they should build their model never made sense to me. If you owned the 1:1 truck and a shop to work on it, what would you do to it?

My compliments on that engine - just the right amount of wear and grime. Would you mind sharing how you achieved that? I'm seeing clamps on the hoses and a very well done windshield washer fluid bag, so you're off to a great start. Your plug wires look good, too, and if you don't mind a tip for your next engine, make or buy the plug boots that go to the distributor. Small things that make a big difference. After seeing what you've accomplished so far, the rest of this car should be spectacular. I look forward to seeing your updates!

Kudos to the artist who doesn't let a tiny canvas stop him from creating a masterpiece. If memory serves, that livery was used for the Swedish GP in '75 or '76 and it's been my favorite version of that car since the first time I saw one. Somewhere in my boxes of slot cars, I may still have the Aurora G-Plus version.

Thanks everybody!

I made an ebay purchase the other day and the seller is sending it USPS First Class mail with Delivery Confirmation. Does Delivery Confirmation mean someone has to be home to sign for the package?

I've heard this is a good model to work with, but your painting abilities really bring it to life! Somewhere William Lyons is smiling. Note to self: You're going to have to try Dupli-Color

Is that Dupli-Color or ScaleFinishes?

Yeah, but has he ever taken the Palmer challenge?

Outstanding work, as always. Kinda sobering to see the bar set so high, but hopefully it will serve as a reminder that this kind of build only happens when you refuse to settle for "good enough". So, what's your next major project going to be?

Anyone on here have the MPC and the Johan versions? I'd love to know how they compare in terms of accuracy, details, etc.

I can't wait to see this project get underway. I consider the '66 & '67 Toronados to be the most attractive of the series, so it'll be nice to see one actually being built.

These are going to be sharp models when you're done, but for accuracy's sake, please reposition that carb.

Unfortunately, I think you're out of luck. To the best of my knowledge, no kit came with Firestone Wide Oval decals. I know Shabo used to do a sheet of rub-on transfers, but my quick Google search indicates no one has them in stock. (It's sheet #17, BTW. Various vendors had them listed as SHA-017, SHA017 etc). Here are a couple other options: I didn't check ebay for the Shabo sheets, but that's always a possibility. See if you can find the MRC tire/wheel kits with these tires. Check out this thread first: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=45949&st=0&p=490280&fromsearch=1&#entry490280 Make the decals on your computer. I'm seeing more and more modelers making their own decals anymore. The supplies aren't hard to find and I'm sure there are any number of people on her who could walk you through it, if necessary. Good luck!

Mike, what kind of paint did you use on that? The only word to describe it is ausgezeichnet!

What a cool idea! Each of these builds is worth a long look in its own right, and to have one with an option I'd never heard of (the DX-1 stripes) made it a learning experience as well. More, please.

Gotta agree with this. When these sets first came out, my modeling buddies and I raided the hobby shops for all of the various combinations, but only a few ended up buying the Goodyears 'cuz AMT already offered a very similar tire in about half their kits. Long story short, our excitement at having alternative tires caused us to forget to do our own due diligence (look closely at tires on the box art before purchasing). Our disappointment at the shape of the Firestones and the word placement on the M/Ts meant most of those tires got thrown away. OTOH, if you detail their Keystone wheel with some black paint (I used Humbrol #85 Coal Black) it's probably the best version of this wheel in the hobby and still looks good on just about anything from the muscle car era.

Nice reference pics, Double D. Thanks!

The Academy angle was new to me, but the search results were about the same. Looks like hobby shops kept the imagery, but everybody has these listed as backordered or something that can be pre-ordered. Maybe that means they will be coming out again. I appreciate the tip, though!

I never bought any of the sets with Goodyear tires, so I can't offer an opinion on them. I have, however, had the other two tires, and it looks like we disagree somewhat. The Firestones at least give us an early '70s street tire that isn't marked Goodyear and the lettering is fairly well done, so points for that. The shoulders are where this tire really loses any sense of authenticity. They're just too square. The real tires taper off to the tread surface, while the kits' tires just take a 90* turn. I'd give them a grade of C- That said, I double-dog dare you to post up a pic of an MRC Mickey Thompson tire with painted lettering and put it next to a picture of a real Mickey Thompson street tire. Someone at MRC got the side lettering so screwed up it's ridiculous. There's an approximate 7" scale gap between the words "Mickey" and "Thompson" on the kit tire, which throws everything else off. Summary: I might use the Firestones for a bit of variety, but I wouldn't even consider lettering a set of these kit tires up and putting them on a model. Looks like we agree on the adapter pieces

I certainly appreciate your offer, but this was just an inquiry as to whether anyone knew if we might see these sets again. I thought the Keystones were very well done (I heard the Cragars were too) but I wish they would've tooled up a set of Ansen Sprints (5-slot wheels), since they were a commonly seen wheel back when these tires were popular. The kits also provided adapters of almost every sort so you could use these on a variety of models.

Just curious if they'll ever do another release of the wheel & tire sets that they created about a decade ago.

You'll never have to work too hard to convince me of the merits of Humbrol paints. I've got a ton of them, including a couple tins of #50 Green Mist metallic, but I haven't found a project to use the green on yet. Your pics show what a cool color it is, so thanks for posting them. Their #51 Sunset Red metallic is a unique shade as well if ya feel like doing another chopper.