Monty

Seems like most of the early 442s have been done in styrene but I don't seem to see a '65, which I need to do a replica of a car my older brother had in the mid-'70s.

Thanks espo!

Is there a short but definitive article that compares these with Ford's Boss 302 (street and track)? IIRC the engine specs are extremely close.

Making some major revisions to my overall health objectives and am more than disappointed in the diet versions of my favorite pops. Hard to replace real Mt Dew, Dr Pepper or a few of the others I’d drank for years. Tried some “flavored waters” but they sucked and still had aspartame in them. Pass. Am I just out of luck?

I've been trying to create the right shade to replicate cast iron exhaust manifolds with some miles on them (not complete rust buckets, but definitely not factory-new), but I'm not satisfied with the results I've gotten so far. Has anybody here tried Alclad II Exhaust Manifold Paint? Does it need any particular primer for best results? TIA for any helpful info regarding this product. Really not looking for any other info/color mixing advice etc at the moment. Any pics would be greatly appreciated.

Is there any truth to the rumor that the AMT '75-'76 NASCAR Matador kit also has the factory stock grille? I'd heard this from someone who claims they saw a YouTube video that showed the stock version as well as the race unit on the chrome tree. Pics etc would be appreciated.

I woulda been interested but those probably would have been out of my price range at the time. I’ve seen some YouTube videos where they use a modern HO chassis dyno to tune their cars.

Matchbox made a series of cars (body and chassis) for their sets, just like Aurora, Tyco etc. I don’t think I’ve seen a pic of the chassis by itself.

I've got a couple of those already (different paint schemes). I'm interested in learning about the Matchbox line of HO cars because I'm just now discovering that were available when I was just starting to ramp up my collection, but I never saw them for sale anywhere. I'm guessing they weren't available for long in the US (AFAIK). The 'Vette in question is called the Evel Knievel Corvette. Kinda looks like it had working headlights.

Any reason this couldn't be shared with the rest of us? Several members have been searching for help with this kind of thing because most chrome coatings don't seem to be all that durable.

The other night I was looking at some HO stuff on Ebay when I came across a listing for a Matchbox HO car (C3 Corvette with IMSA flares). I've been racing HO cars since I was young (late '60s) and had acquired cars made by several different brands over the years, but I never knew these even existed. From what I can tell, they seem to have been made in the late '70s, but must not have sold very well. Anybody have these? Are they competitive with other cars of the time? Will they run on any other HO track? TIA for any other information.

I'm going to be doing a build or two of some late '60s GM muscle cars but I want to add vinyl tops using MCW's textured paint. The recommendations I need are for the slightly rounded strips (I assume) that go around the C-pillars and the 2 flatter strips on the vinyl roof. TIA for all helpful replies.

Len, is this guy actually persnickety enough for you to be concerned about the tread pattern? These tires seem to be the best answer to your query in all respects but that.

Wish I knew. I assumed they were in fractions of inches. Looks like the tires from the John Wick kit shown above are exactly what you need. (I didn’t know Round2 was offering these tires). The sidewall lettering is probably leagues better than the MPC tire and the ID should allow you to use the stock wheels you mentioned.

I believe these require their own proprietary reducer (P/N usually listed on the paint bottle by application). If memory serves, the few people on here who've used them indicated there's kind of a steep learning curve. As others have said, there's a ton of actual model paints out there that would be easier to use while still giving you a great finish.

Found this on the 'net. I don't have any of these myself because I wouldn't put them on a kit. Sidewall lettering is way out of scale. Just my opinion...

If you really want BFGs to replicate a 1:1 car, they don't seem to have what you need but you may find other items (redline tires, wheels) that you could use on other projects. https://www.modelhaustires.com/

I mentioned this company along with some info about what they offered and current pricing a couple posts above. I'm glad Gary was able to find pics 'cuz these have got to be really scarce anymore.

Those are MRC (Model Rectifier Corp). IIRC they were only issued once, around 20 years ago at a very reasonable price (they come with a ton of adapters so they can be used with almost any kit). At one time they were trading (ebay) as high as $75.00 a box, but seem to have settled down to around $35.00. The wheels are outstanding (best Keystones out there IMO) but the tires are suspect. They're very square-shouldered and the words on the Mickey Thompson sidewall look like they were placed on there randomly. They also offered Goodyear Polyglas and Firestone Wide Oval tires, but no BFGs. Wish I still had the email with the info, but Iceman responded very quickly to my question about sizes, openings etc, and he makes some killer stuff. Best of luck in your search.

Just my opinion but I'd bet the wheel opening on those ARII tires is way bigger than your MPC/AMT wheel, not to mention they'd look like dune buggy tires on that 'Vette. A thought: Assuming you're not that concerned about replicating BFG's tread pattern, you could sand off the raised lettering of these AMT tires (or an actual radial tire with the inside diameter you need) and use Fireball's BFG decals.

ARII absolutely nailed both the tread and sidewalls on their version of the BFGs, but as you said, they're generally too big for the vast majority of 1/25 kits. They offered them as part of a wheel/tire kit, but the only wheels i liked were the 5-slots.

Kinda surprised to hear that about the Fireball tires as he's renowned for getting the details down perfectly on everything he offers. Also, hobby boards like this were where I first saw them being used on models featuring an array of AMT/MPC/Revell wheels. Just a thought: if these don't fit, I believe he still offers them in 1/24. OTOH, when I first looked at Iceman's online page, the centers looked too big. I asked for, and got, pics of builds being done using his tires and regular model wheels. Long story short (too late, I know) I've seen enough of your builds to know that the MPC Radial T/As would diminish an otherwise outstanding build.

Len, I'd recommend that you skip these tires and find better (resin) alternatives such as those offered by Fireball Modelworks or Iceman Collections. If somebody could post pics of the MPC tires next to either of these you'd see why immediately.

A number of years ago I bought a bunch of Testors rattle cans online because of rumors that most of the Testors model paint line was going away, and I wanted to have these on hand for future projects. (These are shades such as Ford's pickup purple that aren't as common as their regular hobby shop lineup). Unfortunately, some are now showing the dreaded signs of seepage around the bottom, so I want to try and preserve the paint. 1) What are the best jars capable of taking the contents of an entire Testors can? 2) Many decant-and-spray articles I've read stress the need for the paint to "settle" after being decanted so it will airbrush better better. Do I need to do this before capping the jar? If so, how long? 3) How long will decanted Testors spray paint last in a jar? TIA for any additional info on this. I'd get tossed of this board if I said what I really think about Testors cans and nozzles. ?

I appreciate your willingness to help but I'm going to try doing the AI thing myself.