Fat Brian

I have plenty of kits to work on, it's just that my interests shift faster than I can build. One day I'm working on a semi truck and then I want to build a rat rod and then something else. I try to keep my focus to finish something but if I force it too long I get burned out. I also keep a notebook like Greg of things I really want to build with what parts to use and things I need to scratchbuild, not all of my builds are so planned out but some are pretty specific.

If you wanted to get ambitious you could use this body over the recently tooled AMT 60 Starliner chassis.

I don't normally prime parts I'm going to brush paint but since in this case they're molded in black I can see why it would be a good idea. For that purpose I would use something cheap like Walmart flat gray, there's no sense in using an expensive primer when you're brushing over it.

This kit has a one piece chassis with metal axles, typical early 60's construction. If you like the outside but want to spruce up the underside you could use the chassis from the 65 Galaxie, it might not be 100% accurate but it's miles ahead of what it's got.

If I remember correctly the 4270 was modified into the 4300, the 4270 kit with the blue day cab box art was issued in 1973.

I think the AMT snap Cuda has parts that will fit your 74. You could also steal the chassis from the new Revell 70 to finish it. AMT also reissued the 74 Cuda kit a few years ago.

That's one kit I've never had, I've got a busted up body but that's about it.

Same for me, I'm hoping it's coming soon.

This kit was originally a GTX and was released in the very early 80's, the GTX kit had a tunnel ram intake for the two four barrels. It shares very similar construction to Monograms 64 GTO, 70 Chevelle, 71 Road Runner, 71 Hemi 'Cuda, 70 GSX, 71 Challenger, and a few more I'm forgetting. They are a bit soft on detail and the "melting" batteries and such are definitely dated but these kits were a significant step forward for their time. With a little care you can turn it into a very nice model. Remove the tabs holding the exhaust to the axle, add a little ridge where the bottom of the battery should be to make it look like a battery tray, dig in the parts box for a better master cylinder. Or send it to my house, I'll take it.

I like them and it will be nice to be able to set the offset for the specific application.

Ira, what did you do with the sides of the A100 you cut out? You've inspired me to build an A100 pulling truck and I could give them a good home if you still have them.

That's actually a great idea because the RTV will dry hard and not be sticky forever.

Use the AMT White Western Star kit, it has the correct hood and headlights. You will need the twin air cleaner setup from the Kenworth snap kit and you can also use the front wheels and bumper from it too. The sleeper is a 36" piece that you can get from the snap Peterbilt or you can find loose ones on ebay from old AMT kits.

Thanks Chuck, that's exactly what I was hoping for. I can buy several of the Aeromax kit for the price of one Italeri kit and get all of them I need. I've got an upcoming project that needs a good bit of those lights.

Has anyone seen inside this kit? I need about fifteen or so of the style of cab lights this kit has and the only place to get them is in Italeri Ford and WS Constellation kits. They look a bit big for 1/32 scale so this kit might be a cheap source for them if the really are that big.

Sam, is it red RTV?

The first time I noticed someone parting out a kit he had split it up into useful groups, like the whole body with the bumpers and stuff, then the whole chassis and so on. I bought a couple different of these groups since they were reasonably priced and had everything you needed. I can't justify paying $25 for a cab and then having to pay $15 for the hood and $10 for the grill and on and on.

Chuck, looks like you've got another project for the Moebius bump side.

Okay, at least it's easy to fix. I just remember when this kit first came out someone mentioned about raising the plow.

One issue with the plow is thet there is no mechanism that would actually lift if off the ground when it's not in use. You would need to add a hydraulic cylinder that goes from the lower frame that holds the blade to the upper frame that holds the lights to make it appear to be fully functional.

BMF is just another tool in the arsenal to replicate the look of a real vehicle. As others have said, the surface it's going has to be very smooth to get the best look. Another thing is you have to careful where the foil overlaps because it's so thin it always shows a crease where the piece underneath ends, it can be useful to look at how the trim pieces are broken down on the real car so you can plan out where to put your joints. Something else that contributes to the poor results seen sometimes is that they let a bad batch get out a few years ago that wrinkled really bad when you removed it from the paper backing and you could never quite them out no matter how much you burnished it. I don't use it on every build but it's nice to know how to use it when you need that look.

The Auslowe 6v-71 would be fairly accurate and would fit under that short hood.

Well, each barrel of a carb doesn't feed only one cylinder, early V8s ran one a single barrel carb. The area of an intake manifold under the carb is open and the runner to each cylinder connects to this common area, think of a bucket with as many holes as there are cylinders around the bottom. The vacuum of the engine draws in the air/fuel mixture through however many carbs there are up there and into the common area where it's drawn into the individual cylinders on their intake stroke. Here is a diagram that kind of shows how all the intake runners come together under the carb.

I had a seller do that to me after I asked a question about a kit they had listed as Buy it Now. I had just bought a sealed Transtar 4070A for close to $100 and when I opened it the cab was crushed so when I found a good price on a Revell K100 with only one picture I sent a message to the seller asking if the kit was in good condition. She flipped and cussed me out and raised the price on the kit about 20%, needless to say I passed on that one.

I have to agree, one seller has the Truckin' USA van I recently picked up listed for $200. I won mine in an auction for $41 and it was still bagged inside. You really have to do your homework, if you impulse buy you're very likely to over pay. I know the sellers are being kind of predatory but as a buyer if you drop that kind of cash without comparison shopping it's as much your fault as there's.