Fat Brian

Harry, it's my understanding that starting in 2013 that the cars will go back to more individualized bodies. While still being Car of Tomorrow underneath, the bodies will not be the cookie cutter stuff used now due to some rules changes that freed up some areas of the car for makers to bring in styling for the street cars.

If you have a 73-79 AMT Ford truck kit and have been wanting some flares for it but didn't want to drop big money on a Bigfoot 1 kit you are in luck. The newest reissues of the USA-1 monster truck kit contain, for no reason I can explain, the Bigfoot 1 flares. It also has the main hoop of the bed rollbar and the diamond plate topped rear bumper. And, it has a brush guard that will also fit the F-350 kits. Here is the box style that has the flares and stuff: Here are the extra parts:

I've bought over a dozen of these kits over the years and I picked up another one last night but in this one there are some changes I wanted to note. In the first issue of kit it was molded in white and there were no extra parts of note, I think just a spare tire and some unused stock engine parts. This is the box design: Then AMT reissued the kit a few years ago, it was molded in gray and was exactly the same as the original issue except they also included the chrome wheel fronts from the Bigfoot 1 and Bigfoot 3-7 kits. This issue looked like this: and this The latest reissue eliminates the chrome wheels but includes the fender flares, rear bumper, and some of the roll bar from the Bigfoot 1 kit and the brush guard fron the 1979 Ford Destroyer truck. Here is the box design for the newest issue: And here are some pics of the new parts. I have no idea why these parts were included, the flares will not fit the chevy body with out some serious mods and the other parts are not correct to the kit anyway.

The kit shocks should be, shocks haven't changed much since they were first adopted.

I probably have around 200 kits in boxes but I have a stash of parts from several hundred kits I've bought, parted out, and disposed of or traded parts of the rest. I gave away at least a third of my buildable kits to make space a while back, it was a sad day, I needed those kits.

If you don't mind that the grill isn't 100% correct the Monogram 32 still has the banjo rear end and a more correct front end.

What kit are you working on? The method kind of depends on what you're working with.

All of the newer Revell 32 kits have a modern suspension with disc brakes all around and rear air bags. You will have to find period correct speed parts to build a old style hot rod. What era are you trying to replicate?

Maybe the ramp truck or camper truck has the older grill, my star truck has the 76/77 grill too.

That is great, I like the grill turned that way instead of the way the instructions show, much better!

There was a book out eight or ten years ago about how the arbitrary age requirements in modern countries can have negative effects on responsible youths who in earlier times would have been given more adult responsibilities. The best thing to do is just keep plugging away, 18 will be there before you know it. As for your insurance rates, you can partially thank the AARP for your inflated rates. Older drives have more accidents per mile driven than any other age group including 16 to 20 year olds but the AARP lobbies insurance companies to keep elderly drivers rates decreasing. The best way to keep your rates as low as possible is to keep your record clean, I'm 31 and have never had an accident or moving violation, it can be done so don't feel like you are doomed to have a ton of accidents and such. Also, check with your insurance company to see if you can take a defensive driving course to lower your rates. Spending a little on a day or weekend long class may save you a good bit annually.

That's really nice, I want to do one of these one day. I always thought the Tamiya kit was curbside though?

There is a guy who drives the older Elise based Tesla around Charlotte, it looks pretty cool and its odd to drive beside since it's completely silent.

In looking at this I had an interesting idea and I did a very quick and poor photochop of it. I sectioned the van body and took out the Caravan front end and blended the Enzo nose into the van hood. It would take about a 6 to 8 inch section to make this work and a 4 inch chop.

If I could find a way to never sleep it would be great. I hate to sleep, I've got things to do and watch and research. Sleep wastes valuable hobby time.

How big is your image in pixels, that will give us a way to calculate how small to make it. Also, if it is in .bmp or something the first step would be to convert it to a .jpg which has some compression to it.

I haven't had any contact with the seller at all, I even checked my paypal today to see if they tried to hit it again but they haven't.

I'll have to look at how I opened it again, it I didn't cut the label I might be able to put some tape on it and refuse shipping but it's been almost two weeks so I don't know if that will fly or not.

If they gave you a narcotic painkiller like Percocet applesauce is a good thing to eat, you'll appreciate the mobility later. I didn't eat enough fiber after a surgery a few years ago while taking Percocet and about a week later I, well, let me just say, sandpaper softball.

I might try to contact them again if I don't hear from them in a few more days. It's a shame it wasn't a kit I wanted more than one of.

I opened the shipping box but when I saw it was the same kit I didn't unwrap it, these were new in the cellophane.

About two weeks ago I bought a kit off of ebay through a buy it now auction, there were a couple available but I only got one. A few days later the kit showed up as planned, everything was good so I left positive feedback and recieved the same. A few days later another identical kit showed up with the print out from the same sale as the last kit. I messaged the seller telling them they had accidentally sent me a second kit but that I had not opened it and work with them to return it and to please contact me. That was a week ago, I haven't heard anything from the seller at all. How much obligation am I under to return this kit? I don't want to eat the shipping cost as it's not my fault that it was sent here and I haven't been able to establish contact with the seller again. It's not a valuable kit, if the seller was to send me the shipping to send it back he would only clear about five bucks on it when it sells so he may be just washing his hands of it.

If the fenders are seperate from the body it looks like it would be very easy to make a 40 Deluxe Coupe and a standard convertible.

I want to build some semi pullers as well, I want to put a KTA 600 in it and a few turbos.

The AMT kit has the exhaust molded to the chassis, metal axles complete with holes through the engines, it has an optional Buick nailhead motor, very soft interior detailing, very dated custom parts, and just general oldness. It's not a bad kit but such a popular subject deserved a new tooling. It's a shame the didn't give you the option if which grill to use, I'm not a fan of the 39 grill. Both kits are 1/25, I haven't had the Revell kit in my hands yet but it should be up to their current standards of goodness.