Fat Brian

I would to see his products back too, there are several things I wished bought when they were avaliable.

If you want 1/25 but it doesn't have to be this specific year look at the AMT 51 Bel Air kit. The 51 has the earlier split windshield but is a better kit overall than the Revell.

Right, the tires would be a good upgrade for a different kit but are too small for the kit they come in.

I wouldn't mind knowing. The tires in the kit aren't bad, they're just too small for the amount of lift in the kit.

I was just making sure that was the truck you were asking about or it just happened to be in the picture.

Due to the size of the build plate some car bodies have to be oriented at an angle to fit the available length of the plate. There can also been some reasons why a shape will print better at an angle than flat. Printing the trunk lid and roof with the body oriented flat would be very difficult, it would hold resin as the body went up and down and probably tear before it built up enough thickness to support the weight. The parts print upside down essentially.

Yeah, something happened in that late 80s to early 90s period where a lot of tools were damaged. The 71 Roadrunner, the chevy truck parts not in the USA-1 kit, the International cabover, and the brick nose Bigfoot kit all haven't been seen again since they were run in this period. I would be interested to know if there is anything else that had a similar fate.

If you're talking about the truck that's in the first picture, that's a Toyota. Unfortunately no company has made a kit of that body style. Aoshima, AMT, and Revell have done the body style before this one and Aoshima did the one after.

The current Revell 30 coupe will give you a Buick engine with an intake setup very close to this. I agree the Phantom Vickie kit will give you the closest to the illustration suspension you can probably find.

I typically clear over decals unless it's something that needs to be flatter or look applied over paint. I don't clear coat over foil, I've had clear yellow and it gives a weird tone to the foil.

Here's a link to some. I can't vouch for this particular seller, they were just the first one that came up. https://a.co/d/fKBEnKv Typically I give five to ten minutes between coats, just enough to avoid runs.

I was doing some ebay browsing and the single rear wheel extended cab promo trucks have trim and the duallies don't. You can also get them with later grilles that are correct for a 98. They're not very expensive, you would probably spend more on materials trying to copy the trim not to mention your time.

Yep, the only way is to git gud with laying down a smooth finish out of the can. You will need to start with a good paint, I would use Tamiya for this and use black primer so your color coat doesn't have to be super thick. Wet sand the primer with 1500 grit so it's as smooth as it can be, yes the rivets will probably pop through again. Then hit it with a thin coat or two of gloss black, the last coat should be a little wetter so it flows out good and dries as glossy as possible. Once it's good and dry fix any junk in the color coat and then hit it with a few coats of clear, I love Mr Super Clear even if its a bit pricey. Practice this process a few times on extra bodies, you can even buy paint tester body forms on Amazon. Getting this process down will make all your future builds better so investing now is worth it.

The promo trucks do have opening hoods.

I found this picture that might help you.

I'm looking for good glass for the Boot Hill Express kit. I picked up some rebuilders today but all the glass is ruined with glue. I've got plenty to trade, possibly even other stuff from these kits to complete yours.

I paint it after I've foiled the window trim then touch it up after I've got the windows in.

This is one of those kits that you have to accept the warts and shortcomings or it will spiral out of control. I ended up replacing the engine and most of the rear suspension along with reworking the interior and chassis and there were still things I wanted to work on.

They ain't worth nothing, let me send you my address and you can just send them here so I can... dispose of them. Seriously though, ebay will give you a decent ballpark of where to start. Be aware that there are some items that are very overpriced so decided if you want them to actually sell or sit around until a sucker comes along.

Yes, I always forget about that kit.

My plan when I build a 4x4 of this body style truck is to use the front suspension from one of the Aoshima Toyota 4x4 trucks. It's certainly not an exact match but is better than anything I could scratchbuild. The kits come with parts for a stock and lifted suspension so you could rob one and still have enough leftover parts to build the kit. Here is a pic of the stock suspension, moving the differential to the drivers side will get you pretty close to the stock GM parts.

If you can't get the specific size you need I would get the smaller size to make them easier to fit.

Scenes Unlimited made a set, I don't if the new owner has continued making them.

As others have said, every manufacturer has great kits and duds. Another thing to consider beyond manufacturer is that all the companies have kits of varying ages. Some tools are new and other have been kicking around since the car was new, and even some new tools have been... lacking I guess. The best way to know what you're getting is to read reviews here and videos on YouTube.

Two is the usual, three is the max these days. This gives me flexibility if one step gets stalled on a build but not enough options to never come back to a project. If I get too many things things going at once I never finish anything and jump from kit to kit.