I hear you Dennis about building the kits an AM sets you have collected for them. To me though, all the extra work required to bring them up to a standard close to the new AFV Club kit isn't worth it. From a business standpoint, I also do not see the wisdom in releasing these items. The majority of people will just get the newer, much better kits. I don't see them selling many of these at all. A big money loser if you ask me.

Hi Gino, and everyone else! Let me put my reasoning into different words- What I'm saying is that there are quite a few modellers who bought the old TAMIYA M60s and purchased a lot of A/M parts to correct them with, but haven't gotten around to actually building them yet. The SOL parts offer new Upper Hull parts that used to be made by ADLER. Some of us never had the opportunity to buy the ADLER Upper hull parts, thereby "missing the boat", so to speak. The SOL replacement parts give some of us the opportunity to properly correct those ancient TAMIYA M60s. I also stated in my previous post that I FULLY INTEND to buy multiple quantities of each of the new, and SUPERIOR AFV CLUB M60A1s, -A2s, and -A3s. The SOL parts will ALSO give me the opportunities to more properly complete my old TAMIYA M60s. Old Car Restorer Guys will appreciate my likening the new SOL Replacement Parts to Aftermarket Parts in the Car Business, after O.E.M. parts, (Original Equipment Manufacture), and N.O.S. parts, (New, Old Stock), have been completely depleted... I REFUSE to trash my old TAMIYA M60s, just because the newer and BETTER AFV CLUB M60s have made their appearance; I SPENT A LOT OF MONEY on my A/M updates, improvement parts, PE, aftermarket Tracks, Metal Main Gun and Machine Gun Barrels, etc. The SOL Upper Hulls will come in very handy for me, and YES, the SOL replacement parts DO MAKE THEIR POINT in my case, as I'm sure they do with other modellers who find themselves with 2 or more un-built TAMIYA M60 kits on their hands. In my opinion, one can call it "model-closure"... It's also QUITE POSSIBLE that SOL just might expand their line of M60-series replacement parts by offering replacement and correction parts intended specifically for the AFV CLUB M60s- THEY aren't "perfect", either...

We just see it differently. I am not nostalgic or beholden to building those ancient Tamiya or Academy M60 kits. I sold off all mine, and all the AM parts I had collected to fix them, as soon as the AFV Club kits came out. I value my time more than what it would take to fix those old kits. I can't justify spending any more money to throw at those old kits either. More power to you to build them, I just don't think there are enough nostalgic modelers out there to support these items. If we are talking about classic cars, that is a different story. There are no new 1977 Camaros being made, that is why we completely restored my daughter's. From this... To this.

Hey, Gino! NIIIICE!!! I can REEEEALLY appreciate your work on your daughter's '77 Camaro!!! I'm a "Motor-head" from waaaay back! I had a 1970 1/2 Z-28. I bought it with a blown 302 motor, which I switched out with an LT-1 350 Corvette Motor. I had the aluminum Heads with the 2.02 Intake Valves, and I threw in the hottest Hydraulic-lifter Cam that I could find at the time. Koni "Coil-overs" all the way around, (integrated Spring/Shocks, similar to today's MacPherson Struts, but not attached in the same way), with heavier-than Stock fore and aft Sway Bars. Goodyear White-lettered Polyglass GTs on for rubber- F-70/15s on the front, with H-70/15s for the rear. 3.25:1 Gears in my 12-bolt Rear- 400 Turbo-Hydramatic. Living in New York City, Brooklyn actually, was NOT conducive to long Clutch Plate-and-Disk LIFE!!! I painted the Engine Black, for better heat-dissipation. Mickey Thompson (M/T) Polished Aluminum Valve Covers, with a Holley 650 Carburetor, and an Accel Distributor and "Super-Coil" for my Ignition System. Low-Restriction Holley Air Cleaner... Hooker Headers piped into dual Cadillac Resonators in each Exhaust Pipe- The dual Cadillac Resonators in each Exhaust Pipe ACTUALLY give you less Exhaust "back-pressure than ANY "glass-pack" Muffler EVER COULD. That was ANOTHER Long Island "National Seedway"-type trick that I had picked up with a lot of related experience. I had the same Exhaust set-up on my '69 Dart- Read on... I didn't want any of that "ASS-HIGH" radical 1/4-mile CRAP to screw up my Chassis Geometry, so I kept things on an even keel, as far as my fore and aft Koni "Coil-overs" were concerned. I adjusted my Front-end Alignment accordingly... She was decked out in a GORGEOUS Mulsanne Blue Metallic, with White Hood and Deck Stripes, and the earlier '70 1/2-style "Low" Rear Spoiler. For Wheels, I went with the AMERICAN "Five-Spoke" Mags, with polished Rims and "Graphite" Spokes. Medium Blue Leather and Vinyl Interior to match the Exterior Color... No, I didn't build her for the 1/4-mile; I wanted a HANDLING HIGHWAY CRUISER that I could take out on a twisty road!!! I got the 1/4-mile "sickness" out of my system with my '69 Dodge Dart 340 GTS 2-door Hard Top. She was SHINY Jet Black, with a Black Interior and a Black Vinyl Top. Chrome Cragar S/S Mags all the way around. My Dart was the old "square"-style Dart, NOT the one that looked like Dodge's Demon or Plymouth's Duster... I put nearly 3-Grand in the Motor alone, which was a REAL CHUNK O' CHANGE, back in 1971!!! I'm not even counting all the rest of the "Happy Horse $#!+" that you have to buy to build an early 1970s-style "Street/Track Hot Rod... She too, was a REAL "Looker"! One thing I learned with that Dart, was that Engine Parts for Chevvies cost only ONE HALF to ONE THIRD of the cost of ANY Mopar Parts. I set the Dart up as a more-or-less "stock" (HA!!!) 1/4-mile car. The faster you go, the more you find yourself moving up through the various racing-classes. After a while, I just said, "To HELL with THIS!!!" so, I sold the Dart, and bought the Z-28... That didn't last long, once the first "Fuel Crisis" came along. I bought a brand-new 1974 DEEP Wine Red Opel Manta Luxus once I moved out of the City, next. It may not have been the fastest Car around, but boy-oh-boy could THAT CAR HANDLE!!! I could EASILY leave 8-cylinder 283 Novas eating my dust up some PRET-TY STEEP local hills- Mountains, to some of you "Flat-landers" out there- Some of our West Virginian and Cumberland Gap Friends know EXACTLY what kind of "hills" I'm talking about... To this day, (I moved out of the City to Upstate New York back in April 1974, just before my Nephew Dave was born, so I consider myself to be more of a "Mountain Boy", than I do as a "Flat-lander"! ), I much prefer a "Handling" car to a "1/4-mile-Rocket"... My '05 VW Passat GLS 1.8 Turbo does JUST FINE, for me!!! Lots of power to spare and it turns on a dime!!! So OK, we agree to disagree, regarding the SOL M60-series parts- That's FINE with me. Tell your daughter from me, that she has ONE FINE-LOOKIN' AUTOMOBILE!!! Once again, GREAT WORK, Gino!!!

Thanks Dennis. Sounds like you had a really nice ride there as well. My daughter loves her Camaro and it is her daily driver. The engine is a little hopped up as well, but nothing crazy. It is a 350 with Edlebrock high rise aluminum manifold and valve covers, Edlebrock 650 4-barrel carb and big round air cleaner, a light cam, etc. It sounds as good as it looks with California turbo exhausts to give it that low rumble.

SOL - Sierra-Oscar-Lima.... S**t Outta Luck..... How apropos.

While I enjoy fixing up older kits with AM doo-dads and the like, with the amount of money I'd spend to bring up the old Tamiya/Academy kits with these sets, I might as well just buy an AFV Club kit. Even the idea of using these to update the Good but Flawed Academy M60A2, or any of the Israeli M60s misses one of the most glaring issues with the Tamiya/Academy pedigree: the really bad suspension issues. I have an Academy MagAch 6C that I thought about kitbashing with an AFV Club kit one day, to make a much better model. We'll see...

Hi, Damon!!! Maybe someday AFV CLUB might do their own Magach 6C- They already do a fair number of really nice IDF Armor, so I don't think that an all-new Magach 6C would be out of the realm of possibility...

At this point in the game with the new kits out these are redundant. But if one likes playing with resin to update and older kit, go for it. It's a hobby, one builds to please oneself. Sometimes it's more fun to add the updates than to build a new release. Besides there's plenty of room for me to do a company worth of 60's with all the personal markings I chronicled during my time in the service.