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Anyone Knows Tkm Models


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The only one I ever got I threw away. They're awful. If you have an iron constitution and a strong will and lots of scratchbuilding experience, you might have decent luck getting one to look good. Don't be deceived by the subject matter, the execution is horrible, from proportions, details, casting, parts quality.

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I've seen a few builtup. I saw a nice black Lincoln MK VIII at the NNL East years ago by Vince Lobosco, IIRC. And I've seen a couple of movie cars, like an Eldorado CV and something else by Jason Stachura, also at the NNL East. Jackie Cheyenne has been working on remastering one of the '68 Mercury convertibles, and I've occasionally seen a builtup TKM on Ebay. It's almost addicting to see one builtup that looks nice, but you have to take a step back and realize what those builders had to do to make the models look remotely acceptable. It's not for the faint of heart. So far TKM has nothing that I would tackle before scratchbuilding it myself or kitbashing from other sources. Most of his cars look like bananas; they bow in the middle. Only a few that are loosely based on slush cast metal banks look at all normal.

The TKM Lincoln Mk VII that I got in the early 80's looked like a bad soap carving. It could easily have turned me against any and all resin forever. The metal chassis could have easily cut off a finger it was so poorly trimmed. I was so gunshy about any resin until going to Toledo around 86 back when Don Holthaus only had two kits; a '61 Impala and the '62 Bel Air. I got the Bel Air, was so impressed w/it's quality, that I became a longtime customer and sent them a letter of gushing approval, and started building a lot of what they were bringing out back then. I haven't built a Modelhaus kit in years, I've been on more of an import/sports car/LeMans etc. kick and I built a ton of old American cars back in the 80's and 90's. But Modelhaus still rocks, and has a few new kits I want....someday. TKM...Total Krap Models... :lol:

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The funniest thing is that Tom Mills has been producing this stuff since the late 70s!!!! His market is promo collectors, not serious scale model car builders. Think of it as folk art and you'll be OK with it. I got the bustleback 70s Seville from him in the early 80s and was not real excited about the quality. :lol:

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The funniest thing is that Tom Mills has been producing this stuff since the late 70s!!!! His market is promo collectors, not serious scale model car builders. Think of it as folk art and you'll be OK with it. I got the bustleback 70s Seville from him in the early 80s and was not real excited about the quality. :blink:

I guess promo collectors must be more accepting of or immune to folk art, 'cause I buy/build/collect models, not folk art! And I'd say that goes for other model builders as well. It would be a lot better if Tom Mills would accurately portray his models without being so vague and not providing detailed photographs. To me it's typical of deceptive advertising, which is rampant on Feebay with so many questionable models sold w/some very vague photo reference. Tom Mills has sold a lot of models to people who are not happy w/the product. Remember when another resin caster of questionable quality...a Casimira Fleszar, or something like that, was advertising resin GM models in a magazine (like a Pontiac TranSport, Cadillac Allante, etc), and the magazine got so much hate mail over it they had to drop his ads and give a terrible review? That stuff looked no worse than TKM, which I believe was also advertising and didn't get booted...

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A slammed custom is one thing. It would be the same amount of work to turn a chunk of 2 X 4 into a custom. We are talking about model car kits here! The Seville I bought had an OK body shape. I had no big complaints there. All of the chrome work -bumpers, trim, window trim, etc. were crude and irregular and molded to the body. No way that that could be redone in under 100 hours by a skilled model maker. As model cars they are ridiculous. As promos they are still a joke. I personally don't care if people buy them and they are in business for another 30 years - I will never buy one and will never reccommend one to anyone. ;)

Edited by Modelmartin
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.a Casimira Fleszar, or something like that, was advertising resin GM models in a magazine (like a Pontiac TranSport, Cadillac Allante, etc), and the magazine got so much hate mail over it they had to drop his ads and give a terrible review? That stuff looked no worse than TKM, which I believe was also advertising and didn't get booted...

AHHHH!! I remember THAT guy! ;) (That was his name)

It was back in the early '90's IIRC, and he also had a '89 Ford LTD, a '92 Oldsmobile 98, and a Chrysler TC by Maserati!

I can't remember the magazine it was in at the time (No it wasn't SAE)........it was a popular model magazine of the day------and I DO remember the absolute avalanche of hate mail they got! :lol:

And yes his stuff was downright disgusting looking...............to the point where I don't know how the magazine even bothered to show his stuff to begin with.

Talk about embarassing! :)

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I was thinking to myself that I wanted to try a TKM kit, just to see what all the fuss was about, and see if it's as bad as EVERYONE says....After all, I've built more R&R Vacuum Craft kits then any other caster's work....but after hearing that, I think I'll pass.

I wonder, is it an attempt to save money on expensive resin? Still, there is little to no exuse for that.

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Maybe it's like a really bad car wreck, people buy just one so they can see just how nasty they are. Guy sends his $45 to mr Mills saying to himself "I just HAVE to see this first hand. How bad can it REALLY be?". Somehow, he sells them. Those chassis plates chopped off of an old A/C duct with a tomahawk are just classic in my book!

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In any case, another one my biggest concerns about tkm products aside from the overall sloppy and unsymetrical renderings, is the resin mixture itself. It's filthy, and of the poorest quality I have ever seen. On my particular sample, as I progressed through the bodywork I noticed that there were pieces of what appeared to be hair,thread,red crayon wax,and various forms of metal,and wood shavings!!! The body also appeared to "weep" some sorty of oily substance even after the bodywork was cleaned and sealed.... Weird stuff man.

The weeping is uncured resin. The dude didn't even mix his resin thoroughly!! It's like sqeezing some catalyst on your bondo and stirring it for 3 seconds and spreading it! It sounds like he used floor sweepings to "extend" his resin! :huh: Someone mentioned R & R - his resin has been fine and a majority of his master models are good enough to excellent depending on who did them but his castings always had a lot of pinholes in hard to fix spots. R & R is very buildable despite that, much more than TKM. They aren't even on the same planet. TKM is otherworldly and not in a good way.

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TKM's are rough, no doubt, but for some subjects, they're the only game in town.

I've got 2, one is the 54 Imperial that I hope to slowly turn into the 54 New Yorker Deluxe I had shortly after high school. The other is a 70s Imperial.

Depending on the subject, they're better than starting from scratch, but it's good for anyone considering one to listen to the criticisms so they don't go in unprepared and end up disappointed.

I'd mainly recommend them as curbsides, but funny thing is by the time most people put that much work into them, they say go for it and add the rest!

TKM's are easier than starting with just a block of 2x4, but not much and you'd better really want or love the particular vehicle and have no other option.

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If it's uncured resin and it's oozing..... how are you gonna build that? That's not even chemically stable enough to use as a starting point. You would be ahead to just scratchbuild something if you are willing to sign up for a 650-hour project!

You would think that having been at it so long he would be a pro by now. Maybe he doesn't want to be one! Maybe he wants to be famous as being the absolute worst caster, if so it's working. On any of the boards, there is a topic like this at any given time. It's sad in a way because he's probably capable of producing a decent master, but casting it in candle wax and beard hairs ruins any chance of someone giving him credit for his master.

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In the 90s I ordered his catalog from SAE. Big list of really interesting models of course. I called him and he was nice enough. I don't remember our conversation much but I think it centered around the quality because the black and white xeroxed photos didn't really show much. I also thought the metal chassis was weird. I was just getting into resins at the time and never took the plunge. Seeing and reading what I have I'm glad I never did. I had a friend in Germany who ordered probably a thousand dollars worth of cars sight unseen and spent years (and probably still is) trying to unload them.

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  • 2 months later...
I was just digging around getting aquainted here and ran across this....I'm glad I did! So...if I was going to build an 84 Lincoln MK VII, I would be better off fixing the Revell pro-street body and bashing with a T-Bird?

If you're comparing what you want to do as opposed to buying a TKM model...........in a word-----YES!!

At least what you're working with is plastic and not the "resin" that he's using. :(

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I was just digging around getting aquainted here and ran across this....I'm glad I did! So...if I was going to build an 84 Lincoln MK VII, I would be better off fixing the Revell pro-street body and bashing with a T-Bird?

I had the same thought about kitbashing the Revell kits..I started doing that myself about 10 years ago but never finished it...I should have bought the AAM resin kit when it was available, was supposed to be nice.

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The funniest thing is that Tom Mills has been producing this stuff since the late 70s!!!! His market is promo collectors, not serious scale model car builders. Think of it as folk art and you'll be OK with it. I got the bustleback 70s Seville from him in the early 80s and was not real excited about the quality

That's what I don't get.....he's been doing it forever! Now I did see a 1981 Imperial converted to a Buddy Arrington Cup race car....but it was a ton of work. Some of his recent stuff looks a lot better....he has been selling a 68 Mustang coupe on ebay with a real interior, promo style cast chassis. I have a 1/1 68 coupe and would love to have it....but until I see it in person...no. Anyone seen this kit????

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thanks, but no i meant the other two kits:

"...the Revell pro-street body and bashing with a T-Bird?"

I believe that there are some proportion problems with the pro-street body, like the wheel wells are too big and I think Art told me he had to lengthen it slightly in the rear. For a custom, try fitting the newer (96 or so) AMT Mustang under it. I should take a comparison pic. I scored this built up cheap in a lot of models on ebay.

DSCN2057-vi.jpg

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