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Where to find a 1/12 kit?


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Depends on how deep your pockets are.

If they are deep enough; eBay USA, cost between 50-75-100 for a decent kit, but at the moment, you need to double the kit for postage incl. It is getting crazy.

If your pockets do have a bottom, be patientce and look for local ads, on modelshows or local eBay equivalents. I have bottompockets, but I've managed to enlarge my bigscale in the last year by quite a lot. Just being patient and looking for good deals.

Not for showing off, but to give you an idea what you can find on the 1/12 market:

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Under no circumstances should you think about the 1/12 Mercedes Gullwing or Ferrari 275 GTB unless you're looking for tremendous heartache about fixing a bad toy.

Here is a link I use for checking in every day on eBay 1/12 kits, worldwide:

http://toys.shop.ebay.com/Automotive-/2580/i.html?_nkw=1%2F12&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=2&_fln=1&_ipg=&_pcats=1188%2C220&_sop=10&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283

Edited by sjordan2
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unless you're looking for tremendous heartache

hehe, I do B)

The thing is; even though they are not the best kits, the subject is just very nice. My guess is that they will be worth the trouble, especially the Ferrari.

On the other side we have the Ferrari Testarossa, made by Revell, but low in detail and very low in partscount. I think I counted just over 100 parts. I guess there will be some fit issues with the engine-lid, but that thing doesn't seem very challenging.

Basically; all the larger scale kits we have now, (exceptions like the GT40 not included) are all old toolings from the '60's and '70's, for sure they are not up to par on the modern kits. Tamiya has a lot of nice details in their 1/12 kits, but they also show their age a little bit. Although they have a lot better fit than the Revell/AMT, etc... brands.

One kit I seriously want to lay my hands on is one of the Tamiya 1/12 Caterham kits, I seriously hope Tamiya will do a rerelease again, one can only hope B)

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Craig, you might also want to try one of the Revell 1/12 scale Kustom Choppers kits. I think there are eight slightly different versions available for about $13.00 U.S. each, and they were on clearance at Michael's (local U.S. craft store) for $10 or so last time I was there.

Personally, I think the Monogram/Revell '69 Camaro Z/28 is a great "first" big-scale build. It's accurate in alost every area, and though it's not super detailed, the finished model is quite nice...plus you have the '57 Chevy Bel Air and '67 427 Vette coupe to borrow parts from, too. ;)

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hehe, I do ;)

The thing is; even though they are not the best kits, the subject is just very nice. My guess is that they will be worth the trouble, especially the Ferrari.

On the other side we have the Ferrari Testarossa, made by Revell, but low in detail and very low in partscount. I think I counted just over 100 parts. I guess there will be some fit issues with the engine-lid, but that thing doesn't seem very challenging.

Basically; all the larger scale kits we have now, (exceptions like the GT40 not included) are all old toolings from the '60's and '70's, for sure they are not up to par on the modern kits. Tamiya has a lot of nice details in their 1/12 kits, but they also show their age a little bit. Although they have a lot better fit than the Revell/AMT, etc... brands.

One kit I seriously want to lay my hands on is one of the Tamiya 1/12 Caterham kits, I seriously hope Tamiya will do a rerelease again, one can only hope :P

Erik, the Revell Ferrari 275 is so bad, it doesn't even qualify as a joke. I stashed four of them before I really understood how awful the body is. First of all, the box art is of a real car and is nothing like what's inside.

• The roofline is way too low.

• The kamm-style tail barely even exists.

• There's some kind of square box on the hood where a gently sloping contour should be.

• The wheel well radiuses are squared off where they should be round.

• The nose droops down too much.

• Instead of the nice Borrani wire wheels shown on the box, the kit has poorly molded Campagnolo alloys, and the rear wheels are far too recessed.

• The egg crate grille isn't even centered for the cavallino horse emblem to rest on.

I could go on. The 1/12 Mercedes Gullwing, which has its own problems (I have several) would be far easier to deal with. But I would recommend the 1/16 Italeri and Minicraft/Entex versions over the 1/12 (and you really need to swap parts from both of those kits to get it right; the Italeri has totally different tooling and includes separate chrome window and script trim, which Minicraft doesn't, but Minicraft has much better wheels plus a full tubular space frame and belly pan).

If you choose to build either the Ferrari or the Gullwing in any scale, I have enormous digital files on the cars and will be happy to send you the CDs (3 CDs worth of information on each of them).

Edited by sjordan2
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Hey Skip,

Thanks for the heads-up. I do have the intentions to build both of them, since they're laying in my stash already haha. Especially the Ferrari, I find it one of the most attractive cars in large scale, my absolute favourite is the E-type, and to make things clear; I am talking about the real cars.

I knew the Ferrari had some fit-issues, but I wasn't aware of all those other problems. I did some googlesearch and it appears you have it spot on. And some of them needs to be adressed for making a nice model.

As soon as I read your post, I got my Ferrari kit out and see what you mean, although I must say that my campagnolo wheels do look nice actually, seems like the wheel arch and the hood shouldn't be too difficult to fix, more difficult will be the low roofline and the front end.

But even after concluding the kit is not all that good; I am still enthused in building it! haha, sorry. You know my motto; if I can finish the Heller DS, I can do any kit :) Makes actually a nice one-liner hehe

I would be very interested in the reference material, let's discuss that on PM.

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This (supposedly pro built) box stock build of the Revell/Renwal 275 is about as good as you can do without massive bodywork. The wheels are aftermarket, and VERY expensive (probably the main reason this model sold for over $200 on eBay). Looks like the modeler just went through the motions with the interior, with very little detail. Also, note the gap between the interior and door opening, showing the engine compartment. This set of pictures didn't show any of the engine.

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Edited by sjordan2
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