Justin Porter

The international companies aren't especially focused on new cars so I think this is somewhat of a wrong head. Right now, the big focus in new-tooling has been doing new kits of classic subjects that either have been overlooked entirely or that have only had kits that are contemporary to their subject matter and thus aren't of modern quality. One of the best examples of this is Aoshima's new tool Nissan 180SX. Fujimi and Tamiya have offered this car for decades in their line-ups, but both kits debuted over 25 years ago and don't feature the detail or the modular design necessary to offer a wide variety of kits from a single tooling suite. There are easily dozens of domestic subjects - many of which are not in the least bit obscure - that absolutely need modern and adaptable tooling. Just coming immediately to mind are subjects like a '34 Ford 3 window coupe, '53 Cadillac Eldorado, '71-'73 Buick Riviera, '70-'73 Dodge Challenger or a track roadster style T.

For the most part, the limiting factor on the domestic kit companies is that they have a much more niche product than the global companies like Tamiya. Tamiya can count on selling a new tool kit like their Porsche 911GT3 RS or their McLaren Senna in every corner of the globe. Further from that, scale modeling is a much more popular pastime globally than it is in the USA. Not that it's unpopular in the USA, but it's not nearly as common a hobby as golfing or bowling or fantasy football leagues or so on. What this does mean is that the international companies aren't rolling the dice nearly as much with new kits of their subject matter as the domestic companies are. This is partly why Revell - an international company with a domestic face - has placed greater importance on new tooling of international subjects with instantly recognizable marketing tie-ins like the Aston Martin DB5. There's also a certain amount of market ambivalence that's hard to overcome. Domestic car builders, in large numbers, aren't nearly as fussy over details or accuracy or even fit as even their import building cousins are, let alone military builders. Typically, domestic car builders place higher importance on low price point and included options than anything else. One need look no further than the frothing glee you'll see in domestic leaning car modeling social media groups when Ollies rolls out their latest batch of Monogram reissues "because they're so cheap" even if they're kits that are known trash like the "Rampage" '69 Camaro or the ex-Revell Travolta Firebird Fever custom. If reissues of kits that were never very good are what the bulk of the market wants, as long as the price is low and there's some extra decals and wheels in the box, then that's what the manufacturers will make.

How? They only have released one production run of the Comets thus far. If they choose to fix the script gaffe, they will have to stop production on run #2, perform modifications on the body mold, potentially run a body batch to offer to customers who want corrected bodies, and THEN issue a production run with corrections. Factor in shipping from China and it could be 2nd or 3rd quarter 2026 before "Comet" is facing the right way.

The quality of the design of this kit really gives me a lot of hope going forward with the Craftsman Plus range. The chassis and interior look to be quite nice and the body is very crisp looking too. If the kits going forward are more like THIS instead of promo rehashes, I'll be quite pleased.

Truthfully, that's been a VERY frustrating thing. I have two distributors from which I get Heller kits - Stevens International and Hobbytyme. Thus far, NEITHER have listed the new tool 205GTi as even a TBA release. The same situation currently also haunts the new tool Italeri Lancia Fulvia.

This will undoubtedly be popular as the full size WRX STI is always a winner. It's also a really good sign to see Fujimi returning to the fray with new tooling given how quiet they can be at times - Evangelion Lobsters notwithstanding.

In the case of a more premium company like Moebius, I think the market is already willing to bear it. More critically, the Moebius Pro Touring Comet currently sits on my shelf at $38. The K-Code at $35. On the opposing shelf, the Hasegawa Toyota 2000GT and Volkswagen Beetle sit there at $26. The kits that cost $9-$12 LESS - even granting that they are older tooling (1993 for the Toyota and 1990 for the Beetle) have metal transfers included. Heck, the $32 dollar Tamiya Lotus Seven includes photoetch and turned aluminum intakes. I don't think it's unreasonable to say "Maybe combining a different approach for details AND offering your customers more for their money to reinforce your position as the premium manufacturer in your genre is a good call."

The Monogram Esprit is such an obnoxious contradiction. Impressive levels of detail crippled by positively horrible fit. Your build of this notorious kit looks fantastic! The choice of color really suits the car.

This was a really fun build! I made use of Quinta Studios' 3D printed decals for the interior, factory 16" alloy wheels and metal transfer badges from ZoomOn, and gave the car a nice coat of Cobra Motors Bayside Blue under their 2K Clear. The result is just a nice factory stock FD RX-7 that I like to think of as a classy addition to my fantasy garage.

This is an excellent case for why domestic kit manufacturers should adopt metal transfers like those used by Tamiya, Aoshima, and Hasegawa for scripts and badges.

Quite excited. Just got the invoice from my distributor and these and the K-Code Comets will be on the shelf at Haven next week. Biggest question becomes if I'll have any left for the Cleveland Model Show! lol

Nice progress so far. The Monogram RX-7 has really good "bones" for a project that just need finessing to really turn it into a realistic finished model. You can probably already spot the biggest issue of them all which is the fit of the rear hatch and glass. Because it sits so proud, it also shows off its thickness and it's hard to work the illusion back from that.

Just another quick post of how things are humming along on the RX-7. I'm really pleased with how the interior color combination sets off against the San Marino Blue.

These are already arriving at distributors so I'm quite excited to have them coming in soon. Seeing the box contents and now knowing that Moebius actually delivered on a ground-up Pro Touring release genuinely makes me happy.

After a busy Saturday as a vendor at Plastic Undercover in Copley, Ohio, I came back to the shop fully ready to get back to my RX-7. The undercarriage all went together without a glitch, with me adding a little playful touch going with green on the struts as if they were an aftermarket set of Tein performance struts. The interior is being finished in a combination of Cobra Motors Reddish Leather and Mr Color C116 Black Gray. I applied the Quinta printed decals to the dashboard and WOW am I glad I picked these up. They really do wake up the Tamiya dashboard. I did a quick mock up just to check progress and I am entirely happy with how this build is progressing.

Very much still available. Picked it up for $10 plus shipping from Sprue Brothers.

It's always good to see this kit getting built. The scarcity makes folks understandably nervy about building them. Love the colors and detailing you're doing so far.

After my less than satisfying conclusion to my Belvedere, I decided to retreat into the cozy familiarity of Tamiya 1/24th scale sports car kits. I had seen the Quinta Studios 3D printed interior detail sets advertised so I decided this would be a fun project to try them on. I decided on Cobra Motors San Marino Blue under their 2K clear for a color and set to work.

Some additional announcements, not yet with box art, as of 10/3/25 AMT-1490 1/25 1927 Ford T Touring Car AMT-1518 1/25 Coca-Cola Volkswagen Van Show Rod AMT-1534 1/25 1936 Ford Coupe Gasser AMT-1548 1/25 2004 Pontiac GTO AMT-1555 1/24 Li'l Stogie Show Rod MPC-1034 1/25 Hot Wheels Python

I could see a '67 Galaxie 500XL kit especially if it included a good quality lowrider option. Probably the biggest hurdle to such a kit is that the two groups of non-replica stock builders who would be most interested in the kit - lowrider builders and modern restomod/pro touring builders - would almost need a more detailed chassis than you would find under a Craftsman Plus clone. Could it be a modest success? Probably. If I were going to wager on what would be a smart tooling investment, though, it would be a modern replacement for the old '63 Galaxie 500 kit. The big '63 Ford Galaxies have a worldwide appeal that a 2n1 kit with reasonable parts to create a touring car racing version would be a hit. Seeing the Galaxies sliding around at the Goodwood Revival surely is all the sales push the kit would need.

I'm certainly glad to see everyone so excited for the Tudor. Completely catches me off guard. Personally speaking, I'd rather see a new-tool Tudor body and interior go onto the Phantom Vickie chassis BUT clearly this is the option folks get excited for.

The most recent Revell reissue to hit our shores - arriving at Stevens International yesterday so it ought to be hitting LHS shelves by week's end - is the "Captain Hook" release of the GMC wrecker, kit #4590. MSRP is $28.95. The reissue of the Monogram Fiero (kit 4573) had an MSRP of $27.95. Revell is doing a fair job of keeping their prices competitive.

Well, that's a bummer. An early body Miura is way up there alongside an S1 Europa on my "Yes we have one, but we need THIS version" list.