fumi

And we'd have won a cup if not for Kerry Fraser and the cheap shot artist that is Wayne Gretzky, heh. With the Leafs once again eliminated despite their last ditch effort (which is once again too little, too late), I'm rooting for the Canucks. Can't really bring myself to root for the Bruins, the Rangers or the Flyers.

The US has taken heightened security measures on all mail shipping into the US. All air mail services will be delayed. http://www.hongkongpost.com/eng/publications/notices/2011/20110225a/index.htm Last I heard all parcels and packages going to the US need to be x-rayed.

I see that disclaimer all the time on listings from the US that ship internationally. Nothing special about it really. While there is no tariff for scale models in the US, many countries charge duty for them. I used to get slapped with import tariffs by Canadian customs all the time, and most of the times they value the kits in their own scale, way more than I actually paid for them.

Their web site is still working. For some reason beyond me they have even made a new logo for the now defunct magazine. http://www.customrodder.com

If you are ordering from Japan I'd price/stock compare between Hobby Search, HW Japan (online sales arm of Aoshima) and Rainbow Ten in addition to HLJ. With Hobby Search and HW Japan you also get points on your purchases, which you can use on your future orders.

It's not copyright infringement, Ferrari did not copy designs from a pickup truck on their F1 machine. It's a trademark dispute. They are very different things.

GMC was already using the name Sierra long before that. It didn't stop Ford from using it for their Cortina replacement. The same goes for the Fiesta.

Does it really hurt Ford that a Formula One race car is named with a letter-number combination that happened to be the same as the name of their pickup truck? Does anyone really care? F-150 has no relevance outside North America, anyway.

I guess just because a kit is most requested in model magazine polls (with a small, narrow-focused and possibly biased base) does not automatically mean it will sell very well in general. The 1958 Edsel was a perennial favourite in such polls. I don't know the actual selling figures, but when I bought it back when it was just released in Toronto, even the shopkeeper was surprised AMT would kit such a niche product.

It's possible, but depending on what wheel mounting system is used on the Tamiya kit you might have to modify the brake disc to accept the wheel.

The Japanese car manufacturers lobbied for the relaxation of the fender mirror rule. They didn't want to have one set of mirrors for the Japanese market and a different set for the rest of the world on the same assembly line. They also argued the law was unfair to them as import cars were exempted. At the time the law was relaxed in 1983, fender mirrors were the standard of the law with door mirrors being allowable substitute. The Japanese government stuck to that rule for a long time and ordered all their cars with fender mirrors whenever they were available, and you can see them on cars like the FC3S RX-7, Z32 300ZX and R32 GT-R.

If it's Fujimi I'd lean towards their 90's Japanese subjects for a simple kit. Not a whole lot of parts or details in the interior, but the body looks reasonably good. The Koenig Testarossa is not that complicated, you can see for yourself: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10040858

Does it really matter whether an American or a Japanese CEO pockets millions of bonuses at year end? My dad works for one of the biggest auto parts supplier in North America that supplies body panels and frames to the Big-3 as well as Toyota and Honda. When the Big-3 were shutting down assembly lines and closing factories it dealt the company a heavy blow, but the orders from Toyota and Honda kept them afloat. As far as my dad is concerned, it's the orders that keep him employed that count. And I'm sure it holds true for most workers in North America.

Funny you would mention that, of course there are casual hockey fans. Dallas, anyone? Where are all the Stars fans now? In fact, it can be argued that the explosion of casual fans in the 90's, along with expansions into new markets that don't see an inch of snow (Florida has 2 teams, California has 3, and they sold one team from Winnipeg to Phoenix, for crying out loud) and the myriad of changes to the game to suit the new "fans" (the yearly rule change on offside, moving the lines back and forth and doing away with the red line altogether, the tie-breaker changes that ultimately lead to the shoot-out, and let's make the puck glow for a season or two on FOX) did far more harm than good to the league when the fad is gone.

My first ever model was a Fujimi Enthusiast Model 911 Cabriolet. My mom's friend gave it to me as birthday present when I was 10 or 11; she probably thought it was just a toy and didn't realize how complicated those kits are. The only thing I managed to "build" was the oil can with the Porsche decal on. My first completed model was a Tamiya Subaru Alcyone XT Turbo, brush painted with black Tamiya enamel. While cutting the hood vent out with a box cutter the (rather dull) blade slipped and I ended up cutting my thumb. I also tried cleaning up paint on the clear parts with my dad's paint thinner, which clouded up the whole windshield.

Fujimi sponsors the Japanese Super GT 911 GT3R that they will release soon.

There are Ferraris and Lamborghinis and a whole lot of other car companies in the game and you guys are complaining about 65 Skylines? I've bought so many cars I wanted that I am now actually having problem with cash for the required cars in the later races.

You mentioned about front tyres in another forum. I think the Fujimi P7 would work well in both front and rear. On the real car the black panel on top of the engine is removable. There is also an access panel behind the front seats.

You can always order just the wheels and tires, either from Tamiya direct or the various Japanese mail order businesses.

Some hot hatches, like the Focus ST/RS and the Mazdaspeed 3, to go with the Fujimi Golf would be nice. And I'd really like a Fiesta.

Shaolin Kung Fu and Chi Kung is martial arts. Meanwhile, when I'm not modelling I'd watch whatever little hockey games they show on TV, and play Wii with my wife. I am also eagerly waiting for GT5 to come out.

My wife used to be very supportive of my hobby, until I have amassed a whole room of unbuilt kits, with quite a few duplicates. Now she tolerates it as long as it stays within the room.

There is no way production from other manufacturers can ramp up that fast to replace all those missing jobs, not to mention they don't need to hire that many people for additional production. You also have to consider the ripple effect. My dad works in one of the biggest auto parts supplier in North America that produce parts for Ford, GM, Chrysler and Honda, plus lately Toyota. The killing of the Saturn Sky/Pontiac Solstice alone caused an entire factory to close up. The GM/Chrysler/Ford factory idle caused him to stay home for 3 months. If it were not for a timely contract with Toyota, he would have lost his job already. If it were a smaller scale shop that only operates one or two factory, the entire business would have gone bust already. Now consider if both GM and Chrysler just "failed". Immediately everyone who work for them will be unemployed. Their dealerships and suppliers will also be in serious trouble; the ones that deal exclusively with them will definitely go out of business. And when those dealerships and suppliers fail, the companies that do business with them will also be affected. This will go on for several layers. It is simple to say the US is not founded on welfare and failure is just a part of life we need to deal with. In reality, you cannot afford to have that many people unemployed and that many businesses go bankrupt. Not bailing out GM and Chrysler with tax payers' money would have caused far worse consequences to the society.

You can also e-mail Norm at replmincomd@aol.com. No web site though and as far as I know he doesn't have soft copy catalogs.

Two things come to my mind right away: 1. Loads of auto workers will be out of job. 2. Loads of part suppliers will be out of business.