Mike999

Heads up! The Heller Talbot-Lago Grand Prix has been re-issued again. Scale Hobbyist has it in stock. but it's Backordered right now. Scalehobbyist.com: Talbot Lago Grand Prix Race Car by Heller Model Kits

Great write-up, thanks! I also like those old PYRO/Life-Life 1/32 kits. It's a mark of their quality that the PYRO Model T Coupelet was re-issued in the 21st century by Lindberg. The Lanchester and Stanley Steamer are not easy to find, but you already know that. All the "Vintage Brass" kits used to be cheap at model kit shows and the occasional bargain still comes up on eBay, but not very often. It seems easier to find them in the PYRO boxes than Life-Like. The PYRO boxes are smaller than the Life-Like and better reflect the actual size of the kit. Some other good ones in the PYRO Vintage Brass series: the 1914 Mercer Raceabout and 1911 Mercer Toy Tonneau; 1906 Renault Town Car and Runabout; the 1912 Stevens-Duryea Touring Car and Roadster; 1909 Lozier-Briarcliff; 1912 Packard Touring Car; 1909 Cadillac Model 30; 1909 Rolls Silver Ghost; and the aforementioned Model T Couplet, also released as a neat Pie Wagon delivery vehicle.

Upstate SC yesterday, Sun. Feb. 16. It snowed almost all day, which is unusual for this area. As it got later in the day, the temps kept DROPPING instead of going up like normal. After 5 PM, the temp was still in the 20's and we had healthy snow flurries coming down.

I've sold on eBay for many years, and it has always had a problem with one person buying multiple items. It treats every purchase as separate, and charges shipping on each item. It's really aggravating. A few months ago, one of my buyers bought 2 kits and eBay charged him $23.90 for shipping. When I went to the Post Office, the actual shipping charge was $14.20. I refunded him $9.70 thru PayPal. I always refund excess shipping if it's more than a couple of bucks. This might work: next time put all the items in the Cart. Then message the seller and ask for combined shipping, before you click "Buy It Now."

Heads up! Today 12/21, I visited 2 Hobby Lobby stores. Both stores were re-stocking the model aisle, which was seriously depleted in both. I got a Round 2 GMC Jimmy in one store, a kit I'd never seen in that store before. In the re-stocking boxes I saw the '63 Chevy Impala re-issue, also a new kit for that store.

I remember seeing those articles too. I might even still have them, somewhere in the basement. IIRC, one builder used an AMT '49 Ford chassis for the underside. Plus the Jeep engine you mentioned. I've always wanted to build a stock Henry J. Or even better, the Sears "Allstate" Henry J that was sold thru their catalog in 1952-53.

I just got an incredible deal. Still can't believe it. For a long time, I've been trying to find either the Dragon 1/35 scale kit of the M-48A1 Patton tank or their Magach-1, the Israeli version. I want to build a 1961 "Berlin Standoff" tank and that was the M-48A1. Those kits came out in 2016 and are Unobtainium today. On eBay, prices for either Dragon kit are generally somewhere between $60 and $100 or more. Original retail for them was about $50 to $60. Last Saturday I was on Amazon and decided to search for the Dragon kit. A Magach-1 popped up for $11.08 plus $0.66 Tax, for a grand total of $11.74. I told myself that must be some kind of mistake, or a rip-off. I checked the seller's other items and they had a lot of model kits at regular prices. After thinking about it for awhile, I went ahead and ordered. All this week, I've been expecting the seller to contact me and tell me the price was wrong. Nope. The kit arrived today, still shrink-wrapped and just 1 week after I ordered it. I would have ordered 2 more, but the kit is now "Currently Unavailable." I'm guessing the seller just had that 1 kit still in stock, and wanted to get rid of it.

Weird Shipping Trivia I learned when I lived in Egypt. When fuel prices are high (like now), shippers tend to take the long way around the Cape of Good Hope in south Africa. They want to avoid the transit fees that come with the short cut, thru the Suez Canal. But when fuel prices are low, they pay the fees and use the Canal. Those Suez Canal transit fees are Egypt's second-biggest source of income, after tourism. Like the scale model companies, the Canal just raised its prices again in Nov. 2021: Suez Canal to raise fees, heaping pressure on global supply chains | Shipping industry | The Guardian

Ha! I did the same thing. Bought the kit, took out the gun rack and sold the rest of the kit on eBay. Naturally, not long after that, some guy was selling 3 of the gun racks on eBay for a good price. So I bought them too. Maybe with 4 gun racks, I can piece together one good Winchester rifle. Need it for a diorama idea. I was hoping to find one on a cheap 75mm figure, but they usually have a hand or two molded to the rifle. What a weird hobby...

Interesting. Still no Olds at my closest Hobby Lobby stores, convertible or hardtop. I've been to 2 different HL's this week. The newest kits they had were the Popper Pinto and the Bulldozer. The closest Wal-Mart has a few Round 2 kits left. The "Coke" 41 Plymouth, '32 Ford Sedan Delivery and a couple of the old MPC Trikes. This store did not restock after October, when the Round 2 aisle display suddenly showed up. After a couple of weeks the display was gone, and the kits were shoved onto the regular toy shelves.

A pair of the Round 2 '63 Nova wagons with trailer and other goodies. The only hobby shop for many miles had them in stock. I had planned to order them online, but this way I don't have to pay shipping and get them immediately.

That funny-looking thing beside the hydrant is a mail bag, with "US MAIL" stamped in it, no less. Also in your pic, the machine gun and its tripod. The figures in the kit are a uniformed cop and a gangster. (Or innocent bystander.) I found that kit, complete with just a little assembly, at a local flea market for a VERY good price. Here's the geegaws and figures sprue:

That is the original, in the bigger box. I believe it was also the only Monogram '59 Caddy with a vinyl top molded in. The vinyl top was an option on the Seville and a fairly popular one, IIRC. Later issues removed the vinyl texture from the top and were usually in smaller boxes. The "California Wheels" issue shown below was in a box that was just too small. Because of that, they're often found with the bent roof pillars mentioned in a post above. Something to watch out for if you're buying the kit at a swap meet or on eBay.

Go for it! That's a really nice kit, with optional parts like the rollover bar and seats. The "Snap" name might put some people off, but shouldn't. I treated mine like a regular glue kit. Somehow I managed to lose the exhaust pipe, so just for fun I made a vertical exhaust stack/heat shield.

Just stopped at the closest Hobby Lobby today, since it's 40% off week. They had 1 new kit, at least new to this store: the Round 2/AMT Construction Bulldozer. I was tempted, but didn't bite. I'm trying to downsize the stash and don't need any more stuff taking up space. On the Tamiya M-41: every HL around here has had that kit for YEARS. If they carry one Tamiya armor kit, you have to wonder why they don't carry more. HL used to have one of the new-tool Tamiya Shermans in stock, but I haven't seen it in a while, at any store. (There are 3 Hobby Lobbys in driving distance.) On M-41 kits in general: if you want a really nice M-41, ignore the Tamiya, it's a very old and simplified kit. Put the money toward an AFV Club M-41. Back in the 1990s, both AFV Club and Skybow did M-41 kits. AFV Club did the M-41A3 and Skybow the M-41A1. Skybow went out of business and AFV Club got their molds. (Both companies were in Taiwan.) Today, if you get the AFV Club M-41G (German/Bundeswehr), you're getting the old Skybow kit. Some builders thought it was a little better than the AFV Club M-41. But both are great builds. This is the Skybow kit in the AFV Club box, Kit Number 35S41:

The link below will take you to a VERY detailed build of the "Werkstattkraftwagen" by the awesome modeller Panzerserra. It includes a history of the Russian GAZ 03-30 bus and photos of them being built. He agrees with Der Experten on the military modelling sites: Minicraft put too much stuff on top of the bus. That roof rack is holding a pair of 200-liter fuel drums, jerry cans, a spare wheel/tire etc. The roof of the bus was made of wood covered with painted canvas, not metal. So it probably wouldn't have supported that much weight. https://panzerserra.blogspot.com/2020/11/gaz-03-30-1938-4x2-werkstattkraftwagen.html

Barnum was an optimist, when it comes to the birth rate of a particular American demographic. I remember seeing those "miracle mileage" gizmos, with the same language, in my grandfather's collection of "Men's Action" magazines decades ago. You know, those magazines whose covers featured a ripped he-man saving a buxom blonde from an anaconda or something. They were sold alongside "male vitality pills." "E-Z muscle building powders" and other stuff that didn't work.

I liked the movie...lots of vintage cars and shoot-outs...but I caught one big factual goof that annoyed me. The movie starts with FBI agent Melvin Purvis shooting Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd. That gets Purvis promoted to hunt for Dillinger. But in real life, Dillinger died in July 1934. Floyd wasn't killed until October 1934, three months later. There are at least three different stories about how Floyd was killed. One from the FBI, which tried to take all the credit as usual. Another version by local cops, and still another story from people who lived in the area.

For anyone interested in the old Revell 1/110 scale "Friendship 7" kit, with the capsule, Atlas booster missile, trucks, gantry etc.: yesterday I stopped in my closest Hobby Lobby and 2 of those kits were in the "Clearance" section. They were priced at $7.99.

Saw "No Time to Die" yesterday. I thought it was a good mix of action and gadgetry, while also humanizing Bond and giving the movie some emotional direction. It has some epic car chases, and the old Aston-Martin really gets a workout. There's a pretty funny scene when the retired Bond is trying to get into MI-6 headquarters, and a young security guard doesn't know who he is. "Bond! JAMES Bond!" Last night I went looking for something short and Halloween-ie, and the EPIX channel is showing "Beast of Yucca Flats." Saw it long ago, but it's a lot worse than I remembered. It only runs a merciful 54 minutes and makes Ed Wood look like Billy Wilder. Rumor says the sound track either got lost or erased, so most of it is narrated (badly). People fire about 500 bullets at Tor Johnson but don't hit him. How can you miss Tor Johnson? He's as big as a barn.

This should keep me busy for a while, until about the year 2045 or so. The fe-mail carrier just dropped off a box from Sprue Brothers. One thing in that box is the Rye Field Model #5042, M4A3E8 76mm Sherman with full interior.

If you're gonna build Israeli armor, you need some Israeli people to put in it! Lucky for us, MiniArt recently issued 2 good 1/35 scale figure sets of Israeli tank crews. Miniart #37086 "Israeli Tank Crew Yom Kippur War" is 4 full, standing figures. One looks a lot like Ariel Sharon, he's wearing the standard olive-green IDF fatigue uniform. The other 3 are wearing the tanker coveralls, adapted from a NOMEX flight suit, and the post-1967 tanker helmet. MiniArt #37076 "IDF Tank Crew" is suitable for a Merkava tank or other modern Israeli vehicle. A nice touch with this set is a female tanker, which is accurate. Both men and women in Israel are subject to military conscription. She appears to be adjusting her helmet so that her pony-tail fits inside, another nice touch. Pic below. The Yom Kippur War figures would also be suitable for the 1967 Six Day War, if you swap their helmets for the U.S. M1938 tanker helmet, modified with a boom microphone and some wiring. The tanker coveralls were new then, and rumors spread that they caught fire easily. So many tank crews continued to wear their regular fatigue uniforms. There wasn't much "uniform" about 1967 IDF tanker uniforms, as photos from the time show.

Good job! Looks like it just came out of the Back Forty. Somehow I lost the exhaust pipe on mine, so I made up a vertical exhaust and guard. Also stuck in a more vintage battery and strap, dumped some well-used tools in the toolbox, etc. It was a fun build.

AMT did '96 and '97 Explorer kits. I have one of each in the stash, but am not sure what the differences were, if any. The '96 says "4x4" on the boxtop and the '97 doesn't, but both kits have a 4WD chassis. I'd guess the chances for a re-issue are slim, since I've read...probably in here...that they didn't sell very well at all. I remember seeing them dirt cheap at kit swap meets long ago. You should appreciate this: they were often dissed as "Mom-mobiles." 🤦‍♀️ Which is a shame, I'd like to see them re-issued myself. A lot of police agencies used Explorers in the 1990s.

Flea Market Day! Found this lurking in a box of common kits and stuff I already have. There may even be enough parts in the stash to make this a stocker. I think I have a Tempest body with some glue-bombing where side exhausts were welded on...