unclescott58

Here's a couple of bonus ones, not directly related to the Corona virus. But, funny none the less.

A friend just sent me a bunch of new ones.

I love these two. The oatmeal raisin especially. I hate raisins baked into anything. And as the meme says, every so often one gets suckered into thinking your getting chocolate chips, and finding its raisins after you bite in. A major disappointment! The other one tickles me, being a recovering alcoholic. I've been dry for a few years now. Yet I can relate.

I got my Brooklin's '67 Wildcat today. It looks great. As you can see in the photos.

Okay, I don't know why I did it. But, in today's mail I got something I've always considered kind of sacrilege. A four-door Porsche. At the same time I kind of like the car. I may not like the idea. But, I like the car. In today's mail, Revell's 1/24 scale Porsche Panamera Turbo. Thankfully this model's complete, so it wouldn't have to go back to the seller. The second is a diecast of one of my all time favorite cars. It's Brooklin's 1/43 scale '67 Buick Wildcat 4-door hardtop. One of the few things that would be better, would be a '67 Wildcat convertible. Yet I'm just as happy to have any model of a '67 Wildcat.

I like the Ford. It's a very nice kit. The Volkswagen looks pretty cool too.

Thanks again. You know how I love these reviews you've been posting. They're both fun and interesting to see. A couple of things caught my eye in this one. One, it looks like there's a small roadside billboard frame surrounding the custom grill? I saw no mention of it in the instructions. And see nothing on the decal sheet to fill it. Second, it's fun to see the custom parts that come with this kit. Looking at the parts and the instructions, this maybe, in my opinion, the worst looking custom I've seen from SMP or AMT from the period. It's not a pretty one. It's cool to see parts for things like TV, and I believe a tape recorder, starting to show up in these kits. I never use those items in a build. But, I sure like having them. Those little extras made modeling fun back then.

From my understanding the above was made from old IMC molds. So it will be a tough kit to build. Good luck. I hope it builds up well for you. Me? I built the old MPC kit of the same car a few years back. No where the detail of the IMC version. But, no where near the problems either.

I'm very impressed with the service my regular postal carrier has been giving me as of late. She has been doing a great job. She's an older gal. About my age. And despite the extra work she has to go through delivering the amount of stuff she has had to deliver to me lately. She has kept up a great attitude, and is as friendly as ever. She is the best.

Interesting, I just got word on eBay that tokky-plus, the number one Japanese vendor mentioned above has just shipped the model I ordered from them. I ordered this on April 22, a week ago today. They informed me a day or two later about the shipping problems out of Japan. I still requested for them to go ahead ship the model. So it takes 5 to 6 days for them to do that? If it was my business, it would be out the next day, after clearing things up with the customer. tokky-plus does indicate that the model should arrive at my doorstep by May 22. I'm okay with that. But, would it arrive 5 or 6 days earlier if they had shipped the next day? Am I being too picky about this? Even now, working my job online, I try to get things done as quick as I can. I expect, and try to give good and prompt service in any I do. I expect the same out of others. Especially if the exchange of money is involved. Again, I'm also willing to forgive a lot if I get good service. Service has not been very good, in my opinion, lately online.

I don't know if this means anything or not. But I just found a YouTube video where a guy was showing at Omni Models and Tower Hobbys are actually one in the same. I don't know what this proves? I know a lot of people buy from Tower Hobbys. I never have. Yet I've purchased several items from them on eBay through their Omni Models subsidiary. The guy on YouTube was showing that prices between Tower and Omni are exactly the same. Pointing out they are both out of Campaign, IL. And in digging farther, he found out that Omni is actually owned by Tower. Interesting.

That's im looking for. Looking at the photos, I'm a little nervous about what I'm seeing there. I'd particularly like to see the body up close to see what it really looks like. Showing it upside down in the box raises flags for me. Plus the resin looks a little thick. I'd need to see a "Accura Model" kit in real life, after seeing those photos. Hey, thanks Mike for taking interest in this, and trying to help me find a WC 53. I find this is the type of stuff that makes the hobby both interesting and fun. Someday one of us will find a WC 53.

That's my question. In the last month I've run across a few minor problems with ordering things online. With vendors blaming the issues on Covid-19. For example, two sellers out of Japan. After ordering a model from one, I'm told it's going to take a couple months, because things like models can not be flown out of Japan. At least I was asked if I want the model or a refund? I'm in no rush, so it's being sent by ship. A second Japanese vendor just up and canceled my order. Notifying me several days after the order about the shipping problem out of Japan. Why are you trying to sell things to the United States, if you can't deliver? Other vendors have also been using the virus as an excuse for being extremely slow at shipping things. Or not being able to deliver. Most other sellers seem to be having no problems at all. I don't get it. If there's a problem, why not you shut down your shop for duration. I've also had problems with vendors out of Germany. Anything out of France is very slow. Yet the rest of Europe seems okay. The Chinese sells also seem okay. Both mainland (at least Hong Kong) and Taiwan. U.S. vendors. A mixed bag. Service is a big thing to me. I can forgive a lot if I least get decent service.

Sad to say, the vendor Omni Models has just told me to send the whole thing back. They can not at this time, just replace the missing instructions and decals. Something about having no one having access to their warehouse. So what's going to be done? I don't know if they'll send me another one, and if so, when will they have access to their warehouse again? Or are they just going to refund my money? I'm a little disappointed with this. I have get a return request from eBay? (Never had to do that before. Most vendors have just sent me a return label themselves.) Repackage the kit. And stand in line at the post office. (Can I even do that with the Covid virus thing happening?) I've had good service from Omni Models in the past. I'm just a little disappointed by their explanation of why they need me to return the whole kit, rather than grabbing from another kit what's missing from the kit they sold me. They say it's because, they have no one at their warehouse at this time? If that's the case, how and why are they selling models on web without access to their warehouse at this time? Protecting their warehouse workers is fine. But, now as a customer, I'm going to have go out into the public and threaten mine. In general, I'm not really worried. I'm just a little put off. And will this stop me from buying from Omni Models in the future? No. I've had pretty good service from them overall. I'm just not happy in this one case. I was really looking forward starting on this kit.

For sure a WC53 Carryall? I've seen plenty of WC54s. But, there is a major difference between the style of the two bodies. WC53s literally look like a 1940's Chevy Suburban Carryall body on a Dodge WC/Power Wagon chassis. Where the WC54s are much bigger. Widening out in back of the front doors. If there is a WC53 in resin, I'd love see how it looks. I've had very good luck with most resin kits I've purchased over the years. But, I've sure seen some bad ones too. In fact, I remember about 20 or 25 years ago, a fairly well known, and decent resin maker, offered a modern Dodge Suburban for the new generation AMT Dodge Pickup Truck snap kit at the time. I was excited. As I've mentioned, I love Chevy Suburbans. And I like the new Dodge truck at the time. A winning combination, right? This resin was awful. Thick and bumpy. No interior behind the front seats. A general disappointment. Thankfully, I was able to trade it with another member in our local model car club. He knew what he was getting into, and had to put in a lot of work to get something halfway decent out of it. Even then he'll tell you it was one the worst kits he ever tackled. So for that reason I really need to see a resin closely before considering it. That reminds me. I too have seen one resin WC53 on eBay not that long ago. I believe it was in 1/72 scale, and did not look too good. I like to one in 1/35 to match my other military vehicles. Or 1/25 and do it up as an after the war, second life, more civilian version.

Guess what? I was able to change it after all. Now it says the correct Wankel, instead of Wankle.

Talking about Dodge WC models, the one I wish someone would do is the WC53, the Carryall. Basically the Dodge military version the Chevrolet Carryall Suburban. Being a big fan of all Suburbans, I love to have a model of the Dodge WC53. Or the later Dodge Town Wagon.

I think it's too late to correct the Subject heading. Plus, autocorrect automatically changes it to that spelling if you don't watch it.

In today's mail. When having a Jeep is not enough.

Corona Lisa. That's not bad.

Looks pretty good.

Just finished it. Entex's 1/5 scale Mazda rotary engine from the early 70's. This was one of those kits that came out about two years after I built my first Renwal Visible V-8 in 1971. This kit always intrigued me. I have a friend who built one back in the day. But, it didn't interest me enough to really go for one until recently. And after building it, I got to say I'm a little disappointed. Shorty after getting my kit a month or two ago, I called my friend who built one in the mid-70's, to see what he remembered of the kit. The first thing that came to his mind, was that he couldn't get the electrical parts of the kit to work. And this lead him to be disappointed with the kit. Well, guess what the main problem I ran across on this kit? Getting the electrical parts to work! Some of the problems may have come with age. It was a new old stock 47 year old kit. But somehow I don't really think that was the issue. It's more a series of bad design. The switch for turning it on. The gear reduction setup for lowering the electric motors speed. The way the wires connected together. Even the battery box, that seemed too small and too tight for the AA batteries. Too many little things, that sabotaged the whole. I assembled and wired things to the best of my ability. Nothing works. It's just going to have to be a static model. Interesting both my friend who built the Entex kit as a teen, and I, both successfully built Renwal Visible V-8s as very young teens. We both got our Visible V-8s to work. With the starter turning the flywheel, and spark plugs firing in their correct order. Why at the age of 16 or 17 in his case, and now 62 in mine, neither of us could get our Entex Wankel Rotary Engine kits to work? Maybe it's not us?

Yea, tires and wheels are the only "custom" parts I remember in those kits. They also came with choice of plain valve covers, or the factory optional finned ones. I remember AMT's 1/16 '55 Thunderbird having '56 Mercury station wagon taillights as a custom option. Again, other than tires and wheels, it was similar to their big '57. The 1/16 '57 Thunderbird is supposed to be reissued later this year. I sure hope so. It's been a long time since we last saw the kit. Though the one I would really love to see would be the '55. No word on that one ever coming back.

Which 3.8? I'm assuming since you mention the Grand National, your talking Buick? There was a short lived Chevy 3.8 also.

Wouldn't the Sonoma come with a 4.3?