Faust

Man, Deathgoblin, you have the old VF-2SS kit? That's awesome! I do too, but I've never known anyone else who has it. As for what mode to put a Valk in, I usually choose Gerwalk, although the VF-2SS will be in Battroid.

Thanks Alan, and everyone! Yeah, this thing is... unique, to say the least. I don't think I'd drive one, to be fair. I like my bumper cars in a controlled environment! I would love to know if they float, though...

Man! Check out the Pyro love! It's on Fire! (Yes, terrible, and intended, pun... sorry...) I've yet to build one, but man, I am addicted to them. They look very challenging, at least the '30s cars, but the Brass ones, I agree, they look AMAZING. I have a bunch of them... maybe I should get Pyro session going? Life-Like reissues are just about as good, but they don't plate their parts. Since I strip my plating, I don't care, but it doesn't look as good in the box. Wait until you see the Highway Pioneers 1907 Sears I am working on, if you like weird old stuff! They only Pyro I haven't liked is the 1948 Lincoln; it's very piece-y, and a weird, glassless build to boot. Not sure I'll build that one ever, to be honest.

I got this back when it was reissued a while ago, before I had any other Fierro kits. Looks decent and it's cool that it seems to have the Pace Car scoop, at least on the package. I haven't looked at mine for ages. The early GTs are actually my least favourite of them. Round up front but squarish in back... they're kind of a mess; to me, they look like a Croc on wheels. I like the early, "small nosed" Fieros okay, but I adore the last GTs. I don't mind the "windows to nowhere" - reminds me of a Maserati Merak, and that's not a bad thing to look like. I do wish they'd do a kit of the proposed '89 GT though... typical GM; they get it right and then cancel it!

At the start of June, my local club, IPMS London (in Ontario, Canada) hosted it’s biannual model show. It was a fun event, as always, and the Vendors’ Room gave up a considerable stash of interesting and unusual kits! From Giant Robots to ‘30s Cars and a few weird planes for good measure, I managed to snag some stuff that I think will interest almost anybody. Check it out at the link below, and let me know which one is your favourite. I kind of feel a draw to the BMW Celica… https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/londons-scale-model-expo-haul-2025/

There’s a fine line between dorky and quirky, between ridiculous and sublime. Sure, you can be all avant-garde and get away with it sometimes, but not always. Sometimes, a car is just so polarizing that it inevitably falls afoul of even the most ardent automotive non-conformist. One such car was the Bond Bug, an outlandishly over-the-top take on the three-wheeler car concept that was so prevalent in post-war Britain. Shaped like a chunk of frozen Velveeta and coloured a similarly lurid orange, the Bug definitely turned as many stomachs as heads. Well, now my own personal auto museum has one of these little blighters to proudly fill out its ranks! Check out my finished Airfix Classic Reissue Bond Bug at the link below, and let me know if you think time has been a mitigating factor, or if this this is still as whacked-out as it was when it was first issued! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/airfix-1-32-bond-bug/

Yeah, it's always a good time, with lots of weird stuff to be had. That one Hupmobile you sent me has really gotten me into Brass stuff - I'm working on a 1907 Sears from Revell (a Gowland and Gowland version) right now.

Well, it seems like the snow is finally saying good-bye and the model show season has begun! In Southwestern Ontario, the first show of spring is the massive event that is HeritageCon in Hamilton, at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. As always, it was a great show, and there was plenty of awesome stuff on display. There were also plenty of awesome vendors, and I did very well on books and kits! Of course, most of the kits I got are weird as heck, so it only made sense to put them altogether and do a posting on them! Check out the weird mix of brass cars, airplanes and sci-fi I dug up this year! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/heritagecon-2025-haul/

A cardboard model! Nice!

That red one is perfection; it has all the gross black trim and weirdness I expect from a European car! They're actually very nice relicas, though. odd the car got uglier with four headlights and the black grille. The earlier ones are almost pretty! Well... except for the mess in the middle of the grille. I know it's a trademark, but so was the Edel's "horse collar", until it wasn't... Thanks for showing those! I'll have to keep my eyes open for them!

Man, it's cool getting to see the real thing! Yeah, it's a special kind of "crazy" to ride a missile in that tin can!

It’s been 40 years since a new cartoon about transforming robotic weapons and interstellar war hit the airwaves. No, I’m not talking about Transformers; I’m talking about Robotech! With its distinct visuals and storytelling, Robotech made an indelible impression on many of us back in the day. For many, it was their introduction to anime, which, for some like myself, has become a lifelong interest since! One of the more recent attempts to revive interest in this now-nostalgic (man I feel old) property was a tabletop wargame financed by Kickstarter in 2014. Unforntunately, the “Robotech RPG Tactics” game that was produced was… not very successful. However, the game set that was released DID contain a lot of miniatures of Valkyries, Regults and other neat Robotech/Macross mecha. Having recently acquired one, I thought it might be fun to look at it not from a gaming perspective, but from a modelling perspective! You can check out what all the quickly-forgotten hoopla was about below! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/robotech-rpg-tactics-oob/

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been almost 63 years to the day (Feb 20, 1962) that John Glenn rode Friendship 7 and an Atlas ICBM into orbit to be America’s first Man in Space! While space doesn’t seem to hold as prominent a place in the public consciousness as it used to, there’s no denying how big a deal the Space Race was at the time. It might be something of a negative commentary about our world that journeying beyond it no longer seems to hold our attention. But I don’t want to dwell on that! In a recent journey to a local shop, I came upon a more-or-less perfect reissue of Revell’s ancient Mecury-Atlas booster kit with launch complex, and was reminded of a time when this kind of thing really got people going. This particular reissue was to commemorate Glenn’s return to space on the Shuttle. I don’t normally build “Real Space” kits, but I couldn’t say no to it, not with the anniversary of that famous flight so close at hand! So, check out this kit; maybe you remember it as a kid, or maybe, like me, you’re seeing it for the first time. Regardless, it’s a pretty cool kit, even if not a perfect one! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/revell-1-110-atlas-mercury-everything-is-go-out-of-box/

Well, it’s the early part of a new year, so what a good time to take a look at the oddball mix of kits that I was able to accumulate over the holidays! Some were Christmas presents, others finds at local stores, a toy show, and even a few online purchases! There’s everything from old to new to something old being new again! One thing’s for sure, though; if you know my tastes at all, then you know there’s going to be some esoteric weirdness in here! Check out my 2024 Yuletide Haul at the link below! The pic is just the cars, but there’s a whole lot more to see! Here’s to another great year of modelling to all! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/yuletide-2024-haul/

Heck, I've got over 350 Gundams (unbuilt, and about 110 built) and I still build them! Just picked up four more today! I remember Zellers and K-Mart selling models and supplies, but I never saw a drug store do that up here.

One of the greatest forms of losermobile is the kind that is let down completely not by design, but by birth. Either shoddy workmanship, materials or both result in a great design being little more than a cautionary tale in the annals of automotive history. A great example of that is the Alfa Romeo Alfasud, a sporty, fun-to-drive car that was everything one could hope for, while also being an unrepentant rust magnet! In the case of the ‘Sud, the design was willing, but bad metallurgy and cost cutting doomed it, and the resulting flesh was weak, so to say. Obviously, having a replica of a loser like that is high on my list, and I was ecstatic when I got my Solido Cougars and found one of them was, indeed, an Alfasud! While it may not be a kit, I do think this is one of the only ways to get a replica of an Alfasud, so enjoy a look at a car that you certainly don’t see in real life anymore! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/solido-1-43-alfa-romeo-alfa-sud/

One of the great parts about being a modeller is being able to embrace the more esoteric subjects, or kit makers or even kit formats so that the hobby never gets stale. With the explosion of Japanese Sci-Fi and Anime kits in the past decade or so, this has never been more true. However, not every kit made for the the Japanese home market is intended to make it across the oceans to us here in North America. Just like in the early days, when mech kits were little-known and something of a niche, there are mech kits that, even today, remain largely unknown and unavailable. A perfect example of this are “gum kits”, which straddle the line between a mega-fancy Kinder Egg toy, and a full-on model. Pushing these even farther are the Kabaya Gum Kits from the G1 Transformers Franchise! Recently, I got my hands of a few of these, and I thought I’d take a look at the God Ginrai kit from a modeller’s perspective, rather than form the point-of-view of a Transformers Fan (which, of course, I also am). So, for something totally different that you won’t find on too many shelves, check out the kit below, and prepare to wish we had drugstores like Japan does! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/kabaya-transformers-gattai-dx-gum-kits-super-ginrai-godbomber-oob/

Glad I was able to introduce this plane and kit to a whole new audience. I really do wish that kits of these weird, interwar record-breaking and research aircraft were available again, or better yet as nice new kits. They're important, but they've gotten lost in the shuffle as technology has progressed. Gotta love FROG for bringing out stuff like this!

Yeah, I love it when we actually get some different marking options! This variety makes even Matchbox pale by comparison, eh?

If there’s one thing I like, it’s a two-seater. Most of my modern jet kits are, in fact, two-seaters! Well, that’s except for the ones that are single-seat variants of two-holers! That’s just the kind of backwards guy I am, I guess… However, I love esoteric aircraft as well; those things that are a bit more off the beaten path really appeal to me. Not a surprise, then, that I’ve long wanted a kit of a two-seat MiG-23 for my stash. I my eyes, the “UB” variant of the Flogger is probably one of the sexiest Soviet aircraft of all time, but it’s not one you see in plastic very often! Until it is! Check out my out of box review for the Art Model 1/72 MiG-23 UB at the link below. Man… they really do make a kit of everything, don’t they! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/art-model-1-72-mig-23-ub-flogger-c-out-of-box/

Since I was looking for a change of pace from ill-fitting MPCs and picky airplanes, I thought the Airfix Bond Bug seemed like a great choice for my next build. While it’s far from perfect, it’s certainly very much unlike anything else I have, and I have multiple Japanese 3-wheelers, so that’s saying something! I’ve managed to get the chassis all together and ready for installation, so I thought I’d share it with everyone. This part of the kit is actually quite good, with only minor modifications needed! Enjoy! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2024/09/13/bond-bug-update-1-its-whats-underneath-that-counts/

Okay, that's fair. We could always use more, though! I'd love to see some of the weirder stuff, or body styles we don't see, like the RX-3 wagons, Skyline wagons and other four-door versions of what we often see as 2-door kits. Mind you, that same sentiment goes for kits of North American cars, too...

Breaking records and advancing technology is a lot of what interwar aviation was about. Whether it was civilians risking it all for fame and fortune, or military test pilots pushing new frontiers for the glory of their homelands, going higher, farther and faster was a frenetic, and dangerous, game. While post-war X-planes from many nations are decently catered for by model companies, the same can’t really be said, especially nowadays, for these interwar pioneers. Thankfully, FROG had a whole series of “Trailblazers” kits that paid plastic homage to some of these aeronautical achievements. One that I’ve managed to get my hands on is the Bristol 138/A, a high-altitude research aircraft of clearly British origin. A very pedestrian-looking plane to today’s eyes, it must have been quite a sight back in its day, with its closed-in canopy, huge wings and spindly, tall undercarriage! Check out my review of this seemingly forgotten classic at the link below, and get ready to “get high” in a way that doesn’t (necessarily) involve inhaling model cement fumes! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/frog-1-72-bristol-138-a-oob/

Oh man!! That Cosmo kit is awesome! I've never seen that one before! I have to say that, while it's not perfect, the Cosmo looks pretty okay to me. It's a bit weird, but generally I like the shape and style. I think the grille's a bit off from the rest of the design; it wraps up the front too much, like those '90s Regals. If it had a more distinct "snout" like the RX-3, I think it would have looked better. Interesting to compare it to the Colonades. I also HATE colonade A-Bodies. Not sure why there's so much love for them, but my brother is in love with them... so I guess GM knew what they were doing (from a marketing standpoint, at least...). Fair exchange is no robbery, I guess... now I have to go hunting for a Cosmo!

One area of interest that seems to be taking off in the scale replica world lately is that of Japanese cars, particularly older cars from the ‘70s and even early ‘80s. There’s not a lot written in North America about these cars in comparison to the domestics of the period, and this air of mystery has helped fuel the increasing popularity of these rarely seen and little-known automobiles. Interestingly, there were a lot more kits of older Japanese cars back in the day, when they were current, than you can find now. Sure, some have been reissued, and many “updated” to match the current vogue of the Tuner scene, but these don’t compare to the number of kits from when these cars were new. If you want to get a feel for one of these Japanese beauties, you have to commit to going back in time and looking at that era’s kits. Unfortunately, the relative obscurity of these cars in North America meant there was little call to import them in kit form, so there are not as many 50-year-old Japanese car kits as there are American cars of the same age. Thankfully, though, there were a few exceptions; the Entex corporation loved to bring various Japanese kits over. Some, like their planes, were by Otaki. Others, like their 1/20 cars, were Bandai’s creations. Thanks to my brother, I was able to get my hands on one of the 1/20 Entex Mazda RX-3 models. This is a classic in its own right, so put on your best bell bottoms and fire up the Wayback Machine as we take a look at this forgotten classic at the link below! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/entex-bandai-1-20-1971-mazda-rx-3-oob/