Faust

Everyone who knows me knows I love loser cars. From Chevettes to Omnis and EXPs to Pacers, if it’s ugly or weird, I want it. However, that doesn’t just go for models. It goes for all kinds of replicas, including 1/43 replicas from Europe. Now, to North American tastes, many European cars of the ‘70s and ‘80s are pretty weird and, in some way, kinda loser-like. Sure, they’re not all like that, but thank goodness for French die-cast maker Solido, who sure seem to know how to pick the runts of the litter! To celebrate making it to 350,000 hits (almost, but close enough as of writing this), I thought it was time to bring out some of the biggest losers, even if they’re in the smallest scale. To that end, I have set up a new page to showcase some of my prized 1/43 Solido Cougars. These are bargain-basement versions of much nicer Solido replicas, and their choices of subject are sublimely ridiculous! Check out the new section, and the first entry down the page, the Talbot Tagora. Believe me, I have five of these things (as of right now) and they’re all going up eventually! “Vive la difference” indeed! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/cool-stuff/solido-cougars/ https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/solido-1-43-talbot-tagora/

When it comes to Cold War interceptors, the Mig-25 and F-106 are probably two of the most famous. Terribly fast and pointy, these erstwhile bomber-killers exemplified all that was high-tech and paranoid at the same time. Sadly, they weren’t much good for much else, although the MiG had a more diverse portfolio by far. There were other, lesser-known and less adaptable aircraft though, that also stood ready to defend their homelands. One good example is the Sukhoi Su-15 Flagon family. These twin-engined, polished metal lawn darts plied their trade for a surprisingly long time, and are best known for shooting down airliners. To make sure that Soviet pilots could handle the rather “hot” Flagon, there was a two-seater conversion trainer, the final version, the Su-15UM, even being able to fire weapons. Of course, I love the weird subjects, and weird kits of them are even better… well, kinda. To that end, I’ve been beating on the old Pioneer 2 “Flagon G”. Now, it’s done. I’m not going to say it was easy, and the model is barely correct in so many ways that you could ask “Why build it?” My answer, of course, is because almost no one else will! So, check out this beast, and remember: I did it so you don’t have to! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/pioneer-2-1-72-su-15um-flagon-g/

Already asked my LHS to order me one. Can't wait!

Highly advanced German jet bombers have made it across the Atlantic and now threaten New York! Space-age technology years ahead of the Allies allows the Luftwaffe to strike back! America’s nose bloodied! Hitler’s new fighting jets open a terrifying new front in a truly global war! War Cabinet sent reeling! If those sound like headlines from a pulp fiction novel, dime-store boy’s annual or some kind of alternate history movie poster, then you’re pretty much on the right track. However, it’s also an accurate depiction of the box art on one of my favourite models of all time, the ultra-futuristic Arado E.555. This titan of Luft ’46 subjects is still a kit I can’t believe that a mainstream kit producer actually made, nevermind that it has seen multiple releases! The crazy part is that this 6-engined flying wing was a real project, this particular variant being the first in a family of “Amerika Bombers” developed by Arado. For a look at this “not-quite-ripped-from-the-headlines” bomber, check out the link below! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/revell-germany-1-72-arado-e-555-out-of-box/

Stef, Stef, Stef... What is wrong with you? Have you been living inside my head, or my basement? Those two big composite photos of '80s MPC kits are AWESOME, and dude, you are right on my wavelength!! I love the 80's MPCs! 80s MPC cars are like Matchbox planes and armour to me - I gotta have 'em!!! I would love to see the '76 Pontiac and Superhawk, plus that obnoxious Turbo Z and the awesome "Turbo Bird" at least, reissued. I have so many of the others, but none of the Ford Vans, so Sorcerer or Juke Box would be epic! I don't know if Round 2 would go for all new decals and boxes, but I will say that I love the idea! Still, even if they only decided to reissue some more of these gems, that'd be something. I love where your head's at, and your enthusiasm. Is this an Ontario sickness?

Man, that's awesome that this one is back out! Never have too many Street/Show vans!! I built this one a while ago, in a previous iteration: https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/cars/124-monogram-custom-70s-van-sundance-express/ While I do like the new stripes, I wish they'd have included some of the murals and panel decals my iteration came with. Still, it's a great kit, with both opening hood and full interior - it's a far cry better than the AMT Ford vans that are "closed" and "hollow". It builds well and you can have a TONNE of fun with it! Nice work, Revell! What with that van and now the Courier Minivan coming out, they're really getting the retro machine cranked up, eh?

See, that's why I'm here. Now everyone can go out and add it to their wish list, and there'll be a sudden swelling of love the world over for Supermarine's lost flying bridge span. Or, maybe not. I could go both ways, I guess...

Man, that's looking great! If that's what you can do outside of your comfort zone, then the congrats is due double! Japanese tanks are just so abjectly pathetic. Only Italian armour is worse, and I love both subjects!

Heck yeah! 1:1 scale cup ramen. Now you need a pilot helmet to put on it while it "cooks". (Area 88 joke... maybe nobody will get it...) I'd buy two if they weren't the same price as a good-sized HGUC Gundam. However, they are, and I can't bring myself to pull the trigger. Still, epic review of an epic kit. I can hardly wait to see what they come out with next.

I guess it’s true – it’s always the ones you least expect! When I bagged a tonne of Matchbox kits a month or so ago, and I asked everyone to vote on which they’d like to see reviewed first, I figured it’d be something relatively famous, and weird only in it’s being a Matchbox. Something like a Spitfire or Tempest or Panther, even the Prowler. Nope. I mean, there were some weird ones in there, with the Siskin and BAE-125/Dominie, so I was thinking maybe that would be the most popular. Nope again. I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised when it was the biggest and weirdest of them all, the Supermarine Stranraer! Given that the Matchbox is the only way to get a Stranraer in styrene, even in 2021, the appeal should have been obvious. So, check out this massive collection of wings and struts flying in formation. Oh, it’s “BYOI” (bring your own interior) to this party, just so you know! Get ready for some classic, classic stuff! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/matchbox-pk-601-1-72-supermarine-stranraer-oob/

I think the use of "brains" in those quotes tells you everything we need to know. I mean, if the New Monkees seem like a good idea, then why wouldn't a marbleized Stang be just as good? Right?

Oh, man! I knew this one was going to provoke a reaction! That's interesting about just how phoned-in the kit is, Chuck. I'll be honest: Whereas I normally do scrupulous research on a car I intend to build stock (Difficult for the MPC Monza "S" Sportback, believe me...), this one was different. I honestly just didn't care. I thought the engine looked very out of date, but then again, the whole concept was so misbegotten that it seems fitting. With that being said, when I build it, I think I may just leave the plastic bare. I can gloss and buff the plastic as the actual paintwork. I only bought the car because I thought it would be "New Monkee" special in some way, and it would be fun to mock it and its source material. As you can see, I'm not the only one down with a little Monkee-bashing! (Man, that sounds dirty when you say it aloud...) The only "special" part is the swirly plastic, and I'd hate to see that get lost to the ages. I mean, if we don't preserve this kind of half-arsed poop-show stuff, then it could happen again. What do you guys think about that idea? (I'm almost afraid to ask!)

It’s not a surprise when companies try to associate themselves with what’s “new” and “cool”. While modelling in the 2020’s might not be quite so fixated on this, there was a time when modelling was a more general hobby and companies did try to ride the coat tails of profitable and hoped-to-be profitable enterprises. There are lots of kits of vehicles from famous TV shows produced from the ‘60s to the ‘80s, so it really comes as no surprise that Monogram also decided to produce a kit from the much-hyped “New Monkees” TV show that aired in 1987. Sadly, Monogram’s bet didn’t pay off, and the New Monkees Mustang GT Convertible doesn’t carry the same cultural weight as the original Monkeemobile, Knight Rider’s KITT or even Magnum PI’s Ferrari 308. However, they did indeed kit the New Monkees Mustang, and I came across one last year at an antiques store. It was so weird, such a piece of ‘80s kitsch, that I had to get it. Now you can check out what you might have missed back in the day at the link below! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/monogram-1-24-new-monkees-mustang-gt-convertible/

Man, that looks awesome! All of those trikes look great! I just got the Torque Trike, and I'm itchin' to get building it, but I pending Matchbox score could delay it. These are the tough choices we face... Hey PatW: Don't feel bad. In Canada it costs $30 too at my local store, but it was worth it!

Anyone who knows me knows I have a thing for old kits and obscure subjects. However, I also have a thing for cool robots, and if you stick a cannon on its shoulder or a beam shield on its arm, chances are good I’m going to buy it. Now… what if you have an old kit, that also has a beam shield??? Yeah, you KNOW that’s going to get me excited! And, it just so happens Bandai must have known that too, since they reissued a bunch of F-91 and Silhouette F-91 kits a couple of years ago. The first one I had a chance to get to the bench was the 1/100 Cluster Gundam. This has a special place in my heart, too, since I build one way back in the middle-late 1990s, when I was just getting into Gundam kits and anime in general. Thankfully, my skills have improved some since then, so this time I think I was able to do the Cluster justice. Check it out below, and let me know what you think. I never thought that there’s be retro Gundam modelling, but I guess it proves not only can you go back again, but that everything old is new again, too! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/bandai-1-100-f-90y-cluster-gundam/

Hey Charlie, thanks for the info! I'm really surprised it was wood, when the rest of the car was painted. Why would they (no pun intended) do that, I wonder? I've seen some cars that have the "box" on the frame where the seat and gas tank go painted, and I saw at least one in wood. However, painted seems de-rigeur. However, I do still have some reservations about "wooding" the firewall. I'd hate to do it and then find it was actually a common over-restore. Good ideas, though! Thanks! Also, would the flywheel be body colour, or black? I think I've seen both.

If it’s one thing I normally don’t associate my modelling interests with it’s 1/35 armour. I’m just not that big into armour that I want to spend the time and money on large-scale tank kits. Normally, I just get the COBI (Polish Lego) tanks and build them if I want a big tank. They’re fun and easy. I’m also not super-attached to or enthralled by any armoured vehicles. Well, okay, there are a couple, but they’re darned few. One, however, that I definitely have a thing for is the South African G6 Rhino SP Gun. I love things with six wheels, I love oddballs, and what is odder than the G6 in the world of armour? Not much. I’ve wanted a kit of the G6 for years, but nobody has made one. Well, not until recently. Then Takom (a brand I have no experience with) brought out its massive 1/35 Rhino. I wanted it. Badly. Me, the “not-a-tank-super-casual-Matchbox-armour builder” guy. I saw one, once, in a store, and gagged on the price. I thought it over and decided to take the leap, and of course, it was gone by then. I did get a second chance, in the summer of 2019, and took it. I have to say, it’s not like anything I’ve experienced before and I think it’s going to be an interesting journey. If you’re curious about what this one is all about, you can check it out at the link below! Wish me luck! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/takom-1-35-g6-rhino-oob/

Nice score, Charlie! I'm going to be doing mine in a variant of that creamy colour, with red-maroon under the fenders. I think that' is just mega-sharp! One thing on these old Hupps (and old cars in general) that worries me is the wooden dash. Would it really have been polished wood? The pics online of that tattered blue one with the red interior shows the dash painted. I don't know how old a paintjob that is, and have no clue if it's original or not. However, the wood dashes strike me as being like the beds of 50's pickups. They were all painted black, but when you see "restored" examples the beds are usually chromed rails and polished wood. It looks stellar, but it's wrong. I have a feeling that the "restored" Hupps with their polished dashes (and those rails beside the hood) have actually been "over restored" because it looks nicer and that's what people expect. Any ideas anyone?

Some kits are a lot more work than you think they’re going to be. Sometimes, it turns out to be worth it, and other times it turns into a bloody nightmare you can’t wait to be done. Then, just once in a while, both happen, and a nightmarish kit turns out okay in the end. A perfect example of that is the 1/72 Zvezda Mig-29SMT. It’s a beautifully detailed kit, but it’s shockingly overengineered, and like Dio says in “The Devil Cried”, it’s not “smart, just clever”. It fought me almost from the get-go, but I will say that, now that it’s done, it does look pretty darned good. Is it worth the struggle? I’d say yeah, but you can check it out and let me know what you think! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/zvezda-1-72-mig-29-smt/

That is incredible. The realism is off the charts, and the subject is so bizarre it makes me smile ear-to-ear. Phenomenal job on a truly offbeat subject. Congrats on making us all look bad!

Wow... NICE! I love that kit (have the Prime, so maybe I'll do a Nemesis Prime with it). Magnus always looked meaner as a white Prime than a Red-White-Blue brick. Your kit makes him look meaner still! Cool choice on the colour-change blue, too! It's nice to see someone building these things!

That is so awesome! I can hardly wait for my local stores to open back up (everything's closed here due to Covid), and maybe I can get my hands on some of these! Great work on this one - very inspiring! Gotta love the weirdness!

Interwar military vehicles are not something that a lot of model makers pay much attention to. Unless they saw action in WWII, the various transitional armoured and mechanized vehicles of the Pre-WWII period are pretty much forgotten. In many cases, modellers can’t even get kits of these types of vehicles. A perfect example is the awesome Morris Commercial D/CD. This half-car, half-truck six-wheeler was used as a staff car by the British from the late ‘20s, but is virtually unknown today. As a result, if you want a replica of this cool, but obscure, vehicle, you’re somewhat out of luck. Thankfully, Dinky Toys came to the rescue in the late ‘30s with its #152b, the Six-Wheeled Reconnaissance Car. Sure, the Commercial wasn’t really for recon, it was a staff car, but that doesn’t stop the Dinky from being a neat replica of an all-but-unknown vehicle! While it’s not up to modern armour kit standards of detail, check out this cool little time-traveller at the link below. Who knows, maybe one day we WILL get a kit of this thing! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/dinky-six-wheeled-reconnaissance-car-152b/

To be honest, I don't see the similarity between the Bird and the Beemer. I see more similarities to an Acura, actually. I hate those BMWs. There's something weird, to me, about their back ends (too round) and the fronts are cut in oddly. Only Beemer I really like (of more modern ones, that is) is the 850. That red thing, the little T-Bird K/O is awesome! I want a kit of that!

There are so many different versions of this one, that it shouldn't be too hard to find. I wouldn't think, at least. Mind you, with the Pandemic and Murphy's law, there are probably one around now. I have the Cougar too, and it's a nice companion.