Richard Bartrop

There's lots of great stuff, but of the recent entries, this one caught my eye:

And that's precisely why I do it.

Unless it's something I just can't get around here, I prefer to shop locally. Fortunately there are several good hobby shops here, one of which is within a longish hike from me.

There's what looks like a 1942-47 Ford pickup, which would place it late 1941 at the very earliest just on that. The one license plate that's visible has a light background, and according to http://www.worldlicenseplates.com/ California license plates had black backgrounds from 1941 to 1946, so I'm going to say 1947 at the earliest.

A great reminder that hot rods didn't just go in straight lines.

Lindberg's '53 Ford has a nicely detailed flathead, and they always seem to be on sale.

That is pretty neat.

This is why I don't lose a lot of sleep over 1/24 vs 1/25, because the deviations from the actual scale tend to wipe out any difference.

Outstanding work, and a great subject.

Clear blue or blue pearl over one of the darker metallics, maybe?

That turned out beautifully!

A classic from the days when cars had real style.

That is some impressive scratchbuilding.

I'm sure it's just a matter of time

I am okay with this.

On a bit of tangent, I vaguely remember way back in the 70s, Rod & Custom had an article on in progress rod, and one of them was a Model T powered by a Crosley engine. Does that ring a bell with anyone, and was it ever completed?

Yes, Crossley made radios. Muntz made televisions, and Kaiser made practically everything, so that argument would be just as compelling for kit of a Muntz Jet, or a Kaiser Manhattan. And yes, I would buy kits of either one.

Very true. Over here, we're fascinated by European and Japanese cars. But it's really not that surprising that Hasegawa does a lot of Japanese stuff. The American kitmakers do mostly American subjects, Airfix does mostly British subjects, and Heller skews heavily towards French subjects as well. We have a soft spot for the local boys.

And then you get this thing, where not only did they reverse the intake and exhaust, they mounted the engine upside down as well.

Simple, yet effective. Nicely done!

And there are kits of some of the more esoteric stuff out there, but you have to lay out some serious cash for them.

If it is, if anything it supports the idea that the Japanese want American cars too. And I think the BMW coupe would be a good choice as well. It's gorgeous, hasn't been kitted, and Vintage European cars have traditionally been a staple of Japanese kitmakers.

I'm not sure how American cars are more violent that any others. If anything, America has been a leader when it comes to making cars that are both safe and friendly to the environment. Maybe they're a little more extreme than what your typical European drives, but both Europe and Japan have shown that they can build cars that are just as extreme, if not more so, as anything to come out of Detroit. And as this show in Belgium shows, even with all their culture and sophistication, some Europeans are interested in American iron too.

From what I understand, the chassis is from a Jowett Jupiter with a VW front suspension. The XR-6 had a VW front suspension as well.

Japanese car nuts seem to be interested in American and European cars as well, and we've certainly seen Japanese kits of both. In any case, what they asked is what you want to see. I'm sure Hasegawa has people on their payroll to figure out which of those suggestions would actually sell.