jbwelda

that roof line sure looks funny to me. I realize there is a curve to it in the real car, in fact it looks kind of tacked on in the photos above, but the model just looks like a cartoon up there. Surfs Up for real. and part of it may be that roof rack not fitting like it does on the real thing. nice model but the roof just looks goofy. jb

not sure I would go that far, foxer, that Yu(No)go was a real low water mark. jb

back to anything remotely related to the subject line: ever see a 55 Cheby? here is a handy little guide, as well: Grill: Grille: and no, its not just a typo. thank you jb

Aoshima and Fujimi are not exactly what I would call "rather obscure" companies, and they produce myriad versions of many many makes of "tuner", I would guess way more than Tamiya. jb

edited to correct a couple of typos and a misstatement >The cool thing was too, the headlight beam turned into the curves along with the wheels! that feature was not allowed on the USA import cars. why would you want to see around the corner? another feature rarely discussed was the ability to lift one wheel off the ground. this came in handy when changing a flat tire, and there was a jack that flopped down to accommodate it. raise the corner, release the jack, lower the corner...wheel off the ground and car up on jack. another feature of the very same feature was the ability to drive the car short distances (flat) on three wheels. get a flat, raise the wheel, continue on till its safe to change it. yet another feature: the entire rear fender on each side came off via one very long chrome bolt that exited out the back of the fender, then easy matter to lift the fender off and away from vehicle giving unimpeded access to the wheel (held on by one large nut in French cars, think that had to be changed for US use). one of the most evolved, both functionally and stylistically, probably since the Tucker. only it was sold to more open minded people so didn't have to compete against farm equipment essentially...most of the elegance was lost on that (USA) audience. also I believe the wheel covers were made of stainless steel and one could cook up soup in them on the rare occasion stuck in the French countryside with a need for some stew with their cheese and wine. most if not all these features were pointed out in the extensive owners manual that came with the car. I always thought the DS21 particularly was one of the most beautiful cars in the world, ever. particularly when black with a red sunroof top like my friend had for many years. everything worked beautifully too with only a very little maintenance and care. jb

I didn't say that; daddyfink did. I merely quoted him and showed examples of the depths Revell was (and probably still is) capable of. jb

I wonder if Tom Daniel had anything to do with "re-designing" those kits I posted above from the Roth originals to the abominations pictured. They kind of look like he did. if so it was a double insult to Ed Roth. That Mysterion abortion is particularly shameful. jb

when is the target date to actually have these for sale, if I may ask. I would like to get a set or two and don't want to miss them. would love those cheater slicks too, especially in 1/8 scale for a project I have going jb

>A word of advice, when you find something buy it soon. that is about the best advice you could get, believe me, ive learned it more than once. if you see it and like it, better buy it now rather than risk it won't be available tomorrow, because often it is not available tomorrow. if it becomes apparent you don't need it or you change your mind about it on down the road, you can usually sell it for as much or more than you paid. jb

>once the partnership dissolves, then what do you do with them and what do you call them? jb

I must be confused: how does one judge scale on something that never existed? jb

Wow! Stupid people at WalMart! Who could have imagined it! I thought it was a prerequisite for walking in the front doors. That doesn't look like a "model paint" section...it looks like a hardware paint section or section for taggers. Where were all the "associates" when the paint was spraying? Oh that's right, they laid them off. WalMart: selling your country down the crick one 5 cent discount at a time. jb

did I mention, live flag start? another contender for koolest kar on the lot: front blown hemi rail: leading contender for koolest kar on the lot: clean chebysarus: something for everyone:

what a blast. not even crowded. could stand right at the line most of the time if you wanted to. flag starter which also meant there was no timing equipment (that I could see and they were not announcing ETs or speeds from the tower...typically inane chatter most of the time honestly was blasting from the PA system). first time I recall seeing 1/8 mile instead of 1/4 but have to say its much better in some ways: you still get all the ferocity at the line and probably 2/3 the terminal speed compared to a quarter mile. one thing for sure: its gotta be close to half as hard to walk from start to finish again and again. one bad vibe: one guy wrecked, absolutely wrecked his gorgeous altered or whatever it was, barrel rolling it four or five times at the end of the track. he was ok, in fact there walking around and further disassembling what was left, and was pretty complacent about it...its just money at least he is still walking around talking a few hours later. all in all a totally fun day and evening and it was only 15$ admission typical type of deal: view at the staging lanes and yes these two cars did run against each other...I didn't see them to report back on who took who though apparently original Ramchargers car at the tower definite contender for koolest car on the lot: here it is facing off against this shoebox in original paint, that ran surprisingly strong...unbelievably strong really: another total heap that ran surprisingly, amazingly strong. note the waffle fenders front and rear and stock air cleaner with coffee can velocity stack.

there is an NNL in Stockton tomorrow that I have to be back for but today I thought some of you might be interested in an event I am attending: 50s style drags at an old bomber field out in the decrepit California lower central valley. 1/8 mile, flag starts, no cars later than 64...this is going to be a blast. it was supposed to be last night (Friday) but got rained out (day before actually) so today during the day are the Fresno dragstrip reunion races and tonite the Billetproof drags. will probably take some pics and post them here at some point, should be some great nostalgia modeling subjects on hand http://www.eaglefielddrags.com/

>I'm surprised modern cars this small would be mid-engine, or rwd. I may have mentioned it above but this is an even spread (lets see if I can remember this right): the Honda beat is rear engine, rwd the Copen is front engine, fwd and the Cappichino (god that's a terrible name for this car even if I could spell it) is front engine, rwd. (edited to get it right) I wonder which of the set ups works best on a skid pad or a tight road course? jb

thanks for the encouraging words via PM, people! really appreciate it! jb

yes I should be more of a Richard sometimes and less of a ... thanks again jb

totally awesome! that is beautiful detail even with such close focus! its going to be a jewel under the hood! jb

an update, was away for a month but have pretty much finished up the Honda Beat, all aside from a photo etch recovery ring that I still have to attach. I did the modern stancing thing, maybe a bit too much in the rear but overall it looks pretty right according to real cars in my hood and their look. a couple of the photos below particularly accentuate the look. Used some of the aftermarket body kit parts in the kit and the roof hides the fact there is a near eighth inch gap between body and interior shell...that means the chassis could be moved up inside the body shell which I may still try. I cut away the tops of the wheel wells and did some sketchy stuff in mounting the wheels but they do look pretty good. fully paint detailed undercarriage too but I didn't take any pics yet. now on to finish the Cappuchino for which I am awaiting another kit to redo the interior but meanwhile I will work on the wheels and stance and also building up the body shell itself. comments questions criticisms cheerfully accepted and encouraged! jb hard top on: interior shot:

that thing has way more wrong than just a set of valve covers, that's for sure. jb

what a bunch of world class pussies. jb

See post #3 for the explanation. and you thought I was being sarcastic. jb

"repop"ing old rare kits does not really decrease the value of the original, at least not in the long term, unless it was some marginal junk to begin with. take a look at Blue Beetles just for one example...the asking price for originals has gone up if anything. and it tends to do that with all worthwhile things. the price may take a hit for a while, perhaps a year or so, but then comes back. there really is nothing like the original in a lot of ways including the crispness of the parts and just the fact that it IS an original. jb

there were these things called model magazines and strangely enough, model companies seemed to pay those entities for advertising space and also the occasional article on new or upcoming releases. that's where I usually learned, well ahead of actual release date, of upcoming issues or reissues jb