jbwelda

well paint just needs a bit of polishing in a couple places (one dirt speck and some minor crinkling of the clear laquer overcoat) and then fill in the window edges with a sharpie, make some acetate windows for front and rear, do something with the indents for accent stripes and taillights, and ought to be good to go. look for continuing saga in dioramas section if you can find that because i am including Rabbit Fink so i assume that makes this a diorama. thanks again for looking!

wow those are great photos! i had no idea drag racing was so big in finland. do you have nostalga cars running there too, especially rail dragster "diggers" like this: i remember back in the day seeing features in hot rod magazines about drag racing up there too, back in the late 60s that road course shown in the aerial photo looks impressive too! i gotta check your videos next!

i just saw this thread and started at the end. i thought this was 1/8th scale. uh...nope! this is just incredible work on that frame and suspension!

pretty far from out-of-box, but heres a big tub i did a few years ago: basically the same kit as the Big T, some different parts most notably the four cycle fenders and probably some misc stuff too but same frame, running gear etc. though the reissues of the big T as well as the big Tub have some special parts not included in the original issues (not positive about that with the Tub though...but for sure the Big T reissue had a lot of upgrades and options than the original or subsequent reissues).

the boxes being referred to were used by AMT (at least) a few years ago and they literally resemble a donut box as they are all one folded construction piece of light cardboard. as mentioned the problem was that when the top is open, and even when closed, they really arent stable like two piece boxes we are more familiar with. and possibly the "model car kit marketplace" forced them to switch back...if so that would be one giant step for modelkind. those boxes were possibly easier to assemble, cheaper to manufacture and/or allowed more printing surfaces but they were lousy for holding and building the kit. in my experience though, those Testors flat boxes illustrated above were the worst, especially for the fujimi enthusiasts series Porsche 356 kits...once you took out the parts it was pretty much impossible to put them back in.

yeah harry i have been watching that since my original post. problem is the windshield and some other parts like the grille insert are missing. i was wondering if the AMT pieces might fit or fit with minor modification. i dont imagine anyone here can check? edit to add: and when i look at it closer it looks like the injection stacks are not lined up so there is possibly other damage you cant see in the pics. still...if worse comes to worse and it dont sell before then...

ok i will take the hint: i am positive i will not be buying this release. youre welcome. see the problem is: when everyone is "positive" then in this case the manufacturers are led to believe we are all, well, easily led and will buy anything. i prefer to be a realist and in the long run, so do they...or at least their sales numbers will reflect a certain reality.

seems to me there are enough motorcycles here in this "everything else" ghetto to have their own ghetto. please separate them from the rest of this fine example of modelling something no one else really cares about (eg: not automotive related) and maybe someone will look at them (the motorcycles...i cant really understand why anyone would post stuff like their fully detailed bozo the clown model on this site anyhow much less go to an "other" forum to look at them. maybe its just me; it wouldnt be the first time.)

more junk i dont need on my "to buy" list. thank God for small miracles.

the other thing to address is the supposed "collectibility" of a car. it is my contention there is no such thing or if there is it is very rare indeed. why? because if you use the car you are going to wear it out and that in itself is against the "collectibility" idea. second, if you use it you are bound to crash it...result: "investment" disappears. and if you store it, the car will become unusable over a period of time unless maintenance is done to it. the best thing to do with a car is use it. if then in some years/decades down the road it becomes "collectible" you come out ahead but in most cases you will have moved on by then. i cannot fathom someone buying one of these as a "collectible" and then stashing it in a garage to fall victim to rats, disuse and the other problems that can occur when a car is stored for a long period. i guess its ok if you are jay leno or someone who can pay someone to maintain what is essentially lawn statuary at that point, but not to someone of more moderate means.

well when you have a miscarriage like a Gremlin to compare to, i have a hard time imagining it would NOT be a relatively good seller. and so far they have released, or plan on releasing, at least 2 separate Gremlin models. monogram/revell needs to reissue the Big Drag first though...what on earth made them re-release the Big Tub instead? the only thing that had going for it were the cycle fenders, imo.

draggon, you might check out the tamiya bug, to my eye its pretty much right on and the gunze one doesnt seem bad either, and its an earlier year (might even be split window?). this has been an interesting thread. and i gotta second this: "oogie-boogie-distorted-reality-factor"

63 split window coupe is the only one that has ever done much for me.

them never mention marcus garvey either but i dont see what that has to do with models either.

i doubt very much any "truth in packaging" or "truth in advertising" has anything to do with box art. ever been to McDonalds? how does that Big Mac hold up to the photo of it on the walls of the place? it doesnt, not at all. so i dont see how having a photo of a real car on the box would make one liable for any sort of consumer lawsuit based on truth in packaging especially if it is accompanied by a disclaimer that the photo is of a real car, or of a built up model for that matter, even if one did BMF the chrome on it. I think someone is dreaming here and as for all the lawyers in california just waiting to file some lawsuit, they wont if they wont win and in the case of model box art i would have to guess that the chances of winning some sort of lawsuit based on consumer protections would be about 1 in 100 and youre not going to find a lawyer to take that case on unless youre paying him up front regardless of outcome. lawyers just arent that stupid contrary to the opinions of some here.

those "others" are pretty much worthless in my opinion...fine i guess as a stand alone but there is nothing in scale to put them into.

alright, not to say the kit is complete as evidently there was originally a stand and a motor to move things internally (always struck me as an unnecessary risk so never really attempted to make this feature work but the front of the motor is well assembled and the pistons operate smoothly so maybe what the hey). all that junk wont be missed because i am going to use this in an 1/8 scale rod one of these days (yeah sure right bill, but i digress, continually). here are the options for the motor right out of the box: stock, street, road and track, racing, dragstrip, and full on competition versions. see if you can spot all the variations! this kit is really a jewel and it would be great if Monogram/Revell reissued it with even some more improvements! along with the Big Drag of course!

i may have mentioned elsewhere but i have been looking for one of these for some time, ever since i built a big tub (pre-reissue ebay gluebomb) and used the hilborn fuel injection set up that came from this kit. i have seen them at swap meets for at or around 300$ in near mint condition and for slightly less for lesser specimens. so you can imagine i was thrilled to get this on ebay the other week for 60$!!!. I decided to photo the parts as i was sorting them and share with us what a kit with some options ought to look like! in the process i noticed i am missing a few parts but most of them are minor and shared with the normal releases as in the big t, big tub, etc (i am assuming...not an expert just some hands on experience with these models from when i was a kid to now). here is the classic box art, box is a bit battered but not too bad at all: and the enclosed booklet which is very instructional especially for the time at as a 12 year old boy. ok here are some pieces, the non plated stuff including on the right side, the assembled engine block, transmission and front end piston moving display, resting on the oil pan. notice all the intake manifolds only a few of them available elsewhere i believe. includes rams horn exhaust headers as well as stock round air intake and filter housing. one can also see the clear GMC blower top half to show internal pieces. not sure if i will keep these windows but they are pretty kool. here is the chrome, plenty of it. of note are the tubes for front mounted blower setup, and the chrome intake tubes for the fuel injection. also note some missing pieces, halves of carbs and aircleaners, but those are standard pieces elsewhere i believe. you can also note the swept back chrome headers as well as the chrome block hugger style headers. back in a second with some official options!

so campus friends and assorting mechanic sets arent good enough? some of those figures are pretty nice but i can understand if they are not realistic enough. personally i like having kinda blank figures personality wise, so they dont detract from the car. ive fitted some drivers to models and they are pretty surgery intensive sometimes, getting a fairly realistic pose with hand on shift lever and steering wheel etc. good thing they dont scream from the pain

expensive piece of c r a p

i need some figures: 1) a good one of HIM emperor Haile Selassie I Jah Ras Tafari would be nice and a lion to go along would be classis 2) really need one of this guy:

again, i notice several paint flaws in the photos of the bike...so i think i will do some touch up tonite. amazing these digital cameras!

i got one from harbor freight for 50$ and its well worth it. noiseless? no, not by a long shot but other than that it is just what you need.

and just to show what a difference it makes, and i really think it does, kinda makes the model if you ask me, heres a shot of the decal responding to some micro sol, trying to get it to form down over the curve of the cover. since i wasnt sure how it would react to water i put some decal preservative over it first and that always makes the decal kinda stiff if it isnt to begin with: and formed down a bit more...still needs to dry for a day and then manipulate it a bit with micro sol... finally, a buddy for the surf shack! its not finished obviously but coming along...this photo shows me i have to do some touch up still...funny how i can stare at it for hours in person but take a photo of it and out pop the flaws! thanks again for looking, i just need to fit and fasten the cables then i will post a pic of the beach hut and all...sans the Surfite which is still being finished up elsewhere... edit: oh yeah just to add, thanks a million Bart, you finding the decal and sending it to me is much appreciated! its stuff like this that really makes your day...

hey thanks for those photos...its been a long time since i have been there! you know after i posted that i remembered one time me and my brother were exploring around in the jungle (looking for unexploded hand grenades and ordinance or the occassional japanese pillbox) and we found this geode that was a roughly circular rock with an hole in it and all crystally inside. so that meant there was indeed other than coral formations there! instant facepalm moment! great looking model by the way and thanks again for the photos. im not sure i know where that is but we used to go to talafofo falls all the time, this was before the place was any kind of tourist destination at all.