mikemodeler

Best prices I have found on Tamiya paints, they have a wide selection and great service.

There was an article in one of the last issues of Scale Auto detailing the Revell paint line. Maybe the folks at MCM will do a similar story now that the magazine is back in production. They could also do an article about Tamiya's new line of paints as well.

P&P Resin once offered a cab like that, not sure they still cast and sell. They have a Facebook page, that cab was on there 8 years ago.

Funny, I bought two kits when they announced their retirement with the intention of building them both. Ended up selling one of the kits to a fellow modeler because I knew he would build it, and he did. I still have the other and have wondered about selling it, but will likely build it as it would look great for what I have planned. I am sure there were many speculators who placed large orders with the sole intention of selling them later on eBay for insane money.

Ironic that I see this post as I was on their website and thinking about ordering. I have a few things I was thinking of ordering but was waiting to see if someone else has/had and what their impression is/was.

Yep, with the optional soft top. The full door kit is being reissued this year, you would have to cut the roof off to replicate the one in the picture.

Well, I would think you could call them on it and get a refund.

In addition to kits being 40% off this week, they are also giving free basic shipping to orders over $50, so if you want to see if what you are looking that the store may be out of, check out the selection online and maybe they have it there.

I'm sure we will Scott, and without hesitation!

Needed some Tamiya paint, found it at Hobbylinc. Great prices and service. The pickup was a bonus!

Those look great!

So, to add to my earlier post, I got the kit from Scott on Monday. Opened it up and as I went through the kit, discovered he forgot to include the glass. To be fair, it was a hectic week for him last week and he simply forgot to check and make sure it was there. I shot him a note and he responded in minutes, apologizing profusely and said I could keep the kit, he would return the kit I sent him AND he would include my shipping costs. I explained that was not necessary, if he had the glass for the kit to just ship it to me and I was good. He found the glass, offered to send an extra and again apologized. I should have the glass this weekend and all will be well. In this day and age of people trading on the internet and hearing all the horror stories, it is nice to deal with someone who is honest and is true to his word about making it right.

That truck is a nice kit, begs to be done as glue kit with engine and full chassis detail. Lots of great examples here to get inspiration from.

The frame isn't a deal breaker, but that interior tub would be nice to have a bench seat. Thanks!

Another question- Is the interior tub part of the plan for this resin kit? I ask because the MPC Deserter kit has bucket seats and most of these trucks came with bench seats. Would be cool if the resin caster offered this with a bench seat tub and possibly a frame.

That truck looks great Tom, I am assuming the MPC Deserter kit is the donor, along with stretching the frame? Keep them coming!

Sent another email, no response. Hopefully he is building inventory.

That is a really sharp build- excellent clean details and looks spot on. I have those wheels and tires from Fireball to use myself, you have given me some inspiration. Nice job!

Yeah, Long Beach is a mess and ain't gonna get better for awhile. My employer brings our stuff from Japan through there to our LA warehouse and we are running 3-4 weeks behind getting shipments. Hang in there, it's coming, just not as fast as we hoped.

I traded with Scott8950, waiting for our boxes to ship. He communicated clearly and was flexible in our trade. The best part though was he contacted me after I shipped my end and said he forgot to tell me about some decals missing from the box. He apologized and offered to send my kit back along with refunding me the cost to ship the kit. The decals are not important to me, the kit is, but I wanted to mention that he is a stand up guy for following up and offering to make it right. Will trade again without hesitation.

The problem with the cab from this tow truck version is the visor is molded to the cab, which is not stock. It also has the cut out in the roof that earlier versions had for a sunroof, this has a plastic piece that fills in the sunroof and serves as a mount for the air horns and marker lights. The engine bay is also very crude. As Brian mentioned, there are other cabs from MPC out there that are better representations if you insist on 1/25 scale.

I think you are correct that having some communication from vendor to customer goes a long way towards good service. With the pandemic hitting the one year mark and a resurgence in the hobby, it is safe to say many online businesses have been overwhelmed with interest and orders from around the world. I know I have spoken personally to two different resin casters who have been working much longer hours trying to keep up with the increase in size and number of orders. For one of them, they retired, started up the resin business as a means to share what they developed and it has mushroomed into a full time job, much more than they planned on. While they haven't given up, they have scaled back what they are offering and it's hampered their ability to create new stuff and lengthened the time it takes them to process and ship orders. Unlike a model kit, a resin mold has a limited life and many times they are rebuilding molds while casting simultaneously, so that contributes to the amount of time to get orders done. I remember back when I placed my first order with The Modelhaus. They stated upfront that there was a 6-8 week lead time on your order and it was processed in the order it was received, even if the parts were in stock. This allowed them to get orders done without getting behind and assured customers of consistent service. The resin caster I spoke with recently was lamenting the fact that his turnaround time on orders had grown to three weeks. I reminded him of The Modelhaus and he said he didn't want to do that to his customers as he felt that it shouldn't take as long. I hope it doesn't burn him out because his product is very nice and he has filled a niche in our hobby. Speaking for myself, I have spent more money online shopping in the last 12 months than I have in the last 5 years combined. Much of it has to do with being home all day and access to the internet, the rest of it has to do with stockpiling stuff for when I have time. I would hope that all businesses did a great job at updating customers on orders but the reality is they don't. Some are overwhelmed and trying to do so much with limited help, others just don't view it as important as the next guy. My point is that if you are ordering from someone for the first time, maybe ask the questions upfront before placing the order so you have an idea of how long before you see the order. And remember that even if this is a full time business, things happen that are unforeseen.

The number in the stash versus the number in display cases is probably 10:1. If I could focus for a solid weekend I could almost double my completed build count as I have at least 20 WIPs that are thisclose to being done!

Maybe with new owners Michaels' can improve a lot of things in their stores. I would shop for models there is they had a better selection and their prices weren't all over the place.