peteski

Dale is not very responsive via email - call him for info.

Sounds like freehand painting the "glass", not parts fitment, was the main issue. I have feeling that if the window masks were included in this kit, the build description would be more positive. Personally, while I have been known to brush-paint some small parts, I never attempt anything like what Conrad did. I mask and airbrush pretty much everything.

Wow, it's been a wile since you worked on this baby! I'm curious why didn't you just foil-cast the emblems/logos instead of yanking them out, leaving holes the body? EDIT: I went back and read some earlier posts, so I know your reasons. When I built mine, I masked the "bertone" logos before painting the body. Then after the body color was applied, I removed the masking and painted the bare plastic logos. That way there was no paint buildup on the lettering. I seem to recall that I then dry-brushed the scripts on the rear panel. Nowadays I would scan the rear panel then trace the scripts in Corel Draw and print black decals to cover the raised lettering.

Yes, the model looks pretty good. As for masking windows, I thought that kit (and many other Tamiya kits) includes masks for the glass to make painting easier.

Ok, I'll bite too. My large scale Hemi. And on the opposite end of the scale spectrum is one of my small engines. 1:43 scale 289 Ford engine in a Cobra. One thing I should have done different would be to reshape the bottom of the distributor (it was molded together with the intake manifold). It doesn't look bad viewed in-person when the car body ins installed, but it does pop put in s closeup shot like this.

I agree with Bill - beautiful model John! As for the convertible top, the windows look flush because the entire top is molded out of clear plastic. You mask the windows and paint the fabric areas. Tamiya convertibles also utilize the same design of using clear plastic for the roof. Clever!

I'm wondering if the different thermal expansion rates of styrene and aluminum will cause any problems. I suspect it would not be a problem with small pieces, but the roof is rather large.

Well, they make other wire wheel and tyre sets where the tyre is printed as a separate item. I wish they did the same for the Jaguar wheels. I send my wheels to be vacuum metalized (I don't spray paint them), and I have not problem using hard resin wheels.

I believe that Finescale metal kits are cast out of pewter, which is a very soft metal which can be carved/trimmed with a knife. White metal (Zamak is one of its trade names) is a zinc and aluminum based alloy, which is much harder than pewter. It is the same metal diecast model companies use for their finished models. Yes, you will needed to use files and rotary tools like Proxxon or Dremel when working on Zamak. And the original Hubley model kits were also made of Zamak.

I like that one too. Yes it is weird, but good. Came out in the '80s and I bought the CD - still have it and you just reminded me to listen to it again. One of not many albums where I like every song.

I also bought couple sets last week. One thing that I noticed in the photos in the eBay listing is that the offset could be more accurate. What I mean is that the Jaguar XK-E wheel hubs stick out of the wheel further than what the 3D printed wheels depict. But maybe it is just the photos. One thing for sure is that the spokes look amazing!

Yup. That's where I bought mine.

Alclad II steel or stainless steel look pretty good as cast iron color to me. I used one of those colors (don't remember which) on this bike's rotor.

That is some impressive modeling! I'm curious about that Volvo model. Who makes that kit? There aren't many models of Volvos available as kits.

My 2005 Scion xB (aka. Toyota bB) or "the box" or "toaster" was something different among its contemporary run-of-the mill vehicles. It would still fit that description today. Whether it was considered attractive or not, that is another subject, but its looks grew on me. I didnt' see it as ugly - just different. And like the GEO Metro, in a cute sort of a way. My current 2019 Kia Soul also fits that category. Different, but in a cute sort of a way. If I was driving in the '70s, I would have enjoyed owing AMC Gremlin or Pacer (just the looks only, not for reliability).

You're right. I do remember a Ford Probe being a Mazda derivative, AMC Eagle and Dodge Stealth being Mitsubishis, I think Dodge Rampage was also Mitsubishi based. Then of course we go back to the '70s. Didn't GM sell Opel-based cars badged as American brands? There is no such thing as brand identity. I knew GEO was not actually made by GM, but I didn't know it was Toyota. I thought it was some Korean or Chinese made vehicle. And to all who complain about the Hornet looking crappy, remember that it is actually an Alfa-Romeo and Fiat likely had a hand in its design.

Yes, the negative comments here are very likely from older folks who remember the original AMC Hornet (which was not all that hot either). We are not the car maker's target audience. Millennials and Gen-Z kids will not know or care about the Hornet's name history, or that it is just a rebadged vehicle. That is assuming that they have driver's license or even want to buy and own a car. Many don't even want to drive, and consider driving a chore, not a fun activity. Why drive when Uber or lift can get them where they want to go. Those are as close as their smart phone app. And yes, like pretty much all the automobiles made today, it is a rebadged Alfa-Romeo, which in itself is under Fiat's control. In today world, individual car companies pretty much don't really exist. Most (including exotic brands) have been absorbed by the giant car manufacturers. Badge engineering, where the same car (with minor visual or mechanical changes) is sold under many names seems to have originated in USA in mid 20th Century (or even earlier) and it is rampant in today's world. Unfortunate, but true. Heck, we even have competing car manufacturers making cars for another. Like Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe as one example. I still don't know how that one made sense for GM to buy cars from Toyota, since they are rivals. Whatever it is, it's likely done to maximize profits.

Saw a commercial on TV for a new Hornet. The showed a swarm of them "flying" around. I guess since AMC was originally absorbed by Chrysler, they have right to that name.

Very well done! Even better that it depicts a vehicle you owned.

Yes they did (I have the kit). The 1:32 version looks really nice. It is such an oddball vehicle and I like oddballs.

While not kits, there are plenty of 1:43 nice Saab diecasts out there. Try https://duckduckgo.com/?q=neo+1%3A34+saab&t=h_&iax=images&ia=images

Those ARII tire/wheel sets show up fairly regularly on eBay (and my automatic search still works for them), and they usually sell for reasonable prices. I already have my stash, but it took few years. They are very nice rubber BFG tires with realistic tread pattern. The wheels are pretty good too. They are 1:24 scale but that is not really big deal for wheels or tires. They just represent slightly bigger wheels in 1:25 scale.

I also own the very cool Sinclair Research microvision portable TV set MTV1. Unfortunately it no longer works since the TV transmission standards changed from NTSC to DTV. It was actually capable of displaying TV standards worldwide. Speaking of Sinclair, my first personal computer was Sinclair ZX81 I bought as a kit and assembled it myself. Still have it (but have not powered it up for years). It came with 1k (yes 1024 bytes) of RAM. It used a TV set as its monitor and cassette tape player to store or load programs.

How about tractor-feed continuous greenbar computer paper and dot-matrix printers? As for debugging, programs were much, much simpler than anything we have today. Complex programs had thousands of lines of code, vs. what, millions of lines of code in today's code? The processor clocks were in low MHz range, not at what they run today. Debugging was also simpler (but still a pain).

The price was actually not that much more than contemporary gaming systems. I bought mine at Sears, and the box still has the original price tag of $199.79. It looks like a miniature arcade video game. Yes, Vectrex graphics are vector-based, and black/white. The graphics were smooth and movements were very fluid, unlike the low-res choppy graphics of other game consoles (like Atari 2600). Basically it was vector graphics. Arcade games like Asteroids, Armor Attack, or Battlezone also used that type of graphics. Vectrex also has an analog joystick instead of the switch-based joysticks on other systems. And yes, each game had a color overlay placed in front of the screen to enhance the gaming experience. It is a unique gaming system. It also had a line of accessories such as a 3D goggles (which were nto all that good), and a light pen. It was also one of the first systems that attempted primitive speech synthesis in one of the games. There is actually an active Vectrex community out there, with many home-brewed games being produced and online forum (and probably a FB page). I have not done anything with mine for few years, but in the past I was even involved in making reproduction overlays for it.