SfanGoch

The car modeler complains about kit inaccuracies as much as the armor modeler. Considering that the cost of an armor kit is $50+, and a car kit goes for around 16-20 bucks, that Revellogram 19-Eleventythree Fleem-mobile Hardtop kit leaves a lot more in the buyer's pocket to use for AM than does a $79.99 Dragon Tunisian Tiger I for a treadhead modeler; yet, the latter will gladly spend twice the kit price in order to get the AM parts to "get it right". Go figure.

Check out what Yaroslav, of Live Resin, does for weapons and gear. It's mindblowing. It doesn't get better than that. Still can't find even cast 1/24-25 figures and accessories, let alone 3D printed stuff, one tenth as good as what is available for 1/35. Wassup wi'dat, yo?

Nope. As Norbert explained: "Reedoak will not cast, you will get directly the 3D print as they are shown above." "I'm afraid some of the details, like microphone, wires, lines, pocket details, etc...will not survive the casting process. So it was a choice not to cast and try to keep all small details that make the difference." He also mentioned in another post that the printer is a type used to make jewelry. The tech savvy guys here can figure out the model.

First of all, Vallejo markets two different lines, Model Color and Model Air, for different applications The difference is that Model Air paints are formulated for hand painting figures and small objects and are more viscous; Model Air paints are are formulated thinner, with a finer pigment, to be airbrush ready out of the bottle. You'll get less than ideal results if you attempt to hand brush Model Air and if you attempt to airbrush Model Color. Unlike Model Master Acryl, Polly Scale or if you can get them, Revell Aqua Color, neither paint has any bite when applied to styrene and will scratch off easily from unprimed styrene. A primer coat is required to ensure that the paint stays where you applied it without lifting from the surface. You can thin either with distilled water, Testors/Vallejo acrylic thinner (in the case of the vallejo thinner, DO NOT use the milky stuff in the 17 ml bottles. That's actually an extender, which is different than a thinner.) or plain old isopropyl alcohol. Applying a gloss/semi/flat sealer coat is also a good idea, preferably one of the Model Master products because the Vallejo stuff suffers from the same permanency issues as do the paints. Interestingly, Vallejo paints adhere better to unprimed resin.

Well, my friend Mikey Yugo (He was from Yugoslavia. We couldn't pronounce his last name; so, he was known as Mikey Yugo ) owned a used Turquoise 1968 AMC Ambassador with a red interior. He repainted the car that color using a paint roller. He ended up with an interesting stucco finish.

Check the links I provided in a previous post.

If you want to paint the interiors stock, you can check OldRide or Auto Color Library to get interior color options. Embossing powder is a better true-to-scale choice than flocking powder because the particles are finer. The smaller particles give the carpeting a more realistic appearance. You can also buff the flat paints with a Q-Tip to get that nice vinyl look. If you're using flat enamels, you can use a soft bristle toothbrush to "polish" the paint to obtain a semi-gloss sheen. Use a stiffer brush to scrub the shine off the sidewalls of vinyl kit tires to get a more realistic flat rubber look.

Tamiya Weathering sets aren't powdery. They are greasy, like makeup or mascara. When applied lightly, they impart a good effect; although, just like pastels, you can't overspray them with a flat coat because they' absorb moisture from the fixative and darken, ruining the weathering effect. Also, just like pastels, they don't stand up to handling well and will lift off. MIG pigments are better for weathering because they can be washed into crevices and can be easily removed using a toothbrush. Plus, you don't need to use a clear coat to seal them.

Testors also makes Black Chrome Trim enamel paint.

You're correct, Bill. All of the other hardware can still be used even with modified leaves. The spring eyes are to be rolled by the builder. All you'd need is some 2 x .25mm (.08 x .01 inch) brass strip to make new leaves. It's thin enough to be rolled without annealing. Here's a tip: use a piece of 1/32" rod or tubing to form the eye around. You can use the same sized rod/tubing to make the shackles, U-bolts and attaching the assemblies to the spring mounts. Just heat the rod/tubing enough to anneal it so it can be bent without breaking when making U-bolts and shackles. I used .8 x 6mm (1/32 x 1/4 in.) brass round head rivets to assemble the leaves. I filed the heads flat; then I slid them into the PE nuts and soldered them. I slid the rivet/nut assembly through the leaves, from the top, clamped the leaves flat and soldered another PE nut at the bottom, then trimming the rivet end. The result is a nice, tight assembly. To adjust the spring contour, just bend the assembled spring to the desired shape. If you attache the bands correctly, the leaves will slide laterally along each other. Pretty cool and highly realistic, I have to say.

Point taken. I remeasured the Minor leaf length against the Revell Dart kit part - the kit part is 11mm longer. Oh well, scratch Mopars. I'll have to check it against other suspensions. Too bad. The set is really nice and no one else markets this type of accessory. I'll have to write the owner and ask him if he would be interested in producing generic sets with longer leaves for 1/24/125 cars. It can't hurt to ask. @ Andy: shipping is around $5.50 USD, free on orders of 50 Euro +.

Unfortunately, there aren't any U.S. shops carrying the line. I ordered direct from Minor. It was shipped on July 31 and in my paws on August 5.

The holes are center drilled. This isn't a "universal" type set. It's specifically designed for the two jeeps I mentioned. If you know the lengths of the individual leaves, I don't see any problem in trimming from either end in order to replicate the correct segment lengths on Mopars or any other leaf suspension. Once trimmed, you attach the bands to secure the leaves as is done on 1:1 springs. The parts are .25mm thick and are easy to trim.

You did ask the following: "if someone knows a source for under 50$, please post!" I obliged you by posting two links for the kit available for under $50, right? What's the beef then? We're not thin-skinned four year olds who can't take a bit of good natured ribbing, are we?

O.K., here is a source for less than $50. Have you finished ordering yet? As I mentioned before, these springs should be adaptable for just about any 1/24 or 1/25 car. I test fit them on a Revell '69 Dodge Dart GTS rear end and they fit nicely on the chassis. Here's another source. Ain't hard to find if you look.

A Spanish AM company, Minor Model, produces some really detailed AM photoetch products, mainly catering to the military modelling market. Some of the more innovative offerings are sets of workable leaf springs in 1/35 and 1/24 for a variety of wheeled vehicles. One of these is VMD24000, Workable leaf springs for WWII 1/4 ton 4x4 truck         . The set allows one to assemble complete front and rear leaf springs, with all of the required mounting hardware for the Italeri and Hasegawa 1/24 Willys MB. Looking at the assemblies, I believe that with a bit of tweaking, this set could be adapted to fit just about any 1/24 or 1/25 car with leaf spring suspension. Not bad for around 11 bucks. I know that there is a tutorial here on how to make your own; but, this set would save a lot of time.

That's not the only rebox.The Limited Edition A-4E/F Skyhawk Vietnam Scooter 1/48 is another which comes to mind. It's a repackaged $35 Hasegawa kit with a decal sheet, one PE fret and a resin ejection seat being sold for ninety bucks. Nice kit but the extra tchotchke thrown in don't merit the cost. There are other such examples; but, this conversation is digressing from the OT. Sub-par was too strong a critique. What I was getting at is some companies do repackage other manufacturers' products, throw in a few extra bits and pieces, then expect a potential customer to fork over a premium price for what amounts to nothing. I liked what Accurate Miniatures did with their kits, especially the Corvette GS. No resin; but, they did provide two pretty decent PE frets which were made by, heh, Eduard. If the major players in the model auto manufacturing arena would add some PE to dress up the kits in the same way armor kit makers do, it wouldn't be a bad thing. It'd raise the price some; but, it would still be a good deal. Besides, if one shops around, you can always find some online shop selling car kits anywhere from 10-30% below MSRP.

No deal like that at the Brooklyn store. The Camaro is available for 22 bucks.

Eduard has reboxed a few kits from others, but the bulk of their models are original to Eduard and they tend to be very high quality, particularly those from the past decade. I've not seen anyone refer to an Eduard kit as "sub par". You must've missed Eduard's Profi PACK straight re-box of the Academy Kingtiger Last Production. The Academy kit qualifies as sub-par when compared with the Dragon KTs. Check out the armor modelling forums for reviews and comments on this one. Eduard doesn't even provide additional PE or resin parts and the "Octopus" camo ring decal sheet from the original Academy 13229 is not included. This re-box costs $75, 20-35 bucks more than the original offering. More Profit than Profi.

Something similar: B&G 1/8 car model kit Shelby Cobra 427 1965 (red) 3500 D-Mark. That's more than ten times what I paid for my 1972 Plymouth Valiant. At least this one comes with an engine. The Slant 6 in the Valiant dropped out on the Northern State Parkway.

No idea, as I've never seen that kit, but hard to imagine it could be much nicer than this one--that's how good it is. It really makes the old MPC Jeep (which I HAVE built) look like a toy. Excellent and clean build, Snake. No overdone weathering and the OD paint job is perfect. I just started working on the Hasegawa MB. Jim Banner, owner of Large Scale Armory, sent the Hasegawa MB and four of his 1/24 AM sets to build up and review. BTW, the accessories can be used on the Italeri kit as well. Both the Italeri and Hasegawa kits build up nicely. The problem with both are the wheels, especially the sink marks around the mounting bolt details on the Italeri kit. The Hasegawa kit has separate rims; but, the detail is a bit soft.

Skill Levels indicate the ease of construction/complexity of a particular kit. That said, that also would mean a corresponding increase in parts count as the Skill Level increases. Some manufacturers, like Dragon, don't use Skill Levels as a barometer of difficulty. The amount of parts mentioned on the box lid is a good clue to what the expected frustration factor will be. One thing for sure, you won't see a 1/25 1965 Pontiac GTO with a 957 part count anytime soon. It'd be nice, though.

You know what P.T. Barnum said.........

The Eduard sets are re-boxed kits from other manufacturers like Academy with, as you pointed out, a few resin parts and usually PE thrown in. For this, you pay what I would consider too much money for what are essentially sub par models to begin with. I primarily build military subjects. A Voyager TUSK II conversion set for the Dragon 3536 M1A2 Abrams SEP set me back 128 bucks. Toss in a set of Bronco T158 Bigfoot tracks to replace the gawdawful DS Tracks included with the kit and you're already looking at way over two bills including the kit itself. To be honest, It'd be nice if car kits were available with the works included and I'd pay the extra cash for that.

Have you checked out the prices for 3D printed parts? You won't be cutting costs that way. The cost per part goes up if you choose a better finish quality and type of material.