Xingu

This is what happens when you do not order the paint for your other models in time, you start another one. This will be my first Tamiya kit. While it is not a difficult or highly detailed kit, I have been impressed with the fit and overall quality. Painted most small parts last night and started assembling the suspension earlier today. I have a friend that owns a custom car shop and he lets me go thru his left over paints. I brought home some HOK silver and Kandy Apple Red last week. I had heard and experienced that different paints spray differently, so I wanted to try out the HOK paint. I am pleased at how easily the process went. Primed the parts with Tamiya Fine Surface Primer and then sprayed the silver until I got complete coverage. After a few hours I went back and sprayed the Kandy Apple Red. Hard to see the metallic in the photos, but I think it came out awesome. I think it will look even better once it gets cleared. I am really glad that I finally decided to try airbrushing. I feel I have so much more control when painting.

Good looking kid there Joe. I think there were 500 people in my graduating class.

Small turbo diesel. Not knowledgeable enough to point you to any kits that would have one though.

Looking forward to see this one finished. My first car was a '79 Rally Nova. It was the brown and tan version. Someone had repainted it a darker brown.

I have come back and looked at this several times. It is a beautiful model.

Well executed and it the right color.

It should have been on the website. It is also in the pinned aftermarket vendor topic. replmincomd@aol.com

Email Norm and ask for a price sheet. They are listed there.

I had a lot of money tied up in 1/8 scale on-road RC gas cars. Was a lot of fun though. Once you build up a small stash of kits and get some paint and supplies, model building can keep you busy for years. Initial cost is high, but long term it isn't so bad.

I like the first version of the Ute. I could see myself driving around town it.

The area where the trim is, is still fairly smooth. The BMF should burnish down well enough. If it does not work well, I will have learned another lesson.

I am just going to use the decals in the kit.

There are companies out there that make scale reproductions of current aftermarket street and strip automatic shifters. If that is what you are looking for. I remember seeing 3 or 4 different styles recently, but can't remember the company. Sorry. Edit: Calnaga has the B&M Pro Stick listed on their site.

Yeah, in most of the reference photos I have seen (which don't show the foils very well) it looked like the vinyl ran down behind them. Was planning on foiling them. They always did seem like an odd engineering add-on.

Vitamin C

Here is my next build in a long line of cheap and easily had kits that everyone has built or seen a dozen times. This will be box stock as it is basically a practice build to hone my building skills. While waiting for paint to come in on my other builds, I decided I would start up what should be a fairly quick and simple build. I have a few kits that I bought that were open and/or started, this is one of those kits. It is the Monogram 1970 Plymouth Superbird molded in blue and box is dated 1991. Ironically, after I started it, I changed my mind on the color and am now waiting for paint to finish this one as well. Went with white/black interior so that some of the details will show. Need to touch up a few things, but overall I am happy how it turned out. Decided to mask and spray the vinyl top today. Used Testors flat black rattlecan from about 18" away. I think it came out well.

The problem with that is it seems like your customers don't know they aren't getting the correct color until it arrives at their door. Some will overlook the issue and accept the free gifts. I feel you are going to be paying for a fair amount of free return shipping though. You are going to offer free return shipping for those that do not want to keep the grips, correct? Not sure the quantities we are talking about here, so it might not be that much money. Stories such as this one are why I usually do not pre-order (finance) any manufactured goods. I would have personally waited until the product hit the market so i could get my hands on them. A quick look at your website didn't show anything for my Sig P220.

Nice mashup. What color paint is that?

The funny thing is, we can actually see the difference in the many shades when we use them on our models.

Many folks use spray cans from the auto supply or big box stores. The small bottles of paint (like Testors enamel or Model Master acrylic) you use for small detail work will last a long time. Buy good paint brushes and make sure you clean them after each use and they will last a long time. You can make your own sanding sticks using bulk sandpaper from auto supply or big box stores which will save you a lot of money. The first few models you build will be more expensive than the next few, as long as you can use what you already bought.

My first car as teenager was ALMOST a '76 Monza with a fiberglass Trans-Am kit bolted on. My parents wouldn't let me get it. These are very cool looking cars. Can't wait to see these kits built.

Do manufacturers post production numbers? Probably not. I would really like to see how many of each kit is sold. Then we can accurately argue/predict the trends in the modeling industry. I am not as old as some of the others here. I think I could build for another 20-30 years. I sure would like the industry to keep moving forward by providing new kits (of new and older cars) and not just reissues of older models, that I may or may not already have. I need the kids and younger adults to continue buying products and showing interest in the hobby to make my selfish needs become a reality.

Thanks for sharing these.

More great cars. I was shocked (and somewhat satisfied) to see the blue Pontiac still had a six-cylinder under the hood.

At one point I had fairly large collections of road maps and oil cans/bottles. Have very few left. Will try to get some photos of them the next time they surface during a room cleaning. I know what room they are in, but not which boxes.