robertw

I am always amazed when someone can see two or more kits and visualize how well they would fit together to create something totally new and to do what you have done and create something that really exists is even more impressive. The only Callaway we Vette fans have ever had was the Monogram speedster kit so it would be great to have a second one, ie please talk to a caster about making more of them (that makes three votes). I'll be following your build till the end. rob

I'm always impressed by your work Ira. Your creative vision of what you want and your ability to turn it into reality is impressive. I'm certain that we all look forward to where you'll take us in 2015. rob

I bought lots of Letrast dry transfer lettering back in their day. They were very useful to aircraft modellers. As you say computers have ended their era, unfortunately.

Blast! The auction has ended. If I'd only have known about it it time I'd have borrowed enough money, repayable over my next thousand life times and bought it. LOL

After buying the Revell coupe a while back I had no problem convincing myself to buy the wagon, in fact two. Have yet to build either but do have a couple of the old early 90's curbside kits built and on the shelf. The Trabant is just one of those cars that is so terrible that it's cute. I also remember them tooling around East Germany just after the Wall came down, usually swathed in a cloud of oil smoke or stopped on the side of the highway. They were usually stopped because of a flat which explains why most carried several spares on the roof rack.

I enjoy building these old Monogram classic kits but have never thought of doing one in gold but this colour certainly works on this build, I may have to rethrink colour choice on a future build. Well done.

Fabulous photographs and the models ain't bad either. The better the photo the harder it is hide any mistakes and I don't see any mistakes. Really drawn to your Lowry Studebaker since my first car was a '54 Stude in a similar colour.

I like your idea of taking curbside promos and detailing them to model standards. It's a great way for modellers who may not enjoy painting bodies or detailing engines and chassis to create a collection. I've used promos on a number of occasions but usually repaint them because I was unwilling to live with mold lines. Until you look very close at your models they look just like a very well built kit so keep up the good work.

Quite a years worth! I'm retired and I couldn't imagine getting this many projects finished in a year. I really liked your Back to the Future Delorean. I looked at your 'Started with a Kiss' Futura with great interest having built the same kit in this color scheme a couple of years back. I've seen very few builds of this car and having struggled with mine I now know why. I wish Polar Lights would change their Batmobile car and release it as the Futura which remains an iconic concept car even decades after it was first shown. I have another of these Revell kits in the stash and would like to build the actural concept car at some time in the future, after I've forgotten the problems I had building the Kiss car. Well done on all your work this year.

Built that AMT Camaro kit a few years ago, it really is a dog of a kit. I like the rust effects on your Chev.

This was the AMT Prestige kit, they both came out in 1990.

They produced kits from 1967 until 2000, mostly military although they also did a number of European cars in 1/24 but also did some large scale bikes and aircraft cockpits. Most of their aircraft were in 1/72 or 1/48 and military in 1/72 & 1/35. In most cases their kits were fairly good but at times they also issued kits from other companies molds. They were also the first model company to produce their own aftermarket decal sheets. Many of their molds went to other companies after they shut down. For anyone with an interest in model history a history of the company was released earlier this year "1967-2000 The Story of ESCI Kits"

The August 2009 issue of Collectible Automobile has a good article on Trabants including a Universal that had a roof rack with a tall A frame tent built onto it. The caption claimed it was a popular accessory. This would make an interesting modification for the kit.

Fabulous supercar and an excellent build but why couldn't Jaguar have designed a set of more attractive wheels. Have the kit in my stash, you're build may inspire me to take a close look at mine. rob

I'm glad to see that someone else has built one of these Monogram classics. For their time they were very good kits and with a little extra effort still stand up well today. Your choice of colour is very appropriate for both this car and its era. Well done. rob w

I am impressed. I started work on the same kit when it was recently reissued and quickly got frustrated so back in the box it went. Maybe your sucessful build will inspire me to dig mine out during the long winter ahead. I also like that you've gone to the extra work of building a display base for it, well done. rob

Beautiful builds of two uncommon kits. They were very nicely detailed kits but unfortunately released into a population of modellers where 1/25 scale is the king. I would think that many European modellers hunted these kits down where 1/43 scale is a lot more popular.

Interesting build of a seldom seen kit. I just finished the same kit last month but built mine as the 1989 Special Edition. The year before I'd built the Fujimi kit of the 3rd generation MR-2 so wanted a companion kit. rob w

Revell AG have also released this kit as the Universal 601 which was Trabant's idea of a station wagon, both are cool kits and are in my stash for future builds. I built a couple of Revell's curbside version of this car back in the early 90's after a trip to East Germany a few months after the wall came down. As a recall most of the 601's were a mustard color, off white or light blue and it was not uncommon to see bodies sitting in back yards stripped for parts. I look forward to watching your build of this kit. rob

One of the English aircraft modelling mags has a monthly feature on a subscrption build of a 1/12 scale Spitfire. Most of the model is made of balsa. By the end of your 32 month subscription you will have laid out nearly 900 pounds which makes it a pricey model.

Looks like it could be a car out of a Batman movie. Good job. rob

I do what you do on most kits that I buy but cut the bottom groove on only three sides (one long side and two end sides). The bottom cellephane is then tucked up the side of the box. This helps hold the top celephane on and if in the future I wanted to reseal the box I could do it with Scotch tape.

As I recall this one was driven out of the museum once it was lifted out of the hole so the damage wasn't too great. The '62 would also have been easily repaired. The two other very significant cars that should be restored was the 1,000,000 Corvette and the black ZR-1 Spyder. The last thing I heard was that part of the hole would be filled and part left and some of the most severely damaged cars displayed as they were brought up because so many people were interested in seeing the disaster. I wonder if the museum has changed their mind. rob

I was sure that duct tape would hold it down.