Justin Porter

I really am super happy the 500 is back. It's such a happy little kit and packs a good amount of detail into not a lot of styrene.

Right now, we have nothing but speculation for what the new Jo-Han intends to do. You feel that 3D resin would be too high a customer price point for reasonably detailed kits of niche subjects. I disagree because clearly the market exists otherwise we would not see the explosion of 3D printed resin kits ranging generally from $50 to $100. Iceman, for instance, is currently rolling out a Jeep Cherokee to an eager audience. Kits of this nature suit the more esoteric builders who seek them out. An perfect case study in niche market pricing is the MSRP on the Salvinos/WMMC tie-up that produced their excellent Tour-type modified kits. These are fantastic kits that have been strong sellers thanks to their detail and their commitment to serving a group of builders - specifically short track race car builders - that have been effectively ignored by the plastic kit manufacturers ever since the last time Revell took their World of Outlaws winged sprint car off the market. The last new pavement specific kit in that genre? The 1980's tooled Revell ASA Camaros and Thunderbirds! However, the trade-off for builders has been that the modifieds carry $40+ price tags, putting them more in line with premium race car kits like those from manufacturers like NuNu or Belkits than your classic department store shelf fodder. You keep coming back to "cloning" as if all that any builder wants is a chance to build Jo-han's PATHETIC old AMC kits again. As if the modern auto builder wants seats that are molded into the interior bucket, scale three inch holes in the side of the engine block, zero core support detail, chrome headlights, mile thick one-piece glass, molded in exhaust with solid tips, molded in license plates that announce the car's year of manufacture, and on down the list. Yes, Round 2 is currently - in most cases - eliminating these kit design travesties to the best of their ability but they exist in droves in Jo-han's tooling. Jo-han - for reasons that continue to escape me to this very day - apparently was a byword for quality in the 1960's. If they are to be a byword for quality in 2024, they cannot expect to do so with the obsolete wreckage of the past. I say if this new Jo-han is starting from scratch, then let's REALLY start from scratch and 3D printed resin is the fastest, least risky method to do so compared to tooling for styrene production.

If I were to have a realistic hope, it would be that this "new" Johan would simply concentrate on new-design 3D resin kits of subjects that would be known to be in classic Johan's wheelhouse. If we look at Javelins or Comets or Toronados along the lines of the Iceman Vector W8 or the USCP Citroen SM, granted with corresponding price tags, that would be a good way to bring the Johan name into the 21st century rather than attempting to be another Round 2.

It's really fun to see just how much this Monogram classic can be improved.

Just received two sets from Jason. One for my California and one ear-marked for my Fujimi 250GTO build. They 100% live up to expectations. Positively gorgeous wheels and tires.

That's really such a great result. The finished model almost hides the sheer amount of work it took to get here from there.

This is one of the biggest reasons I can't imagine the '58 Plymouth honestly getting retooled. It sells incredibly well as-is to casual builders who just want to build "Christine" and wouldn't be aware of the kit's many flaws. I can genuinely say from behind the counter that it's a routine purchase in my shop for first-time modelers because of the movie tie in as opposed to any desire to build an accurate 1950's Chrysler product.

The biggest issue I have with selling the Atlantis kits in my shop - frankly - is the box art. The reissued Tom Daniels kits (Groovy Grader, Troublemaker, Unreal Roller) have done just fine because they're instantly recognizable as their Monogram origins regardless of color scheme. The Mooneyes dragster and the Fiat have proven slower sellers and I think that's because they're a bit further divorced from their Revell origins. The "totally not Miss Deal" reissue of the Miss Deal Studebaker has done better, but it will remain to be seen how some of the parts pack street rods will do. The anomalies are the Jungle Jim Camaro funny car - which I'm sure has sold well on the strength of subject matter despite the egregiously underwhelming kit inside - and the '57 Chevy which seems to sell well simply because it's a relatively inexpensive '57 Chevy kit.

Definitely enjoying seeing this and watching to get ideas for my own 250GTO build.

They ought to move pretty swiftly from most local shops. We just got in our supply this past week at my shop and already their page on my shop's site has had big traffic numbers.

Very much so. Because of my own interest in slot car racing, I specifically wanted to build the Auto World #54 more even than Denny and Bruce's high wing championship cars. And the progress has continued.

I imagine the '71 Hemi Charger will sell a TON better without the very 1999 custom wheels and the weirdly sagging rear end on the box art model.

I'm actually quite pleased with what I'm seeing. This looks like it ought to make a LOT of Chrysler muscle modelers happy. There seem to be a fair number of changes that are being made with an eye towards buildability and accuracy and that's always good in my book.

Great build of a truly fun Tamiya kit.

I had to place my Italeri 250GT California project on hold while waiting on some parts, so in the mean time I picked up another long term project to work on bringing it to its completion. This is the Accurate Miniatures 1/24 McLaren M8B Can-Am racer, specifically in the livery of Oscar Koveleski and Tony Adamowicz from 1971. It's an infamous kit, beautifully detailed but tricky to assemble. My plan is to build it as a finished chassis with the bodywork on stands next to the chassis to show off everything inside.

That's definitely my plan. I had seen another builder use the wire wheels by Fujimi from the 365GTB/4 Daytona kit and was considering that or may end up using 3D printed wires.

Thank you so much! I've placed a call and hopefully I hear back. It would be fantastic to get to add the interior set to this build.

That actually gives me a lot of optimism to hear. I did find someone selling the seats on Shapeways but that doesn't solve the dash or the door cards. I know that RMCoM is notoriously "old school" so how would you recommend contacting them?

Awesome to see you give this kit a little extra attention. I still feel it's one of the best in the whole of the Tamiya classic sports car range.

Was so unhappy with my one Johan - the Drag On Lady AMX - that it became a slot car for drag racing.

Progress is a bit slower going on the California. Partially down to searching for replacement parts - good lord are the seats just absolutely TERRIBLE in this kit - and partially down to preparations at the shop for the biggest show of the year in our area. Still, a little bit of time with some fine solder and some yellow paint and now the V12 is wired.

The Italeri depiction of the Colombo V12 is probably what I would call "reasonable" given the tooling limitations of the time. It definitely builds nicely without any major fuss. I used AK Xtreme Metal Duraluminum as the base color with a light wash for highlighting. The carbs aren't especially great, but they're really just plinths for the scoop ducting which will need some EPM's filled to be useable. A set of turned aluminum intake stacks are 100% a must though because the kit chromed pieces just don't do the trick.

Well, I couldn't resist starting this one. I plan on keeping a fairly close rein on how wild I get with this one with a focus primarily on fixing some of the kit's more obvious weak points without getting too bogged down. I started with assembling the base engine and drilling both the heads and the distributors to accept plug leads. I will be using fine solder for the plug leads in order to accommodate the wire conduit used on the Ferrari Colombo V12's.

Very happy to see the 288GTO all together. Definitely not an easy kit at all.

Setting aside the "cloned" idiocy, let's look at the Johan tooling list and see what we have. Firstly, let's set aside the Johan funny cars. Revell rolled out a pair of the most accurate and most nicely engineered vintage funny car kits ever tooled in their Chi-Town Hustler/Hawaiian pair of Chargers and they were considered sales bombs. As such, the likelihood of new funny car tooling is especially low and probably industry wide. Secondly, the promo based tooling. Industry logic will hold that the four doors are best left to the resin throwers, so that leaves the two doors. There's certainly some interesting material there. The Studebaker Larks, the '56 Pontiacs, the Dodge Phoenix, etc. However, there's really only one company tooling up 1950's American cars and that's Moebius. Moebius themselves have just come through an acquisition - becoming part of the Pegasus Hobbies brand - and are heavily focused on 60's production based drag cars and 60's and 70's pickups which have proven most lucrative for them. So, lastly, we have to look at Johan's regular kit line and determine what 1960's muscle cars they produced that would have the most general appeal. If I were to point to three Johan subject that have the most potential for newly tooled kits, it would be the following. 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado - the Toronado is a combination of a technical curiosity and a grand American classic. Further, Jay Leno's own custom Toronado has done a good job casting the car into the modern public spotlight. Further, the outcries about the reissued MPC Californian point to there being at least some demand among older builders for a stock Toronado. 1964 Cadillac Coupe De Ville - full size American cars generally do quite well as tooling showcases and the Hasegawa curbside Cadillac maintains solid sales despite its archaic origins. The big Cadillac also has maintained a strong presence in the lowrider, custom, and even pro touring scenes given how appropriate the car looks slammed to the pavement. Further, Revell's own Custom Cadillac Lowrider - which has no replica stock pretensions - remains an excellent seller well after its introduction. 1971 AMC Javelin/AMX - of all of the Johan AMC's, the most potential lies in the '71. Drag racing, road racing, police pursuit, iconic modern pro tourers, there's plenty to justify all-new tooling of this famous love it/hate it pony car. Besides that, this has proven a surprisingly good year for love it/hate it pony cars when it comes to model kit sales.