Justin Porter

Add me to the list that's curious how you'll bring this one back.

Very neat to see a 1/43rd scale muscle build like this. Going to be very curious to see how it turns out!

A quick update on the Impala as it is dangerously close to finished! This is sort of a personal "greatest hits" post of various details I have finished up on the build that are making me happy. The core support detail on this kit is genuinely something Revell should still be proud of. There's actually an AC condenser in place to go along with the radiator. An unfortunate thing was that I had to chisel away all of the molded-in-place fan shroud on the radiator to make way for the electric fan from a Revell '41 Willys Street Rod kit. The engine is 100% wrapped up. I used one of the pre-drilled distributors from Iceman Collections in place of the kit distributor and I am very happy with the results. I opted to go with an aluminum base/brown cap scheme on the distributor to keep with the "basic aftermarket improvements" theme. Also from Iceman are the lovely 3D printed brakes. A bit of AK Interactive Xtreme Metal Polished Aluminum and Tamiya X32 Titanium Gold mean that they look show car sharp. The firewall was another nicely done bit of this kit with the HVAC unit on the passenger side. Picking out the wiring harness in rubber black gives it enough "it's there" highlighting without making it into a cartoon. The brake booster is AK Pale Burnt Metal and the master cylinder is Mr Color C61 Burnt Iron, both of which are favorite paints of mine to use. Finally the body has its glass and - against my usual practice - I decided to go the Bare Metal Foil route for the window trim. Just to see if I still could. I'm happy to say I still feel comfortable using foil and chrome does pop against the red.

Count me in as another person seeing the plug boots and thrilled!

Firstly, thank you incredibly much for the insight on costs. I'm actually glad to hear that tooling costs are considerably less than as reported. Without delving too much into trade secrets, could you offer some comparison as to where Round 2 has made the most ground in conserving costs? The article points that Accurate Miniatures specifically chose to tool in a highly wear resistant material - copper barilium - which I imagine partially explains their higher cost.

That's positively fantastic to see!

Steering attention BACK to the actual topic here, let's talk about what Johan - the actual currently existing Johan - has been attempting to do and that is joining the 3D printed resin kit marketplace. They announced this project in November of 2022 which means we're closing in on a year since the announcement. In that time, Iceman Collections has released their Vector W8, USCP has released their Citroen SM, BMW E39 M5, and Porsche 550 Spyder, and DiOlex production has released their 1971 Ford Maverick. Arguably smaller companies with less industry contacts and resources and CERTAINLY with less clout and nostalgia than the much ballyhooed Johan have succeeded in bringing competing products to market AND with ever decreasing prices and improving rates of production. This is where the skepticism about Okay comes from among people who aren't viewing those five letters with rose colored glassed so heavily tinted they might as well be opaque.

https://modelairplanemaker.com/2019/06/26/the-expensive-model-kit-myth/ Fun fact, you can get the $200,000 number from readily available first hand sources such as this article which cites an Accurate Miniatures representative stating that they were spending 150-200k per brand new tool on 1/48th scale aircraft in 2007. Corrected for inflation to 2023 dollars, the low end of that - $150,000 - works out to $227,521 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Now, granted, a top-line 1/48th scale aircraft kit will have a significantly higher parts count than a Round 2 Craftsman Plus kit, but at the same time aircraft kits typically have much smaller clear parts trees - with large portions of the clear parts anticipated to be painted - and generally have no need to make considerations for the chroming process. At the end of the day, it's not at all hard to see Round 2 spending at least that much for reproducing old kits ESPECIALLY when you consider that the initial scan of the old kit only creates a rough 3D CAD file that still requires post-processing which can eat up months of work.

An E-Type engine block is typically painted a more gray color as opposed to a straight black. I have found that Vallejo Model Air "Engine Grey" #71048 is a good match for this color.

To be frank, I honestly didn't bother ordering in the 2022 reissue with the yellow boxart - #1262 - because at that point I still had the #1187 Bond licensed kit on my shelf and the MSRP from #1187 to #1262 jumped from $31.95 to $36.95 making stocking it kind of unjustifiable in my eyes. I didn't have any over-the-counter or mail order requests for #1262 either. Given that the all-new Revell kit has a lower MSRP than #1262, I can't foresee putting it on my shelves in the future either. Granted, I'm a data point of one as far as hobby shop sales are concerned, but that was my experience with in production '71 Mustang kits from 2020 to the present day.

So, let us break down a few things that you need to not ignore. 1 - Revell is an international company. Not commanding the USA because Round 2 is pumping out reissues isn't as big a loss to them because they're much bigger in the bigger modeling markets of Europe, South America, and the Far East. 2 - The Bond License. It doesn't matter if Revell USA has tepid sales of the Boss 351 (which it hasn't. They're flying off my shelves) because Revell is going to sell a bunch of "Diamonds Are Forever" Mustangs in the UK. The international Bond license is so valuable to Revell that they have tooled a 100% new Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5. 3 - The Revell of NOW isn't the Revell of ten years ago. Revell under Quantum is a different company from Revell under Hobbico. It has different priorities - such as re-energizing its stagnant 1/48th and 1/32nd scale aircraft ranges, becoming less reliant on reboxed ICM tooling, and making its line of paints and glues more of a global household name instead of merely a European one - and different processes from Revell under Hobbico. Why would it WANT to divert funding from new projects that suit its current business model to address issues with products that are already selling well in secondary markets? 4 - Market Share. As a business, Revell does understand that every dollar that buys a competitors product is one they didn't get. 100% of the '71 through '73 Mustang kit sales belonged to Round 2. Now they belong to Revell because no one is walking into my shop asking for the AMT or MPC kits. Revell has taken that piece of the market, and if Round 2 wants it back they need to come up with a better and/or cheaper product than Revell did. We as builders ultimately win when companies compete for market share because they push each other to do better.

The majority of the Revell notchbacks that I've sold have been specifically the drag version - the stock/pursuit version of the kit was a shelf queen - and have by and large gone either to casual builders who just want to build a drag racing Mustang like they see week in, week out at local tracks like Norwalk and Dragway 42 OR they've gone to slot car drag racers who churn out builds of the kit by the dozens because it's both a style drag racers like and it's a relatively light body which is good for racing. It's a top ten seller in my shop, and I genuinely cannot state that in all the years I've carried the kit I've ever sold one to someone I've known as a serious replica stock builder.

Between the color and the detail I think this will be a really standout build.

A quick check of a PDF of the most recent reissue of the AMT/MPC '71 Mustang shows that they didn't even bother with representing the turn signal stalk in the kit. So there's your choice. Slightly thick or completely absent.

Secret agenda? Worried readily available reissues would cause Johan kit collections to depreciate? My guy, Occam's Razor. If Moebius fulfilled my wish and kitted a run of AMX's with interiors, grilles, and graphic treatments for '68 through '70 plus a Super Stock release then any of the godawful Johan kits would be rendered nearly 100% worthless. The reason I don't want Johan kits cloned is the same reason I don't want AMT kits or MPC kits cloned. It's the same reason I'm glad Aoshima kitted their AE86 Trueno and Hasegawa kitted their AW11 Toyota MR2. The old kits were AWFUL and need replaced by MODERN kits. No one with the Eduard 1/72nd scale Fw190 in their hand finds themselves pining for Frog or Matchbox. The same SHOULD hold true for car modeling. That said, I do fully understand Steve G's position. He has a fixed budget and a need to get product out the door. I'm not personally a fan of the shortcut Round 2 is opting for, but it's being done with transparency and with a specific audience in mind that I acknowledge I personally am not a part of.

Keeping up the progress with the '65 Impala. I finished wet sanding and polishing the body. You know the paint is right when you can read the paint IN the paint. I also wrapped up the chassis and was able to mock up the ride height. The wheels are being taken from the Goodguys release of the Revell '37 Ford Coupe and I think they really suit the style I'm going for.

You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. As Rex explains in his post, the BULK of AMT/MPC kits are just flat obsolete. Without significant work, they simply don't build into convincing, accurate, realistic miniatures of 1/1 scale cars. Are you really willing to sit there and say that the MPC '69 Camaro is a good reason to not have the Revell? To say that the AMT '64 Impala is somehow better than Revell's? That we should all be stuck with the horror show of the "Old Pro" until the end of time instead of Revell's lovely Nova? In the military kit world, kits get superseded all the time. Kit technology and design improves and popular subjects get the "latest and greatest" treatment first in order to actually recoup the investment in new tech and processes. That's how it's SUPPOSED to be. Only in automotive modeling - and most specifically only in American domestic classic automotive modeling - do you have kit companies clinging desperately to sixty year old tooling and builders willing to stump up and say "It's absolutely good enough."

Really, this is such a classy and complete build. It was really enlightening to follow along and eye-opening to the possibilities within the scale for detailing.

Very exciting to see the Heller Delahaye not only finished but also detailed out like this!

A much more significantly substantial update on the progress of the '65 Impala! A massive thanks to a care package from EA0863 on the forum whom had the stock seats and upper trailing arms in his own parts bin. Accordingly, this means that the interior is now fully wrapped up. I will say this about the Revell kit. The aluminum panel on the lower portion of the dash was in nearly all of my SS396 Impala reference pictures, but the Revell dash had no engraving to indicate its presence. As such, I free painted it with some Tamiya XF16 Flat Aluminum so that it was definitely there. Also in a big step, the Mr Color C47 Clear Red went down over the C10 Copper and I am positively in love with the results. After a few days to cure, I am seriously looking forward to polishing this out to a nice consistent shine.

Looks truly fantastic so far. Just the right level of shine.

Small but important update. Color has started going down on the Impala and I'm happy to say I'm getting just about EXACTLY the color that I wanted. There's still some color sanding to do on the Mr Color C10 Copper base coat on the body and hood, but the chassis plate has already received its coat of Mr Color C47 Clear Red over the Copper and I am very pleased with how it's looking. I can't wait to see how it looks on the more fully finished body especially under a coat or two of clear.

Those really are fantastic. I'll have to get a set for my Dad since he's got the NART Spyder in his kit stash.

Okay. Let's break down your argument thusly. 1: Subject Matter Repetition - In military modeling, more obscure subject matter equates to lower production numbers and higher pricetags for equivalent detail in a plastic kit. Currently, there are a handful of model car companies that have this business model. Ebbro for vintage F1 cars. NuNu for modern and vintage touring cars and rally cars. Belkits and DModel for rally cars. Salvinos JR for American circle track subjects Moebius for classic American cars It's quite all right to prefer less common subject matter, but the understanding has to be that the burden of the lower sales numbers gets placed on the consumer. 2: Scanning Older Kits - If it was as simple as plunking an unbuilt original down underneath a LIDAR scanner and pressing "print" then Round 2 wouldn't take as long as they do on the Craftsman kits. Even a straight copy requires post-scanning 3D modelling work to clean up the scan, re-engineering of injection points and ejector posts to match the function of modern molding equipment, and that's setting aside the murky waters of who actually owns the Intellectual Property that IS the design of the Johan kits. Is it worth it to an existing company to pay for the rights to recreate tooling that no longer exists? Likely not, particularly to the two companies whose livelihoods are retro reissues - those being Atlantis and Round 2. 3: Johan Models Could Compete With Modern Kits - This is a laughable statement, bordering on insulting. Look in the box of Tamiya's McLaren Senna. Look in the box of Ebbro's Brabham BT-18. Look in the box of ICM's Benz Patent Motorwagen. Look in the box of Moebius's AFX Chryslers. Look in the box of Hasegawa's Lancia O37. There is NOTHING that Johan has ever produced that holds up to the modern standards of the 21st century. And yes, that includes the much vaunted Chrysler Turbine car with its awful out of scale hinges, horrid panel gaps, and compromised front suspension detail for the sake of the "steering" function. And that's the BEST that Johan ever had to offer. The bulk of their kits are saggy, muddy, hole in the block, chrome headlight, seats molded to the floor of the interior tub JOKES like their '68 AMX. We don't need the old Johan kits back. We don't need JOHAN back. We need modern kits of Johan's subject matter and builders who are as willing to pay ACTUAL prices for those kits the way that rally builders eagerly plunked down their $60 when DModel announced a Ford Sierra.

Track down either of these releases of the Revell '32 Ford Highboy. They share their tooling with the other modern Revell '32 Fords with an excellent chassis, Ford 302 engine, and very neatly proportioned body. The current '32 Roadster kit with the Duvall windshield has its origins in this tooling, but there were some alterations done so that it's not exactly the same tooling.