Justin Porter

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.

Incompetency is not an outside force. His inability to even get a reasonably details 3D printed resin kit out the door proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Compare the absolute farce of attempting to promote and distribute the Powell to USCP's Citroen SM, or the resin powerhouse that is Alpha Model, or other similar one man bands like Iceman Collections and their Lamborghini Urus and upcoming Vector W8. And this is from a man with - supposedly - decades of experience producing scale models whom has the added luxury of representing a classic prestige brand in Johan. People, like myself, who say let Johan die aren't opposed to the subject matter that Johan has kitted in the past. I would be over the moon if Moebius or Hasegawa or Revell or Iceman or anyone else (maybe excluding Round 2 unless they offered assurances it wouldn't be a "Craftsman Plus" style antique) announced an SC/Rambler or a '66 Toronado. Speaking specifically for myself, I want the hobby to move on from Johan. They had their time, it was in the 20th century. We're now nearly a quarter of the way through the 21st century and it ought to be clear that Johan isn't joining us in it.

This was so much fun to see coming together and the results really are something unique. It's really a model you should be proud of, using the cutting edge of techniques to represent the very beginnings of the motorcar.

Completing any of the Enthusiast series kits is a Badge of Courage. Your 356 coupe really is a great stand out build.

The AK Filler Primers are an enamel primer that they developed for their Xtreme Metal range of enamel metalizers, but it's an excellent companion to Mr Surfacer so I tend to use it as often as Mr Surfacer. So far, I've had no problem with Gunze Mr Color lacquer or MCW lacquer over it, but I haven't tried it as the base with anything hotter than those.

A very tidy build of an intensely pretty car.

I do really like seeing you continuing this Boxer fleet. I'm going to be particularly following along to see how you tackle the interiors in order to liberally swipe ideas.

The work continues. I decided to tackle a bit of the interior given the high quality of the Revell tooling. First went down a bit of Mr Surfacer 1500 Black followed by some Mr Color C68 Red Madder. A little bit of Bare Metal Foil and a few licks of C8 Silver plus some Red Ken's Fuzzy Fur and it's well on its way.

The kit engine for the coupe was a very nicely done 396ci big block while the convertible kit actually - and accurately - had the last SS Impala 409. Both engines were really well detailed and I wouldn't have seen a need to swap the kit 396 if it hadn't been lost to the ages.

Wanting a "healthy cruiser" for the theme of this build after having gone over the various parts and rifled through my spares, I set about building the engine. I dug up a spare 427 and four speed from a Revell '67 Corvette roadster kit and proceeded to hang the Impala's accessories on it, wanting to preserve such amenities as A/C and power steering. I found the P/E pulley faces and a Model Car Garage resin and P/E Edelbrock air cleaner in my detail bin and decided those would be appropriate dress up parts for this build. Naturally this means I will be tracking down an electric fan to go onto the radiator in place of the stock fan. I will still add ignition wires to go with the fuel line as well as track down a fuel pump to which I can route the other end of the carb feed line.

That really is a lovely build of one of Hasegawa's classic kits. It's absolutely the picture of what you imagine a Stratos to be.

After the more intense build that was the Fujimi Dino, I figured I would be better off building something a little more restrained as a follow up. Down into the basement I went and up I came with this tired box. Somewhere around twenty years ago I attempted to paint the body a sort of metallic tomato red. As a color, it works nicely, but this old enamel paint clearly didn't lay down too well AND was apparently sprayed right over the bare plastic. I leveled it out with a 2400 grit sanding pad and down has gone some AK Interactive gray filler/primer. Taking stock of the kit contents, we were short the factory stock seats with some undersized - possibly AMT - C4 Corvette seats in the box instead. Parts of the EFI setup from the AMT/Ertl release of the '70 Chevelle SS454 were in the box, but no engine block/transmission was present. We've got no factory stock tires, we're missing one upper trailing arm, and at some point it looks like some sanding was being done to clearance the inside of the body for wider rear tires. I don't know what younger me was thinking on this one, but I think I can make something out of it now.

According to Stevens International, these are upcoming with TBA release dates, kits numbers AMT1455 and MPC987 respectively.

That's really just something else to see! The subtle multi-toning especially brings it to life.

Really happy to see Hasegawa tackling this one in its announcements. They have really been hitting out of the park lately with their car releases so this ought to be another joy to build.

As of right now the whole project has gone dark because of the "stolen test sample." Without question, it's an entirely absurd situation. It's a 3D printed kit. Not resin cast or injection molded, but 3D printed. USCP, Texas 3D Customs, Iceman Collections, and countless others have produced 3D printed kits in greater detail compared to what was shown with the proposed Powell AND with shorter lead times AND with tremendously better promotion. The fact that he can't even pull off this project, which had to have been principally farmed out as far as the 3D modeling and rendering so it was effectively Spaulding bankrolling, rubber-stamping, licensing, and promoting the effort, has got to demonstrate that there's more life in a cafeteria meatloaf than there is at Johan.

Genuinely coming together now!

Add me to the list agreeing here. The Powell Pickup saga should have ably demonstrated that the Spaulding incarnation of Johan is well and truly done. Johan isn't pining for the fjords here, folks.

That really looks fantastic. I'm genuinely curious as to what red you used for the upholstery?

Fujimi Ferraris really are 80% delightful and 20% your absolute worst nightmare in the way they get engineered. Looking forward to seeing how your 355 goes together!

Thank you and the 250GT SWB is from the Gunze Sangyo kit. I think I probably would have enjoyed the Italeri kit more though! I have an offer from a friend to make a custom plate for it, I just haven't quite decided what it will say!