Justin Porter

At the moment, if I were to want anything as my "Most of All" part it would be for GP Modeling to take that same level of expertise they've lavished over the Hasegawa Lancia O37 and Stratos and create an MGB engine and engine bay for the Aoshima kit.

If you want to build a customer MkII (excepting the Alan Mann Racing "lightweight" MkII) or a MkII prior to Sebring 1966, the Fujimi kit. If you want to build a factory MkII post-Sebring 1966, the Meng kit. If you don't intend to be that specific on small body variations, the Meng kit is full detail where the Fujimi is curbside. The Meng kit was tooled up within the past three years while the Fujimi kit dates to the mid-80's. The Fujimi is more often than not available for cheaper than the Meng kit and arguably does have nicer wheels & tires. There are also excellent resin and 3D printed transkits on the market to make the Fujimi full detail.

This phrasing coupled with staying inside the framework of what Atlantis has offered to this point keeps me thinking in terms of 60's Revell with some relation to the Parts Packs, but still very genre specific and somewhat obscure. My mind goes to LSR cars and the Mickey Thompson Attempt I.

Having built this kit myself I know it truly is one of the best of that run of classics by Tamiya and DEFINITELY in need of a reissue. Very happy seeing you not only building the Giulia but even going the extra mile to suffer through that transkit.

A little hop on Scalemates shows that the last time this kit was available was in a Round 2 "The Lindberg Line" box released in 2016. So that's seven years since the last time it was available. Yes, a knowledgeable builder who's particularly active in the community could feasibly go to a local show or troll through eBay and pick up this kit for between $15-$25 in one of the prior boxings. However, the casual Hobby Lobby or even LHS shopping builder quite likely isn't aware this kit was produced or is available in those channels. Personally, I can confirm that quite a large number particularly of my younger builders aren't even aware of model shows and swap meets until they see flyers on my counter. As to the MSRP, well, I have mixed at best feelings at the new normal of American domestic kit pricing. At the moment, I have portions of Tamiya, Hasegawa, and Fujimi's catalog that genuinely undercut Round 2. I have no doubt that a good part of why I'm burning through my shipment of Fujimi Chevy Astros is that I'm able to sticker it on my shelf for $28. However, I also understand that Tamiya has more gross sales potential for their venerable VW Beetle than Round 2 has for a 60's Oldsmobile and that as US classic cars become increasingly niche subject matter that will also result in higher prices.

So, I implemented a solution to not only lower the front suspension, but also to make the finished model a little bit more interesting on the shelf. I marked out the control arms and separated the spindles from the molded assembly with my razor saw. then drilled the "ball joints" and spindles to maintain camber and castor. I trimmed about 2mm off the top of the spindle pieces and pinned the spindles in place with the staples. A little bit of sanding to make sure that they sat true against the upper control arms, and then a bit of Extra Thin cement to glue the spindles to the upper control arms, followed by a generous helping of gap filling CA to surround the staple. Finally, the ends of the staples were snipped off once everything was dry and I was able to enjoy a nice scale dropped spindle for my Fleetside.

Well, I've decided to see about pushing forward with another long-stalled project. In this case, rustling through the stacks led me to this California Wheels release of the Revell 1/25th scale '64 Chevy Fleetside. At some point in years past I clearly mocked everything up (and judging by the discoloration and the scent when sanding I was using Plastruct Plastiweld at the time) to see how things would go with the kit supplied "lowered" suspension and big diameter wheels and tires. Needless to say, present me is less than pleased with past me's work assembling the four piece hood and so we've employed a generous amount of Mr Dissolved Putty to address the gaps. I'm going to see what can be done to improve the stance a bit and I am playing around with a few engine ideas at the moment. Fortunately, I have a LOT of engine bay to play with. Aside from that, I have decided that it will wear a paint scheme to match up to my '67 Chevelle, only I'll be using this as a test mule for the Gunze Sangyo Mr Color Sprays since we're evaluating stocking them at the shop. The color choice is going to be S75 Metallic Red over C8 Silver. Away we go!

I'm with Brian. GOD I HOPE NOT. Johan kits were fine for the advent of color TV but they're badly dated and need to be left in history's dustbin for collectors and nostalgia seekers to enjoy. The amount of redesign the Johan body would need for modern features like separate door handles and wipers or to accept a proper floorpan chassis with platform style interior instead of a nondescript tub would put it in a position where the labor to design the tooling from the ground up would be equivalent to the labor of sourcing an original, scanning it, and modernizing it.

Happy to say that the concrete answer is "They're Here." Definitely a nice addition to the Revell section of my domestic kit section primarily because I know this is a truck a lot of my customers have probably owned at some point.

A Moebius '70 Maverick will be a tremendously popular release. Now THAT is something to get on the horn to my distributor about.

Genuinely great seeing that this turned out looking so good.

Congratulations on what was clearly a successful show for you!

Really neat concept and execution. A "what if" that looks much more like a "should have."

All finished! This build of the "Rod & Custom" release of the venerable Monogram 1/24 '37 Ford kit was a lot of fun. Using the '41 Willys Street Rod 392ci Hemi made for a nice change of pace from the kit's crate 350. I'm really happy with the Tamiya Brilliant Orange under Pearl Clear as a color and it was entertaining to throw a bit of additional detailing at the build. Likely after this it will be back to classic sports cars for me but I enjoyed the change in pace.

Interior is all finished up complete with Ken's Fuzzy Fur for the carpeting. Chassis is mounted to the fender unit, body is mounted to the fenders, and next stop will be a finished '37 Ford Coupe.

Happy to see one of these Triumphs going together. The Guards Red is a good choice!

I now have box art and a kit number - #24050

You do you but new tooling isn't some mysterious thing. Touring car builders are getting an all new Rover SD1 3500 (NuNu). Rally car builders are getting an all new Opel Ascona (Belkits) AND Escort Cosworth (DM Modelkits). Classic car builders are getting an all new 1930 Ford Model A Phaeton (ICM). Supercar builders are getting an all new Gordon Murray T50 (Tamiya). And Group C prototype builders got an all new Nissan R91P (Hasegawa). Just seems to me that as a muscle car builder you're accepting the short end of the stick by not expecting manufacturers to treat your genre with as much viability as the others.

I am saying that you should be requesting either of those companies to tool 100% new from scratch rather than pleading for something from the dark ages. Aircraft modelers didn't moan for the old Revell 1/72nd scale P-39 Airacobra. They got Arma Hobby to tool up a 100% new one that was better in every conceivable way and bought that instead.

If you really want a '71/'72 Road Runner, why get all bent and wild to get a remake of some archaic ex-annual from before the age of cable? Between Moebius and Revell you'd have a chance for a genuinely good newly tooled kit. I will say that it's sad that we only have one good 1/25th scale road car kit of the "fuselage" B-bodies in the AMT/Ertl era '71 Charger kit. If there was some possibility that Round 2 were interested in taking that remarkable kit's bones and tooling a Road Runner from it then I'd be on board with this idea.

You're not far off! I've actually chosen AK Interactive Radome Tan for the primary interior color with body color accents. I'll also use orange Ken's Fuzzy Fur for the carpeting. I've also broke out the masking tape and the AK Xtreme Metal Black Base and Chrome to get the window trim handled.

Rather glad that Moebius has done this run of the Golden Commando Satellite. Last time around I underestimated popularity and they vanished all too quickly. Now I have a much better supply of them that arrived today from my distributor along with the new Resto Mod '64 Nova.

Really liking your stance and approach on this GTR

Wiring and carb feed line in place. Really do like just how "stuffed" the engine is in this particular build.

Plenty of progress has been made! The Ford is now in color having gone with Tamiya TS-56 Brilliant Orange followed by TS-65 Pearl Clear. Also quite happy to report that the hood DOES clear the carbs so I'll be getting the hood into the paint booth momentarily. I also decided to have a bit of fun with detailing. A little bit of 0.3mm solder, a Detail Master compression fitting, and now we have a fuel line plumbed in.