Justin Porter

Even sadder is that it's not as if you have to fight with BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH like Squadron Green anymore, either. Most of my seams - IF the initial glue together with Tamiya or AK Extra Thin doesn't take care of it - can get dressed with either Vallejo Plastic Putty or Gunze Mr Surfacer in a matter of minutes. The lower valances on both my Tamiya Lotus Europa AND my Fujimi Ferrari 330P4 only needed a bare basic amount of sanding.

I think there's a bit of a disconnect, Alan, because my comment wasn't at all about folks like yourself who aren't interested in early 90's Group N rally cars like these. Even I personally wouldn't call Sierra sedans a must-have in my book the way Hasegawa's Lancia O37 is. My comment was aimed at "sky is falling" naysayers who believe that because the hobby as they remember it isn't what currently exists therefore the hobby must be dying. And you're undoubtedly right on your Bf-109's and M4 Sherman thought. Even short run companies like Special Hobby or Dora Wings have a 109 in their catalog albeit sometimes an obscure type. They make money, no doubt about that.

That looks really nice!

Wargamers are some of my best regulars for supply sales because the typical gaming shop stops their paint selection at Citadel with MAYBE Vallejo Game Color or Army Painter at some of the bigger ones. Stop in through my door because you want fistfuls of AK Interactive and Abteilung 502 and AMMO by Mig products? Yessir rightaway sir!

Nail on the head and thank you. That's just about entirely my point and it's one I have to contend with daily at my counter, and often with a strained smile as I have to patiently explain "Yes, Testors discontinued the Model Master line but look at all of these other amazing paints currently available", "Yes there's currently a slow-down in Revell production and distribution but that's due to corporate restructuring under new and much better financed owners", "Yes, there are fewer young modelers building hot rods and customs but there are still lots of young model builders primarily in Gundam and armor" and so forth. But no, there is a strong sect that ignores the huge and growing variety of product on my shelves, the vast improvements in tools and materials and paints, and the fact that every time they come through my door there are more customers and younger customers just so that they can remind me they used to buy whatever it is that Round 2 are reissuing for $2 with the money they made mowing lawns when they were kids. As to the Sierra Cosworths, I'm hugely excited for them honestly! We've had kits of the Subaru Legacy and the Mitsubishi Galant from this era but the Sierra sedans got overlooked. It's a HUGE gap in early 90's rallying and I'm glad DM is planning on plugging that gap.

Nah, the hobby is still dying because you can't buy 1/25th scale kits of 60's poverty-spec land barges for less than $10 at department stores. Posting something like this is just additional shameless propaganda that the modeling hobby is thriving globally thanks to new markets, rapid prototyping, and a younger customer base engaging with new subject matter and not beholden to established brands.

The alternate schemes that the 412P's offer are really tempting. Maranello Concessionaries has a really cool one I've considered. Love seeing your builds.

Very cool little car for certain. This is a really fun build of a rarely built kit.

All finished!! Here's my Fujimi 1/24th scale Ferrari 330P4, built as Parkes & Scarfiotti's 2nd place car from the 1967 Daytona 24 Hours using decals from Indycals. This is a special build for me because I have been putting this kit off for a long while because it's one I wanted to "get right". I'm glad I took the plunge because this one really stands out.

https://www.car-model-kit.com/st27-fp24115-ferrari-330-p4-upgrade-parts-studio27 I had personally gone back and forth on getting this PE fret a few times but decided to go box stock except for the Indycals decals. Classic Racing Resins also has a nice Spyder transkit that I had considered and may still eventually build.

That's a really crisp build!

Revell's parent company fairly recently combined their US operations base with that of its sister brand (under their umbrella) Carrera. The Hobbico fallout has been a tremendous mess for Quantum to sort through but things have every sign of improving. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carrera-of-america-and-revell-merge-to-become-carrera-revell-of-americas-inc-301296204.html

AK Interactive Extreme Metal has looked most impressive to me recently. I've also used Vallejo Metal Color a lot.

This is definitely a nicely turned out example of one of the most daring looking cars to win the World Championship.

My P4 has crossed a major threshold in the build. The chassis and interior are done and the first color coats of Tamiya TS-8 Italian Red are down. It's so amazing to get to see this car take shape!

This is really some eyebrow raising stuff. I'm quite curious to see how it goes together. Also, was it not possible with the files to break down the rear bodywork of the monocoque along panel lines?

You mean the Elky street machine kit that - if AMT would have had the foresight to illuminate the built-up engine bay picture - would have had tons more builders grabbing it for parts because of the amazing EFI roots blower and serpentine accessory drive setup?

Beautifully detailed Beetle!

This looks so lovely and ready to just motor off to the nearest café.

That really is a nice build of what is an all-time great kit from Tamiya! Here's hoping after the success of the Lotus reissues last year they're reconsidering pulling that one out of the vault.

Not a good candidate for making sure Heller kits stop tempting me. lol This is a really lovely build!

In terms of "projects that would take a bit of work", how viable do you think it would be to actually un-customize the Sweat Hogs tooling to make a 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix available again?

This is one of my bucket list kits for sure. I'm very eager to see how your build turns out!

This turned out so fantastic. I love the presence and tidiness of the finished model.

Big and happy step forward with the build. It's always exciting to see the project sitting on its wheels.