Justin Porter

Thank you kindly and yes the bonnet sides are hinged though not by a scale piano hinge. The effect is still quite impressive in how Tamiya achieves it.

Built from the box save for plug leads and the carb fuel line, this Tamiya Morgan was just an absolute gem of a kit and one I have been wanting to build for a long time. I finished it in AK Interactive Real Color 002 Cream White and Gunze Mr Color C100 Wine Red under a couple coats of Alclad Aqua Gloss Clear. The interior is Gunze Mr Color C68 Red Madder. If you have one of these Morgans in your stash, do yourself a favor and build it! You won't be disappointed.

All finished and in Under Glass with more complete pictures. This was such a fun build and I am really pleased with it.

That was my reaction too! The Revell '32 Fords are some of the most user-friendly toolings in the whole Revell range (aside from the headlight bucket mounts) and they're very frequently my go-to as a recommendation to first time builders.

Made a good chunk of progress on the Morgan. I'm so tickled with how the dashboard turned out. I was quite concerned given how conspicuous it is on when installed. Just some brightwork left to go!

Tamiya sure knows where the bread is buttered, showing the factory built-up in the color scheme of the famous "Devil Z" from the popular comic Wangan Midnight.

Have you considered using the surprisingly proportionally accurate Tamiya 1/24th slot car body/curbside kit as a starting point?

First color coats are down on the Morgan as well as paint in the interior. I'm using Gunze C68 Red Madder in the interior and the body is AK Real Color 002 Cream White and Gunze C100 Wine Red.

Keeping progress going on the Morgan. If you own one of these kits on your stack you absolutely owe it to yourself to get it down and start building. It's such a fun and clever kit. I got the suspension knocked out and am just completely enjoying the process.

It's hard to say what the parts break down will be but I don't think ICM is hurting for sales on these given their greater focus internationally. Truthfully, their, most anticipated new release for 2024 is the all-new 1/48th scale B-26 Marauder that will blast the Monogram antique into irrelevance. The MSRP they've set on the Model A according to my distributor is $54.99 and that seems perfectly in keeping with a model of their level of detail and refinement.

I was lucky enough to get this sealed-inside example for $45 and that's not far away from the going rate. There's every chance Tamiya will reissue it again, as well, which would mean likely a sub-$40 MSRP in keeping with how they've kept reissues like the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA and the Lotus Seven so low.

FINALLY I've got my own copy of this lovely little kit, crossing off a big "must have" on my personal list. Practically after placing the first bid, I'd already found a beautiful color scheme to emulate for this build. One thing that's very fortunate is that while there aren't specifically tons of "Morgan" engine pictures on the web for research, there are plenty of pictures of Kent 1600's. A little time with a 0.5mm twist drill, some 0.3mm solder, and a single P/E loom from Detail Master gave this very nice little four cylinder a bit more life for when the sides of the bonnet are lifted.

CAD Images from ICM

If the box art is a reliable guide, it looks like this release of the Tudor will have the Halibrand E/T style wheels that were in the original release of the '32 Ford Roadster rather than the Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels.

So very happy they've elected to do a stock DMC-12. This has been a LONG time coming!

Expect to see the Firebird, CJ-7, '57 Bel Air, '64 Impala, and Bronco Half-Cab in hobby shops over the course of this week and the next. They landed at Stevens International today and will likely hit other wholesale distributors like Hobbytyme, Emery, and Heartland within the next few days as well.

Haven't had them in my shop yet. The few pre-orders I had for the kit were dropped as customers informed me they purchased them on eBay from Walmart resellers. As such, I dropped my pre-orders with my distributors and I will wait for the next go-around in the production cycle if at all. It's also worth pointing out that I did a quick dig into my 2023 PoS numbers just to make sure I was backing up what I'd said and for comparison here's my top ten on volume for 2023. 1: Fujimi 1/24 Chevy Astro 2: Revell '71 Mustang 3: Revell '71 Olds 442 4: Revell '70 Torino 5: Tamiya R32 Skyline GT-R 6: Revell '39 Chevy Sedan Delivery 7: Moebius Ford Ramp Truck 8: Moebius Golden Commandos AFX 9: Revell Bronco Bass Boat combo 10: Moebius F-250 with plow

Like I said, I'm just one shop out of thousands and I do know that other shops have done better with the '68 convertible, but at my counter I see two key things. 1 - Younger builders don't even pick the kit up. 2 - Older builders don't like the price ($35 shelf price against a $42.99 MSRP) I'll also point out that despite only having been on my website for a fraction of the period of time that I've had the '68 Coronet convertibles, the reissue of the '70 Coronet Super Bee has generated more web traffic on my e-commerce site than the '68 Coronet convertible. That's not anecdotal observation, that's data driven fact. Strangely enough, the auto kit generating the most traffic on my website so far in 2024? Revell's '56 Chevy Del Ray.

Nope. Still have half the case in my inventory.

Yes. The '68 GTO was another one of the clone kits. I believe it was salvaged from what had become the Beswick funny car kit. To date, at least over my counter, the Nova wagon remains the most successful of this line of kits but even its success is dwarfed by the sales of genuinely new tooling like the Moebius Chevy II Gasser or the Revell '71 Mustang. Then again, mine is just one shop. Other shops in other areas plus Hobby Lobby and Walmart seem to do fairly well with them.

Maybe the R/T hardtop will do better, but I put my order in for a case of the '68 R/T convertibles based almost entirely on the hype from Mopar modelers on forums and social media groups like this. I've sold two cases of Fujimi Chevy Astro Vans in the time span that I've had those Dodge convertibles. They haven't been a dud they don't sell particularly well even compared to other Craftsman Plus kits like the Nova wagon, '68 GTO, or the '64 Comet.

Additional good news on the Alfa reissue. According to Stevens International the MSRP is $33. For comparison's sake, MSRP on the just announced Craftsman Plus '64 Chevelle Malibu is $35.99. A full detail Tamiya kit from the 90's with metal transfer badges and poseable steering is cheaper than an AMT curbside from the 60's. Just to make things abundantly clear.

I can't speak to what other shops are going to be charging, but it's $75 on my shop's shelf and that's only a fuzz beneath MSRP which is my standard practice. Granted, $75 still isn't cheap but I feel it's in line with the $65 I charge for the Tamiya AMG GT Mercedes GT3 or $57 for the Fujimi McLaren MP4/12C GT3.

We got these in at my shop this week and I am here to say that for anyone for whom "curbside" is a dirty word, then you have nothing to complain about with the Meng kit. Just rifling through the box shows really fine molding, some genuinely clever design to keep things square and fitting nicely, and a good amount of goodies as there is included photoetch, belt material, and precut window masks.