The Creative Explorer

Wouldn't that a bit too low? I would've expect somewhere around 250, since the last release was around 180-200. Haven't seen it on presale in Japan yet, let's hope you're right and I am wrong

https://www.youtube.com/embed/UTeB2D8yS88 Just saw this video, it is announcing the 1/12 Caterham! Even tough I finally have a couple, I am going to get me one or two again. They probably going to ask a vast sum of money for them.

Can I advice you a trip to Walgreens? They probably have some reading glasses for a good price...... hahaha. Check page 48 in the catalogue,... The differences between the TE and FF are minimal, TE is completely gray, FF is partly red and has different steeringwheel, seat and a bit stronger engine.

It almost feels like a Dakar to me, I had 2 flat tires this week, an accident and working 50-60 hours per week. So, little time left for building, but somehow, I managed to get some stuff done Time for progress, I started to paint all the smaller parts Putting it together and start to testfit, since I glued the engine compartment to the body, rather than the chassis, as Italeri wanted me to do. I put the seats back as much as I could And painted the casted wheels, albeit a bit rough, it will work. I used the molotow pens for the chrome   The interior is starting to get together,   I added a few detail pieces, not as much as I wanted to do so, but have to look at the time left over. Rather than glueing the windows, I started recently with using double sided tape, very strong and does not mess with the windows. I call the interior to be done I am getting there, I have today left to finish it. I worked on the decals yesterday, so I am going to use today for some weathering.

Close, but not quite. You are too focussed on the modelkits on the shelf. But the picture is bigger than that. If they don't sell, the LHS won't reorder. Therefore Hobbico looses money. But, if we all went to the LHS and buy those shelf-kits, the LHS will reorder, feeding Hobbico with new cashflow and therefore continueity. It's not data you provide the LHS, it's a stock-order for the LHS, needing to get more stock on the shelfs.

I read this post in Germany today: http://www.nw.de/lokal/kreis_herford/buende/22028763_Revell-Mutterkonzern-in-den-USA-stellt-Insolvenzantrag.html Revell Germany states that they will not be affected by this, other than having a new investor/owner, From what I understand, they will continue, no matter the outcome in Germany. Plus they state, they have a very healthy prospect. So, it seems like good news for this part.

It appeared the Dakar 5 had different wheel arches, probably for easier changing of wheels in case of a flat, so I got the power tool and enlarged the arches. I did the same thing on the front, and narrowed the body. It appears to be a stock 5, rather than a Alpine or Alpine Turbo. It includes in making the front bumper smaller. The hood stood taller than the body, so it had to be addressed as well. A mock-up with most bodyparts And time too pain, first a coat of primer. Than the basecoat, yellow Top color is dark-ish green And the supplemental color is red. Makes it look like an Mexican rally team, hmmm

For the second year, I organise a small groupsbuild for the Dutch IPMS. We build during the Dakar-race a Dakar model. There has been plenty of kits of Dakar vehicles and one can build something nice within 2 weeks, if necessary. Last year, I did Tamiya's Pajero and I was going for the Peugeot 405 for this year. Unfortunately it is very busy at work and when I get home from work, I barely have 2 hours left, before I have to go to bed again. So, not much time to build. But I still wanted to build something interesting and I probably ended up in something that cost more time than the 405. It is going to be a Renault 5 or LeCar, who knew they did the Dakar... They were very good in rally-racing, so it makes sense, somewhere..... My problem is that I could find only 2 pictures of the car: Onto the build, I am using the Italeri rally version, it might have some usefull parts to with it. Content: First, I glued the rear hatch to the body, for alignment and strength I marked the cutline And glued the enginebay to the body, Italeri wants you to glue it to the chassis. I cut all the parts from the sprue And made a pick-up Put some Sytrene on top, Cut a bit too shape and filled it with putty, I made a new B-pillar And then I hit my first major obstacle; wheels and tyres. The rally car comes with slicks and since the 5 has such small wheels, I don't really have a good match in my spareboxes. In the end, I was able to make this set. Problem is that they don't really fit and I only have one set, I need 6. I cut the holes open, since it looked like BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH. And after a lot of sanding, they finally fit together. Because I only had one set and need 6, I made a mold to cast some more. Meanwhile, I started with the external rollcage, I tried it with tape, but that didn't work out. So I cut holes in the body and got something to work with. You can see the holes in this picture, the rollcage is a bit under tension, so it works great for me. The mold is ready and I started casting. The weird flap for the fuel hose is attached now too The Dakar 5 has a snorkle and so this car needs to get one too. I started with drilling a hole through the fender and put a piece of rod through it, I went through the scrapbox and found some parts from a Corvette, drilled a hole in that, aligned the box, shaped it to the fender and taped it firmly I got another piece of rod, bended it and went up I attached the rod to some sort of oiltank and drilled a little hole in the tank and body, and put a piece of metalwire through it, it will help with final assembly. The oiltank needs to be modified, so it will be more of a airfilter than a oiltank. And the first resin wheel

I completely forgot I did that, but thanks of reminding me, I grabbed the pictures of the bumpers. It has the Euro and US spec bumpers, but on another sprue; voila: Panelvan bumpers. And I like where you are going with the 356 engine.....

When I bought the 1:16 Samba, it had already different parts in it, not to be used for the Samba, It was simply a matter of time the panelvan would come out. And I am glad it is here now; the only thing I need know is a 1:16 trailer....

That 356....: mine, mine, mine mine, mine, mine And that 1:16 Kastenwagen was too be expected, now it is coming, I'll get one of those too.

I doubt it, would you buy a 50-70 dollar Revell Panamera, if it didn't had those issues? My Panamera left already the building, but when I was glancing over it, mine didn't seem to have much problems. But I didn't go over in detail with it.

Even though that is true, it is the compromise between detail and parts. Revell opted to have a bit more detail into the kit, with fewer parts, making the tooling cheaper. But the compromise comes with consequences. And the marketing department assesed (probably) where and where not they made concessions to the kit. Ofcourse, the quality can be better, but will the kits still be affordable and well-selling?

Simply because Ralph Lauren refused the licensing.

Even though I somewhat agree, it must be said that Revell operates basically on the low end of the market. There are not much manufactures that offers new tooled 1:24 cars for under 25 dollars. And that probably has its refelction on some of the quality-issues. Sure, it can be improved, but to what point? The better the quality, the higher the price and if this would've cost 10-15 dollars more, would there still be a market?

Thank you Bob, I've started this project a couple of months back and was basically in the prepping stage until the weekend before Christmas. Only until then I was able to make some steps on the paint work. And allowes me now to work on assembly.

A secret project, march 16th 2018 is when my father is going to retire. He has worked his whole life for only one company; a huge global dairy company. It is now known as FrieslandCampina. Even though my father has nothing with trucks, never driven them nor is a petrolhead, it was for me obvious to give a Daf truck with 3-axled trailer as a gift for his retirement. Why? Well, when we (my 2 brothers and I) were little kids, my father gave us a little truck-trailer from his company to us as a gift, something I always kept as a memorandum and was special to me. And since I am a modelbuilder, with interest in motorized vehicles, it was a no-brainer for me. So I started hunting down a Daf truck, 3-axled trailer and find a extra Friesche Vlag truck, but that was quite hard. I don't think they were available in retail. But I did find a decent one later one. I got the Dutchman Daf as a starterspoint, but I have to shorten it and remove one axle. Work started with opening the grill. I used the bottom of the trailer to align the frame for the trailer And used thoothpicks to clamp the frame The frame was measured and marked for cutting It took me a few attempts, but finally got the frame nicely aligned. The cabin was glued together, for better handling when painting Some reinforcements for the chassis, it was quite weak after the cutting I found the clothespin ideal for resting the chassis on, it is also a good way to see wether the chassis is still aligned. A dry-fit for the mock-up. on top is the truck and trailer that is my example. A big error in the Italeri manual, the wheels are done completely wrong For the fun, I dryfitted it the way it shouldn't Back to seriousness again: pre-paint detailling The Dutchman had the weird, funky roof, so I cast a flat roof for the cabin. The trailer had a bit too modern look to it, due to the chamfered edges, so they had to go. And in the meantime, I added some plumbing to the chassis. Because the trailer is too new for the truck and I've been correcting it, I also made a new lightboard on the rearside, more bulky than the newer style. Because I had some days off between Christmas and new-years eve, I was able to make some big steps on the paint process. First I spotpainted the repaired/modified parts black. Than put it in a white primer And added a medium blue base-caot I added the ommissed windowposts with 4 strips of styrene and opened up the lower grille The sanding on the trailer is never ending, seriously.. But the front end looks better now. I also got the smaller parts into the paintbooth today After all the prep-work, the cabin went into it's black base-coat ( to keep the hue in the end the same) We are getting somewhere, now it's needs it final blue coat. It took me 2 spray sessions of an hour to get all the parts in the blue coat. Finally done And then it was time for some clearcoat. First the chassis and the smaller parts. A dryfit for the wheels The engine in the right-ish color The wheels are dryfitted And the cabin went on for an overall look, I had some damage to the roof and wasn't happy with the way I prepped it, so I need to repair the roof.

Jup, one of the first things I did. that expanded view clutters even more. I don't know what it is exactly, but for me it ends up in being the forum less appealing to follow. (I don't have specific forum sections of interest, I'd like to read through the whole forum)

I must say, with the new format, I read a whole lot less posts than I did before. Before, I always used the latest post button and worked my way through the board. Even though the new style has the same kind of functionallity, I find it more cluttered and less efficient, And I think it is because of that, that i barely click on topics no more, unofrtunately.

I just wish....

It got released today, I just received a review example from Revell A.G. From the first look on the production-release; it looks better than the testshot.

Yet they were more spacious on the inside, than one might think from the outside. I was quite surprised by that. I'll see if I can make some pictures of the contents tomorrow.

It's a release with light and sound.