Chuck Kourouklis

GOOOOOOD STUFF, Henry!

Maybe they just tanked that badly. It'd be a shame - those were some nice kits.

Well not to add to the growling and barking, but yeah - in addition to Carl's info above, the new '62 has metal pin axles while the '58-9 did not, the '58-9 has posable steering while the new '62 does not, the tires were all-new for each kit and totally distinct in design from one another - and that's just from recalling a kit I haven't pulled out of the stash in at least 7 years. It may have more master patterns in common with the diecast '62, but again, the parts breakdown is totally different. And while the plastic '62 seems to home in on individual details in a crisper and more precise way, the Route 66 diecast does manage to avoid the new kit's pudgy and rotund rear quarter contours, and I think its front wheel arches are a touch closer than the new one's, too. Diggin' that gasser, though.

VERY cool! The game has evidently moved up a bit since the Ferraris...

Website shows as backed up to October...

Yup. Both on preorder here.

Yeah. Just got that email too. 'Salright, got plenty to stay busy in the meantime...

Yup. At a roughly 600-piece count, it seems to pick up where the diecast Ferraris left off, but the engineering of those parts seems a lot more comprehensive and lifelike in this one. If the kit delivers on the finish of the prototypes, we should have a pretty significant improvement for right about the same price as the F40 when it was new, as adjusted for inflation. Got an order in on one in Arancia...

Yours a beaut, Matt. My single gripe with the kit is that the grille is open, and there's nothing to stop you seeing the cylindrical mounting boss for the front end behind it if you don't fill it in somehow with a panel. Should have been some representation of a radiator, core support, or whatever it is you actually see behind a 1:1 Aston grille there, and it needn't be any too sophisticated to do a satisfactory job. Another happy HLJ client here. I'd suggest looking around for kits recently re-released like the Honda NSX, the 300ZX mentioned earlier, the Ferrari F40 or Testarossa maybe - there's a number of these available on the cheap, and the quality is just about commensurate with the latest releases. If you trip across one of the Jeeps shown above, you should find it pretty nice. The Mustangs will give you about the same building experience, but for proportions and accuracy, they are an uncommonly dismal effort from the company.

Pretty damned amazing, Harry. Hat's off to you on this one.

Just found the last Fat Boy I think you're talking about, Matt - But HobbyLink Japan says a number of times that the Fat Boy Lo pictured in the first post is all-new.

Tamiya's first 1/6 in 17 years. All-new. Due November.

Wait a minute, waitaminit - is that a buggy-sprung beam axle I spy on that kit? I mean, it already warrants two or three copies on first buy - are Rat Roaster/Deuce supplements now a fourth?

That, or to show off some new retro box art - which, dammit, more often than not results in me buying one.

Missed that earlier! That's very cool, Scott...

If it's a straight reissue of the '89 kit (some 24-year-old "modern" tooling right there) - and the "street machine" notes about wheel and engine options indicate it will be - it'll have a bench and the hemi.

I think the website says 85 weeks, mailed in monthly batches...

Man. At least the DB has a link to which you can appeal to have it eventually sent out of the UK, but I'd love that DS too...

Noo kiddin'! I don't think sending one of those resins to Des Plaines would go amiss at all. Looks ridiculously, silly better for the relative subtlety of all the adjustments. Good show, Mike!

Love the older Monogram kit. Also dig The Revell Germany/current ProModeler 1/72 17G - necessarily more coarse for scale far as panels and surface detail go, but the interior detail is nice and all the control surfaces pivot. And if it's a bit pricier than the classic Monogram 1/48, it's certainly the most manageable for space...

Here we go: while the Tamiya Corsair was big news, this here's some really B I G news: All 39", 577 pieces, and 800,000 engraved rivets of it (and I wouldn't be surprised if the literal rivet-counter reference were meant to be a little funny). What's kool is that the fuselage halves and locking wings are presented in such a way that the kit practically shouts "MOCK ME UP": Wiild stuff, full catwalks and cockpit and gun bays, and as you see, the separate upper fuselage sections not only make for easier modification between versions, but also for a removable section to show off interior detail. There's also a small screw-in wall anchor that grabs into the plane by its bomb bay so you can hang it that way if you have absolutely nowhere else for it. Surface detailing is actually quite fine and handled with a fair amount of finesse. No way should you cheat your groceries or your mortgage, but if you're able to work out the 300 or so dollars and this is your kind of thing, odds are decent you won't be sorry. Doesn't so much steal Tamiya's thunder as roll in a mighty cacophony of its own...

Got that, 'n should have my 17 tomorrah, God willin'. Brief overview on the Corsair: Tamiya's dialing back on the pin/polycap and magnetic cowl trickery, but if anything, they're cramming even more engraving into the plastic. Control surfaces are fixed positional instead of functional now, but holy buckets, the detail in the engine and the cockpit - we may have new standards for plastic, here. Parts breakdown seems to be some 15% or so over the Trumpeter Bubble-top, and the body surface subtlety just blows the Trumpy away. Tamiya's P-51 may still represent their overall apogee, but what the Corsair trades away in worky-worky, it more than grabs back in detail. It need make NO apologies.

Yes, Greg, but you brought up such a great example that it bore repeating. And as for that Lindberg Impala, hoo boy - they also had to retool the windshield wipers to conform to the new cowl, upper instrument panel surface too I think, and I seem to recall them adjusting the sideview mirror stalks while they were at it. I think they updated to a proper single-carb air cleaner from an original dual-snorkel one, too. And yet. Not only did they not go out of business but respond properly when GM Licensing held their feet to the fire, they went on to produce a few more really solid kits - one of which, the '53 Ford, is just about an all-time classic. Too bad there's no similar precedent from Revell. Oh WAIT - yes there is. That selfsame '69 Charger. In addition to the Nova gas tank you noticed. And the corrected 500KR intake. And the tampo-printed Oldsmobile tires AND the clear strobe lenses for the Mustang LX that they'll mail you free of charge if you ask for 'em. Revell has demonstrated that they're NOT STUPID ENOUGH to go out of business by refusing to produce any more kits out of spite for bad reviews. And on something of a flip side, they've also demonstrated they're NOT STUPID ENOUGH to go out of business when they're caught in a goof.

That was a double-negative and perhaps a little tricky, Keith. What I was saying is that I'm not a modeler who wouldn't like a LaFerrari. Which is to say, I'D LIKE ONE VERY MUCH. YESTERDAY, if you please - though if I have to wait, I'd certainly accept the 288 in the meantime. And that's my final offer.

Not to worry. I sleep fine through cricket-chirping "fires" like this one. Early Bronc, though, man - yeah, somebody NEEDS to do that one. Good call.