Junkman

Revell EMPI Imp. It yields a spare Corvair engine to boot. Revell 1962 Mopars. Revell 1:16 hot rods. The tools might be with the AG, since there they were last issued. AMT 'Craftsman' kits, all of them. So far, we only saw the Comet and Galaxie recently. AMT 'Psychedelic' kits, all of them. AMT 'Motor City Stockers'. AMT U.N.C.L.E Piranha and Mademoiselle L'Agente Secrete car. Pyro 1:16 Laramie Stage Ghost and the matching Ghost Rider Harley kit. The four 1:16 Aoshima vintage motorcycle kits. Airfix 1:24 JB007 Aston and Toyota 2000GT. Airfix 1:24 Aston DB6. Tamiya Jaguar MKII Hasegawa Jaguar XJ-S Monogram 1:8 Trans Am, and both Corvettes. All Bandai 1:16 and 1:20 scale 'modern' car kits. I already enquired about these when I visited Bandai Co. in 2005. I saw the tools neatly labelled on a huge shelf in a warehouse. The management told me they had no plans in reissuing those, since they feel they don't meet today's quality standards. Since then they had a lot of input from Japanese collectors so they may ultimately change their minds. I mean, why would they have kept tons of steel for decades, if they never put it back into a moulding machine?

The days when the little man had money to spend are finally over. A system called 'capitalism', which is solemnly engineered to shift money from the lower incomes to the higher ones has reached a point, where the largest proportion of the population is deprived of a decent standard of living, while the tiny rest doesn't know where to put all the doh, except into money laundry bank accounts on the Cayman Islands and yet another Lamborghini in a garage of one of the ten million-Dollar-villas sprinkled all over the world. Hence I'm glad I accumulated my collection when this was still possible. Unfortunately I cannot sell anything off either, since the people who may be interested, had their money taken off them by the government to bail out banks.

You will never be the same. Your entire outlook on life will change. Never mind the rehab you'll need.

It is bordering rocket science (I should know, I have a Doctor's degree in Physics). You will figure it out eventually and the nice thing is you can try over and over again until you get it right. It's like learning how to cycle. It seems impossible to master, but suddenly you got it and once you got the concept, it's a pip! I needed half a day for the first wheel. The sixth one I made in less than five minutes.

From an engineering point of view I'm still thrilled by the Airfix 1:12 Bentley and the Japanese classic car kits where you have to make the wire wheels with nylon thread and a tool that's included in the kit. The one which I find yields the best end result with absolutely minimal effort is the AMT '57 Chrysler. It just turns into a totally plausible model if you simply nail it together.

Hmmm... I only win at Carmageddon when I'm plastered.

The problem is two-fold. I have no recording equipment and no great dobro player.

I think you can get both in curd soap. But the box art is just uberkewl.

I second that. But there are gradual differences. My all time low spot must be the Revell 59 Retrac. Having written this, I must say you haven't really lived unless you attempted to build Heller's Delahaye fire engine and their Paris bus. Say nothing. Try them, and revert back when done. Both of them were epic fails for me.

Waaaaah!! I almost started to like you... Needs to be pimped with a beer can holder though.

And man, wouldn't the MPC Columbo Peugeot kit just be a must have?

I find it tasteless, overdone and decidedly un-gentlemanly. The British term 'Pikey' comes to mind.

I have a problem for as long as I am into model cars. Real cars have a different gloss depending on the time they were made. It started with nitro cellulose paint, onto artificial resin paints from the 40s to the 60s, which isn't really that glossy, to acrylic enamels from the 60s to the 80s, and then to the acrylic basecoat/clearcoat which is still with us today. All of these have a distinctive gloss and shine to them (or the lack thereof). This is very difficult to replicate en miniature and to this day a matter of coincidence whether I achieve the 'look' I'm after or not. And many of the models I see nowadays are simply too glossy for my taste.

One of my biggest problems (and I mean it!) is that hardly any models were made of the cars I have owned I think it's a superb thing to build replicas of cars oneself or one's family owned. I made models of two cars my parents had, one of one of my Mother's and another of one of my Father's. I then gave them to them as birthday gifts. Despite both my parents aren't car people, I was surprised how well they were received, and they are on display in their home (underneath a glass cheese cover on top of the piano, a very special place!) ever since. I then made a model of my Aunt's first car (from pics in a family photo album) and also gave it to her as a b'day gift. Same reaction! And then continued with a model of a car my sister owned... ...and then it dawned on me. Even if people aren't into cars as such, they associate the cars they had with the nice things they experienced with them. All the holiday trips, all the romance, it all comes back. Add to this that the model was made by a person special to them and you have a clear case of a sentimental double sensation.

What I find remarkable is that the factory stock replicas seem to fetch the highest prices. Could I be on to something?

Drop it, chop it, hop it

It's a Martin Smith, no particular model, it's the only dobro they make, in tobacco sunburst (also available in black). I got it on sale for a mere 100 quid, down from 185 or so. The sound is awesome, really, really swampy, exactly what I was after.

Aurora 50 Merc was a 2-door. What about the Jo-Han Caddy Town Car? Was this not for 1960-1980? What about non-American stuff? Tamiya Jag MKII (strictly speaking it came out in 1959, but it was built throughout most of the Sixties). Hubley/Entex/Academy Rolls Royce Silver Cloud Various Heller models, but they all depict pre-1960 cars. Aoshima Nissan Cedric/Gloria (various) Aoshima Toyota Crown MS110 Aoshima Toyota Century

A bit too special for many. Despite they proved to be technically the best of the newfangled Detroit compacts, sales left a lot to be desired. They were extremely popular in Europe though, the most popular American cars until the Mustang came. Survival rate is low though, unfortunately.

Nemo's car could at least give them both a run for their money. The TDF-Pointer can certainly intercept them, because it's based on an Imperial. And that's a Mopar after all. But Grandpa Munster would leave all of them in the dust with his Dragula.

It wasn't: The Dodge Lancer was:

Don't forget a 73 Monaco.

Actually, the car the camera was strapped to, was Lelouch's own Mercedes 450SEL 6.9 and he drove it himself. The Ferrari sound was then dubbed over courtesy of his friend Uderzo's (of Asterix fame) 275 GTB recorded at Paul Ricard circuit. The short film has been meticulously analysed and timed, the distances are of course well known. In no sequence of the movie the speed is in excess of 140kph. Lelouch got dinged for filming in public without permission (a criminal offence), not speeding (a mere regulatory offence at the time).

Yes, a Dart 440, Imperial and Valiant.

Does this issue have 'TAXI' embossed in the doors?