Junkman

Fuse wire to make spokes for spoke wire wheels: Plastic strapping/banding for pallets to make car transporter or trailer boards and ramps, walkways on tankers, etc.: It comes in various widths and there is a multitude of uses. Q-Tips are exhaust pipes, roll cages, radiator hoses, axles, raw material for headers, zoomies, whatever, there are so many uses for them. Wire coathangers from the dry cleaner's are axles for old Jo-Hans, exhaust systems, roll cages, reinforcements, whatever. Old telescopic car antennas are hydraulic rams for tipper lorries. The wooden coffee stirrers from McPuke or Tarbucks are pick-up floors, woody wagons or actually even paint stirrers. Peeled skins from boiled potatoes are seat covers and drag-chute wraps. Rubber 0-rings are hoses, same goes for wire insulation. Silicone molds for cake frosting are molds for resin cherubs, angels, scrollwork, flowers, crosses, etc. for ornate hearses. Wedding cake columns are columns for column hearses. Kinder Eggs are 1/8th scale headlamp buckets. European style pins are door lock knobs, column shift and turn signal stalks, pull switches, rivet heads or convertible boot fasteners. Drawing-pins are dog dish hubcaps. Springs inside of oil seals are carburetter linkage return springs, etc.

You get gazillions of aftermarket parts in 1/20, but most would be intended to pimp the Formula 1 kits. Hence there is a plethora of disc brake kits available in all levels of quality and for every budget. Mind you, the X1/9 is a tiny car and 1/20 scale stuff intended for race cars may look vastly out of scale. There are aftermarket disc brake kits for 1/24-25 scale hot rods which may be the right size for a 1/20 Fiat. However, what I find rather tough to come by is wheels/tyres. There are the Formula 1 ones of course, and some rally ones. Then there are the custom wheels from the aforementioned 1/20 scale MPC Corvettes and lest not forget the 1/20 scale AMT nee MPC show rods like the Popcorn Wagon, Gridiron Grabber, Chuck Wagon, etc, which are plentiful and cheap atm. But other than that, there are only the vintage Japanese 'can be motorized' off roaders by Nichimo and similar, which are highly prized (and priced) collectors items in their own right nowadays. Hence you need to be inventive if you need wheels for your 1/20 Bosozoku or Gran Chan. Or Fiat X1/9 for that matter. Often 1/24 scale Donk wheels and smaller 1/18 (may I mention the D-word in this forum?) stuff will work. For your X1/9 you may want to hunt for some dirt cheap 1/24 Bburago 'rari and nick its Campagnolos. They may well look right at home on a 1/20 Fiat. The real funny bit is, that when you put search ads for 1/20 scale stuff somewhere, you get no replies whatsoever. But when you find vintage Japanese 1/20 scale stuff for sale, you pay through your nose for it!

Yes, most of MPC's van kits were 1/25 scale. I say most, because there was also an array of 1/32 scale vans. Only the ca 1970 Ford van and its custom derivatives were 1/20. And what cool tow vehicles for the Rupp snow dragster they make... The only other 1/20 scale American vans I know are those from Revell, which are the later type Econoline. There were interesting variants, such as the NFL Series, a police and a swat version and lots more, iirc.

I had several of them, but none of those could be built stock.

I like old-fashioned skinny high-profile el-cheapos without whitewall.

Hmmm.... What about resin?

I think it is very easy to answer. A Master Modeler is one that makes master models, from which molds are taken.

What's wrong with Foose now?

Which scale? There were loads made.

That's still cheaper than a real one. Lada, I mean.

I'd even say that's a bloody pretty dang wicked black paint job. And those turquoise stripes aren't really that bad either.

Yeah, I sometimes take to Laphroaigh Single Malt when building. The next day I'm usually quite amazed with what I achieved.

Those old Tom Daniel kits by Monogram might appeal to him, if he is into that kind of stuff. They are easy to build and yield quite attractive models.

I'd be tempted to get me one of those Thunderbolts and enter it in the Air Racer build off.

Errrm. You could enter the piece of junk in a banger race - and win. You wouldn't stand a chance in one of what you refer to as bona fide race cars

I have seen buildups of the Revell Futura repop. Apparently it builds into quite a plausible model. I haven't done it myself yet, though.

Amazing how battered the coachwork is. Note the flattened nose from banging the open bonnet onto the salt and the deep indentations where they slammed the drivers door shut. Those cars were just thrashed about and beaten up. What are these brackets riveted to the A-pillars for? Also note that the doors open in typical toy fashion, they don't 'tuck in' at the leading edge when open.

The alternative is this: http://www.round2models.com/models/polar-lights/batmobile-snap And that's just the snapper. The glue kit is announced as well. Just stay patient.

I doubt this simple fact, since another simple fact is that VW Group doesn't even charge licensing fees from model companies, ask the licensing lawyers at Auto Art and Minichamps if you don't believe me. The plethora of Bugatti Veyron and all other VAG models out and about confirm this. No, this is a failure of the kit manufactureres and nothing else. Bugattis are available as diecasts left, right, and center.

I do indeed want to buy a Batmobile. It's 1/25th scale and due out 2011

Look at the effort those Formula One guys spend to just haul one person around.

That very fact triggered my desire for a 1/12 version.

What's the time line on a 1/12th SLS? What's the bloody hold-up? Yes, I know. I won't do it again.

Absolutley. I don't question for a second the advanced skills and craftsmanship required to rat-look, rust, or wheather a model. These guys work a lot harder than I do.

No, I'm not the ruster. I like my cars in as new condition, be it models or real cars. In fact, that rat-look craze does nothing for me. What I'm trying to achieve is the look a car has on the day you drove it home from the dealership. I'm not saying that I'm sucessful, but that is what I'm aiming at. As you can see, they are smooth, but not christmas tree balls. This is how I like them. On hot rods or customs, that's a different story though: