Junkman

Same with my 'new' Granada. Rock solid, but needs paint.

The guard must be fitted.

My preaching since 1980...

And if that wasn't good enough news, there will also be a 1975 Dodge Monaco sedan! The Bluesmobile is number GL84011 and the '75 Chicago police car is number GL84012. Release is scheduled for August.

Hilfeleistungslöschgruppenfahrzeug (short: HLF, transl. assistance rescue fire fighting crew vehicle) is the name for a type of German fire engines of various sizes. This vehicle type is closely related to the Löschgruppenfahrzeug (fire fighting crew vehicle) and thus is also designed for carrying a crew. The essential difference to a Löschgruppenfahrzeug (LF) is the extensive technical equipment for rescue assistance carried on the HLF. HLFs are the most versatile vehicles in German emergency response. They have evolved from the LFs, when the firefighters realized, that their range of tasks increasingly shifted from mere firefighting to provide all sorts of technical assistance in emergencies. Thus they started to equip their LFs with ever more equipment for accident and disaster assistance. Even before their standardization, the HLFs could handle all conceivable situations, like traffic accidents, dangerous and hazardous missions, civil protection, and of course conventional firefighting. The standardized HLF is a relatively new type of vehicle of the German fire brigades, for which the first DIN standards were established at the beginning of the 21st century. Previously, many fire departments used their own designs, which often didn't comply with any current standards for fire engines. Initially the term HLF was coined for these non standardized vehicles. The first standard was set for a HLF 20/16 (nowadays HLF 20) in November 2004. In 2007 the standard for the smaller HLF 10/6 (nowadays HLF 10) followed, which is based on the former standard for the LF 8/6 with additional equipment for technical assistance. In the old abbreviations, the first number stands for the nominal flow rate of the fire pump in 100 liters per minute (e.g 20 = 2,000 liters) at 10 bar delivery pressure; the number after the slash denoted the (minimum) volume of the on board water tank in 100 liters (e.g 16 = 1,600 liters). Despite there are also vehicles with larger water tanks (for example, HLF 20/20 with a 2,000 liter water tank), they are now subsumed under the respective terms within the new DIN designations, thus this has become obsolete and is hence omitted. The HLF 20, which the Revell kit depicts, is the largest version of this type of standardized vehicles. The standard is defined in DIN 14530 part 27. It has a 1,600 liter water tank, carries 120 liters of foam concentrate, and 12 kg of dry powder. The pump can deliver 2,000 liters of water per minute at a pressure of 10 bar. It has a smaller water tank than a LF20, thus can carry more equipment for technical assistance. This includes - a full hydraulic rescue set (with rescue spreader, rescue shears and rams) - full traffic accident securing kit - multiple pneumatic tools - two inflatable escape chutes - a four-part scaling ladder (or alternatively two multifunction ladders) - a three-part extension ladder - a jumping sheet - four breathing apparatus - respiratory protection monitoring system - two manhole covers - four light chemical protective suits - electric power generation and flood lighting equipment - a submersible pump - a power saw and reciprocating saws - fans and a chimney toolbox. Some, but not all, are also fitted with - a winch - a load of barriers to combat water damage situations - fall protection equipment - hazardous materials removal equipment and oil booms. Some even have four-wheel drive. The maximum allowed mass is 15 tonnes, except in Bavaria, where they are now allowed to have a maximum mass of 16 tonnes. All of them are fitted with retarders, thus they are exempt from the 80 kph speed limit for vehicles over 7.5 tons GVW.

Good. That leaves me with plenty of money to spend at Heller and Moebius.

Why is everyone parroting that those dreadful heaps are the most beautiful cars ever built?

The question is completely futile. It's the only game in town. And going by the track record of those slowpokes in the Midwest over the past 40 odd years, this will never change.

Ya' ask me what kind of car am I drivin'? Well, Uh... I'm drivin' a '48 Cadillac with thunderbird wings I'm tellin' ya' baby it's a runnin' thing I could reach a groove a'baby .. get a gear I think I could take it a'right outta here

Yeah, about 6 minutes in he usually begins with talking substance. That's why I start them there.

EFA

I'm pretty sure this is exactly where we are heading.

Re. louvers or not - all cars were used for racing and thus changes were made to them all the time. Often on the spot while in pit row. Something overheated, whoosh, some louvers were cut there and then.

Yes, now that you said it, those plastic axles were a delightful waste of raw material. Held up reasonably well in sand box rallies, too.

A lot of people/forums/etc. have been pestering Revellogram to bring back the Land Rover. It's regularly high up in the results of reissue surveys, too. We are now in the wake of the Defender being discontinued, which is treated almost like a national disaster, and gives all Land Rovers a massive boost in popularity. But no. It wouldn't sell, you know.

Those Merits need a bit of pimping in the wheel department and some detailing and they'll be just fine. I'm toying with the idea to do just that by putting aftermarket wheels onto a Merit/Smer Alfa Romeo and thus have two cars from the 1950 Grand Prix de Belgique. Also, since quite a few of these Talbots were sold to privateers, you can build these versions as well. An obvious choice would be a car of the Ecurie Belge. One of the numerous Heller reissues of the kit even came in that guise:

Of course it isn't a bad thing. That's why I described how drastically things have improved in my lifetime. I mean, you now get flatscreens for sub 100 quid! I must get me one of those for my new workplace. I just love living in the first world.

Hmmm... They are of different cars after all. The Merit/Smer is depicting a car from before they lowered the driver's seat. Some smart kit bashage is in order...

There were a few more. And despite not being particularly sporty, it was non-American nevertheless:

When I started modelling as a teenager, not only was having a telly in my room unthinkable, but also something that wouldn't have occurred to anybody. I ordered my models via filling out order forms, which I posted in envelopes with stamps on them, paying for them by postal money order. 20 years later, I at least had a stereo at my workplace, ordered my models by telephone and paid for them with a credit card. Add another 20 years, and nobody can even imagine, that a life without monitors and mouseclicks was ever possible.

Nothing wrong with that. A lot of people appreciate classics in original condition. For those who like their hot rods, a combination of this and the Revell kit should open up endless possibilities. I'm keen on the original Ala Kart body parts, because I never liked the shape of the n00 t00l.

That's how most of then looked after a week.

April 1st is early this year.

Gunze Sangyo made a very crude and ill proportioned 1/24 kit, which had only three wheels. Three-wheeled Isettas were only built for export to the UK, where threewheelers enjoyed a tax benefit and could be driven with a motorcycle licence. I hope Revell does the reverse process it did with the Samba Bus and follows up with a scaled down version. Then again, it's Revell, so the lower I keep my expectations, the less I will be disappointed... Ironically, Revell made a very nice 1/18 diecast for many years in many liveries, which makes an ill-windshielded (unless they fix it for production) 1/16 kit seem even more redundant.