Junkman

A scratchbuilt low loader pulled by the upcoming 1/16 Peterbilt?

I don't believe it... Nissei made TWO DIFFERENT 1/20 scale injection moulding machine kits:

Am I missing something? Which Miura kit are we talking about?

Yeah, I had the Frog Galxie, too. Loved the fact that they made Daytona into a dirt track and drove it clockwise.

That's where I have it, too. All the way in, to the holder. Still in the dark ages of modelling, I used Humbrol metallic paint for engine blocks. I painted them, by holding them at the gearbox end, and brush paint them. Sometimes a bit of the paint would go on the fingers I held them with, and I then washed that off with a bit of thinners. One day, I was still a fairly young lad, after doing a bit of Humbrol metallic engine painting, I changed and went out clubbing. That night, people kept staring at me in a weird way and I already had checked my zipper, whether my shirt is buttoned up the right way, the lot. I then went to the restrooms and with one glance in the mirror, I knew what was going on. When I still had Humbrol blue metallic paint on my fingers, I must have rubbed my eyes and now had nice, sparkling blue metallic eyeshadows.

I bought these with an eye to make them into cabins for futuristic trucks:

I mean the car design. Not technical features. And I seemingly can't even tell the difference between a 1st and 2nd generation Neon, how's that for distinctive?

There always have been bad drivers, this is nothing new. I can't count how many times I rode passenger with people driving by night, who never ever switched on their main beams. They don't even look as far ahead as the light cone of their dipped beams reaches.

So this is the 'progress' they managed to come up with in almost 20 years. How can they use the word 'new' and keep a straight face?

I wouldn't go quite this far, but in essence, you have a point. My impresson is that the automobile industry has completely lost the idea, what the actual purpose of a car is, what it actually was invented for in the first place. They give us these obese insolent carriages, that come festooned with all kinds of rubbish and each generation is bigger and heavier than the one it replaces. The modern European or Japanese family car challenges 1980s American full sized cars in the weight department. Any progress in engine efficiency is immadiately offset by adding more fat to the cars these engines are used in. OK, this may be different in the US - at least to an extend - since cars have gotten smaller and more efficient over there compared with what was on offer as recently as 25 years ago. But what was the reaction of the buying public there? Switch to driving trucks and SUVs in droves. But isn't this thread about car design? I like to belive, that each decade since WWII had a clear 'definition' or 'identity' when it comes to car design. - 1940s: The (what I benevolently call) Detroit Potatoes - 1950s: Fins and Chrome - 1960s: The 'sculpted' look (think coke bottle) - 1970s: The 'chiselled' look (think fuselage and 'trapezoidal') - 1980s: The linear look (think right angles) - 1990s: The jelly mould - 2000s: The jelly mould - 2010s: The??? Let me guess: jelly mould? Notice something?

1969 -1973.

Actually, the death knoll has been ringing on pretty much everything for the last 40 years. Show me one thing that has been invented in that period, that was really and truly needed.

I agree, Rob. Why don't we - for once - start a thread for automobiles, that have fresh and innovative design? For example, I quite like the look of the Citroen Metisse concept. Now here is a midsize FWD sedan that is fresh, modern, and I haven't seen anything like it before. Oh, and there is a 1:18 scale diecast of it. Sorry, no plastic kit.

Well, just look at the new Beetle, the Fiat 500, the Mini, the Rover 75, the Jaguar S-Type, yes, even the new Rolls Royces and Bentleys, to name just a few. From all those manufacturers, I'd expect they come up with something new, since they have a long history in coming up with something new. Instead, they try to sell me this retro nonsense. This actually turns me off, since I get the impression, they ran out of ideas, and hence I have no trust in these products. Why can't they just stop making stuff we don't need? Why don't they start making stuff we do need? Why do I still have to fill up my car? There are so many things that urgently need to be invented, yet they waste their and my time on shabby chic.

Would trading it in for something that's easier on the petrol be a feasible alternative? I mean, what's the nicest truck worth if you can't afford to drive it?

Hey, what's the bloody holdup? Those things are just too kewl. Naw, seriously now, if you need parts or anything, I can help. Please feel free to contact me if you need assistance.

Kids are not the filtrate of their predecessors. They are completely individual personalities. You are perfectly right insofar, that parents should expose children to as many facets of life as humanly possible, just to show them, how diverse this planet really is and what it has to offer to any halfways intellectual mind. But the kids make their own choices and decisions and shouldn't be too much influenced in this process. The only 'kid' (he is now 22) in my family - except me, of course - who is into something that can be called modelling, is my nephew. He does Warhammer figures. His ability to detail those is mindboggling. So much so, that my father has commissioned him to detail some HO Scale engineers and stokers for his locomotives - with equally mindboggling results. Believe it or not, the engineer of his HO scale Reichsbahn Baureihe 01 now has a moustache!

There is no such thing as old model kits at flea markets (called boot sales here) in England. But the Corgis and Dinkys I found, and at what prices! Peoples got killed for less, lemme tellyas.

All of them. I just don't like retro-design and it's not restricted to cars.

I have nothing against old nameplates. Most of them were used on several generations of cars anyway. But what I cannot warm up to is retro-design. There is no such thing as coming home after you left it, and retro design clearly illustrates that.

LOL, I can relate to that. I'm 47 myself and got my first set of coke bottle bottoms three years ago. What you need is an Optivisor.

You'll be amazed how much better the materials became over the past 30 years. The modelling life is a lot easier than it was back then. I'd say you'll be up to scratch in no time. Many of your models seem to need little more than a thorough clean and a polishing kit anyway.

It really wasn't my intention to start a discussion re. people using their indicators, or not. So 1-1-1958 they became mandatory on passenger cars in the US, which means all cars made prior to that having them had them voluntarily. Interestingly, they became mandatory on the same day in Europe and one had to install them until 1-1-1960 if one still had a car with trafficators.

The Japanese are just now waking up to their automotive heritage. It is a cultural thing. For the longest time, Japanese people wanted their stuff new. Even cars only a few years old were considered extremely outdated and 'unwanted'. It's the younger generation that recently (in our terms) started to resurrect older cars, especially from the seventies and eighties, and there is a fully fleged 'nostalgia wave' going on now. Interestingly, they still call their cars 'unwanted' in a clear case of self-mockery. The Japanese government has responded to this growing trend and pre-1985 cars are now exempt from the stringent roadworthiness and emissions tests. This is reflected in the offerings of the Japanese model car industry, which include ever more seventies and eighties cars. And the first foray into the sixties has been made, too, with the Fujimi Prince Skyline S54J. There will be more to come, that's certain.

You never fail to amaze me.