gwangi-boy

I still have my KITT from the original release, and it doesn't have the badges on the side or the pillar. So either MPC (or Ertl) did a mix & match for a later issue, or someone else did and resealed the kit (does happen ... such as me picking up a Revell dragster kit and finding a sheet of Tamiya BMW decals inside it).

I picked up one of these kits at the LHS over the weekend (Hub Hobby, in Little Canada MN). Molded in white plastic this time, the chrome looks good. Tires are two-piece soft vinyl, so not planning on using them. It does remind me of a half-size Big T when going through the pieces and seeing how it goes together. Looks like it should be a lot of fun to customize too with other parts.

Bumping this up, as the show is a week from today.

Its sort of like an NNL ... no trophies or anything like that ... last year the Richfield store gave out gift cards to the winners, and the year before Little Canada awarded model kits. They don't run the show for very long, it might be from 11am to 1pm. The Little Canada store used the hallway that connects the store to the mall, so they set up tables to run alongside the windows. A couple people stay in that area to keep an eye on things, because it does get a lot of traffic.

Hub in Little Canada has a few of the Revell '50s Olds back on the shelf, but not very many, when I was there Saturday. Also tied in with their annual October 20% Off Sale, the LC store is holding a model contest / show on the 27th (Hub also has a photo contest on Facebook that ends today for entries, and I think their FB page is run by someone at the Richfield store ). This is the third year for the model show, which alternates between the 2 stores.

First time I built this was in the early 70s, and the next time a couple of years ago ... its never been an easy build, and it sure left an impression on me when I was a kid! I took my time for this build, and went for the drag look, before it hit the show circuit and everything was chromed, using the cover story from "Hot Rod" magazine for reference. The frame has some really bad seam lines, so had to dechrome that and paint with Alcald (and then I handled the frame so much the Alclad wore off in a couple of spots, so had to redo those areas). The build pictured here is the one that has the resin hood, which was warped and had to be reshaped. I wish Revell had taken the time to retool a styrene hood years ago, but I don't know why they went the resin route for it.

I used a lacquer thinner after decanting it, and would add a little more thinner and then stir until the consistency looked right. Even then, I was surprised at how well this paint covered ... one of the easiest body painting jobs I've done with an airbrush.

I used the Montana Gold Linden Green for this Fujimi Ford GT40. I had to special order this color from Dick Blick and found the paint is about $2 cheaper online than in the stores (although shipping charges will take away that advantage), as the Blick Stores carry a small selection of the colors (at least the two stores around me). This stuff IS thick ... it reminded me of foam when I did some test spraying ... so decanting the paint for use in an airbrush is definitely recommended. The paint covers quite nicely, I thought.

Wasn't the '27 Touring car released with Laurel & Hardy? I've got the '25 T with L&H, but there was a touring car release at the same time.

Yep, they're by Jim Johnson but no, unfortunately, they're not for sale ... he made all those to do multiple various buildups of a body style he really likes.

Another fun show in Bloomington, the 2nd year at the Knights of Columbus location (and hopefully the home of the NNL North for years to come) ... plenty of vendors, Round 2 had sent over some publicity material, lots of models on the table, and even food served for us hungry ones who didn't want to leave the building. Enjoy the photos! NNL North 2010 model show

Heard it was because Mattel owns the name -- one of their Hot Wheels cars is called the Dragon Wagon (and looks nothing like the Tom Daniel design). When Praying Mantis released a Johnny Lightning version of the DW a few years ago, it was called the Draggin' Dragon. At least that didn't happen with the Street Fighter reissue -- the side of the box says the Street Fighter name is trademarked and used by permission from Georgia Marketing & Promotions!

Very nice! Slixx has decal sheets for some of McEwen's cars, and the Coca-Cola decal is on those ... it took me a while to realize the same thing after I got the Revell twin set that the C-C decals were missing (plus I think the Monogram originals had tinted windows, if I remember right).

I remember hearing that Stevens Int had looked into reissuing the kit a few years ago, but they found out the tooling wasn't complete. Part of this kit did end up in MPC's C-Cab "Outcast" showrod, which can be used to help restore an old gluebomb of the Casper car (although unfortunately some of those parts were the brass plated ones in the Casper car -- and in the Outcast, they're bare plastic). And FWIW, AMT had their Paddy Wagon, a dual kit where you could build a complete Model T if you wanted (their Paddy Wagon was also known as the Cop-Out -- no relation to Monogram's kit of the same name, of course!)

... partnered with the Spud Valley train & toy show. The models begin on page 5 of the album ... lots of photos of old & new toys, especiall of tractors and trains. The show was held in Fargo, ND. http://public.fotki.com/gwangi-boy/plastic-on-the-prai/

Nordicon was held in South St Paul on Sept 23rd, with a large mixture of airplanes, military, and cars, with a few figures and space / SF mixed in. If I remember the number right, 263 models were entered into the contest. Hope you enjoy the photos! http://public.fotki.com/gwangi-boy/nordicon_2006_south/

Thanks for the welcome! Yep, I managed to sneak in a few of my own models into my own photo album! :wink: Most of the cars I brought were show cars: the Chuck Wagon, the Popcorn Wagon, Vending Machine, Granny's Hot Rod (Beverly Hillbillies), Lil Coffin ... but to take up more table space, I also brought along the 1/16th Revell California Charger dragster, the Laurel & Hardy Model T, the Mongoose funny car, and the recent AMT/Model King Warbucks Mustang funny car reissue (sans decals -- the decals literally fell apart in the water for the most part, and the ones that didn't were #$%# to work with so I gave up on them). A photographer was there taking pictures of select models for possible publication in "Model Cars Magazine" and both the Chuck Wagon and the Laurel & Hardy T were picked! Funny thing is, my wife has said her two very favorite models that I've built were those two ... while I would pick the Popcorn Wagon and maybe some others. I wonder what she sees that I don't??

... well, Bloomington to be more accurate! Just signed up on this website, and to start off with my first post, I'm posting a link to my photo album of the GMO (Greater Minnesota Open) NNL show that was held at the Comfort Inn in Bloomington on June 10th. For a short intro to myself, I started building models back when I was 9 and continued strong through my teens, until I eased off the hobby for various reasons. I would still build the occasional kit, but never on a full-time basis. A couple of years ago, we moved into our first house, and then the hobby came back to me big-time. This was the very first model car show I've ever attended, and had a lot of fun (along with wishing that I could have brought more $$ along, but maybe it was a good thing I put a limit on myself!). I hope you enjoy the photos! GMO NNL Photo Album