charlie8575

Beautifully executed. Charlie Larkin

I agree. I was a bit surprised at the choice of the Tudor, but I think it might do okay. The Ranchero, though....that will be a grand slam. There are enough people that seem to want one done correctly that it could make a very substantial contribution to Revell's bottom line. Charlie Larkin

Frankly, the Super-Duty trucks are so badly-done in my opinion, the only words I can use to describe them are not allowed on this forum. The van took what was pleasant, although dated styling, and made it downright homely. I will agree that the Express-series vans don't do much for me, but between the two... I did know the cutaways, both old and new, were frame-mounted. I was just surprised to see a frame under a regular van. Charlei Larkin

I would love to see one of these replicated for rep-stock. Seriously, if you get the ambition to do it, I can think of three or four resin casters who would be interested. Charlie Larkin

Actually, I was referring to the Transit being a bit odd-looking, although seeing the picture of Glenn's low-roof, it' looks a little better, but still a bit strange. I actually think the Econoline isn't too bad looking aside from that unfortunate new grille ensemble. I was actually crawling around underneath a Chevy G-3500 wheelchair van, helping a friend of mine buy one for his social service agency (I offered to go take a look at it and drive it for an evaluation.) I was surprised to see a ladder-type frame under that rig. Last I remember, the GM vans were unit? After driving that monster (15-passenger length,) I was surprised at how well it drove, performed and handled, especially considering size and weight. I wouldn't mind a short-wheelbase one for a long trip converted into a nice travel van. Charlie Larkin

I quite agree. Kevin- I'd strongly suggest having scads of these really for NNL-East next year. I'll be taking one myself. From what I'm seeing, this could move to best-seller very quickly. Charlie Larkin

This is moving very quickly to the must-have list. Incredibly nice work. Charlie Larkin

Is it just me, or are they too tall visually for their width? I wonder how the fleets will like the maintanence on those twin-turbo V6s, too? I'll bet a small-displacement V8 will be appearing to keep the fleet managers happy from that standpoint. I also don't see a one-ton van working well with one of those at all. Oh well, for style and maintanence, I'll get a Chevy/GMC if I find myself in the market. Charlie Larkin

Evergreen makes some styrene clapboard that looks pretty good. You might want to try that. I believe Northeastern and Kappler Scale Lumber also offer individual bass or balsa clapboards. Grandt Line and Northeastern have windows that will work, or you can scratch them. Charlie Larkin

Looks like Ford and GM shared a styling studio with those trucks. Charlie Larkin

I sent the link of this to a friend of mine who's a physics teacher. She'll have fun reading this. To answer the original question.... I'll pay for accuracy. To me, and to my budget, as a general rule, $30-40 is about all I'll pay, and less is better. With the advent of modern engineering and design, even if you need a human eye to make some small adjustments or take care of minor details, a kit should not be as expensive to engineer and design as it once was. I also agree that with the modern design, accuracy should be a given, but only if the initial input is correct; as we have seen repeatedly, we do not have proper geometric or dimensional mensuration in far too many instances. Some are carelessness, some are bad design, some are forced compromises for production. Regarding old kits: I agree completely with Chuck. While I want to see well-molded kits come out and with good tools, charging $25 for a kit that's been reissued a million times, many times with the extra parts deleted (which cost pennies to make in terms of plastic,) is crazy. I can see charging that much if substantial repair/restoration needs to be made to the mold, or special extras are included. What's most important to me, whether a kit is $10, $25, $50 or $100 is whether I feel I'm getting value for my expenditure. And yes, accuracy, at least as closer as is possible given the limits of man and machine, are expected, with certain compromises to be expected for assembly and molding. But, as long as the body and interior is right and the engine looks like it should (I REALLY don't fuss that much over metal axles, in fact, I prefer them for a lot of kits because they're much stronger,) I'm happy. Let's worry about that stuff. We'll get the scaled weights later. Charlie Larkin

Nicely done. Charlie Larkin

Looks like my friend Norm's '51 Commodore 6 convertible when he first got it. It's in much better condition now. Nicely done. Charlie Larkin

I might grab one of the Aoshima kits. I actually think these are a nice-looking car. And if they might be doing some American kits, it'll be nice to see how they build. Charlie Larkin

Gorgeous, Ron. Please make sure to bring those up to the show in March, or make sure they get there. I'm sure Doug or Norm would be happy to pick up/return if you can't be there personally. Charlie Larkin

Gorgeous mild custom. Charlie Larkin

If you don't like carpentry- I do, but like the idea of a folding table, I ran across this at Ikea and at the price, I would be willing to buy one of these myself. The "Norbo" wall-mounted folding table. And at just under two feet by just over two and a half feet, it's a nice-size work area. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80091713/ Charlie Larkin

That maroon with a red tint-coat over it would look pretty neat, I think. If you have some pearl powder, perhaps a little bit of that mixed in and airbrushed on would be a nice addition, too. Charlie Larkin

Is that a 4-door sedan or the Polara hardtop? I'm having trouble telling exactly. If it's a 4-door, yes, that needs to be cast by Jeff, Kevin or Don Holthaus. If it's a 2-door, that would be nice, too. Charlie Larkin

Looks good, Ron. Charlie Larkin

Excellent work! Charlie Larkin

Not exactly the news I wanted to hear, but that it's still going forward in some fashion is a good thing. I do hope updates will continue to come. Charlie Larkin

See my post on P. 1 regarding this matter.

Those painted engines are pretty cool, Mike. I like the blue. I was actually thinking body-color, but if you did some type of blue on the engine with a coordinating or matching exterior and a light gray interior, I think you'd have something there. I would suggest a candy blue using silver with Tamiya or Testors clear/transparent blue. I was giving thought to a candy maroon. You might be able to achieve that using Model Master Burgundy Metallic enamel thinned out to near-transparent, over a gold base. I would recommend a tan interior with that...or, for red overload, Humbrol Crimson, overcoated with flat and semi-gloss as appropriate. If you can't find Humbrol out there, let me know, Spare Time stocks it and I can grab you a can if you need it. Charlie Larkin

An F-85/Cutlass wagon would be VERY cool! Talk about never-seen! I understand about the hours. They do have the 2nd Saturday meeting, too at 1:00, if that works for you a little better. Worst case, just make it when you can, either way, please bring this to the show, and make sure you get yourself introduced to me. Charlie Larkin