charlie8575

I get paid tomorrow, I'll kick in this weekend when I get a couple of bills settled and see what I have to play with. Charlie Larkin

I wonder if anyone will use the much-more-accurate front clip to fix the Revell '57s and offer them in resin? Charlie Larkin

Actually, I was referring to the '30 coupe mentioned here, but now see it isn't. Charlie Larkin

Please, don't insult scum like that. Dove-tailing with the above...."don't steal, the government hates competition." Charlie Larkin

Ed's pictures on this dreary, humid Monday. Nice pictures of Germany, too, Michael. The store ebbs and flows, and last week was quiet, but this week it's flowing. I'm hoping this is a good start to what's usually the busy season. Charlie Larkin

That purple looks right at home on that car. Charlie Larkin

I didn't even see these were back out? Cool, I'll have to get a couple- one for inventory, one for me. Charlie Larkin

I'm laughing so hard I almost fell out of my chair. The Zumwalt reminds me of a Civil War-era ironclad. Charlie Larkin

A few more pictures. The wheels look nice, but will need to be stripped and painted with some bright silver to look more like the real thing. I'm thinking about Tamiya Gloss Aluminum. I'm open to other ideas. The tires look good, even un-branded. I don't know if there's a licensing problem (does it surprise anyone anymore?) or if they simply couldn't do it small enough, but the tread looks great. The window unit comes pre-printed and ready to install. The underside is textured nicely and will do a very good job of simulating the headliner. The headlights and taillights are also nice. The headlight lenses (and possibly the area behind them) will need a little detail painting. Some paint will make the brake disks come to life. The molding is very nice. The wiper blades should be semi-gloss black. The seats and door panels are nicely done and will be gorgeous when painted. The interior bucket is also nicely done, and again, with a small bit of paint, will come to life. The spoilers and side-view mirrors look good, too. The sprue was cut to do a little paint experimentation. Charlie Larkin

That came out nicely. The black/silver with a red interior is a very nice combination. Class all the way. Charlie Larkin

That's one fast tractor. I like the choice of color. Charlie Larkin

For giggles, I sat in one of these, and while I'm nowhere near as tall as you, it is tight! What amazed me is that the seat, when moved back enough for me to fit, is literally against the back seat with absolutely 0 legroom. Not much space between me and the roof, either. Bumps will be fun. Tamiya's lacquers seem to be quite plastic-safe. I painted my PT Cruiser in their Maroon over the red plastic, and have never had a bit of trouble. The Clear Red gives the metallic in the plastic a nice pop, while bringing up the gloss considerably. I suspect a clear top-coat would absolutely make this sparkle. Charlie Larkin

Actually, there's about 35 or 40 parts, all nicely done. With that said, I absolutely agree that the price of admission for a snap kit is a bit high, but this is a very good product, and if it's an indication of what we can expect from AMT in the future for quality, Iw ill go so far to say that it may well be a landmark product. Charlie Larkin

The Sungate Ivory/Carnival Red gets a bit over-done, but it does look nice. I'm probably going to do mine in Sungate Ivory/Sheridan Blue. You did a great job on the engine. What did you use for the "tangerine" paint? Charlie Larkin

State Police vanity plate? Cool- you'd never, EVER see that in Massachusetts. Charlie Larkin

I started experimenting with paint, and found that Tamiya Clear Red lacquer, applied directly to the red plastic, REALLY makes it look like the Garnet Red Tintcoat that AMT was attempting to re-create. I'm toying with doing the white/black interior for something a tad different. Charlie Larkin

For simplicity's sake, I took pictures with my phone, and had to wait for it to re-charge. The body is very nice. However, like most other efforts at molding metallic-esque colored plastic, this didn't work as well as I think AMT had hoped. The color, however, is consistent, with no swirling. The chassis plate is very nicely engraved, and with some detail painting, will come right up with minimal effort and trouble. As my dad put it, "for $26.95 for a snap kit, it had better be good." With some paint and a little effort, this will truly be outstanding. Dad still looks cross-eyed at most snaps, but when I showed him the parts, the pre-printed windows with blackout and defroster grids in place, he was impressed, and he's not an easy man to impress.

One of the nice perks of working in a hobby shop now is that I can get access to some of the newer kits a little quicker. When the new snap-together 2016 Camaro SS came out from AMT, I decided I wanted to get one. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of the new Camaros, although I don't think they're a bad-looking car. But more importantly, it is an imperative that this kit sells well. If these sell well, I really hope AMT takes the queue and starts tooling up more new stuff- both newer cars and perhaps a few of the classics we'd like to see. I will say this- I like what I see. A very well-done kit, and it looks like it'll be pretty easy to assemble. As soon as I can get some pictures uploaded, which I'm working on now, I'll be posting them. Charlie Larkin

That Mica Red is well-suited to that car. Looks very good on it. Charlie Larkin

As pro-1A as I am, I have sometimes wondered- very seriously, if we shouldn't pass a law that restricts the use of sales promotions for national holidays, and outright ban it on what should properly be national days of mourning, including Sept. 11, Dec. 7, and any day on which a sitting President was assassinated. We can probably throw in a few more, too. I'm all about making a buck and saying what you want- providing you make that buck honestly and honorably, and what you say is accurate. With those activities should come discretion and common sense. My favorite example of "you've GOT to be kidding me" marketing stupidity was hours after April 15, 2013, when the City of Boston was deliberately and most sinisterly attacked by the Tsarnaev brothers. Some recipe website sent out a tweet saying "our hearts go out to Boston. Here's a recipe for cranberries!" REALLY? I don't recall who did it, but they got their heads handed to them by the City of Boston, those of us who live in Massachusetts, and a whole bunch of other people. In society, we often remark about tone-deafness over one thing or another, and I think, sadly, that far too much of that occurs in advertising and marketing. Charlie Larkin

Love it. Charlie Larkin

Was that a specific promotion or are you making a general observation? If that was a specific promotion, absolutely tasteless. If in general...remember, that although Mitsubishi was one company at the time, it was mandated to break into several parts after the war, so Mitsubishi Motors of today has only vestigial relation to the Mitsubishi Corporation of days of yore. That, and to preclude them from participating in President's Day promotions along with the other car companies would be anti-competitive at best. Trust me, Tom, I understand what you're saying, and find the irony of a descendant of the company that produced the bulk of what was used to attack Pearl Harbor a bit odd, and ever-so-slightly disquieting promoting cars during an American holiday. Charlie Larkin

Agreed. When my mother had breast cancer, the instructions from her doctor were "if you don't feel good or are in extreme discomfort and it's after hours, go straight to the ER." They will give oncology patients first priority behind life-threatening emergencies (e.g., strokes, heart attacks, serious accidents.) There's no reason to add to your suffering. Charlie Larkin

Usually, I'd question all-red on a capital-C Classic like that, but it works well on this. Charlie Larkin

I have to say, Steve, this is most impressive. Regarding the drying of lacquer, if it's been exceptionally humid out your way, the solvents in the lacquer might not be evaporating properly. I've run into a lot of trouble with the "Perfect Match" paints. To the point where I won't even use them anymore unless I absolutely must. Charlie Larkin