Don Sikora II

The hubcaps are probably baby moons.

The three original MPC kits all have some differences in how the scoop area/hood cutout is handled. From memory, the changes also impact the windshield so all three versions are a little different. Would need to dig out my kits to check, but if I remember correctly the parts in the Model King reissues are closest to the Rattler.

The Gunze kits use the basic car parts from the Heller/Airfix kit. There's another Gunze boxing without the added bits that is marked Made by Airfix on the box.

Definitely not cheap, but that's a bit more than the contents of four square Testors 1/4-ounce bottles. That amount of "paint" would go a long way for a modeler.

Thanks.

Steve, What did you use to clean the brush?

Nice to see this coming back. Pretty sure the Turbo cars were 1980 and '81 though, so a '79 is probably the 10th Anniversary car.

It's the Aoshima kit, and I think the picture of the '67 is even from the Aoshima box. American SATCO imported Aoshima kits in those days, and I'm pretty sure that they did import the MGBs in original packaging. I don't have one of those, but do have one of the kits in an Airfix box...haven't looked at in a long time, but if I remember right the Airfix issue actually contains both the early and late parts.

If you order from Hobby Link Japan, they are a fantastic company to do business with. That said, be sure you understand their shipping procedures and how they handle payments for items. If you're ordering multiple items you probably want to use what they call "private warehouse" so you have the lowest possible shipping charges. But this option involves paying for items when they are in stock, not when you want to ship them. It works very well once you understand the system.

It seems random. A couple weeks ago they had a free shipping deal that I only saw in the shopping cart. Was surprised since I didn't see the "free shipping" logo in the kit listings like they usually do.

You're right, Tamiya's 1/24-scale 934 is a newer tool. Pretty sure the Jägermeister version was first released in 2013. The old Esci 934 might still be available from Heller...somehow the mold ended top with them.

Yes.

Saw the Monogram Street T hot rod and the Revell 1980 Ford Ranger pickup on clearance too....think they were $14.99 each.

Yes, the Craftsman '60 wagon kit was only issued the one time. But it was actually a revised reissue of SMP's '60 Chevy wagon promo.

Only other one I can think of that was reissued is the stock version of the Ferrari 308, but that one was released by Revell-Germany.

Man, that looks great!

Think for Made-in-USA Revell/Revell-Monogram NASCAR kits, the yellow-printed tires were only in Limited-Edition kits, but I'm not sure if all Limited Editions came with them. The Pro-Finish kits had them too, as did some of the Made-In-China kits that were based on the Pro-Finish parts.

My local hobby shop still had a couple Parts Pack Mooneyes dragster frames in the early-to-mid 1980s. They were original price (69 cents???) and I remember looking at them more than once and not buying since I had no idea where I'd find the rest of the stuff to build a car. This was before I drove or had any idea something like a model-car swap meet even existed.

Pretty sure all of Revell's 1962 Chrysler Corporation cars included some custom parts in their original issues. The Metalflake issues added a smaller second chrome tree with additional custom goodies along with a small clear-red tree that included custom taillight lenses. Have an old built up of the Metalflake '62 Dodge that somebody sprayed the outside of the body Candy Apple Red....the result looks much better than cars with the paint on the inside.

Try using an acrylic paint. I've recently used an old bottle of Gunze-Sangyo white paint to letter a rubber tire with good results, but I'd think Tamiya acrylic would work fine too. Testors acrylic will probably be OK as well, but I have no experience with that paint. If you use an enamel paint, it probably won't dry on a rubber or vinyl kit tire.

Can't remember who gave me the idea, but someone suggested to me stuffing the inside of the tire with thin plastic bags (like the morning newspaper comes in) or Kleenex to help hold up the weight of the model and keep their shape.

I remember Larsen & Petersen too. The hobby department in the basement was fantastic! Was only at the downtown location a few times, and remember buying the then-new MPC 1983 Dodge Charger 2.2 kit on one of my visits. Later they moved to a much-smaller location on Grand Avenue and had a hobby section there too....maybe into the early 2000s. Went there a few times too, and remember finding one of the Jo-Han Cadillac ambulances there when they were already getting very hard to find.

Here in Wisconsin, we had a grocery store called Eagle that had a surprisingly good selection of kits back in the late Seventies and early Eighties. Later, I heard that Eagle had been bought by Odyssey Partners, the same firm that combined Revell and Monogram. In the late Seventies, I remember my mom letting me get the Lindberg 1/32-scale '77 Thunderbird kit at a Piggly Wiggly store too.

Western Publishing (Little Golden Books) in Racine, Wisconsin, used to have sales that were open to teachers. My dad was an elementary-school teacher and he went to at least a couple of these sales and brought home loads of cheap Monogram kits...this was probably in the early 1980s. Pretty sure the kits he bought included the Chevy LUV camper, the yellow version of the Jeep CJ-7, the black '66 Chevelle flip nose, and a couple of the made-in-Japan 1/15-scale motorcycle kits. Later (probably in the early 1990s), there was a strange outlet-type store in Racine just west of the Zoo that was set up in what had probably originally been a supermarket. Think we originally discovered it when we went to see our eye doctor who had his office across the street. It was called the Boat House (no idea why), and I remember someone at the store told my dad it was somehow related to Western Publishing. I remember everything was displayed on overturned heavy cardboard boxes that had been set up like big tables with aisles in between. They had some kits that were probably closeouts they had picked up someplace. Remember them having Monogram Luminator monsters, and some AMT/Ertl kits including a gigantic pile of the March 86C Cummins Indy car and quite a few of the reissued American LaFrance Aero Chief. Prices were really low, think the Indy cars were $1.99 or $2.99 (probably still have one someplace) and the fire trucks were $4.99 or $5.99. Still have a couple Polistil 1/24-scale Renault Fuego die-casts I bought there too.

Would need to dig out my kits to be completely sure, but I think the Revell M3 has the same style wheels as the Dragon kit with the yellow car on the box. So you're right, it should be the early version. The Revell kit I have does not have the cloisonné badges like the Dragon kit in my collection.