Erik Smith

It spins in the palm - my double ended vise spins too, but the chuck spins all the way off. BTW - I will post my pin vise, I googled it and it seems there is a more expensive ($25) version too. Mine was $10.

Without seeing the kit part, I would think consecutive black washes until you get the opacity you want. With washes, you don't need to try and paint straight lines - capillary action will pull the paint along the edge leaving a crisp line. I'll try and find an example.

The Tamiya pin vise is great. It will hold #80 bits with no problem. One very nice feature (compared to my other pin vise) is that the throat (the area behind the chuck) is deep enough that I can send a longer bit all the way back avoiding the inevitable wobble/break when too much bit is exposed. Oh, and it has a spinning knob kind of thing on the end...

Sad, but true. We live in a global "free" market society that has been created and allowed to flourish. Without getting into economics and politics - which would solve absolutely nothing either way - yes, the only thing that matters is the bottom line. Hobbico is an employee owned company, so if the employees want to cut their "share", then they would opt for more expensive plastic that doesn't etch or have other faults. One person may say "yes, that would be good", but 10 others would look at their monthly bills and say "no, doesn't work for me". It's justified, but perfect? No, not close. I don't think bringing this stuff up is wrong or a big deal - it's a discussion. When I referred to forum users as "the fringe", I meant it from the standpoint of where all the kits will get sold - we notice (and matter some), but sooooo many kits will get purchased and built/stored/destroyed and people won't realize the plastic now is any different than it ever was. Now, about those batteries in the Dreamliner...

This could be a very good opportunity for eBay. There are already secondary "shippers" for foreign buyers - I have sold a number of kits to operations in California that buy for people in Japan, consolidate the shipments at a facicilty in the US, then ship to the buyers in Japan. The only cost was the US mailing cost. Buyers will be responsible for the additional fees, if any. This will also be very nice to avoid the customs/PO headache for sellers (like myself) that sell globally. I am sure eBay has these things considered...It may still be an option to just mail the package directly to the buyer as well - this is just giving options. Canada is no big deal. I get nervous when I send a package to El Salvador and it's MY responsiblity if the package doesn't arrive (it did arrive fine, just took about a month).

Cool Autobianchi. I am not sure Carlo would have designed it that way, but what do we care.

Clean construction. The wires are too thick, but I have seen worse...and most models have out of scale spark plug wires, f you compare to a 1:1. They are visible, obviously, but not nearly as prominent as portrayed on many models (see Bill's post for pictures). I DO like the fact the distributor isn't a glue mess and the looms holding the wires together.

Yes, I've noticed new Revell plastic etches more than other plastics. I built a Viper (new release) recently and had to "treat" all mold lines with Tenax numerous times to get the memory out of the plastic. I am working on a Fujimi and Tamiya kit now, with Duplicolor primer, and have no issues. Hard to say it's "The Chinese", when there are probably a few million that don't even know what styrene is. Revell? Why, it's the cheapest source, equating to higher profit. Business, I guess. Chances are most buyers of Revell kits won't know the difference, and the lunatic fringe will just make do...

Hey, we have one too... Although it's more of a "model" as it doesn't roll.

Use a sharp x-acto blade and roll the tubing back and forth under the knife applying light pressure. The blade will slowly work it's way through. I would also like to give you another tip - post questions in the "Questions" section

Shiny black base for high shine Alclad products(chrome, polished aluminum, etc), and primer base for regular finishes. You can change the base color for some variations in sheen and color or, as stated above, mix Alclad paints for different hues. As far as the Testors Metalizers - they are nice but are fragile - the paint will pull off with tape very easily, so if you need to do any masking around the parts, I would use Alclad. You don't need a black base for the Testors Metalizers - I usually just primer and paint but I have also sprayed it directly on bare plastic with good results.

Revel 1962 Impala.

Looks like something I drew in the 4th grade, only worse. Cool review though - I appreciate the style.

That's a cool model - I prefer the "before" wheels though.

She did a great job. The model looks great. I like the sparkle - over-the-top good...

Great, clean model. Looks just like Walter White's before he blew it up.

In my opinion, humble one at that, the AMT Pacers are a little better than the MPC. The wheels are molded open, separate rear end (MPC is molded in chassis) and the engine bay is a little more convincing. The MPC engine, however, looks a little nicer and has less molded in parts. MPC kits were kind of a 3 in 1, with stock, street, and rally options, but there wasn't much difference between all three versions. AMT's custom wagon had a different grill, hood, and rear hatch, but I think body wasn't modified. It didn't come with stocks parts. I actually like the '79 Pinto - I think the square headlights and grill look cool, in a Pinto way. As far as marketability, I don't think they (Pacers) have huge potential. They are still available on eBay regularly. Yes, more than the $20 a new kit will be (or $22), but still easy to find. Pintos? Of they could do a little bumper early 70s one... The '75 Gremlin seems to be all but ignored. What will the Pacer be?...But what do I know.

Hmmm...the ugliest of the ugly there. Funky grill. I hope they still throw in the snow tires. The 6 in those pacers are kind of cool though. I will build all 300 kits surrounding my bench this year, so I need a few new kits .

Nice orange paint and a good, clean model. I am not sure about the Ram Air addition, though - the foam looks a little out of scale and shaped odd.

WICKED PAINTS TRIDENT PAINTS Both are water based air brush paints - I don't know of many people using these for modeling...? Sounds like there is not proper adhesion between the promoter and the paint - which is why the paint would pull off with handling. As Mike stated, all you need is a good primer base - Tamiya, Plastikote, Duplicolor, etc - for proper adhesion on styrene plastic. I am all for trying new products and mixtures, but I wouldn't throw them untested onto a project. I have enough scrap bodies and plasitc around that I test things and go from there.

Some of the online shops list items as "in stock" but also state "ships in 3-5 business days", as opposed to "ships in 1-2 days". So either they order it when you do and ship when they receive it, or it comes from another warehouse. I haven't had any long delays from Mega Hobby or other established sellers.

Chassis detail is rarely seen on a shelf or contest table - nobody picks up a model at a show, so unless you display it, the molded in detail doesn't matter so much. As stated above, some detail painting on the chassis and it will look good. Plus it's really easy to adjust ride height - just drill new holes. I would concentrate more on a stellar paint job and clean construction than worrying about a detailed chassis for the Lincoln kit. There was a WIP with the wagon conversion on the forum a while back...

I guess I assumed since everybody was doing it, it must be right.

Actually, she does. We all do. Aging is a slow process and not readily apparent in a 24 hour period. Happy Birthday, Anne.

Value can be relative. So, that Hubley kit could have been your dad's and to you it has great value. However, if you are talking $, then you want to know what the market value is, or how much of something is the other thing worth exchanging for. In the case of the Hubley car mentioned, Casey's idea of searching COMPLETED listings on eBay will tell you EXACTLY what the market value is. There is no way anybody can say that eBay doesn't reflect market value - that's what eBay is, a market. Listings for items still for sale are worthless indicators of market value - and are biased toward the high end because you still see them for sale (they are prices too high and don't sell).