fumi

The GT3R raced in the Japanese Super GT series. It is the obvious choice for Fujimi to kit.

Judging from the instructions posted on Hobby Search, the wing is on the sprue in 101, it is just not being used.

Don't forget Ford and GM. No, Ming dynasty was not known for brutality and slaughter. That would be Yuan dynasty, the one before Ming, when Mongolians ruled China.

If you want to order from Perry's Resin, e-mail Randy to check availability first. If he says the item is in stock, you'll probably get it fast. If he says he will cast it, it will take some time. If he doesn't answer your e-mail and you really, really need that item, wait for a month or two and e-mail him again. I've ordered from him before, I got the items within a month and the casting is top notch. But I made sure the item is in stock before I placed my order.

They already did. They are really big into 1/48 armour these days.

Aoshima and Fujimi do nothing but model kits as well, and both of them are small companies (with Fujimi practically a family owned business) that do mostly car kits. Yet they have no problem tooling up new kits. I think the main difference is that the Japanese model companies are trying to grow their market and gain new audiences, particularly for Aoshima. Meanwhile the American companies are more focused in keeping the existing market.

I'm sure he is at least reading the same posts I am reading. There is at least one post that lambasted the Brampton Chrysler plant and the "French" Canadians who work there.

I find the notion that buying a Mexican-built car with an American label would have kept the money in the US facinating. When you buy a Camry, doesn't the money go to American workers and their family? Don't they spend their money in the US, contributing to the economy? If supporting the US ecomony is of utmost importance, why would you want to reward the corporate suits who "maximized return to the shareholders" by killing local jobs and shipping them to Mexico? Why not support the products that actually kept Americans employed?

Be prepared for a lot of work. Lots of details and opening panels, but the parts don't fit quite right and would need some massaging.

Rob de Bie has a very good page on designing your own decals: http://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/decals.htm

The Gunze pantera is a typical 70's motorized kit, the chassis is strictly a flat plate with a battery box and the interior is bare. I doubt they would re-release it. Marui has flat out stated they won't get back into plastic models every time Japanese magazines question them about it. Their younger employees didn't even know they once made model kits when questioned at hobby shows. I think the best bet is to ask Aoshima about it, they have a Facebook page and they actively answer posts. Not sure if they'd want to take on the Pantera with Fujimi about to release a second one already, but it would fit nicely with their supercar line. And judging from their Coutach, the quality would probably surpass the Marui one.

The 3.5 SOHC V6 was not a Mitsubishi design, and was probably the best choice they had. The 5.7 HEMI was released after production of the Prowler ended, while the 5.9 probably wouldn't work out.

One version of Aoshima's S13 Silvia has an SR20DET top half. The valve cover and the head looks nice, but the block only goes half way. http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10058494 The Parts Box's SR20 is workable. The valve cover has no letterings and the gearbox will need some work, but it is pretty much the only game in town.

When car companies play safe with design they get blamed for being boring. When they do something different they get slammed by the same people for, well, being different. Regarding the Juke: while there is no way I can afford a Juke R, I really don't understand the hate that has been lashed out to it. We just went to see the regular one last weekend. I don't think it is as bad as some people make it out to be, it looks sharp and it drives great. My wife just loves it. The only thing that is stopping me from buying one is the trunk layout. It's incredibly shallow with the floorboard on, and while the floorboard can be removed, the space underneath it is divided into 2 small compartments by the spare cover handle, making the trunk hard to use with it off.

I don't recall it was particularly smooth between me and my parents when I was 17, neither. I guess it has less to do with technology and more to do with teenagers being, well, teenagers.

You cannot deny the cars are built much safer these days, and all of that add to the overall weight of the car. Still, most cars manufactured today are far more efficient than the original Beetle, with all these additional weight and engine capacity. The 2000s was hardly jelly mould. BMW had their Bangle's butt, and many car manufacturers were infatuated with the square, especially Ford. These days cars look far more dynamic than the ones in the last decade.

I find it interesting to have this come out from someone younger than me. Fact is, I never had any common interests with my folks while I was growing up. They were dismissive about my interest in plastic models, and the music I listened to was just "noise" and "wouldn't stand up to the test of time". Yet we got along just fine. And I'm pretty sure it was the same with them and their parents.

It might not have been that way if Cadillac didn't put all their focus on the older clientele until it was too late.

Kids in here cut their teeth on modelling with Gundam kits. Many of them will continue building Gundams, some will progress to other form of modelling, and when they have kids they'll build Gundams with them together. I don't see the parallel of that in the West.

They will have to do better than their half-hearted attempt at tuner kits that are in the wrong scale, have mounting pins right in the middle of the head and tail lights, and can't interchange wheels with existing compact car kits nor take the aftermarket wheels already on the market. Back when I was still living in Toronto in the late 90's, my LHS can sell the same officially imported Japanese kit several dollars cheaper than other hobby stores, and they were doing great business. Now that I'm living in Hong Kong I can get the same officially imported Japanese kit at 70% of the price I'd have to pay back home, even when our dollar is pegged to the US dollar and have the same crappy exchange rate to the yen. So I'd say the market for new car is definitely there, and greed is the factor for those high prices, from the distributor to the shop owners. These days people who wanted a new car kit would probably just get it online, leaving those unrealistically price import kits on the shelf of the hobby stores.

If the model companies put out more kits that are of relevance to the current generation, they might have put some money into it. The Japanese model companies have been developing kits that can be sold into different genres and even age groups, and the modelling scene seems to be much younger over here.

See for yourself. http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10080803

For kits and aftermarket parts I can't find at my LHS I'd shop around between on-line retailers and see who has all the stuff I want for the best price I can get. I mostly use HLJ (www.hlj.com), Hobby Search (www.1999.co.jp/eng) and Hobby Easy (www.hobbyeasy.com), all of which I have great experience with.

Another vote for snap kit here. I'm not so sure of having so many kids using solvent together at the same time, no matter how well ventilated the place is.

If you don't need a specific year or version and just want a formula engine, transmission and running gear, Hasegawa made several F-3000 kits with Mugen V8 in the early 90's. These kits are still fairly easy to find online.