fumi

Seems to me that they agreed not to bid over $10,000 beforehand, and the husband went over it anyway. Maybe he shouldn't have made that bid he couldn't make and the staff shouldn't have thrown oil to the fire, then nothing would have happened.

SMP24 has released the Espada in resin. http://smp24modelcars.blog.fc2.com/ As usual Keystone is probably your best bet if you want one. While Taka-san can converse in perfect English, FC2 does not take non-Japanese private messages. http://keystone-models.com/

I really wish Hasegawa would release these as wheel set separately. Back then Isuzu made so many of these cars that a lot of them became part source for their BBS wheels and Recaro seats when they were scrapped.

That is a very nice car. I've always loved cars from the mid '80s to the mid '90s, they made the best sports car in that period. Cars made nowadays may be faster but they pretty much drive by themselves. I really don't get cars that are undriveable without all those electronic gadgets.

Why not just set up the forum to use https? As is now the logins are in plain text.

The Handling by Lotus package will be released in August. It will have new bumpers, tail lights, dual tailpipe muffler and BBS wheels. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10541213

Aoshima makes these metallic sticker sheets for their 1/32 decorated trucks. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10192561

Sorry to hear that. Take care.

It is the MSRP. Most shops in Japan sell below that price.

I have a bigger feeling that Internet Hobbies is just pulling their usual scam again. You will never get the items that are on their "low pricing". They never update the stock status of those items but just list them at their old price anyway. They will happily take your money but they will not deliver those items, because they do not have any to deliver in first place.

It doesn't matter, you will never hear from Internet Hobbies after you have paid until you dispute it with Pay Pal. And god forbid you shun the evil Pay Pal and pay them by cheque or money order, you will never hear from them again. Makes me wonder if it is their scam run again. https://www.google.com/search?q=internet+hobbies+complaints&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 And for the record, they never had good prices to start with. They do list a lot of hard to find, out of production kits that they have no intention to deliver.

It really just shows most people who participate in this forum are over 50. FWIW there are far more people in their teens or 20s in the Facebook model groups I am a member of. I have been trading parts with guys who are still in school.

Interesting choice for the Starion, I'd have expected the Group B rally variant to go with the Audi and the Lancia instead of the Group A road racer. If Beemax is going to release significant cars that raced in Macau then the next logical subject should be the 190E Evo 2.

I don't know how much was lost in translation from European to American but that was entirely different from the 2010 Fiesta 1.4 I had: light, no-frill little car that was fun to drive. Not a lot of power but with sharp steering, responsive chassis and a nice, firm ride. Mine didn't even have that mobile phone inspired infotainment system, just the basic radio with USB input, but boy was it a fun little car. Sold it to my friend 5 years ago and they are still loving it to this day.

It is safe to say that anything Tamiya made since the mid 80's would have better fit and finish over their peers. Detail-wise it is kit by kit, but Tamiya would almost always have an upper hand on ease of build.

Try driving in the many rural roads that are barely wide enough for one car but has two way traffic with buses and big trucks coming towards you, and you will quickly appreciate the nimbleness of k-cars. Big cars make zero sense in Japan other than perhaps in Hokkaido. Gas is expensive and living with a big car is a nuance.

The Tamiya Evo VI was made before the simplification period, and around the time they started to do platform style interior. It still has the detailed chassis with pin style wheels. For Evo VI it is the best choice. The simplification period started in 2001 with the 350Z and the Bugeye WRX and lasted until around 2010. As for the Evo I and II, I would not be surprised if Hasegawa re-issue them in the very near future. They are on a run with model cars right now and even the unthinkables like the entire XJS series got reissued. The Evo IV was reissued not long ago and the Evo III is just around the corner.

Here is one. Not my listing, but I have bought from him before. https://www.ebay.com/itm/TAMIYA-F-Parts-24154-1-24-Jeep-Wrangler-Open-Top/151721978188?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649 You will need to come up with the rest of the parts. The black sprue was sold out a while ago.

The next logical move for Hasegawa would be either the Starlet or the B110 Sunny coupe. The Sunny coupe in particular can share some of the tooling with the Sunny truck, and there are several race variations for them to release with at least 2 famous Tomei liveries that are guaranteed sellers in the Japanese market. The R31 will also spawn several variations. Right off the bat I can foresee a Tommy Kaira edition as well as Reebok, Ricoh and Diesel Kiki liveries for the Group A racer. Also the Nismo livery that raced in the European Touring Car Championship if they are feeling adventurous. I think this is a wise strategy for Hasegawa, to kit something that is not in direct competition with Tamiya while getting at least 3 variations out of the same tooling. Word was they got severely burnt in their foray into the classic F1 market when Tamiya got wind of their Lotus 79 development and released their own kit of it. While the Hasegawa kit is arguably more detailed, the Tamiya kit outsold them so badly that Hasegawa practically withdrew from that market.

Doyusha has an ex-motorized coupe with a half-seat interior plate. No two door sedan yet. Given the two door sedan was not a particularly big seller in Japan, I doubt it would be kitted soon.

It shouldn't be too hard to fit the Aoshima RB20DET top half to the Hasegawa R31 if it is like their recent releases, and I would imagine a lot of people stuffing RB26s into it as well. From the CAD drawings it also looks like it would have decent interior side panel for a change. Aoshima is also going to release the Levin in 1.5 SR trim with steel wheels, and the Sprinter with stock alloy wheels.

FIA has put up their homologation database online. You can check if your favourite car was ever homologated with FIA, and look up its homologation paper and any special parts that were homologated. It would be helpful for building period correct race cars. https://historicdb.fia.com I am intrigued that GM actually homologated the C4 Corvette for Group B, and the 3rd gen Camaro for Group A.

Very nice build. I especially love the colour, it captures the period very well.

Yeah I am aware of the current situation, I was referring to the potential contract issues between Hobbico and Ford causing the product withdrawal, which someone else also raised back then but was quickly silenced by "those that seem to be in the know". Ford seems to have hinted that Hobbico still owes them backpayments and late fees on the licenses, and their attitude certainly do not appear to be easy to work with.

Is there any concrete proof that "Chicom" seized Danbury's molds other than some very vague statements in mailing lists and rumours on Internet forums? Danbury's official statement was that the 2 factories that cast their car had closed and the diecast car business had become too unprofitable for them to continue. Frankly, "Chicom" does not want your molds. It has no business in the plastic molding industries. None of the 100 state run businesses have anything to do with plastic model kit production. But if some foreign companies contract with a local company to mold several runs of plastic kits then fails to pay the fees afterwards, wouldn't impounding the mold be the local company's only recourse? They cannot pay their workers with model kits and they certainly cannot eat plastic sprues for dinner. I have worked for non-hobby related companies that contract out manufacturing to China. Many hobby companies also do that. I have never heard anyone else had such issues with "Chicom". The Japanese guy who stations in China for Interallied (parent company of Modelers and Hi-Story) continuously writes about the difficulties of retaining workers by their contractors in the Japanese "Model Cars" magazine, but they never had their molds confiscated. So is this the real reason those Model A Fords mysterious disappeared from the catalog a while ago? Yet those claimed to be in the know have kept their mouth shut all along and let the "Chicom chopped up the molds" rumours run wild.