oldcarfan

Love to see these conversions! Nice out of the box idea.

This is me being bored, so forgive the time waster. I've bought several each of the new/old AMT kits, the Nova wagon, and the 60 and 63 Ford trucks. Round 2 really seems to be blazing the trail for cloning kits, but I'm hoping that it's sales will entice Revell or Atlantis or even Johan's current owner to enter the game, too. I realize that it might not be financially viable to do this with all kits, some had a niche appeal. A lot of the 60s kits were offered in 4 door or wagon versions that might not be worth the cost of new tooling. I don't know all the ins and outs of the industry, but it seems to me that 3D printing is becoming cheaper and more detailed every time I turn around. I've recently bought parts from several vendors and the quality is getting up to plastic kit quality. I'm wondering if the old-line model kit companies might someday be able to scan their kits that might be less mass market big sellers. Maybe they could offer them in limited run 3D 'collector' kits, or license the scan rights out to a 3D printing company, or maybe even sell the files to individuals with the file set up for home printing. For example, lots of kits, MPC's 74-76 Camaros and Firebirds and their small bumper Vegas and Pintos, and early Dodge van, or AMT's small bumper Gremlin, come to mind. might not move enough units to make new plastic model tools viable, but perhaps 3D printed versions could be made? Extra points if they were to add the base model flat hoods and hubcaps for the Camaros and Firebirds. For that matter maybe they could digitally downscale the 1/20th Ford van to 1/25th for those of us with scale OCD? This all seems feasible to me, but I'm definitely no expert.

Round 2 if they leveraged it, has a lot of history and a deep well of old kits to draw from. Either from old tooling or from cloning their old tools, they could do some really cool stuff. My favorite era was the MPC 70s annual kits. I know they had their warts, but maybe they could clone some of those kits that the tooling is either gone or that was altered too much. I'd love to see a new 70 and 71 Barracuda with cleaner moldings, especially if they included the parts to make daily driver versions. For that matter, I'd love to see them tool up the parts to turn their other muscle cars into the base model versions as well, including the 70-76 Camaros and Firebirds. Flat hoods rule!

I never blew any kits because anytime I wanted a kit or a new toy, I had to sit through the obligatory dad speech, "$5.50 for a model kit? When I was a kid, they were $1.00. And do you know how hard I have to work to make that $5.50?" Fireworks were the same. "Why do you want me to buy fireworks? You can climb on the roof and watch them for free!" I grew up building a kit, putting it on the shelf, then a month later, tearing it apart and rebuilding it a different way.

If NASCAR returned to stock bodied cars, that Caddie would look sweet!

Great news! Has he put out a date for the grand reopening?

I used the Micro-Scale decal papers, both clear and white. They work pretty well, but be sure and use a light coat of clear on them afterward. I could scratch the ink off with a finger nail.

I appreciate all the comments!

Cool find and some of my favorite cars! I'd hock my dog for those!

Beautiful!

I loved this kit as a kid. I wonder if it'll ever be reissued?

I bought this probably 2 years ago, put it in the to be built and promptly forgot about it. I lost the box so I don't know where I got it. Can anyone ID it? I'm pretty sure it's from Iceman Collectibles, but if so, they don't have it on their site anymore. I'm guessing it's based on a 1:1 actual electric motorcycle. If anyone has built one, I'd love to see it!

Something I forgot to add to my previous post, Dibble's Hobbies stocks Humbrol paints in the little metal tins. I didn't know they still made them!

Would something like this work? They a few different styles. Don't know anything about the company but they've been around a while. https://trailertrashkustomz.bigcartel.com/category/dually-wheels https://trailertrashkustomz.bigcartel.com/product/23-low-profile-dually-tires

We stopped at two Joann's locations recently to look for upholstery vinyl. They had some, but the whole vibe was thrift store stocked by meth infused squirrels. They had boxes of things that had been dumped on them from the warehouses and only two or three people still working. I know a couple of the people who work at one of them and they are totally depressed. As for kits, the stores in our area haven't stocked them in a couple years. And as for discounts, they had everything marked at 20% or 30% off. The cloth and upholstery was cheaper at Hobby Lobby with their 40% sale.

We spent the weekend in San Antonio, Texas and I took the chance to hit some hobby shops. There is a new HobbyTown and I got one of my wishlist kits, the Tamiya Honda City kit which includes the little MotoCompo motorbike. I had one of these back 20 years ago traded it away. Been halfway looking ever since and there it was on the shelf. Also stocked up on weathering supplies, washes, and paints and a can of Tamiya Cobalt Green which looks like a dead ringer for Porsche Vailant Green. Also spent some money at Dibble's Hobby which is one of the old school hobby shops. If you're ever in town please stop by there. They had another kit from my wishlist, the Audi 90. Don't know why, but I've always had a thing for those cars. They also had a Tamiya 1/35th accessory set, which I plan to make use of with another 1/24th Overlander in the near future. And finally, my son and I found a place called Anime Tokyo. He's really into Anime and this place is nirvana for that set. They stock kits from various anime shows, lots of Gundam kits, and plenty of collectibles. No Initial D cars, sadly, lol. But I did get some paints, and some more Gundam decals which are great for adding little pops of detail to builds.

Thanks, I've been trying to go out of my comfort zone. lol

I completed two four day mini builds this week. One is the Aoshima 1/24th Suzuki Carry food truck, done a different way. I painted it a year ago and forgot about it in the box. The Suzuki is now a tiny Overlander with a custom trailer, and the Abarth is a Euro style beater with 1/32nd Welly Alfa Romeo wheels and tires. The 1/32nd wheels work out to about 13 inches in 1/24th scale. The other is a Fujimi Abarth A112, also 1/24th.

I'm taking a break from my Cannonball entry this week, and decided to try something else. I built two kits side by side, one being the Fujimi Abarth A112, which is in the Completed cars section. The other is this Aoshima curbside Suzuki Carry Food truck, done my way. Since the 1:1 trucks are four wheel drive, I decided to jack it up and take it off road. If you notice in the second picture, I asked Dale Earnhart to stand by the truck to give an idea of how small these things truly are. The decals are homemade and are a nod to one of my favorite movies. As for the truck, I used a combination of things to make it look the part. It carries enough lighting to make any night brighter and has a radar dome for sketchy weather. The added parts are from 3d print vendors, scratchbuilt, or from 1/35th Tamiya Military gear kits. By the way if you're looking for cargo for your pickup or van, check out 1/35th gear packs. Some of them work just fine for 1/24th use. The body is pretty much stock, but I added a roof rack to carry gear, along with a Plastruct ladder. The wheels and tires come from Walmart 4.5 inch scale toy trucks of the type below. The wheels measure out to around 13 inches in 1/24th scale, perfect for a tiny truck like the Suzuki. The toys come in several styles with different racks and features as seen below. I did some minor weathering while I was building and may add some more, can't decide. Finally, what good is an Overlander without a trailer? This one started out as the back half of another of the Walmart toys which I modified into a trailer. And that's all I've got for the moment. I plan to get back on the Cannonballer soon!

I'm taking a break from my Cannonball entry this week, but not from building. I took on two four day projects simultaneously and finished them within an hour of each other. First is this Fujimi Abarth A112. Its based on the rat rod style popular in Europe and England and is my first try at building a true beater. A lot of my builds look like beaters, but this is the first one done on purpose. LOL The weathering is mostly Tamiya Panel Liner and craft paints. I reused the roof rack from a 1/43rd Walmart toy truck and loaded it up homemade driving lights and a cargo load with a cooler and some Tamiya 1/35th scale army covered gear. The wheels and tires come from a 1/32nd Welly Alfa Romeo and the decals are parts box and a few homemade. These cars are truly tiny. The A112 is a fun curbside kit but it's smaller than even a Beetle.

I really hope this is the 1/25th plastic kit. I missed out on them originally and the last few years I wanted to build one.

I don't have any interest in 1/64th diecasts, but I don't begrudge Round2's emphasis on them. Judging from the collectors I've seen in stores searching for cars they don't have I suspect that those little cars are the backbone of Round2's business model. They may well subsidize the model kit line.

I grew up across the bay from Corpus Christi and the refineries always let you know when the wind was coming from the north!

That's some fantastic work!

I needed more of some parts so I did a mold using Hobby Lobby mold rubber and I'll try to cast some parts tomorrow. Wish me luck, last time I had a reaction to something, probably sanding dust. I'll be more careful this time.