Drake69

Anything between '66 and '74. I love all of them, but I'm really partial to Dodge/Chrysler. I've always been a bee-liever....

Yup... good eye. I set it out as a display piece only, because once I try to "transform" any of those new ones, I can never get it to fit back together again.

I love the idea of 3D printing scale parts for model kits, and being able to create whole new kits with the proper CAD drawings of target vehicles (Jeep Cherokees, anyone?). What I want to know is how does the printed engine block "hold up" to modelling work? 1: Does it react to lacquer or enamel paints? 2: Does it even retain paint at all, like primer and such? 3: How well does Alclad metal paints hold to the part? 4: What happens when you apply GLUE to the part? 5: Does it react too quickly, melting the part too fast? 6: Does it have a reaction to super glue? 7: Does it bind to putty at all? 8: How well does it hold up to sanding and polishing? I guess it all depends on whatever plastic compound is used in the process, pretty much like styrene versus resin, but the interesting thing is no one seems to have answered all these questions for me/us, at least to my satisfaction anyway.

In Japan I hear it's all about shelf space. Most of the model kits from there are primarily curbside, so they sell those far more frequently than fully detaIled kits. Also, they compete with lots of really popular Sci-Fi kits like the mecha, superheroes, and spaceships every year, so they only have a small amount of shelf area to deal with. Picture walking into a Hobbytown with about 40% Robotech, Battletech, and Anime otaku characters, another 30% to military vehicles, AND THEN another 25% to RC vehicles. That would leave about 5% space for cars and trucks, and you'd want to have only those kits that you can move quickly and easily to keep the stock fresh.

Thanks for the comments guys! I hope to start building again real soon, just need to get my hose attachments and grill for the paint hood to vent outside and I'll be good to go.

I was finally able to find and buy my holy grail earlier last year, but I've not had the chance to build it yet. Already a limited run of 2000 in Japan alone, this kit is almost completely unheard of here in the states. And it commonly gets confused with the MK2 Celica XX kit, which is just slightly more common to find as only 10000 were released! (And I have one of these as well! ) What makes them so rare is that they are not curbside models, but actually have full-on engine bays and detailed engines. All the ones Tamiya have released and exported to the US have been curbside, the Testors model kit that pops up on fleaBay from time to time is curbside, and many of the different body-style Fujimi kits with the Aero parts and such are always curbside. Yes, with some customizing and detail work they can have fully realized engine bays, AND you can buy resin engine block kits with turbo manifolds and intercoolers, but it just makes it nicer to have. Hopefully I'll have mine built with its swapped in 2JZ-GTE later this year.

Ohh, and thanks to the Sitcky Fingers Model Club (RAMS) of which I belong. I know I haven't been around awhile to make the meetings, but everytime I see the cars you guys put out, it gets me fired up to want to model again, not to mention the inspiration I feel to refine my practice. I'll see you guys after the New Year!

Fast forward to a few months ago, and we are living in another house across town again. THIS time I have a large Florida Room to set things up without fear of damaging anything or smelling up the whole house. My only fuss is it gets cold in there in the wintertime, but I have a spot heater and a baseboard in there to warm things up! New pictures, still setting things up: I still have space for things, I just need to add some shelves and possibly another worktable in there. I'm still hunting through boxes looking for my Dremel press and other tools I had, but at least I have a place now to sit and plan my next model out, and even quite possibly get back to building them again!

Damage to the house, causing massive water damage in the basement area... With the tree removed.... Thickness of the trunk where it struck the roofline... my 4ft. 9in. wife Sandy to scale.... So, after getting our estimate done on how much was lost (we rent, not own, BTW...), we relocated to a house across town and packed up what we could that was not damaged in the storm. Although some of my modelling stuff was packed away I tried to set up what I could to keep building, but lost the heart and will to it when I found out how "fussy" the landlord was about paint fumes and such.

Hello again everyone! Sorry I've been away for awhile, but I think I'm going to be able to build again, hopefully like I used to. Here's what happened that nearly killed my whole modelling system (as well as nearly killing ME in the process!). Back in 2011, I had a great basement setup with plenty of room to work on my models in relative peace and quiet, without worrying about damaging or destroying parts of the house with random oversprays or leaky glue bottles. All until Hurricane Irene came through and dropped a huge tree on us. As it happens we were actually in the bedroom and NOT THE BASEMENT where we should have been, and nearly lost our lives as a result of it.

That'll buff right out.....

Easy for me... the Dodge Demon.... A factory Maverick.... And a nice 2-in-1 hearse....

Anyone doing a hardtop 4-door one? I remember someone casting a limited run for the Supernatural TV series, but I can't find it anywhere.

A couple of mine from awhile back...

Dang. That's plain sick. Only thing I can say. I have GOT to finish setting up my modelling room so I can build cars like this again. Wow!

LOL... "banana guts"...

'57 Del Rio + Tamiya Black Gloss + Skull decals = WIN. Want that BADLY.

They're still for sale at Amazon.... <<< Click for External Link!

To add to this list.... '71 Dodge Demon '74 Gran Torino '70 Cougar Eliminator

I have a possible answer to Harry's question. After reading more on the history of model cars and the Detroit Big 3, it seems to me that Jo-Han had greater access to the more acurate "last stage" clay or wood templates that the design teams made of the new cars prior to production (probably paid for well in advance...). Although Revell, AMT, and other model companies also made promo kits at the same time as Jo-Han, they all seem to be less acurate than anything Jo-Han ever produced, and this would make sense if all they had access to were older pre-production templates (since Jo-Han had already acquired all the more recent ones...). Imperfections in body size and proportion, missing badging, inacurate interiors, etc..., would commonly be the result of this practice. What was missing in the early design templates would then have to accounted for in pictures, or eye-balling, or some other less-acurate practice in an attempt to get the kit as close to the real thing as they could. BUT, improper measurements would have already translated to the model kit because the base template would still be inacurate. And since the kits cost money to constantly redesign them, Revell et al. developed a "just good enough" approach to their product, knowing it was still a model kit people would purchase. Then, once modellers pointed out inconsistences in the kits, Revell et al. would sometimes correct the kits later on, like in an annual release or some other re-release point. In summary, Jo-Han paid bigger bucks (OR, had contract rights well in advance...) to the automakers to get ahold of more acurate pre-production templates than the other companies, ensuring that their model car kits were more acurate in body shape and style than anything else out there. Now, if only they had spent more design time with the chassis of those kits....

You don't need one. A free Kindle app on a tablet or your PC desktop and $0.99 is all it takes. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?docId=1000426311&tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=43940380608&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7917107111590693164&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_9ns220msf3_b

My current car: 1988 Toyota Supra Turbo - 7M-GTE engine on stand... Dad's '77 Brentwood Brown Trans Am w/ tan interior... And my wife's '74 Maverick - Chocolate Brown ("Hershey")...

I'd like one as well! Awesome stuff!

^^ The want is STRONG with that one.... ^^

No... don't dilute it. It's self-levelling so a small dab should be enough.