Modelmartin

On the "Quit whing, Best kit ever" topic I started last week I did mention that kit. I do have it and the detail sets. It is the best I have ever seen.

Speaking of Tamiya which we were, The 1/12 Motorcycle kits are as much plastic fun in a box that I have ever had. I have built about 10 of them and am starting to try to put a superdetailed one together. They are so easy to build and look so good when done.

Think about it this way - If work could be like model building, how great would that be? I have done both. Worked for a living and built models for a living. I don't regret a minute of the time I spent "pro-building" and resin casting but there have been many times that a real job was quite unsatisfying and unfulfilling. I work a real job now but I liked the model making "biz" so much that I still do it part time.

I built one and it turned out great. I had no problems. I didn't even curse! Years later some of the body panels warped.

The often told story of the Aurora tooling is that when it was being shipped to Monogram via rail there was a derailment. The molds sat out in the elements long enough to get rusty and corroded. Old tooling like model car injection molds from that era were made up of dozens of different parts and shims to align them all. Any corrosion in there will totally screw it up and it is a huge job to fix them. Modern molds are generally cut from one block of steel because computer controlled milling and EDM (electro-dischrge milling) can handle it. Some older molds suffer from warpage due to corrosion in between the parts that make up the mold. They don't need a train wreck to ruin them!

I presume you are younger than some of us baby boomers. The "retro" F1 cars were all tooled when they were new! You are seeing re-issues of them. They are great kits and it is too bad they haven't done any new ones for a long time. I assume it is a Bernie$$$$ thing.

Interesting comments so far. The Revell 1/32 kits (55-56 Ford Mercury Cadillac) did have engines and some versions had customizing parts. I have a 1957 issue of Rod & Custom ( same age as me!!) that shows some contest results with many people doing all kinds of parts swapping, major chopping and restyling and almost all of it is Revell 1/32 kits. A very few entries were restyled promos. People will build no matter what is available. I would concur with Harry that no one series of kits was critical for the success of the hobby. I would argue that some series of kits killed some people's interest in the hobby because they were so hard to build like older Revell kits with too many fiddly parts and horrible chrome. Revell had great subjects but were always more difficult to assemble. The Aurora 1/25 kits and some of the IMC race cars are in that category, too. AMT, MPC and Monogram customers were generally happier because the things fit together and therefore were more instrumental in building the Hobby.

I remember the Ken Glenn kits. I met the guy a few times in the early 80s. He was a very good builder and I think he assumed the majority of builders were at his skill level. The Miller was buildable but hose polyester resin model T wheels were awful. If you substitute plastic ones or find a better alternative you will have a unique model. I have built a few vac-form aircraft kits and I like the process. I just don't think the process lends itself well to complete modern car bodies except for windows and pieces that have to be thin.

I believe that is the old 1960s tool and is 1/25th.

I am with Junkman on this one. AMT Trophy series,especially the double kits!

Truer words have rarely been spoken. I have built Heller's 917 and Gordini and lived to tell of it. I have the Delahaye coupe and Mercedes 500K in the works now. I will want my macho badge issued after they are done!!!!

If we broaden the scope of kits a bit to motorcycles I have to say the Tamiya Honda RC 166 6 cylinder GP bike is absolutely incredible especially with the Tamiya detail sets added. It builds well and looks absolutely fantastic. It was aaactually a dream come true for me. I have seen a lot of very high quality kits over the years but none hold a candle to this one. NONE! Not even my favorite little Tamiya Mini-Cooper.

What scale? It has been done in larger scales like 1/6 and 1/4. Look up model engines on youtube. I guy even made a running top fuel motor in scale that sounds like the real thing.

I was asking for the best, not the favorite kits. That is a subject for another topic.

Here is a link to Anthony hazelaar's website. He is a prolific Model T model builder and a good customer of mine. http://members.home.nl/ahazelaar/model-t.htm

I go for Island Collectibles, Strada Sports,Hiroboy and HobbyLinkJapan. Oh, and of course Ebay. I have also used Slixx. I loved working with Peggy at Model Car Masterpieces but she has retired recently.

The start price was $7.99. The high price is the bidders fault! I have had stuff on Ebay that went for stupid big prices just because there were two people who had to have it.

At least the guy can't be accused of having good taste! Badge is tacky. Snakeskin is too obvious.

What kit to your mind is the best engineered, easiest to build and accurate kit. It is hard to pick because some of our favorites aren't the best engineered. I love the AMT 23/25 Model T kits. They are well engineered but not the best. I am just going to go with the Tamiya Morris/Austin Mini Cooper 1275 S. I have built 5 of them so far and plan on about a dozen more. It falls together, looks fantastic, and takes up less shelfspace when done. This one uses a resin body from Scalekraft.

What is our criteria? Fit? Accuracy? Lameness? Engineering? Or are we looking for an all around champion? How about the single worst kit from each manufacturer? These are my kits and I consider the age of the kit as a compensating factor. Some of the 50s stuff like the 48 Lincoln Continental I give a pass on. It is buildable even though it is difficult. It was tooled in the 50s by an independent manufacturer that wasn't subsidised by Detroit promo production. It was the first 1/25 scale classic car kit I know of. Revell - Austin, Henry J, Willys PU gassers Revell had their worst stuff in the 70s and these were the worst of the worst. Maybe those awful Camaro funny cars were as bad. AMT - Peanut 1 funny car from 1976 Topical stuff is usually bad but this was really lame! Only slightly worse than some of those early 70s idiotic showrods. Monogram - 69 Camaro Monogram kits always were buildable but sometimes they messed up in shape and proportion. MPC Jolly Roger - Amongst so many stupid models MPC did they made some great ones but this was stupid is as stupid was! Almost a tie are the Gridiron Grabber/Hardhat Hauler excretions - 1/20 and NO usable parts for anything else. If you can't even be a parts donor than there is no use for it! At least the Barris T buggy has a nice Corvair engine in it! Jo-Han - I loved Jo-Han kits. No turkeys here! IMC 1965 Ford GT - So ambitious and fell short. Display with the doors open since they won't fit EVER when closed. Aurora Maserati 3500 - Again so ambitious but it wouldn't go together. Heller Mercedes 500k - I am building one just to get my macho badge. Worst kit conception and engineering EVER! Shape was accurate but how could a mortal model builder build it? Lindberg, Pyro - Oh, never mind!!!! Palmer - It's not nice to pick on the handicapped. Tamiya - Not going to happen! Fujimi Veilside Porsche - Shrunken resin skirting and spoilers which have to be lengthened to fit the too tall injection molded body and too small wheels. Everyone has their favorite worst kits and these are mine.

Very cool build. You did a wonderful job. Mikansue kits were very rudimentary. They were meant to be thrown together and fill in gaps in Dinky Toy collections. Theyw ere originally produced in the 1970s before high detail 1/43rd kits were even conceived of.

It is interesting to note that the Monogram classics are going on 40+ years old and still are considered good kits. If the manufacturers would take the long view and know that if they pick good subjects and tool them up well they will continue selling forever. Building up a bank of tooling that can be used forever would be a good thing for the bottom line. Trendy stuff like all of the showrods from the 70s and the Donks won't stand the test of time. I suppose they might make a quick buck but I don't think they have the same kind of distribution today to make that work.

I actually think a good 51 Studebaker Starlight coupe would a no-brainer for a plastic kit. It has been desired for so long by so many. I think Moebius is the only outfit with enough vision and imagination to do it. Converts, business coupes and sedans could easily follow. The chassis and engine tooling can be used on the Hawks from later years.

There are pics out there of a Roadster and a lightweight close-coupled touring, sort of a massive 4-seater Stutz Bearcat like thing! Out of the extant Olds limiteds there are variations on the bodies - some have doors in front, some don't.

I will take an Airflow, also! I have thought of soaking a Franklin Mint Airflow coupe in Silcon rubber but I already have too many projects aand a resin caster shouldn't be known for just copying stuff.