PowerPlant

In industry lingo, such a device, which drives the plot, but is in itself unimportant or irrelevant, is referred to as a MacGuffin. The Wikipedia page even includes Pulp Fiction and Ronin as classic examples. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin

Ronin had two major/prominent car chases. The first one involved an Audi S8 and Mercedes 450 SEL (W116) chasing down a Citroen XM, accompanied by a couple Peugeot 406, down to the French riviera, while the second one was a Peugeot 406 chasing a 5 series BMW (E34) through the Paris rush hour.

It’s not a remake, nor a sequel really, but a spinoff. Also, surprised many of you are bashing McQueen’s acting in the original, when it is in fact hailed as one of the breakthrough method acting performances on film, moving away from theatrical delivery, which prevailed in movies before that.

It’s interesting, from a casting standpoint, that Brando was only 16 years older than Pacino and Caan, and just 11 years older than Cazale.

Cool! Never seen this kit! But, yes, those wheels are atrocious!

Thanks for the reply! Yes, it does seem a little pricey for a curbside kit, but definitely interesting and uncommon subject matter. I really do wish someone would make more recent BMW streetgoing M cars in styrene, because what Alpha model offers in resin is way beyond my hobby designated budget.

Anyone aware of this? I literally just came across it for the first time! 2022 release, new tool. Looks kinda interesting! Anyone have more info? https://www.scalemates.com/kits/meng-model-cs-005-bmw-z4-m40i--1415258

It’s just the support vehicle and not actually part of the rally, but yea, I hear ya… these hypercars are fun to see, but if I had that kind of money, I definitely wouldn’t buy any of them ? I just uploaded a few vids from this year’s event, btw, I hope they work!

I just re-uploaded the videos. Any luck now?

For the second year in a row, the world’s most exclusive supercar club organized one of its meets in Croatia, spanning over the entire weekend. The highlights of the gathering must be the Bugatti La Voiture Noire, only one in existence so far, one of two produced Apollo (former Gumpert) Intensa Emoziones, and one of three ever made Pagani Zonda HP Barchettas, which was, sadly, crashed into a Ford Fiesta in rush hour traffic yesterday, so not present today ?‍♂️ Other notable cars at the gathering were the all new Lamborghini Countach, Koenigsegg Regera, Aston Martin Speedster and McLaren Elva. I was also pleased to see the Porsche Carrera GT (in red, of all!) and two 918’s, including one in white, with the Weissach package Martini livery, as well as the Ferrari 599 GTO, Mercedes McLaren SLR, and McLaren Senna, none of which I had seen in person before (and have or plan models of all). Of course, there was also a number of other Paganis, including various Zonda and Huayra models, a bunch of Bugattis, including the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse WRC edition, and Chiron Pur Sport, as well as a total of five examples of the all electric Croatian hypercar, the Rimac Nevera. There were also apparently the Bugatti Centodieci and Divo, as well as Ferrari Monza and LaFerrari driving around, but I did not catch them. Divo and LaFerrari I saw at last year’s meet, so wasn’t too bothered, but was a bit disappointed to miss the Centodieci and especially the Monza. Oh well, next year perhaps! Hope you enjoy the vids of millions of dollars on wheels rolling over fine Croatian gravel accessing the racing strip ? IMG_2042.MOV IMG_2043.MOV IMG_2044.MOV IMG_2047.MOV IMG_2098.MOV IMG_2100.MOV IMG_2102.MOV IMG_2099.MOV

Sorry, only just seeing this now! I can still play the videos, so not sure, to be honest.

His passing on Aug 12th seems to have gone under the radar, and I have just found out about it myself. While he will, unfortunately, mostly likely be best remembered in Hollywood for generic, action packed drivel such as Air Force One, he was, in fact, also responsible for one of the best, most atmospheric and tense war dramas ever shot on film, which is, of course, the German WW2 movie Das Boot. If you have not seen it, I highly reccommend this masterpiece of cinema.

The Ferrari California from this collection was originally owned by French actor Alain Delon.

I appreciate the reply and explanation ?

Why would it be unfair to compare? I don’t see how the size of the market is relevant here. If a house that was worth 10.000 bucks in 62 is now going for 500.000, there is no logical reason why a kit worth 2 bucks back then shouldn’t cost 30 bucks today. People say it’s the same kit, much like your house is also the same… sure, the products are the same, but one thing that has changed drastically and isn’t the same at all is the value of currency, which has depreciated because of inflation, which happens when… and this is where I have to stop because the next word in that sentence is a no-no here ?

Here we go again... Similar topics spring up quite often, and it seems like many people on here do not understand the concept of inflation. Simply put, one dollar in 1970 did not have the same absolute value as one dollar today - it was worth much more. Real cars back then cost a couple thousand dollars brand new! How much do they cost today? Prices then and now cannot be compared directly like that, without taking years of global inflation into consideration.

Not a trade as such, but stitchdup (Les Budge from Scotland) came through for me with a rare part, so I hereby wanted to publicly express my appreciation and say what a great guy he is! Thanks!

I use Imgur on occasion.

It’s only new on the US market, it has been around in Europe for what seems like forever now, but I gave up on it years ago, mostly because of the needle clogging issue you’ve come across. But I wasn’t a fan of applying glue through the needle method anyway. I found it difficult to control the amount applied. I much prefer brush on Tamiya cements personally.

Sad news. He died in a hotel room in Bogota. Might have had a bit too much of that Colombian sugar It is interesting to see them performing Led Zeppelin songs with Page and Jones, and shows how Hawkins and Grohl occassionally changed places behind the drums/mic. I am a big fan of the Foo Fighters’ earlier stuff, and I think their late 90’s album The Colour and the Shape (on which Hawkins joined the band) is one of the best rock albums in history, with Everlong as an absolute hit for the ages. Hopefully, the band will be able to continue.

Guys from USCP are still occasionally active on their Facebook group, they say commercial postal service has, expectedly, been suspended pretty much since day one of the war. All of their team/families and facilities are safe for now.

I just received a kit from Bill aka Ace-Garageguy, and even though he has yet to receive the package from my end of the deal, I can already safely say he is a great trader, courteous in communication and very meticulous with packing. Considering his reputation here, I’m sure he needs no validation from me, but for what it’s worth… trade away with utmost confidence with this gentleman! Thanks for the trade Bill!

Yes, the Italeri is a reissue of the Esci kit you posted. The biggest issue with the kit are tires and somewhat underwhelming engine bay, but that is easily solved, and also find most everything else fine.

Perhaps someone else can shed light on this because I am not familiar with the Otaki kit.

I’m not really familiar with the pictured kit, and I’ve certainly never seen one in person, so I really cannot comment or judge with conviction, and it’s an unfortunate angle, but something definitely looks way off about the body (looks a bit too narrow at first glance), and it does not necessarily fit into my “generally correct body proportions” criteria. Another Esci kit that does not qualify in my book is the Ferrari 250 SWB, which, despite a decent looking profile, has terribly misshaped nose, and it would take a top hollywood plastic surgeon to remedy that mess. These kits in question, however, are not up for rerelease, and the ones that are - the Volvo and 500 SLC (a 450 actually, since we’re nitpicking and discussing inaccuracies, but oh well) look decent enough to my eye, and I’ve held both in my hands. Sure, tires are wrong, interiors are bulky and squareish, engine bay on Merc underdetailed and somewhat incorrect, headlights do not fit well etc, etc… But with some time spent doing this hobby of ours, both can turn out quite nice in my opinion.