Bill J

If I had to pick one thing that has changed modeling, it would be hard to pick THE ONE. I like the aftermarket producers, the new subjects have been mostly interesting and fresh. The Internet has opened a whole world of information sharing, researching and discussion. It also has made things available from all over the world. All, great things. On a negative note, the cost of modeling has reached a level that is probably, in the long term, unsustainable. I recall being a kid and buying a model a week with my allowance and having enough to buy some paint too. Today the cost of a kit is beyond that and the paint can really be a killer on a project, particularly for younger modelers. It is hard to find serious modelers that are young and if you do, how long do you see them around the hobby? So, the escalating costs of building a model have priced a lot of potential modelers out of the market, before they even begin an interest. Eventually, the hobby will run out of 50+ y/o's with money to support their modeling hobby. There may not be enough younger builders to keep it going, perhaps.

Gee, that's a gem

And Jeff, I sure do like and appreciate the Hudson convertible up tops you made for me! From what I can tell the Detroit Resin Automotive Group is made up of some really great people. I also bought recently from Morgan Automotive Detail and had another super service experience. You are all doing the modeling world a much appreciated service. Keep up the great work everyone

Some venders are just a cut above and beyond. I recently came across some parts to back date the Warbuck's Mustang that Model King issued a few years ago. The parts were a full bubble hood, a dual carb setup with induction hoses and nice gold shiny decals to upgrade the kit. The parts by Scale Modeling by Chris were first rate, exact as can be and were a welcome addition to the kit. I wanted to do the Mustang as it was first ran, with the dual carbs and full hood and SMBC had the great parts available. I ordered as soon as I saw them! Faith often accompanies any order for aftermarket parts, as many of us are waiting for parts after years of no response from some phantom venders. Scale Modeling by Chris had my order to me in less than a week. There was a slight issue though, I was accidentally sent the full decal sheet for the Warbuck's car instead of the resin parts kit. I sent an email and within 5 minutes had a reply, apology and promise to send the correct items ASAP and to keep the decals for my inconvenience! What a kind gesture, I was impressed. Within a few days I had my correct resin parts, which are as well done as any resin I have seen and I could not be happier. Scale Modeling by Chris is one of the very best aftermarket dealers that I have had the pleasure to deal with and I highly recommend both their products and their service! Thank you Chris and Paul!!

Check with Dave Van, he makes Elmo Langley decals for an earlier Torino and I seem to recall the numbers being the same.

Calnaga Castings has the Firestone slicks that are cast from the old JoHan Sox & Martin kit, both front tires and rear slicks. you'll have to search for them on the web, I can't post links for some reason.

That's a cool deal. I wish Hobby Depot was not so far away. They have an excellent store!

I used to live across the street from someone that had a Wienermobile. So, I saw all I cared to see of that thing. It as always in the driveway, too big for the garage. I guess it was one that did advertising around this area.

I have been wanting to build a Ferrari 250 GTO for years. I finally latched onto a Fujimi kit and I think it was a good choice. I got mine from a guy that was selling most of his kits and I got some extras with it. There was a MFH detail set that is way too many tiny parts, a set of improved tires from HRM and an HRM GTO V-12 engine kit. So far I have looked it over and decided to use some of the photo etched parts, the HRM engine and tires and I bought some KA Models wire wheels. I do believe the kit would build up just fine without all the extras, but since I have them I may as well use them. I think if I was going to add one item, it would be the PE wire wheels. They just look so good. They are not hard to put together at all, there was a good post on PE wires here on the forum that explained it pretty well. The wheels add a lot to the look of the car sitting on the shelf. I have not seen the Revell kit but I am more than content with the Fujimi and would prefer not to have opening doors anyway.

I have several of Bandit Resins bodies and all are without a flaw. I would buy anything they sell. One of the very best resin casters and great to deal with, every time!

Nice looking build. If I could have one super car, that is the one I'd be picking! Maybe I need a 1:24 version

Gunze-Sangyo did make a Daytona coupe at one time. It was curbside had a rubber interior/seats and you had to make most of the understructure from raw materials in the kit. The body was quite nice. Several aftermarket kits around, all very well done and very expensive, up to $300+. It'd be nice to see a kit with some detail at a normal price range. I have not seen one of the Gunze-Sangyo kits for at least 20 years. I have one but had to recently buy some aftermarket parts to make it more realistic. Almost as pricey as some of the resin & multimedia kits.

As far as a Bugatti Veyron kit, I doubt there'd be that much interest. In the big picture of real supercars, the Bugatti is a novelty made for rich people to smoke off some tires and maybe go fast a few times. I had the chance to walk about 50 yards to see one in person and didn't make the walk. Just not all that exciting to me or many others. If I had a few hundred million, it would not even be on my radar as a car to own. Pure novelty to my thinking. How many races has Bugatti been in during the past 5 decades? Zero, if you want to be a super car, you need to perform in a serious environment. Kit I'd like to see, Cobra Daytona Coupe, the little engine that could and did.

Your Lotus looks great. I have a pair of the kits and plan to do them sometime soon. I'm waiting on some new resin body parts that are more accurate. Indycals.com sells decals for that car as well as corrected tires with decals for the tire markings.

The windshield area looks like a 59 Chevy, the wheels are not Dayton wires, more like Borrani's. You might look at the photo etched wire wheels made to fit a 57 Ferrari 250TR, they were not real deep and they were true knock off hubs also. I haven't seen any older Jag wheels in photo etch, at least not lately. One other options would be Herb Deeks Borrani centers that are photo etched. Herb still sells on eBay. Cool looking car you want to build there.

Wow, that looks really good. Thanks guys, I really appreciate the information, I will get one ordered ASAP

Anyone making a convertible top to fit the Moebius Hudson convertible? I would love to build mine with a nice top that sets off the color of the car. Please let me know how to grab one, if one is made. Thank you in advance.

Great kit and subject. The reason there are a few inaccuracies with the kit is that the 1:1 car used as reference was a replica of Fireball's '57 Ford and not an actual race car of the day. The most glaring items are the stock, street exhaust system and the single hoop roll bar. As noted, the exhaust should exit through the center of the taillight covers and have no mufflers. The roll bar should have a front hoop and a single bar in the center to connect the front and back hoops. There are probably other items that are not true to the real raced car. I doubt that the firewall that replaced the back seat was a plain, flat piece, there was probably some structural beading and the seat bolster would likely have been less "finished" looking. Overall though, the kit is great. Includes some parts like the supercharger and double shocks on all wheels. I would like to see this start a trend where AMT and Revell would recycle some other kits into NASCAR racers instead of the usual drag/street racer fictional things. That's already been done, let's have something else for a change. The 65 Galaxie with Fred Lorenzen decals will not be nearly as accurate of a race car as the 57 Ford. If they use the original 65 chassis the exhausts and mufflers are molded in and there was no other chassis parts for a race car. There will be a roll cage of sorts and a 427 engine. Good starting points.

To Live and Die in LA.

I have one of the Historic Racing Minature GT-40 engine/suspension kits, very nice. The castings are fantastic. The engine is a small block Ford with Gurney-Westlake heads, which is what was raced in 1968 and 69, after the GT-40 MKII big blocks were legislated out. I like the MKI GT-40 best and the kit is better than the MKII kit also. The rear compartment cover is a separate piece, no cutting required.

I always check to be sure when something is going to arrive. Partly excitement and partly wanting to get it off the doorstep before it melts. I did have a recent ugly time with a G-Shock watch that I bought new on eBay. The seller sent it immediately, international express mail. It hit the west coast in 2 days and the PO sent it to US Customs. Then nothing for over two weeks. I had called the LA post office that gets international mail, I called US Customs and all told me "nope we don't have it". I emailed the ebay seller and was given some advise, call the PO and Customs, which I had already done. I was just about to file a claim with paypal and/or ebay for the item when the tracking suddenly said ir cleared customs and was at my local PO. I finally got the watch about 30+ days after buying it. I was very happy because it cost nearly $250. The package had never been opened by customs and it had sat somewhere until they finally sent it back to the postal service. I can't really complain because I was relieved to finally get my watch. It sure scared me though, that is a lot of money to lose.

Bandit Resins is great! Very nice resin bodies and parts. Highly recommeded.

I am going to miss Model Express! Great service and very personal service. It is a rare business today that takes care of the customer as well as Model Express. Best wishes to Dennis in his future endeavers.

Looks fantastic! I love the original GT-40 MkII. Very well done.

I don't think so. BTW, the 1994 S10 Blazer is the same style as the 1985, the pickup changed in 94, the Blazer didn't change till 95. I know what because I owned an S10 Blazer, 1994 model for ten years. There was a Lindberg, 1//20th scale S10 Blazer kit of the 1995 style.