Harry P.

I'm not picking a fight... but how exactly is model building educational? I can buy that as far as people who do a lot of research for their project, like military builders. Yeah, they might learn something along the way, even if only by accident! But the general casual model car builder? I doubt they are learning anything by building a model... especially when you see some of the bone-head mistakes made by many builders that could have been avoided by doing a simple image search before building. My guess is that to the vast majority of model builders (not "forum types" like us but "regular" builders) aren't learning a whole lot of anything while slapping together a model kit.

I don't want to suggest that there's plagiarism in the automotive styling world, but...

This is just a guess, I don't have any "inside information," but the manufacturers pretty much have to include the correct decals if they're selling a model of a specific car and the markings are an important part of the car. But they can get away with leaving logos off tires and just make them generic, especially on a non-racing model where tire branding isn't as obvious. I don't know how the licensing is determined... whether it's a one time overall fee or if it's on a model-by-model basis, but I would guess that every set of tires they can include in a kit with no brand name on them saves them a few $$$.

Oops...

The reason that most kit tires these days have no logos or sidewall detail is that the kit manufacturers don't want to pay the licensing fees to the tire makers. If they molded the tires in styrene instead, those same licensing fees would be in play, so we'd get styrene tires with blank sidewalls instead of vinyl tires with blank sidewalls.

Remember. do not post hints or answers here! PM me with specific year, make and model. In case you think the infamous Cadillac "bustleback" design was something the designers at Cadillac came up with on their own... uh, no. The answer: Daimler DS420 (1968-92)

Ok........ and so the answer to the question of what's the most you would spend on a model is... ???

Very cool! But I have a suggestion for you. The deck planking looks great, but there are no fasteners visible. You can create "nail heads" with a sharp lead pencil. Just put the pint of the pencil down on the spot where the nail head would be, and "twirl" the pencil to make a dot. It's a little tedious to go through every plank and add all the "nail heads," but it looks much more realistic than no fasteners showing.

A blonde is driving down a country two-lane when she sees another blonde sitting in a rowboat in the middle of a corn field, pretending to be rowing. The blonde in the car pulls over, gets out of her car and yells to the cornfield blonde, "Hey! You there in the corn field pretending like you're rowing a boat! You make me sick! It's dumb blondes like you that give all of us blondes a bad reputation!" "Why, if I knew how to swim, I'd come over there and smack you!"

Good to hear you're back at the ranch. I hope you have a speedy and full recovery.

Ya got me...

Ultimately it's not the kits that Ben thinks would sell well enough to make a profit (no offense, Ben)... but the kits that the manufacturers think would sell well enough to make a profit. And on that point the manufacturers have spoken.

Ditto. It's not worth the potential hassles.

It gets hot in the summer. Always has. Deal with it.

I agree... foil goes on last. It looks more realistic that way than if buried under clear. There is no need to "seal" foil under clear, properly applied foil will not fall off.

You would need enough signatures to convince the manufacturers that there is a large enough demand out there to make manufacturing a new kit profitable. Five hundred signatures, five thousand signatures, isn't enough demand to cover the costs of tooling up and manufacturing new farm tractor or construction kits.

Yet, that piece would sell. But only to cricket lovers! Ben, you keep making the same mistake in your thinking. You keep on assuming that because model truck guys want more model trucks, that means everyone must want them. Remember... when you hang out with other people who have the same interests that you do, it seems like everyone you come in contact with has the same interests that you do... and they do... because you're hanging out with people who have the same interests as you! One last example, then I give up: Say I love Italian food (I do, but again, just an example). Say I'm a member of several "We Love Italian Food" forums. I talk to hundreds of people all around the world who all love Italian food. Gee, it seems that everyone must love Italian food, because everyone I talk to loves it! Opening an Italian restaurant on just about any corner would be a smash hit. Bet remember... I'm only hanging out with a group of people who all love Italian food, not people who love Chinese food, or Greek food, or Mexican food, etc. People who don't love Italian food wouldn't be on the Italian food forums I hang out on or go to Italian food festivals that I go to. And while it's true that there are thousands of Italian food lovers on those forums where I hang out, there are many, many more people out there who are NOT into Italian food. So opening up that Italian restaurant might not be the smash hit that me and my Italian food lovers think it would be.

Yes, that's a very detailed kit with a lot of pieces of a subject that car builders would have no interest in. So what's your point?

Kit manufacturers are not goinn to spend all of the upfront $$$ required to produce kits like this, and then hope there's a market for them. That's not how it works. Again, as I've said about 12 times now, the reason these kits are not being offered is because the manufacturers do not think they would sell in enough numbers to pay back the development costs and turn a profit. If they believed that they would, they would be making the kits! That's not to say that there is no demand for them. Obviously there is demand... from guys like you who are into those types of vehicles. But once again, the manufacturers obviously don't think the demand is large enough to warrant production of these kits. It's really as simple as that. Let me give you an example: Say my neighbors and I all love to play cricket. (We don't, I'm just making a point). As far as I can tell, there's a huge demand for a cricket supply store, because all of my neighbors love cricket, so obviously a cricket supply store would be a huge success, right? Well, not so fast. Just because my neighbors and I all love cricket, that doesn't mean that the whole town loves cricket. And if a cricket store did open, creating a source of cricket supplies, there is absolutely no guarantee that anyone who wasn't into cricket before would suddenly now be, just because there are cricket supplies now available. And just a relative handful of proven cricket lovers (my neighbors and I) are not enough to keep a cricket store operating at a profit... so nobody is going to take the risk of opening a cricket store and operating at a losss. That would be business suicide.

Brown in one photo, green in another?

I agree, that's a beautifully done model.

Those are not farm tractor or construction equipment kits.

Wow, that is some smooooooth paint!

Lincoln is trying to rebrand itself as more of a "stand-alone" company (Lincoln Motor Company) than a subsidiary of Ford. They are desperate to bring the age of their average customer down from retiree. I think the "old man's car" mentality is part of what killed Mercury, so now Ford is trying to make the Lincoln brand "hip." Of course the reality is that Lincolns are still nothing more than re-skinned Fords with a higher price. We'll see how it goes...

I know it's just a "what if," but in reality a vehicle like that would never be used as a bus or commercial vehicle. Way too many doors... too much wear and tear on the individual doors, too expensive to manufacture and to keep all those doors working over time. A design like that, with an individual door for every seat, would never make production. Maybe a fun concept, but nowhere even close to reality. There's a reason why a bus has a central aisle and only one or two doors.