Harry P.

It depends on a couple of things. Are you into promos for their "value?" If so, some of them are quite valuable, and altering them in any way will bring down the collector value. If you buy them just for your own amusement (with no intention of re-selling them for profit), then go ahead and do whatever you want, it makes no difference.

I like that line. Very true. A well-designed, well-detailed and correct model kit in no way tamps down the creative process. You're still free to customize, kitbash and parts-swap to your heart's content... but you don't have to first correct all the errors that should never have made it to production! It's like buying a car... you expect a brand new car to work correctly... not needing a trip to the mechanic to first fix all the manufacturer's defects before you can start driving it! Can your mechanic (or you) fix the car? Sure... but the point is, you shouldn't have to. Those problems should not have been present in a brand new car to begin with. Same deal with model kits.

Now I can finally build that Barbie car!

Not in my case. I'm the only one in the whole extended family that builds models. My kids built a few back when they were young... mostly because I built them and they wanted to do what dad does. But none of them kept at it for very long--except me!

I've seen garden railways on TV and always wondered how weather affects them? Rain, sun, dust, etc., etc. Those layouts are not cheap... so how are they protected from the ravages of nature?

Manny, if there ever was a car that was right up your alley, this is it! Nice job! Most of them looked like that about a year after they were bought!!!

Not a fan of the car, not generally a fan of giant wheels, but your model just might cause me to rethink that. Beautiful work! Just stunning all the way around. One to be proud of for sure.

When you say you're breaking out the bug sprayer... are you saying you literally use a bug sprayer to paint with? Wow, even your "airbrush" is scratchbuilt!

That dash looks great!

I recently bought the new Trumpeter 1/32 Junkers "Stuka" WWII dive bomber. All I can say is, wow, the military guys really have it good. What incredible detail... crisp engraving, no flash, parts fit like a glove, PE parts, and on and on. I almost never built military models (aside from my 1/32 WWI fighters), but if that Stuka is indicative of the quality of armor and military kits in general, all I can say is that model car builders are being served up a lot of sub-par stuff. A lot.

Your job doesn't do that?

Would that be ditti?

That's it exactly.

They do stuff like that because it works.

I didn't make the rules, but as a mod, I have to enforce them. There's nothing the least bit hypocritical on my part.

It's all about utilizing whatever power the "Monogram" brand still has to drive sales. I'd be willing to bet it's all about marketing, pure and simple.

Most adult modelers today (who built models as kids) have fond memories of the Monogram brand, and they're just trying to capitalize on that.

Thanks, Jim.

Aside from the fact that that "Falcon" looks a lot like a T-bird... WHY is there a snowman on the box???

It's the principle. False advertising is false advertising, no matter how "trivial" the product may be.

I like #3 the best. They should have built that one in real life!

Ditto. And about the display case... how about a tutorial on exactly how you did it?

Very nice! I don't know anything about these cars, but I'm surprised to see a transverse mounted engine in there. That seems weird.

Sorry, but I had to delete the video. Language like that isn't allowed here.

That's a question that's been asked here many times. Sometimes there are such obvious mistakes, you have to wonder how the model ever made it to production without anyone seeing the mistake. Different manufacturers work in different ways, so there's no one single answer. It's a combination of things... human error, bad judgement, apathy, corner cutting, the "good enough" mentality, etc. If it were possible to trace every mistake back through the chain of command and figure out exactly, step by step, how or why the mistake made it through to production, you'd probably get a different answer every time. It's a frustrating thing to keep seeing new models coming out with obvious mistakes, but it's a problem that's not likely to go away anytime soon.