Mike999

Thanks everybody. I think Brett and Niteowl are close. It's a small, unstapled envelope. But it looks like he printed his own "USPS First-Class Package" label. Maybe he did that without checking the USPS rules for that shipping method. The decals look good. I want to try them on an AMT 63 Chevy upgraded with the more detailed 62 Bel Air chassis and engine. I've seen that swap done on this board by others and it looks fairly easy. (Famous last words...)

I also love the AMT 32s and have fond memories of gluing them together while watching "Shock Theater." (Yes, I'm old.) Couple of weeks ago at a local swap meet, I found the 32 Roadster kit shown below (along with the original 40 Coupe) for a very good price. The first owner broke one of the Roadster's chrome wire wheels putting it into the tire. Otherwise it's perfect with most parts still on the sprues.

Has this happened to anybody else? Last week on eBay, I bought a set of decals for the Sox '63 Chevy drag car "Good Ole Mr. Wilson." That's one sheet of decals. The seller is in Illinois, I'm in South Carolina, and the package weighed 3 ounces. It arrived in a small envelope, with a label saying "USPS First-Class PKG." And when it arrived, the fe-mail carrier knocked on my door and told me I owed $3.34 Postage Due. Say WHAT? The shipping envelope had 2 hand-written notes on it in pencil, from somebody at the Post Office: Note 1: "This should be Priority, not a Package." Note 2: $5.95 - 2.61 = $3.34." So the seller had already paid $2.61 and total shipping was a whopping $5.95 for this small, light envelope. I emailed the seller and asked for a refund of the $3.34. To his credit, he refunded the whole price of the decals ($6.50). He apologized and said this had happened before on other decal sales. He was contacting the Post Office to try and figure out what's going on. I'm guessing there's some obscure USPS rule about a "First-Class Package" versus a "Priority envelope" or something. But I'm only guessing, and this struck me as really weird.

Flea market day. The only plastic car kits for sale were a few NASCARs, as usual. I did get a Sun Star 1/18 die-cast Checker Cab still in the original box, in city of Atlanta markings. (Sun Star also did Checker Cabs for NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles and probably other cities.) I like service vehicles and it was cheap. Somewhere in the stash I have a 1/24 scale resin Checker Cab that I'll build around the year 2097, maybe. Also picked up a few other things at the flea market that I DO NOT need - a couple of old books and some Mallo-Cups.

Which version of the AMT 41 Ford Woody has this trailer? I have the older stock and custom-only versions of that kit and couldn't find a trailer in either. Both kits do have a surfboard. I read several online listings for the latest re-issue and none of them mention a trailer. Thanks for any help.

Flea market day, and a couple of old friends followed me home. The $1.49 price sticker on the '32 Ford is from Rich's department store in Atlanta. The '32 (molded in black) is missing the drag slicks and 1 wire wheel back is broken. But incredibly, nothing has ever been glued and most parts are still on the sprues. The '40 Ford (molded in gray) is complete and in the same condition, nothing ever glued or painted. The other pile of stuff came as one big, cheap lot. The Allison Matador is still sealed inside. The '34 Modified is open inside but looks complete. The 66 Mustang and 69 Chevelle are badly painted junkers but have a lot of useful parts. The light blue car on top is an AMT '67 Comet. The blue parts bag and chrome bag are still sealed, but it's missing tires and instructions. Not a problem.

I promised myself to never buy a die-cast, especially in 1/18 scale. And broke that promise when Precision Miniatures released its 1959 Cadillac hearse/flower car/ambulance line. Those things are gorgeous and insanely detailed. Then I weakened again when Yat Ming released its 1/24 "Presidential Series." Interesting White House cars, especially the JFK X-100 Continental and Truman's bubbletop Lincoln. Though I've always thought those cars looked too big for 1/24 scale. Then I went looking for some early Ford Explorers in 1/24 to build as police vehicles, which I could only find in die-cast from Maisto. Which probably led me to the Maisto series of '53 Cadillacs, very nice 1/24 models also released as screw-together kits with optional wheels etc. And the "Highway Patrol" 1/24 die-cast '55 Buick...and...and... So I'll be having an eBay die-cast sale soon. One item that seems to be really collectible - of all things - is the ERTL 1/18 "American Muscle" release of the car from "The Car" - that horrible 1977 horror movie with James Brolin. It's a Lincoln Mark III modified by George Barris. According to a die-cast fan page, nobody knows exactly how many of those ERTL made. Apparently not many. Checking eBay "Completed Auctions," they seem to routinely go for more than $100, sometimes a lot more.

Hmmm. That sure looks like the Revell M4 Sherman kit that dates back to the 1950's. It's 1/40 scale, like all early Revell military kits. But this time around they're calling it 1/35??? Monogram had a similar confuse-a-palooza. Its early military kits, like the M29 Weasel and M48A2 Patton tank, were always 1/35 scale. Not much doubt about that. For years people have cross-kitted the Tamiya 1/35 M48A3 kit with the Monogram M48A2 to build early gasoline-powered versions. The parts are almost a drop-fit, and the hulls and turrets nearly identical in size. Then in the 1970s, Airfix started doing armor kits in 1/32 (Lee, Grant, Rommel's SdKfz. 250 half-track etc.) So Monogram decided its old military kits were 1/32, and put that scale on the box. To confuse things even more, at that time Monogram also released some new kits that really were 1/32 scale (M4 and M4A1 Shermans, Panzer IV and variants, etc.) Then the most recent Monogram armor re-issues are back to 1/35 scale on the box. Grrrr...

One of the best books about that was written way back in 1841: "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by the Scottish journalist Charles Mackay. Want to understand the 2008 economic meltdown? Just read the chapter on "Tulipmania" in 17th-century Holland. For a while, a single rare tulip could buy a mansion, and people went deep in debt to buy tulip bulbs. Until the market crashed and tulips went back to just being pretty flowers. Similar chapters cover France's 18th-century Mississippi Scheme ("Louisiana has mountains of gold and silver!"). And about the same time, Britain's South Sea Bubble investment insanity. Just make sure you get a complete edition of the book. It's no longer copyrighted, and some cheap versions that only include the economic stuff are on the market. Mackay's complete book covers even more chapters in human gullibility and greed, like witch hunts, alchemy, haunted houses and phony psychics. It's still incredibly modern for a book written over 170 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_Popular_Delusions_and_the_Madness_of_Crowds

Timing is everything on eBay, as I often find out the hard way. I just checked "Completed Auctions" and found these. Date is when the kit sold and the prices don't include shipping. I found one that sold for $6.50, but it didn't have the box: Jan-22 - AMT 3 in 1 Customizing Boat Kit with trailer model kit no. 8125 (reissue) - $18.50 Buy It Now Feb-23 - AMT VINTAGE 1960 3 IN 1 CUSTOMIZING BOAT KIT Sealed - $17.99 Buy It Now Feb-26 - SUPER AMT 3 in 1 CUSTOMIZING BOAT KIT, Shrink Wrapped $20.50, 8 bids Mar-05 - AMT 3 IN 1 CUSTOMIZING BOAT KIT # 8125 LIMITED EDITION BOX OPEN PARTS SEALED $19.99 Buy It Now

Last issue back in the 90s had a gold sticker on the shrink-wrap, saying "Limited Edition/Vintage Series 5." a/k/a "Buyer's Choice," I think. I'm looking at one right now. I still have 2 of those kits sealed and another opened. I've sold 2 more on eBay over the years. I remember buying 5 of them the last time around. I was about to put another sealed Customizing Boat kit on eBay, but I think the re-issue just changed my mind. A quick check shows that one of these recently sold for $39.99 with 19 bids, but that was an outlier. Other recent Completed Auctions for this kit went from about $20-$25, probably a little less than the retail price of this next re-issue. So overall, I'd rather keep the kit than go thru all the hassle of writing a listing, taking photos, putting it on eBay, paying the eBay/PayPal fees, packing and shipping it, etc. etc. That's happening a lot recently, with the always-rising cost of eBay selling. I used to sometimes remove parts I wanted from kits, then bundle them into lots and sell them with low starting bids. But today, that "bundling" means higher shipping costs that some buyers don't want to pay. In most cases I'd rather just keep the whole kit and use it for a Painting Trainer or something. Or to save space with all the boxes - yank the parts I want and store the remains in a big Ziploc bag, inside a plastic storage tub.

Ha! Yep, and from buying used kits at flea markets etc., I have about 47 bottles of the stuff, dating back to the 1970's. One of these days I might spray some thru the airbrush just to see what happens. As for now, every once in a while I'll actually use a tiny bit of old Testors Silver on a small-scale figure belt buckle, medals or something similar. It seems to dry OK but those applications are very small and don't use much paint. I also sometimes use it to dry-brush a figure's weapons, over a base coat of Tamiya Iron or something similar. But again, it's nearly dry by the time I use it for that. TBH, I think I use it for nostalgia as much as anything else. I like that old-fashioned chemical smell when I open it up. Reminds me of building and painting stuff many years ago.

Flea market day. Not many sellers or buyers showed up, probably scared off by the heavy weather warnings. (Thunderstorms, rain, hail etc.). It was OK while I was there, but I went very early. Found a cheap AMT #6686 '34 Ford 5-window coupe, still shrink-wrapped. This is the street rod only version, with a small-block Chevy and modern suspension. The same seller also had an older AMT '49 Ford, but it was mostly built/painted and missing some parts, so I passed.

I used a small, loud Badger air compressor for several years. Then moved up to a Craftsman (Sears) compressor with a 2-gallon tank. It was even louder but only ran until it filled the tank. In 2009 I decided to splurge and got an Iwata Power Jet Pro. Not very loud, and it has dual regulators/water traps for running 2 airbrushes at once. I love that thing. It has never given me a problem and is a joy to use.

What terrible news. He was an awesome builder and very helpful in here. I'll sure miss him.

Here's a Chevy of that vintage still in daily use as a taxi, when I worked in Egypt from 2005-09. I saw it every morning, going from village to village packed with people. If it's like most old American cars in Egypt, it's probably running on a Russian truck engine. Or maybe the original block with modified Russian internal parts. Every village in Egypt still has a blacksmith with an old-fashioned forge, and they do some amazing mechanical work.

Here's a link to a discussion about the '52 Chevy 1/32 kits, on a vintage (real) Chevy forum. One guy built the current Lindberg '52 and it looks pretty good. The station wagon kit has some errors, which are also discussed. The biggest error: it's a 2-door wagon, and Chevy didn't make any of those from 1949 to 1954. And the kit instructions show a rear seat in the wagon...but it still has the package tray attached! http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/340271/

Nice look at this oldie, thanks! That surviving inner door detail is really amazing considering this kit dates back to the early 1960s, when it was released by the long-gone Pyro company. The link below goes to a history of Pyro, with box-art photos for all their kits. I really wish Lindberg would unearth some things like the '32 and '34 Plymouth 4-door sedans. I'm always looking for interesting old cars to use in 1/32 dioramas, so I have quite a few of these Pyro, Life-Like and Lindberg kits stashed away. Pyro also issued a '52 Chevy station wagon, shown below. I really wish that one would turn up, too. http://www.oldmodelkits.com/blog/plastic-model-kit-history/the-kits-of-pyro-plastic-company-an-illustrated-guide/

I moved from CA to SC in 2015. Looking for some 5.1 speakers to set up my TV room, Amazon had just what I wanted so I ordered them. Come tax time last year, I got a statement from Amazon informing me that SC wanted its tax money on that sale. Brought the statement to my tax person, she said, yep, that's a real thing and you have to pay up. eBay: I recently bought several items from various states. Just checked and I didn't pay tax on any of them. I think some sellers are pulling a scam here. There's more and more of that happening on eBay. I will never participate in the GSP unless absolutely forced into it. As others have noted, it's not a good deal for anybody except eBay and PayPal. I'm trying to get a couple of eBay sales together right now. One will be cars/diecast and the other will be 1/35 military, figures and miscellaneous. Those may be my LAST eBay sales. Shipping gets more expensive all the time, and I'm tired of being nickel-and-dimed by eBay and PayPal.

Flea market day. Found this sad Monogram Bugatti, mostly built and missing one cycle fender. Everything else seems to be there, so I bought it for parts, especially that boat-tail. (Not my pic but the box art is the same.) This is a 1973 issue. The box also contained 7 bottles of Testors paint, marked 30 and 35 cents. And a tube of 35-cent Testors cement!

I was just about to use a Micro-Mesh polishing kit. And in a very rare thing for me to do, I actually read the instructions. It recommended waiting at least a week for the paint to dry before using the polishing kit. The Smell Test described above is even better.

Too lazy to go look for it now, but there used to be a hilarious blog where California Park Rangers talked about their experiences. One of their most common bad experiences was pulling SUVs out of dry washes, posted danger zones, and other places they shouldn't have been. A ranger said they usually heard 2 excuses why the SUV was stuck: 1. "My SUV is only 2-wheel drive? I really thought it was 4-wheel drive." 2. "But this SUV can go anywhere in the TV commercial!." The rangers developed a special radio code for those cases. It was "TNS." Which stood for "Thwarting Natural Selection."

Glad I'm not the only addict. And no, I don't need any help, I guess. I have too much aftermarket for armor, aircraft AND cars. To go along with a 1/16 scale figure, I was recently about to scratch-build a WWII German 200-liter fuel drum. Then Mr. Internet showed me that a company named "Classy Hobby" made a really nice set of those, complete with the raised lettering on the lid. The set also includes eight 1/16 scale 20-liter jerry cans, with photo-etched metal seams (photo below). Got the kit from eBay for a decent price. At a Calif. swap meet a few years ago, one vendor was clearing out a huge stash of car aftermarket stuff, very cheap. I grabbed several sets of OOP American Satco off-road tires. Some red and blue-wall tires. A bunch of MCG etched sets. And a couple of Ross Gibson engines, a Hemi and a Slant 6 Power Pak. Also a resin Ford 6. And many other useful doodads. I spent a big chunk of my model budget for the day at that one table, but it was worth it.

Here's a YouTube review of that '90 C1500. There are several YouTube reviews of the recently released "Deserter." Just do a search and you should find them. I'm a geezer and would much rather have a text review with lots of pictures, myself. But the video should give you an idea of what's in the box. Not wanting to step on the OP's intent, just thought I might save him some time and work.

Speaking of 1/24 figures, here's a heads-up. Sprue Brothers is having a 35% off sale right now. One sale item is the Verlinden 1/24 "CHiPs Officer" shown below. With the 35% off, the price is $5.84. As you know, Verlinden went out of business recently and all its molds etc. were probably destroyed. So if you want one of these, this might be a good time to get it before "eBay Fever" strikes. Sprue Bros. doesn't have a lot of car stuff, mostly aircraft and military. But looking around, I noticed they do have some of the Fujimi Ferraris on sale. For example, the Fujimi #12274 1:24 Ferrari 348tb is selling for $15.49. I have no connection with Sprue Bros., other than being a happy customer. http://spruebrothers.com/