Mike999

I saw "The Thing" again not long ago, and noticed those kits on the shelf. I think you're right about the "box scale." That's what stood out to me - those looked like really OLD Revell kits, from the 1950's. They would have been rare/collectible even when that version of "The Thing" was made, in 1982. BTW, the original "Thing" was made in 1951. With James "Gunsmoke" Arness playing a critter usually described as "a walking carrot." In "Leave It To Beaver," there were often Revell kits sitting on the shelves in Wally & Beaver's room. IIRC, they never seemed to move. Or get built. Channel-surfing the TV channels that show old series one day, I hit an episode of "Lassie." Timmy was at the kitchen table building a model helicopter. I think it was one of the original "Helicopters For Industry" kits, later released by Aurora. But it's been awhile, so I'm not sure.

There's a quick reference to model car building in the 1946 John Huston documentary "Let There Be Light." Scene in a veteran's hospital shows a guy working on a kit. Don't know if it's plastic or wood. But it looks a lot like that Maxwell Joseph Cotten is building in "Niagara." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038687/

Junkman said: "The Fourgonette is now abailable in a "bakery" version:" Thanks for the heads-up! Went right over to Lucky Model and ordered one. Not to tempt anybody, but Lucky still has 5 of them in stock. For those who don't know Tasca/Asuka, they do VERY good stuff. At least in the 1/35 military world. When Tasca started doing a line of 1/35 Sherman tanks a few years ago, those kits very quickly became the state-of-the-art Sherman model.

Thank you very much for the helpful information! And the parts layout. I've struggled with some pretty basic Eastern European kits in the past. Like VEB-Plastikart 1/100 scale airliners. So I'm not expecting state-of-the-art. But thanks again for the heads-up. Speaking of Prague...anyone going there should hit the "Golden Triangle" for model builders. Three big hobby shops in walking distance of each other, though dedicated more to armor/air than cars. (Two of the shops are owned by the model companies MPM and Bilek.) The link below describes how to find them. I visited Prague in 2008 and had a great time: http://www.dstorm.eu/pages/en/other/prague.html

Praga AN 8 Typ 001 truck "Beer Lorry," 1/24 scale. Yes, it does come complete with beer barrels. The Praga company was founded in 1907 and is still in business in the Czech Republic. Got it from a German vendor on The Auction Site. I did a BIN last night, got an email this morning saying he had shipped. Looks like a simple kit, in plastic and diecast metal. It reminds me of Grail Kit I had as a kid - the Premier 1/32 scale 1907 Mack. It came with a load of barrels too. Some interesting photos of Praga trucks: http://www.motorstown.com/62568-praga-an.html

I'd agree with that! The Cadillac and Lincoln need a "Gangbuster" option of bullet-riddled trunks. And figures of Gotti/Castellano business associates.

Yep, Meng or Takom would be likely suspects. This real Takom "4-in-1" kit may be of interest here, even if it's in the wrong scale:

Ha! Great "if only" box art. Keep 'em coming. Military modelers get up to these shenanigans too. This faux box art is from a Russian armor modeling website. The Topol-M, a/k/a SS-27 "Sickle B" ICBM, is about 75 feet long. Though I guess it could happen. Some pretty big missile kits have been coming out in 1/35 scale. And Dragon is planning an entire Patriot missile complex in that scale, complete with the transporter trucks.

Thanks! I knew that build was here somewhere but couldn't find it.

Stunning build of her Porsche in 1/24 scale:

Found this over at the Allpar site: "One 'Vanishing Point' police car by Hemi Andersen The 2 featured “cops” were the ones parked on the bluff as Kowalski drove by on the road below. They quickly jumped into their 1970 Plymouth Belvedere, powered by a 318 engine and A-904 Torqueflite with front disc brakes. Sorry, I don't have the VIN any more. That car was damaged when chasing the Challenger over a narrow bridge in some small town. The driver of the Belvedere overshot the bridge turnoff, sliding off the road and slowly rolling the car onto its left side in the ditch. I bought the running gear from the car in the fall of 1971, for parts, at Frontier Auto Wreckers in Sunland, CA. I never took the body but spent two weekends unbolting all the useable parts and loading them into my 1963 Plymouth Belvedere station wagon, originally owned by Petersen Publishing Company in LA. (They do Motor Trend among other magazines.) ...The Chrysler factory rep that gave me the 360 told me about the movie and the 1970 Belvedere, which was not supposed to be wrecked in the story. It was brand new when it was leased or loaned to the movie company and had around 2,300 miles on it when I bought the parts." That Belvedere became an organ donor for several other Mopars, as the rest of the story tells: http://www.allpar.com/history/movies.html

Get online with Santa right now! Tell him to bring you the Criterion 2-DVD set of "Two Lane Blacktop." One special feature on it, “Performance and Image," covers the restoration of a TLB ’55 Chevy. Another feature, "Color Me Gone," is publicity photos and other PR material from when the movie was released. IIRC, that feature has many still photos of the car. You also get a digitally remastered high-def transfer of the movie supervised by the director Monte Hellman. And a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack, making all the cars sound extra awesome. Especially that Hemi Cuda in the opening scene. Definitely worth the $19.99 Amazon is asking. http://www.amazon.com/Two-Lane-Blacktop-James-Taylor/dp/B00R244D00/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450457469&sr=8-1&keywords=dvd+two+lane+blacktop

Once in a Taipei hobby shop, I saw a white box marked with black handwriting: "MB G4 and Fuehrer figure." Sealed and the shop owner wouldn't let me open it. Shoulda known better, but this was years ago. Long before Plus Models did their resin G4s and ICM did the plastic kits. it was cheap, so I bought it. It looked a little better than that I-Corps thing. But it was a straight copy of the ADV/Azimut kit. Right down to the instruction sheet, which was a Xeroxed copy of the Azimut sheet! The kicker - all the Azimut photo-etched parts had been duplicated in very thin resin. They fall apart if you even look hard at them. Even the Hitler figure was ripped off from another company. Sovereign, I think. Live and learn... One of the best reference books for these cars is "Mercedes-Benz Parade and Staff Cars of the Third Reich" by Blaine Taylor.

I-Corps Models re-popped the TILT/MARUI kit in resin. If you ever see one for sale, RUN! It's a horrible kit. I bought the one in the pic from Herb Deeks. Even he gave up on saving it. In this pic you can't see all the pinholes, voids, short-pours and other delights. I-Corps is long gone, and good riddance.

If anyone else needs to get iced - HobbyLinc has the re-issued Ice T on clearance for $8.02: http://www.hobbylinc.com/monogram-tom-daniel-ice-t-plastic-model-car-kit-1:24-scale-854266

Says "1972 GMC Stepside" on box. AMT #6081. AMT/ERTL issue from the '90's, I think.

Not today, but flea market finds for the past several months. This year I relocated from Los Angeles to my original home in SC. I really miss Smith Bros., Burbank House of Hobbies and Autobooks, Brookhurst Hobbies, etc. And especially the KCI swap meets in Buena Park. I don't find this kind of stuff every week at the local flea markets, but here are some things I have found: AMT Chevy Van/Open Road Camper, $5 - a real Grail for me. Body partly brush-painted with thick white goop, but Round 2 will fix that. Otherwise untouched with all Camper parts. Decal sheet cut but "Open Road" logos are OK. AMT 39/40 Ford Sedan, original issue, $15 - not sure about this one. The uncut decals, instructions, box are definitely original. Everything complete and mostly still on sprues. But body and other parts are in light blue plastic. I thought originals came in black or grey plastic only. Anyway I'd pay $15 for a reissue, so I'm happy with it. AMT 72 GMC Stepside and 90 Chevy C1500 pickup kits, and Revell 66 Chevelle Wagon, $40 for all 3. You just can't have too many station wagons... Lindberg BMW R75/5 bike 1/16 scale, mint in box $15. I have a couple of these as parts kits/gluebombs, so it's nice to see the instructions and a complete kit. Monogram original issue Duesenberg Torpedo Phaeton, very neat assembly of engine/chassis only, no paint, $15 Renwal Revivals "66 Duesenberg," mostly built, cracked but fixable lower body, no paint, complete & in original box, $20 Tonka Dioramas, "Four-Alarm Call," 1/24 1913 Model T Phaeton shadow-box diorama. With oak & glass display case, all inner bags still sealed, $6.00

Vairnut: the Greenbriar van "from Arizona" came from eBay seller "benpackaz." From Benson, AZ. He also sold a resin Corvair Lakewood wagon. He was still on eBay as of a month or so ago, but with no resin kits listed. The last item I found him selling was a 1/32 Gunze 1959 Ford. I also have both the benpackaz and TKM Corvair vans. You're right, they look...challenging.

Hi all - been lurking a lot, hoping to participate more. For those who might not know this - if you build a weathered Trabant, do NOT rust the body. I know some Very Famous Modelers have done just that lately. But that's wrong. Trabant bodies are not metal. They are made of Duraplast, a glass-reinforced plastic. Sort of like a Corvette. Which is the only comparison I know of between a Trabbi and a Vette. The post-Fall German government discovered that the hard way, after it banned the Trabant because of outrageous pollution. (One Trabant produced about the same pollution as several large Mercedes sedans, I've heard.) Junked Trabbis couldn't be destroyed like regular cars - crushing or burning the plastic bodies created toxic gases. Finally, the Trabants were shredded and spread on icy roads in winter. Which is a pretty good diorama idea... Motor Trend made the Trabant its Car of the Year, and I still remember a line from the review: "The engine provides no braking power. Neither do the brakes." I visited Hungary in 2008 and saw some Trabbis still on the streets there. One is a sort of "gate guard" at Statue Park - the park/museum outside Budapest where some of the massive Communist-era statues are on display. I'll try to dig up some of my Trabbi pix and post them. I remember one with fin extensions that looked sort of like a shrunken Cadillac, if you squinted hard enough.

Celebrities - the movie director John Milius builds model aircraft, I think. At least I remember an interview with him, where he was holding a Revell 1/32 F4 Phantom. Re: "In The Line Of Fire": Watch near the beginning - Clint Eastwood is at an outdoor newsstand, and picks up a fictional model magazine. Behind the fictional mag, you'll see a big stack of Fine Scale Modeler. And we do NOT come off well in that movie, LOL. When Eastwood is starting the investigation, he tells his partner to investigate model builders and says: "It's a pretty weird subculture."

Hi, First post ever! Have been reading and enjoying the board for a long time. Last week I picked up this "new" kit in my LHS. If you like 4WD stuff, you may be interested. Especially since these Toyota kits have not been available since ESCI issued them in the 1980's. Box art pic: http://shop.italeri....0003452_300.jpg ITALERI #6352 Armed Pick-up "Upgraded Moulds" 1/24 U.S. Retail: $47.99 Random Comparison Prices: LuckyModel US $23.99, Great Models Webstore US $35.95 VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: Toyota BJ-44 Land Cruiser, circa-1980's, with .50 caliber machine gun on U.S. WWII Jeep mount. KIT DESCRIPTION: Re-issue of the old ESCI kit, with new gun parts. The old molds still look clean, with body emblems etc. very sharp. Some flash on smaller parts like pedals, but not bad for a kit of this age. PLUSES: +First re-issue of this 1/24 Toyota BJ-44 kit ever +Dashboards for right and left hand steering (not mentioned on instructions) +Full rear seat and side-facing rear seats (not mentioned on instructions) +Quick build (curbside, no engine), good for new/young/impatient modelers +Great detail in places, e.g., separate windshield wipers +Vast modification/conversion potential, e.g. with the back seats and a fabbed roll bar - Generic Third-World Dictator/Field Marshal Spec! MINUSES: -no interior door-panel or side detail - really obvious on an open vehicle -no instrument panel decals or engraved i.p. detail at all. Ditto above obviousness. WHAT'S IN THE BOX? PARTS COUNT: GRAY: 63 parts for basic vehicle (some not used), 17 new parts for .50 caliber machine gun and mount CLEAR: 9 parts (windshield, side windows, lights) BLACK VINYL TIRES: 5 DECALS: 4 sets of dual license plates only, printed in black & white only: 1 set for Lebanon 2 sets for Somalia 1 set for Chad. Neatest option, since the license plates advertise "Diagnose Auto, Rue De 40 M N'Djamena." (Thanks, Mr. Opti-Visor!) BACKGROUND: Way back around 1979 or 80, ESCI started issuing 1/24 kits of the Toyota BJ-44 Land Cruiser. Three different versions were eventually released: #3027 Toyota BJ-44 Land Cruiser Canvas Top - basic vehicle with a full raised soft top #3028 Toyota BJ-44 Philippines Taxi - one of the coolest kits in the history of modeldom! A bonkers, psychedelic Filipino "jitney" taxi with little chrome horses/figures for the hood, extra lights, horns, etc. And eye-popping decals. This kit included a nice hardtop. #3030 Toyota BJ-44 Savannah Master Kenia (sic) Safari - a zebra-striped safari truck, also a hardtop. This version had a roof rack full of jerry cans, wooden crates, spare tires, canvas bundles etc. As far as I know, none of these kits have been available since the original ESCI issues. All go for big bucks on eBay. SUMMARY: Well, the boxtop screams "Upgraded Moulds!" I compared this kit to the Filipino Taxi in my garage, and the sprues are identical except for color. So "Upgraded" means the single new sprue with the .50 cal gun and mount. A few months ago, ITALERI issued kit #6351, its old 1/24 U.S. WWII Jeep with a newly-tooled .50 caliber gun. So here's the next kit in sequence, #6352 - a Toyota BJ-44 "technical" with the same gun and mount. With the basic vehicle, ITALERI is on solid ground - armed Land Cruisers have been a favorite of grumpy insurgents around the world, especially the PLO in Lebanon. You might want to tweak the gun mount to make it look more home-made, though. It's just a shame that ITALERI was so stingy with the extras (as usual). We only get one can of .50 cal ammo, mounted directly to the gun itself. Assuming they still have the molds, it would have been really nice to have some stuff from the old ESCI Safari kit #3030 - especially the jerry cans. SUGGESTIONS: if you're building a "technical," just remove the doors completely. The users often did that anyway, for quick exits. Otherwise you have to deal with those smooth inner door panels. If you feel scratchy, the BJ-44 had vinyl inner door panels and photos are just a Google away. Since ITALERI didn't give us any extras, we'll have to get them from eBay or elsewhere. Anybody know of any 1/24 AK-47s? I lived in Saudi Arabia for 2 years and in Egypt for 4 years, so I feel fully qualified to scratch-build my own 1/24 scale bucket of falafel.