Mike999

I use the Georgia HobbyLinc a lot. An order from them is incoming right now. Free Time Hobbies is also good (and also in Georgia) and I sometimes use Megahobby. I like to waste time hitting the various vendor websites, comparing prices and looking for Clearance items. Prices are generally within a couple of bucks of each other, unless one outfit is having a sale. HobbyLinc has Special/Clearance sales all the time. You'd better be quick, when a kit goes on sale it often sells out fast. HobbyLinc has the Revell Foose Cadillac on sale for $18.29 right now. A company I've recently used is Andy's Hobby Headquarters. They don't have a huge car kit selection, but they do carry Belkits, Aoshima and Revell. They ship VERY quickly and have some neat videos on their site. This link will take you directly to the Car/Bike kits. One annoyance: in the car listings they include "other scales" like 1/35 and 1/144. https://andyshhq.com/collections/cars-bikes

They were. The "gangbuster" parts and figures were in the 1986 re-issue of the AMT-ERTL "Connoisseur Classics" series. But the gangsta parts were not shown on the box, or even mentioned. The original MPC "Gangbusters" series was 5 kits: '27 Lincoln roadster, '28 Lincoln touring car, '32 Chrysler convertible coupe, '32 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron touring car, and the '32 Chevy "9-in-1" kit, with parts to build a panel truck or roadster, stock or hot-rodded. That 1986 AMT-ERTL "Connoisseur Classics" re-issue only included 3 of the kits: the '28 Lincoln touring car, the '32 Chrysler convertible coupe and the '32 Chevy roadster. The Chevy didn't have any Gangbuster parts and only built a stock vehicle. The '27 Lincoln roadster and '32 Imperial touring car were missing in action. (And still are.) Just to confuse things further, if you're shopping for sealed kits at a swap meet: MPC released its own "Connoisseur Classics" series back in the 1970s. That series included all 5 of the original "Gangbusters" kits, in stock-only, non-Gangbuster versions. The MPC "Connoisseur Classics" DO NOT have any gangster parts. As most of us geezers know, the '32 Chevy panel truck body was butchered into the idiotic "Barnabas Vampire Van." But if you need a stock '32 Chevy chassis with steerable front wheels, it's still there in the Barnabas kit.

That 40% sale is great. It ends today, and I hope I see another one in my lifetime. Two old Aurora 1/48 tank kits I hope Atlantis has: the M-109 short-barreled howitzer and the Swedish "S" tank. In the 1970's Aurora released the M-109 with a vac-formed diorama base, which worked better than it sounds. The figures with it even carried 1/48 scale M-16 rifles. The no-turret "S" tank is just weird, so of course I like it. That tank was one of Trumpeter's first original kits in 1/35 scale, released in 2 different versions and still findable at pretty low prices.

Until a few years ago, that was the ONLY plastic kit available of an M48-A2 (gasoline-engined) tank. Military modelers used to hack the engine deck out of it, and mate that to the Tamiya M48-A3 (Diesel-engined). Or they would go the other way, use the Monogram kit as the basis, and transfer wheels and other parts from the Tamiya kit. The basic Monogram kit is not bad at all for its age. The worst things about it are the molded-in tools and other details, and that's easily fixed. You'll find lots of articles about upgrading it on Mr. Internet. Or just build it out of the box and have fun with it! Here's my latest weirdo, the Mini-Art SLA T-54 Armored Personnel Carrier with dozer blade. Exactly one of these was built in real life, by the South Lebanon Army. They removed the turret from a T-54 tank, put in seats, and built an armored superstructure on top for protection. There are photos of 2 different configurations on that superstructure. Apparently the superstructure was modified when they added that big RED! dozer blade. It's one of Mini-Art's "interior" kits, meaning it has the engine, driver's compartment and an interior that's insanely detailed.

Here's a long article about the Rolling Stones Mobile Recording Studio (RSM). Full of great technical details on the studio and its vehicles. Plus the whole story of the song "Smoke On the Water." Along with the Stones, Deep Purple, Fleetwood Mac and umpteen other groups, the RSM recorded the famous live version of Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry." Plus Russian and Latvian ballet companies, of all things. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/the-rolling-stones-mobile-recording-studio-rsm-arguably-the-most-culturally-impactful-road-going-vehicle-ever/ Ronnie Lane of The Faces was so impressed with the RSM that he built his own, Lane Mobile Studios (LMS). He put the studio in an Airstream trailer, but look at what's pulling it. So get the Revell Land Rover and a 1/24 scale Airstream, and you're all set!

Anybody need a 1/25 scale rolling goldfish stall? I didn't get this today, but just saw it on eBay and thought some of you weirdos might like it. It's listed as a product of "MicroAce." That's the latest name for ARII/IMEX/Whoever. The company that did the 3 1958 Cadillac kits back in the 1990's. There were a whole series of these Japanese food/toy stall kits released long ago under the ARII name. Some were in 1/25, another series was in 1/32 scale. Back when 1/25 figures and 1/32 civilians were very hard to find, I used to pick these up. They were always cheap, I don't think I paid more than $5 for any of them. Some of the kits came with useful accessories like buckets, mail-boxes, dogs, etc. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Arii-812143-Japanese-Goldfish-Stall-1-25-Scale-Kit-Microace/163921375936?hash=item262a79b2c0:g:0x4AAOSwiMBdtu1C

Looks like you have the French outfit Carrefour in the UK. That's the closest thing I've seen to a Euro-style Wal-Mart. When I worked in Egypt, I hit the Alexandria Carrefour almost every week for groceries. Low prices and it was a huge store that sold everything, from food to clothes, tools and TVs. Like Wal-Mart it had its own bakery and other services. What Carrefour did not have, of course, was scale models. And I looked, all the time. The closest thing I ever saw was a few BBurago 1/24 scale die-cast metal assembly kits.

I picked up the 1/20 scale "Baywatch" Toyota long ago, for a really low price. So long ago that I can't remember where. I removed the parts I wanted and dumped the basic kit on eBay, in a lot with some other turkeys. I only wanted the "Lifeguard" decals, roll bar/lights and the flotation devices. (Not a reference to Pam Anderson.)

Those little details, like the glasses, really make it pop! Great work. Tamiya Model Military Magazine covered the Rye Field kit a couple of months ago. The builder made it as a vehicle belonging to a Propaganda Company, with a roof rack and big loudspeaker on top. The loudspeaker and luggage are from Plus Models. He put it in a small diorama with a set of Black Dog figures that included a movie camera-man.

If you want to take the easy way out and have a nice model to display...Testors did a 1/18 scale diecast kit of a '39 Zephyr.

Coming home just a little while ago, an old-school Baja Bug was in front of me. (Never mind that we're 3,000 miles from the Baja.) It was painted Flat Olive Drab and had all the traditional goodies: bobbed fenders/no running boards, exposed engine with chrome exhaust, big knobby tires and a roof rack carrying a spare tire.

True. But I liked this part, also totally irrelevant to your question: "In a move that was very reminiscent of something he did with MPC, Toteff developed quite a number of highly detailed, but slightly larger new model kits. These were in 1/20 scale as opposed to the “standard” 1/25 scale kits." Something he did with MPC and Lindberg that was a total flop. Just curious, and I think some people on this board knew Toteff personally: why did Toteff have that weird obsession with 1/20 scale? I read somewhere, IIRC, that he thought it made kits easier to assemble for younger/newer modelers. But that paled beside the obvious fact that 1/20 kits were bigger than anything else on your display shelf, and often just looked clunkier, IMO. And the ones I've seen don't exactly qualify as "highly detailed." They sure weren't bigger sellers on the hobby shop shelves, which explains why we've been buying them at giveaway prices for a couple of decades. In 1/25 scale some of those kits would have sold like crazy, like the MPC AMX's and the Lindberg Ford Explorers. On eBay right now, some optimist is flogging a Lindberg 1/20 scale Explorer for $35 plus $15 shipping. Bet he bought it at Ollie's for $7.99 plus $0 shipping.

Wow! How about this news from the FB page: "We are very happy to now own the molds to all 3 Pyro Native Americans, Cowboy and Marshall!" Wonder if they'll still show the "Texas Cowboy" lighting his cigarette?

I've posted about this masterpiece before, but for newer members: when I was a kid, a local "buy here pay here" used-car lot had a really strange contraption sitting on the "back 40." With all the other hard-to-sell cars. It was a '62 Corvette with the split-window roof of a '63 hardtop attached. It looked like a 1:1 scale model kit, glued together by a kid with no hand-eye co-ordination. The thing had been re-painted (badly) a bright red. That was not a good idea, because chunks of white filler were exposed and falling off where the roof had been attached. I only hoped that the poor '63 had been totaled in a crash, and the builder didn't destroy 2 good cars to create that monstrosity.

The last re-issue of the Lindberg Stagecoach was 2006 (according to Scalemates again). The Ollie's stash may be leftovers from that run. Quite a few builders have improved/reworked that kit to make it more realistic, like hacking apart the horses and re-posing them. I did a Google search on "improving Lindberg stagecoach" and it turned up several articles. That Lindberg '38 Ford has a pretty good chassis that can be adapted to all kinds of street rods. Yesterday, Mr. Internet told me the Ollie's closest to me is open. This is the store in Anderson, SC that was damaged a few months ago in a big fire. The store is NOT OPEN, so ignore Mr. Internet and don't bother going there. The place still has massive fire damage. A bunch of 40-foot containers are sitting in the parking lot, probably with the store inventory inside them.

According to Scalemates, it originated with Marx Toys back in the 1950s. So long ago that they didn't list an exact year. Here's the original box, according to Scalemates.

Great idea. Military modelers would kill for a reasonably priced 1/35 scale CUCV in plastic. The only CUCV kits available in that scale right now are resin, from Miniman Factory. They're priced at 75 Euros. That's an unusual company that does all sorts of oddball military kits. Like the huge M911 Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET) in 1/24 scale (!!!), and a 1/25 scale kit of the big Russian KRaZ 255B truck. http://www.minimanfactory.com/

I hit 2 different Hobby Lobby stores, yesterday and today. A weird thing happened today. The checker had the weekly ad hanging right in front of her nose, but at first she said model kits were not discounted. Maybe she was new or something. She insisted my 2 model kits were "crafts" and not on discount. I pointed to "HOBBY MODEL KITS" on the ad. She still wasn't convinced. Luckily, a manager walked by and told her model kits were 40% off. I got another '71 Duster, mostly for that nice engine. And a 1/32 scale '60 T-Bird, in case I want to do a junkyard diorama with a 1/32 scale Hasegawa fork lift or something. This store had no '67 Impala 4-doors, neither did the other store yesterday. I found ONE of those kits a couple of weeks ago in HL and have not seen any since. Both stores had the new Revell 1/24 Land Rover and the AMT Autocar dump truck.

You need to watch more of the ID Channel! A recent story involved a woman who wanted her husband dead. She got her boyfriend to do the job, since he was a weapons instructor and bragged about being a professional hit-man. She bought him a burner phone, knowing those can't be traced. Unless you get your burner phone at Best Buy, where all purchases are videotaped. So the cops got nice, clear video of her buying the Secret Burner Phone. Boyfriend lured husband to a remote place and laid in wait for him to show up. While waiting, he needed a bowel movement. So he left a big, steaming pile of DNA at the crime scene. Guess they don't teach that in Professional Hit-Man School. He did the shoot the husband, but not fatally. Hubby lived to testify in court against both of these idiots. Here's one story about the case: https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/carlsbad-woman-accused-of-conspiring-with-gun-instructor-to-kill-estranged-husband-police/52767/

My HL checker today said, "We don't do that very often," about the 40% off deal. She mentioned That Guy we all know about, one dude who came in and bought a whole cart full of kits. I restrained myself to only buying one kit, a second MPC "Deserter" '84 GMC pickup. Still no re-stock of the '67 Impala 4-dr in this store, or I would have bought one of those. The only new kits I saw were both big trucks, the Ford Snowplow and the Autocar dump.

This one has been released and I keep hoping to find it in Hobby Lobby. The old Aurora AH-56 Cheyenne attack helicopter. Unobtainium and very expensive for many years, since it was only released once in 1968. You gotta love a helicopter with a main rotor, tail rotor AND a 3-bladed pusher prop.

As Mike said up there, a great build of a not-so-great kit. Very nice weathering. For anyone else who wants to build these monsters, MENG and Takom are making some excellent WWI tank kits now, including some kits with interiors. Here's a good diorama subject. When the Red Army took Berlin in 1945, it came across 2 Mk IV tanks in the streets. According to Wiki: "Photographic evidence indicates that these were survivors of the Russian Civil War and had previously been displayed as a monument in Smolensk, Russia, before being brought to Berlin after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Accounts of their active involvement in the Battle of Berlin have not been verified."

This review by master armor modeler Cookie Sewell says the MENG nuts & bolts are styrene. Several on-line vendors say they are plastic, so I guess they are. I assumed they were resin from the color and "feel" of the material. So another lesson about assuming there, I guess. http://www.missing-lynx.com/reviews/modern/mengsps008reviewcs_1.html

The '64 Belvedere was in my closest Hobby Lobby yesterday. The only new car kit since last week, so it stood out.

In Jesse's ad up there, #6708 Ford T Pickup and #6709 Deuce Roadster go WAY back. Both of those are from the old "Forty-Niners" series of 1/32 scale kits released in 1961. According to Scalemates, the last reissue of the T Pickup was in 1975, and the ad looks 1975-ish. I found an original "Forty-Niners" Ford pickup at a flea market, partly built and painted. It's pretty well detailed for a cheap small-scale kit, especially the engine. The only thing I might add is a rear window, the back of the top is solid. And maybe some new wheels/tires.