Mike999

Maybe the Revell Deutz farm tractor. I just bought one of those from an online vendor. Which is the quickest way to get anything into Hobby Lobby - let me buy one without a 40% off coupon. I waited months for HL to stock the Revell Porsche farm tractor. Finally broke down and bought one online. The next time I went into HL, there it was on the shelf!

Those Fujimi Mad Max knock-offs are hard to find and date from the early 80's. Back in 2014 I sold 3 of them in eBay auctions. I didn't keep a record of what they sold for, but I'm sure none went as high as $168. Some more information for the curious and lovers of the weird: Their kit numbers were all MP-xx, for "Mad Police." I never had MP-02, but I think it was an 80's Firebird. All the kits had ugly "sci-fi" body mod parts that just glued onto the basic kit: fender flares, huge exhausts, different noses etc. The best parts were the 2 figures in each kit, one male and one female. They came with alternate heads: bearded or not for the male, with a helmet or not for the female. All the kits came with a pump shotgun that the female figure could hold. Since these were Post-Apocalypse kits, you could put both heads on 1 body and call them mutants. ? A breakdown of the kits and what was in each one: MP-1 "Destroyer:" a Nissan Cedric with a .50 caliber machine gun on the roof. MP-3 "Venus:" the one in this eBay listing. A Toyota Celica Mk. 1 with a huge 6-barreled mini-gun mounted on the right-side door and a Stinger-style hand-held rocket launcher. MP-4 "Farcon:" a Nissan 200sx with a huge, futuristic gun mounted on the roof and a Stinger-style hand-held rocket launcher.

I just found these pix of a Schwimmwagen on a desert jaunt...in the 1960's! They were posted at the Missing-Lynx armor site. As the subject line says, the poor little Schwimmer is seriously over-loaded. Nobody seems to know anything else about these pix. The oval plate on the rear says "CH," short for Switzerland. I believe the ZH license plates mean Zurich, and there's a Swiss flag sticker on one of the jerry cans. So I guess the owners were Swiss. Here's a link to the thread so you can check it out: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missinglynx/seriously-overloaded-post-war-schwimmer-pic-t324313.html

I've been selling some kits on eBay lately. So obviously, I need to buy more kits! This one I've wanted for a long time: the Lukgraph 1/35 scale resin kit of the Nash/Jeffery "Quad" truck. Lukgraph is a Polish company, but Victory Models on eBay is a U.S. distributor that offers free shipping. The kit has full engine/chassis detail and photo-etched parts. The "Quad" was one of the first practical four-wheel-drive trucks. Gen. John "Blackjack" Pershing used them when he was chasing Pancho Villa in the 1915 Mexican Punitive Expedition. Many Quads saw service during WWI, to pull big guns and haul their ammunition. The Marine Corps fought several "little wars" in the Caribbean during the early 20th century, and took the Quad with them to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I went for the Marine version. It has some extra "gimcracks" like wooden crates and shovels, and being a former Marine, I just like Marine Corps subjects. Lukgraph makes several different versions of the kit: U.S. Army, British, with or without the canvas roof, with a full canvas cover over the bed, etc. If you're waiting for a cheaper plastic kit of the Quad, it should come along any day now. Because I went and bought this expensive resin one. You're welcome!

Great job. Even the vinyl shine on the interior looks in scale!

I can't find an old article I remember reading, about driving the El Matador. I think Budd Anderson wrote it, since he drove that car all over the country for AMT. Anyway, whoever wrote it said driving the Matador was a really miserable experience. It handled like a pig. The low suspension sent every little road bump straight up your spine. Those bumps were keenly felt, since you were almost sitting on the floor because of the chopped top. Big parking lot speed bumps were a real challenge, since they might rip off part of the suspension. Engine heat radiated right into the interior and the floorboards got hot enough to roast the occupants' feet. Anderson swapped the original Tri-Power Olds engine for a small-block Ford when he was driving it for AMT. Maybe he was trying to fix some of the handling and heat problems. Here's a history of the El Matador. https://kustomrama.com/wiki/Bill_Cushenbery's_1940_Ford

Thanks. I've had the Bob Smith epoxy in 2 bottles, and kept it long enough that it started thickening. That's another reason I liked the Dev-Con in the 2 smaller tubes. I generally used it up before that started happening.

Thanks. The seller had 3 of those old Value-Packs and a few separate kits, like a Lindberg '61 Chevy. I got the one Value-Pack, then after a few minutes went back to check out the seller again. But he was gone! It was like the Twilight Zone or something. But that's the way the Flea Market works. If you see something you might want, you better grab it when it's in front of you.

Thanks for jogging my memory on 5-minute epoxy. My favorite brand for centuries was Dev-Con, in the 2 separate tubes. The separate tubes make it a lot easier to change the mix: a little more Hardener for quicker drying, a little more Resin if you want it to dry slower. The separate tubes are also a lot neater than those %!(*!! 2-part epoxies in the "syringe." No matter how careful I am, those always seem to end up squirting out too much of one side or the other. This vendor sells the old-school Dev-Con in tubes. It's the "Dev-Tube" option on their website. They also have the "Dev-Pak" syringe type. https://www.gesswein.com/p-5110-devcon-5-minute-epoxy.aspx?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkbjY54T66QIVkIbACh0L-QduEAQYAiABEgKQlvD_BwE

Then there's the Dark Side of AMT history: the "Authentic Model Turnpike" 1/25 scale slot-car tracks. In theory it was a great idea, slot cars that could spin out, recover, back up and even run 2 cars in one slot. In practice it was expensive, huge and a giant flop. The set only came with 1 car and controller, and the price of a second car was a hard sell, even to Santa Claus. Here's an article with some information I never knew about the Model Turnpike. In 1964, real-car dealers could order a dealership showroom display. It included a folding table with the track attached, and one model car. But that was pretty much the last gasp for the Turnpike. By 1964 it had been on the market for 2 years, with sluggish and decreasing sales, and AMT killed it. https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/86821-the-1962-amt-turnpike-slot-car

Unfortunately, "Le Mans" pretty much cratered his movie career. If McQueen had his way, it wouldn't have had a gettable girl in it and would have been a lot closer to a documentary. Which would have made more sense for us car/racing lovers. The whole story is in the great 2015 documentary "Steve McQueen: The Man and Le Mans." It's full of never-before-seen footage shot during the movie production, and insights from McQueen family and friends. His ex-wife says something like: "Steve had everything when he started making 'Le Mans.' And he came out of it with nothing." I also agree that's one awesome McQueen collection and makes me insanely jealous. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_McQueen:_The_Man_%26_Le_Mans

Thanks. I have one of those still sealed, and always wondered what it was like to build. Will be keeping an eye on this one too.

Flea Market Day! Not many sellers or buyers there, as we are under a dark and gloomy sky with the threat of severe thunderstorms. Hopefully not another EF-3 tornado with winds of 160+ MPH, like we got back in April. I did find an old AMT-ERTL Value Pack with 3 good kits that are also a gold mine for useful parts: the '62 T-Bird, '66 Riviera and '69 442.

Dragon makes one in 1/72 scale. I don't know anything about it, but you should find some reviews online. I grabbed the Monogram 1/48 scale kit as soon as I saw it in Hobby Lobby. As you said, it only cost about $18 with the coupon. Even if I never build it, it's worth that to me for Nostalgia Value. It's an interesting kit with figures and other neat stuff.

All the 1/32 scale Matchbox kits that I've seen are little jewels, often with better detail than most 1/25 scale kits. Their 1/32 Citroen Legere has an engine and a grille shell with the bars molded open. It also had optional tops to build a roadster or coupe. For years there were virtually no WWII-era civilian cars in 1/35 scale, so military modelers hoarded that Citroen kit. Another jewel Is the Rolls-Royce Phantom Mk. I "Black Diamond." It has full engine detail, and you can even read the tiny "R-R" emblem on the steering box. Also very finely molded wire wheels. Revell re-issued the Rolls in its 2009 "Classics" series. Pic below. The "Classics" kits were limited to a run of 5,000 each. I think that was a moot point. Judging by the kit's performance on eBay nowadays, they were probably lucky to sell 50 of them. I have one and may modify it into a British "Home Guard" armored vehicle, as might have been used in 1940 during the threat of German invasion.

This arrived yesterday with some other stuff. The RPG Models Phalanx Close-In Weapons System. It will make a good shelf-mate for the Russian "Kashtan" CIWS I recently built. The Phalanx is plastic and photo-etched brass. Lots and lots of brass...

Here you go...and you're not alone. "This is the most frequently asked question by visitors to The National WWII Museum." https://www.army.mil/e2/downloads/rv7/d-day/the-meaning-of-dday-fact.pdf

"The replacements, mostly teenagers, were physically unfit for all but limited military duty, because of food shortages in Germany." Quote from Lt Col. Fritz Ziegalmann, Chief of Staff of the German 352nd Infantry Division at Normandy. The 352nd I.D. defended Omaha Beach, where the hardest fighting of the day took place for the Allies. Along with those hungry teenagers, the 352nd also contained quite a few veterans of the Russian Front. They were tough as nails and didn't give up easily. Unlike many of the German "Static Divisions" defending Normandy, which were made up of foreign conscripts and laborers who couldn't wait to surrender. Ziegalmann was captured and sent to the United States as a POW, where he wrote a detailed history of the 352nd Infantry Division at Normandy. A researcher for the Jewish Virtual Library found his original report in German and translated it. It's interesting reading for history buffs. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/german-infantry-at-omaha-beach

Great review of that classic little kit! Especially the nearly-edible base. LOL! The El Alamein Museum didn't have an LRDG truck or Jeep when I was in Egypt. But here's another iconic piece of German hardware for you, a BMW R75 rig with Hans und Fritz riding. The name "Erika" is written around the BMW emblem on the fuel tank. The Museum does have several Canadian Chevy trucks, Grant and Sherman tanks, an 88mm gun and other interesting hardware. And a Spitfire that was pulled out of the Mediterranean in 2003, IIRC.

For those who've never seen one, here's the Sand Draggin. I found this kit at a flea market, exactly as you see it here with minor assembly and missing the instructions. Since I'm not that interested in these kits, I sold it on eBay last year.

You're welcome! AFV Club and Skybow are both from Taiwan. The Dodge WC-xx kits were released by Skybow first, but they only lasted a couple of years. When Skybow went out of business, AFV Club got their molds. The AFV Club and Skybow Dodge kits are identical. Skybow released 3 Dodge kits that Italeri also did: the WC-57 Command Car with optional parts for Patton's vehicle; the WC-51 "Beep" 4-wheel Weapons Carrier, and the WC-63 6-wheel "Big Shot" Personnel Carrier. Skybow never did 2 other Dodge kits that Italeri covered: the M-6 Anti-Tank vehicle (HA!) with 37mm gun, and the WC-54 Ambulance. It's possible to put the Skybow chassis/engine under an Italeri kit, but a big job. If you see a Dodge WC-xx kit in a BILEK box, those are also the old Italeri/Peerless-MAX kits. Bilek is a Czech company that did straight re-issues of the Italeri kits, but also upgraded some kits with a few new parts. They released the WC-54 Ambulance as a Signal Corps truck. Also as an interesting Military Police "paddy wagon" version with a resin roof rack and MP decals. One bit of weirdness: before Skybow folded, both companies did an M-41 Walker Bulldog tank kit. Experts say the Skybow kit is a little better. It's still available in an AFV Club box as the German/NATO version. All other M-41's in the AFV Club line are their original kit.

Glad you found one! That looks like an original issue from 1980, judging by the box and the "201" kit number. Italeri last re-issued the GMC Water Truck kit in 2014, in a "D-Day" tie-in box. Italeri's web site shows that one as Discontinued now. But like The Terminator, it will be back... And like everybody else: every time Italeri re-issues a kit, it jacks up the price, sometimes by a hefty amount. Its ancient Dodge WC-xx series, dating from the 1970's Peerless-MAX molds, now cost as much as the AFV Club/Skybow Dodges. Which are much better kits, tooled in the 1990s, with engines and finer detail overall.

Flea Market Day! The first time in months it has been open. And I bought a junkyard! A bunch of promos and frictions. Front, from left to right: '55 Ford convertible, '59 Ford convert, '57 T-Bird. Rear, L to R: '54 Plymouth 2-dr wagon, '55 Ford 4-dr hardtop with interior, '58 Chrysler New Yorker 4-dr (with "working" torsion bars called out and the JoHan Smile), '54 Ford 4-dr sedan, '61 Ford 2-dr hardtop Most are in bad shape, as you can see. The poor old Plymouth has a broken body and looks like it was rolled over. The '55 Ford ragtop body is in 2 pieces. But most have good chrome, interiors, tires/hubcaps, friction motors and other parts. The '61 Ford should be useful because it has a real 1961 interior. I believe every '61 Ford kit ever re-issued by AMT had a wrong 1960 interior.

?

Nash was still rocking those covered wheels in the early '50's. This 1953 Nash Ambassador Custom four-door is playing a police car in the 1955 movie "The Fast & the Furious." That was a Roger Corman movie. When the 2007 "Fast & Furious" franchise started up, they had to pay Corman for their use of the name. That original "Fast & Furious" is about road racing, so it's full of vintage sports cars. Definitely worth a look, and you can catch it sometimes on Turner Classic Movies.