Mike999

The Revell '69 Boss 302 at Hobby Lobby. It was unwrapped but complete/sealed inside. Asked the manager if they would discount it for being unwrapped. She said she might, if it wasn't 40% off already in the model kits sale. But no. Oh well, I tried... I found one "Red Tag" kit in the Model aisle - the Atlantis 1/48 scale M-46 Patton tank (ex-Aurora). It was marked down from $19.99 to $4.99. At that price, I may build it and run it on the carpet, while making tank noises. ? I think that kit has some figures, and 1/48 figures are always welcome.

For those who might not know: that's the old ESCI kit, dating from about 1983. Curbside with no engine, but a detailed chassis and very well done body, with all the emblems etc. The worst thing about it is the sparse interior. There's no firewall and no pedals. That won't matter much if you're using one of the tops. But if you're building it open with no doors, it's pretty obvious.

I remember chatting with an employee at Kit Kraft in Studio City, CA, around 1986 IIRC. Kit Kraft was an old-timey, family-owned hobby shop in business since the 1950s. At that time they still had a bunch of "USA Oldies" on the shelf. The employee told me that one of their biggest sellers was the '60 DeSoto Adventurer. He said people who never bought models bought that kit, probably just to sit on the mantel unbuilt. But kids also liked it for the "rocketship" styling, and would often beg Dad to buy it for them. Also remember going to the big Pomona Swap Meet around 1990, and seeing a guy selling USA Oldies for $20 each. I thought that price was outrageous and he was crazy. "Those are still easy to find." I sure was wrong about that.

The old Tamiya Opel Astra V-8 coupe is a nice kit, IMO. No engine, but it has working gull-wing doors. And Nicolas Cage on the hood, in a poster for the (awful) remake of "Gone In 60 Seconds." So you can celebrate fast cars and bad movies with one kit!

For those who might not know...the '66 Fairlane 427 has a bench seat. That gets us a small step closer to building Friday and Gannon's 4-door '67 Fairlane from "Dragnet 1967." ? Here's a thread about the '66 Fairlane GT/GTA, which had bucket seats. It was re-released in 2018:

Wow, no updates here for a while! This kit just came in the mail: the Gecko Models 1/35 scale LARC-V Amphibious Cargo Vehicle, Vietnam. "LARC-V" is short for "Lighter, Amphibious Resupply, Cargo, 5 ton." The box art doesn't give a sense of scale, but this thing is BIG, since it could carry 5 tons of cargo. About the size of a tank. These are still in use around the world, including civilian and police/rescue versions. Gecko has also done a kit of the updated LARC-V, with solid instead of canvas sides. Gecko is a new company that hasn't done many kits, but this one is getting good reviews. The cab has a lot of data plates, which Gecko did in photo-etched metal, a nice touch. Another nice touch is those big balloon tires, which have a slightly flattened bottom molded right into them.

Thanks for the list. IMEX/IMAI did a bunch more Harley-Davidsons in 1/12 scale. I have these: #456 Harley Special Custom - a 1980-ish, full-dress "hog" with saddlebags, fairing etc. #465 1994 Harley Electra-Glide Police - police bike with "hard" saddlebags, radio box and fairing. #468 1980 Harley FLH "US Army" - a militarized Harley molded in Olive Drab plastic with no chrome parts. It does have resin "soft" saddlebags, molded in off-white. Some builders prefer it because they don't have to strip any chrome. And these Harley kits usually have plenty. Kit #466, the 1936 EL Flathead, also has some white metal parts. Like #467, the '60 Duo-Glide, it was a special edition called "High Grade." ON EDIT: It looks like some of the old IMEX/IMAI Harley kits also ended up in Aoshima boxes. I'd be willing to bet that the kit shown below is one of those. None of the Aoshima kits say "Harley" on the box, maybe for licensing reasons. They all say "V-Twin." But one says "Electra-Glide." Go figure...

I'd take a reissue of ANY '61-'68 Lincoln hardtop. Gorgeous cars and lots of potential for conversion into limos, embassy cars etc. As long as I'm dreaming, I'd love to see the '64 Lincoln hardtop reissued with all its neat accessories: a driver figure, shortwave radio, bar with clear glasses, flower vases, suitcases and other fun stuff.

A couple of other things that bother me about gun play in movies: 1. Our Hero is armed with a handgun. He dispatches a bunch of Bad Guys, in either a shoot-out or a battle scene. He knows more Bad Guys are around, and the scene is now littered with automatic weapons from all those Bad Guys he just killed. Does he pick up one of those weapons? No, he keeps his handgun and shoots another 47 Bad Guys. Without reloading. 2. If he does grab an automatic weapon, he never bothers to pick up any ammo for it. In movies, all weapons have the same endless supply of ammo as Our Hero's magic handgun.

I watch TCM a lot too. Scandalous? You bet! "Her Man" is a "pre-Code" movie. It was made before the Hayes Code got instituted in 1934. After that, Hollywood cracked down on stuff like...uh, prostitutes with a heart of gold. Another good pre-Code movie that Turner shows a lot: "Night Nurse" with Barbara Stanwyck from 1931. And one of my favorites, "Gold Diggers of 1933." That one looks like a fluffy Busby Berkeley musical, but it dealt with some very serious issues. Like the economic grind of the Depression and the problems of WWI veterans ("Remember My Forgotten Man"). It's also pretty risque for 1933. When the repo men come in to take away all the stage props, they leave poor Ginger Rogers standing there with nothing much but her panties. For your Turner viewing pleasure, here's a list of all the pre-Code movies so you can look out for the good stuff: List of pre-Code films - Wikipedia

Tonight I finished watching the 10-hour series "Valley Of Tears" on HBO-MAX. An Israeli series about the 1973 Yom Kippur War in the Golan Heights. According to news stories, it's the most expensive feature ever made in Israel. That's understandable, just from the tank battles and other vehicles. Centurion tanks duking it out with T-62's, M-38 Jeeps, "Nun-Nun" trucks etc. As a military vehicle fan, the only goof I saw was that the T-62s were actually the modified Israeli "Tiran" version. Not a big deal. Even the APC's were the correct, older M113A1 with the internal fuel tank. The story is interesting and follows a diverse bunch of characters: a nerdy Intelligence corporal, a female staff officer, and a tank commander who makes Oddball in "Kelly's Heroes" look downright normal.

I hate that too when I'm buying. As a seller, I don't use any of eBay's bonehead shipping schemes just to avoid that kind of nonsense. When a buyer pays for an item, I print my own shipping label. I take the package to the Post Office, usually the next day. I ship it, get the Tracking Number, and send it to the buyer thru eBay. I keep a list of who paid for what and when. I also log the Tracking Number on that list, just in case something weird happens. The less I have to deal with the eBay bureaucracy, the better IMO.

Got this from eBay. Wanted a '29 Ford/Ala Kart kit for years, but mint originals are out of my budget. I'm guessing an adult-ish builder started this one many years ago, then set it aside. It looks complete, though the Kart chassis is built and both engines are painted/assembled. The decal sheet is untouched. If it is missing anything, I may be able to steal parts from the last Round 2 reissue of the '29 Ford. The price seemed reasonable, it cost less than a current issue kit from Hobby Lobby.

I'll post this here, no need to start a new thread. Call it "What You Might Get Today..." HobbyLinc is having its usual weekly Specials/Clearance Sale. Here are some car-related kits and their prices. Go to the link below, click on "Models," then "Specials." Then do the same thing for "Clearance." As always, I have no connection to HobbyLinc except as a customer. Round 2: 65 El Camino "Gear Hustler" $19.99 65 Chevelle Wagon w/Surfboards $26.99 White Western Star, Coca-Cola $43.99 Wilson Livestock Trailer $37.99 Lindberg 1/16 Scale Serpent Show Rod $19.69 MPC Tiger Shark Show Rod $11.99 Revell Krupp Titan SWL 80 Truck $83.29 https://www.hobbylinc.com/

Yep, "I can always get more" fools me every time, too. Even in Hobby Lobby, I don't know how many times I've looked at a kit and said, "I'll get it next time." But the next time I go in, they're all gone! These days, even newly released kits seem to disappear pretty quickly. Then I have to go looking on eBay and pay shipping... Two of my best Flea Market finds were a Monogram Lil Coffin for $15 and a Revell Stacy David Rat Roaster for $10, both still shrink-wrapped. I didn't even try to haggle on those two. Just whipped out my wallet so fast, I almost broke my wrist.

The Revell '32 Ford Highboy Roadster is very hard to find. I watched eBay for months trying to get that kit at a decent price. Finally found one for $15 plus reasonable shipping, and jumped on it. The '32 Tudor Sedan is downright Unobtainium. A shame, because it has a nice Flathead engine.

'66 Buick Wildcat from Round 2. As I mentioned in the Hobby Lobby thread, at HL this kit is priced at $24.99 instead of the usual $29.99. The 40% off discount brings it down to $15.89. Since we may see price increases in Round 2 kits soon, it seems like a good time to pick them up at lower prices while I can.

The 40% off sale is every other week. Next week you shouldn't see the 40% off signs. Unless they've changed the rules very recently, and it is all the time. Stopped in the closest HL today and it had one new car kit: that "Slammer" Chrysler Concorde. ? But I did notice something funny. The '66 Buick Wildcat was priced at $24.99, not $29.99 like all other kits. The 40% off brought that down to $15.89. I couldn't resist. It might become a beater/work car or something similar.

One of the three '55 Chevys used in the movie sold at auction in 2015. Some interesting history here, and a few photos. 1955 CHEVROLET CUSTOM 'TWO LANE BLACKTOP' (barrett-jackson.com)

The excellent Criterion DVD 2-disc set is available from Wal-Mart for $19.99. One of the DVD special features is "Performance and Image," about the ’55 Chevy used in the movie. I have that DVD set but haven't watched in a while. As I remember, it has a lot of info about the Chevy, and a collection of still photos. https://www.criterion.com/films/847-two-lane-blacktop

Very dismal! IIRC, my closest HL only has 2 1/35 scale Tamiya military kits: the old M4 Sherman and the M-41 Walker Bulldog. This store also has the Monogram M-48 Patton and Panzer IV kits, and the antique Revell "Black Magic" Sherman. Also the Atlantis re-pop of the really ancient Aurora 1/48 scale M-46 Patton. That's about it for armor. Unless you count the big Airfix 1/72 scale "D-Day Battleground Set." I keep hoping they'll get some 1/35 scale armor kits that were released in this century, but it hasn't happened so far. Car kits aren't much better. Since it's 40% Off Week, I stopped in yesterday. Nothing new. I was excited a couple of weeks ago when I happened to stop right after the delivery truck came and they were re-stocking the shelves. They got in some aircraft kits and 2 Revell '68 Chargers, but the store already had 2 of those on the shelf. All 4 were still on the shelf yesterday.

I found this on Jim Amado's web site: "Several...'34 Ford pickup kits included a stake bed option. Interestingly, Ford did not offer this option until 1936 when disc wheels, stronger than the earlier wire wheels, became standard. However, the parts included in the '34 pickup kits reasonably represent the 6 1/2 foot stake bed option offered from Ford from 1936 up through 1956! Thus, conversion possibilities exist for the Monogram '50, AMT '53, and Revell '56 Ford Pickup kits. Obviously the stake bed could be used on other makes as well." https://uptown-automotive.com/Things you should know.htm

Thanks for the helpful links, everybody. The real GMC Motorhome still has a big fan base on the internet, with owners swapping ideas for parts sources, modifications and such. Here's a 2018 thread, showing Tom Ellifritt's incredible conversion of the Hess Training Van into a stock GMC Motorhome. Detailed right down to the roll of paper towels! http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/132321-post-your-rvs-here/

Missing Link makes a resin convertible up-top for the '59 Imperial, or used to. I have one, it's very thin and "in scale." I bought it off eBay, along with some other resin parts. Here's the ML eBay store, the link still seems to work. https://www.ebay.com/str/Missing-Link-Resin-cast-model-cars

I thought of one possibility as soon as I saw the Californian reissue: using the Toronado frame under a Hess Oil Training Van. That van was a pretty good copy of a GMC Motorhome, which used a Toronado FWD engine and transaxle. Another rear axle will have to be added and a ton of other detail. But since the Hess van is a battery-powered toy, anything underneath will be an improvement. I've been collecting those Training Vans and parts of them for years. Now maybe I can take a crack at building a Motorhome. For those who don't know what I'm raving about: