Mike999

You're both right about the roof racks. I lived in Alexandria but worked about 50 miles away, in the Nile Delta. My daily commute took me thru several little farm villages and towns. Quite a few big old American cars were in daily use as taxis, including Fords & Chevies from the early 1950s. They all had big roof racks. For intercity taxis between Alexandria and Cairo, one favorite car was the Peugeot 504 station wagon. It was amazing, those things would be crammed with 7 or 8 people and loaded with baggage. Check out the luggage rack on this one:

Old Ladas were all over Alexandria, Egypt when I lived there (2005-09). Mostly used as taxicabs, though the Egyptian military also used the little Lada Niva 4x4 as a staff car. Alexandria is right on the Mediterranean Sea, so most of the Lada taxis had Fred Flintstone floorboards. They also had an interesting piece of optional equipment; a huge, cast-iron Russian taxi meter bolted under the dash. The meter had Cyrillic characters, which didn't matter. None of those meters had worked since the Brezhnev years, you negotiated the price with the driver. For fans of rust and weathering, here's a typical Lada taxi in Alexandria. (Not my photo, since I'm too lazy to hook up the external drive and dig thru my pictures).

I'm not sure about the appeal either, but quite a few Jadas have come home with me, too. I have that '47 Cad convertible in yellow and really like it. A few years ago when I still lived in Los Angeles, a Hobby People store put the Jada '53 Cads on sale. Both the regular stock car, and the "Road Rats Customizing Kit" with extra wheels. They were less than $10 each, I think, and I bought several to fool around with.

? That Italeri G-Wagen has all kinds of possibilities. Like this loudspeaker vehicle used in Afghanistan.

Good job! Cars were still fairly new in WWI and were converted in all kinds of ways. Like this Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. Rolls did some ambulance conversions itself, but this looks like a one-off custom conversion.

I just opened up the ESCI Bandama kit, and here are a couple of things you might want to know before you buy the Italeri re-issue. The link below will take you to some photos of the real rally cars, plus the ESCI and ARII 1/24 kits. I've never seen the ARII kit but it's definitely not an ESCI re-pop. For one thing, it has a separate hood: 1. The ESCI/Italeri kit has no chrome parts. The body's molded in silver, everything else is black plastic. So you'll need Alclad, Molotow or whatever for the bumpers and other chrome. 2. This rally version of the kit does not have a back seat. It has the bare panel that goes between the interior and trunk. There wouldn't be room for a back seat, it has a complex roll bar that takes up most of that space. It also has a skid plate for the chassis. 3. The hood is molded to the body, but has deep panel lines so it should be easy to cut out. The instructions show you how to do that, and also how to attach the separate grille to the hood. Here's the link, which has a good photo of the engine bay and the rally car interior. The page is in Spanish: https://slotadictos.mforos.com/104811/10716371-mercedes-450-slc-y-500-slc/

MPC used the Airfix kits, with custom goodies in the box. I've owned some of those MPC kits and still have the Darracq, along with some of the standard Airfix 1/32 kits. The custom goodies are weird and out of scale, but MPC was also doing that with their 1/25 scale "Mild & Wild" kits at the time, circa 1971. I still have some of the old, small-format Airfix magazines from the 1960s. One builder kit-bashed the Airfix 1/32 Vauxhall Prince Henry with the Rolls town car, and came up with a pretty nice Vauxhall staff car of World War One. Another project I'd like to do, some century...

Just a reminder, for those who want a 450-SL kit: Italeri will be re-issuing this nice old ESCI kit soon. It's the first re-issue since the 1980s. ESCI originally released it as a stock version and 2 different rally cars, but you can just leave off the racing parts if you want a stocker. It has a "platform" interior with separate side panels and other neat touches, like a sheet of (plastic) mesh for the front grille guard. It also has an engine but you'll have to cut out the hood yourself, the hood is molded in. Weird, I know, but that's the way ESCI often rolled.

I found a partly-built 1/24 scale Trumpeter P-51 Mustang at a flea market. It was cheap so I grabbed it, thinking I could use some of the parts. That kit also has 3 1/24 scale resin figures in the box. You're right, the decals are mostly way too big for most 1/24 cars. But some might come in handy, especially the stencil data. I can see building a post-WWII hot rod, with a fuel tank, seats or other parts marked with "USAAC" octane warnings, serial numbers, etc. That would make the parts look like they were government surplus. Which would be right for the post-WWII era, when the govt. dumped tons of surplus gear and hot rodders snapped it up.

As a geezer, the TV commercials that really yank my chain are the ones promising: "LOT OF FREE STUFF FROM MEDICARE." Sometimes 2 or 3 of those things run back-to-back. One features a very whiny and annoying Joe Namath. Another has an unseen carnival barker whose aggressive pitch reminds me of a bad used-car salesman. And for good reason, I bet. Sometimes I hit the "Pause" button during these spots, just to read the fine print. Which always tells me NONE of them are associated with the actual govt. program called Medicare. If that's the case, it should be illegal for them to use the name "Medicare" in their sales pitches. They're just trying to confuse elderly people (like me) and take money from us. Or possibly from the govt. That fine print also tells me these clowns are nothing but middle-men. Just like another aggravating bunch of TV commercials, for third-party extended car warranties. These kind of companies don't offer any products themselves. They claim to "shop" for a Medicare plan or car warranty and find the best one for their suckers. Probably from a company owned by their brother-in-law.

That's exactly what they are. MPC and Airfix partnered for a while, back in the 1970s. According to somebody on this board, the 1904 Darracq is closer to 1/25 scale than 1/32. For anyone who wants to hot-rod it. ? During that partnership, MPC also did 3-in-1 customizing kits of Airfix 1/72 scale aircraft. I'll pick those up when I find them cheap. I like the box art and the nostalgia factor.

Incredible paint job! And it's nice that Vincent still has both ears.

Hiroboy sells plaid seat decals for the Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, in different colors.

The kit decals are wrong (incomplete). As I found out to my aggravation, when I built that kit. I thought about stealing the missing trunk decals from a second kit, but that won't work. You need "May 30, 1955" in black letters. If Revell ever re-issues the Pace Car, they should add the trunk decal. At least one die-cast '55 Pace Car also missed that lettering. Here's a 2014 thread where the builder used the correct Fred Cady decals.

Back in the 1990s, I saw some Lodela (Mexican Revell) kits in Mexican department stores. As I remember, only a few kits, all aircraft and none interesting enough to buy. That was a work trip, to Mexico City (the Ford plant) and Puebla (VW plant). For anyone needing another scale model project, the VW plant had some neat pick-up trucks made out of old Rabbits. They were dented and beat up, and only used for parts hauling on the factory grounds. They couldn't be driven on public roads.

Don't make the mistake of thinking it will help if you have no carpet. I work in a basement with a concrete floor. The No-Carpet Monster makes sure that parts bounce into another dimension and never come back. Another ironclad rule about losing parts;. the lost part will always be totally unique, irreplaceable and not easily fabricated from Evergreen plastic. Or anything else.

Working on that myself. Yesterday I organized the "Shelves Of Shame," as some of you guys call it: the unfinished projects plus the part-built kits I've collected at flea markets etc. Now I have an amazing amount of shelf space to fill up with new unfinished projects and junk! I'm also gearing up for an eBay sale, which meant pulling kits, taking photos, writing listings, weighing/measuring, packing boxes etc. In between all that, I did get some work done on a modified ICM Model T kit. Been working on that one for about 300 years, it seems. I keep getting tempted to set it aside and do a "quick-build" '40 Ford or barn-find Vette. But then I'll just end up with TWO MORE kits on the Shelves Of Shame...grumble, mumble...

I could go on and on...but here's a link to Autobooks/Aerobooks in Burbank, CA. That should cost you several hours of browsing time and maybe some $$$. Along with the usual stuff from Motorbooks etc., the store carries locally-published car books, including fiction. If you're ever in the L.A. area, make sure you stop by. You might run into Jay Leno browsing the bookshelves. Saw him in there more than once when I lived in L.A. He pulled up to the store once in his 1910 Baker Electric car. https://www.autobooks-aerobooks.com/ The "Ford At Fifty" book reminded me of the 2003 book Ford commissioned for its 100th birthday: "Wheels for the World" by Douglas Brinkley. A great read, and NOT a puff-piece or Ford propaganda. More a "warts and all" history. One of my favorite stories in it: when Ford installed its first robots, it invited UAW president Walter Reuther for a factory tour. Ford wanted to make a point with the union. The Ford PR flack escorting him said: "Just look at that, Mr. Reuther. Not one of those robots will ever call in sick or go out on strike!" Reuther replied: "You know what else those robots will never do? Buy a Ford car."

They sure don't. Checking my spread sheets, I've rarely paid more than $15 for the Monogram Classics and often less, even on eBay. I had a little trouble finding the Duesenberg Town Car but finally got an original 1974 kit from eBay for $18.30, which included shipping. The real cars didn't get much respect for a long time, either. The Feb. issue of Hemmings Classic Cars was a special Duesenberg issue. It featured a 1929 Model J-111 Dual Cowl Phaeton, body by LeBaron. It was a "star car," once belonging to James Talmadge, the son of Buster Keaton and Norma Talmadge. In 1947, it was sold as a used car for $123.

Some inspiration for y'all...

Maybe. But Round 2 has done quite a few re-re-issues of kits pretty close together, sometimes with new parts and decals. The recent Pinto/Popper kit, the '23 T Delivery Truck, etc. Also the '77 Ford Coke van. They re-issued the original "Cruising Van" version in 2018, then the new Coke version a year later or less. According to Scalemates, the last re-issue of the '65 Lincoln was also in 2018. It seems longer ago. Last year, my closest Hobby Lobby put one of those Lincolns in the Clearance section for less than $2.00.

"El Camino" tied things up pretty nicely. I don't have Netflix. But I do have antique geezer technology that...finds things. Fans probably noticed that the title of the last "Breaking Bad" episode was "Felina." According to the producer, that had a double meaning. It referred to the Marty Robbins song "El Paso," which Walter sings/hums all thru the last episode. But it was also an anagram for "Finale." Here's a guide to all the vehicles used in the series: https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Vehicles

Never had a problem with new/low-count eBayers...until last year. Somebody won a Lindberg Dodge L-700 kit from me. The solo tractor, no trailer. The guy didn't respond to 2 invoices from me or any communication from eBay. Never heard from him. He was a zero-feedback buyer. But IIRC it's the only time that has happened and I've been selling on eBay since 1999. So I guess I've been lucky. At a kit swap meet once, I found a Revell '55 Chevy convertible (for a lot less than $93!). It was the Pace Car kit, but missing the decals. That didn't matter. The box was stuffed with two convertible bodies (1 white, 1 salmon), an extra chassis, and a resin Bel Air hardtop body. Not sure why somebody made that body, since Revell also does the hardtop. But it was mastered from a Revell body, it has the cutouts for the chrome trim.

This just arrived. Finally found one on eBay for a somewhat reasonable price. It was a "Make Offer" deal and I got a few bucks off their original price. It's molded in that weird turquoise color sometimes found in the USA Oldies kits. But everything is there and in good shape. The original shrink-wrap from the kit was in the box, with a price sticker: "Broadway Hobbies - $5.00." Breaks my heart...

$17.50 each? Definitely a good deal. Both are old, out of production kits. They're based on Aurora tooling from about 1962. If you could buy them at Hobby Lobby with a 40% coupon off of retail, they'd be $17.99 each (this week!). I try to keep current kit prices in mind whenever I'm thinking of buying old kits at swap meets, eBay etc. The ex-Aurora Jaguar gets walloped because its nose is out of shape and it has other issues. But even if you don't want to fix that, it's a great parts source: an independent rear suspension, pretty nice wire wheels, etc. The Aston is a neat and unusual kit. At a kit swap meet, I bought a glue-bombed DB4 just to get the set of matched luggage that goes in the trunk. It wasn't glued in, fortunately.