Mike999

Nice build, and you've probably nailed the color about as closely as possible. The paint would have started out as Dark Sea Blue Gloss but weathered quickly in the Florida climate and salty air of the south Atlantic, fading to a patchy finish like your model. From 2005-07, the NatGeo channel ran a great series called "Is It Real?" Each episode focused on one example of allegedly supernatural doings and explained it scientifically/rationally. Believers in the supernatural complained to NatGeo that the series was "too skeptical." IMO, there's no such thing as too skeptical, especially in this day and age. Here's the episode on the Bermuda Triangle.

Or sometimes when you purchase a lot less. Like the unhappy CHP experiment in 1955, when it bought Buicks for the first (and last) time. Buick only built either 268 or 270 of its Model 68, for the CHP only. Those cars were never sold to the public. They were basically factory-built hot rods. Buick took the back end of the Special 2-door "post" sedan and added the front end of the Century (with 4 portholes). Along with the Century's 322 ci/236 hp engine, a big boost from the Special's 264ci/188-hp. The hot-rodded Buicks would go very well, hitting a measured top speed of 108 mph. Stopping was the problem, even though they were equipped with the biggest Roadmaster drum brakes. CHP road testers reported that hauling the big Buick down from high speed was downright scary. The brakes faded quickly and in some cases outright failed. Transmissions were another headache. Half the Buicks were built with automatics and half with manual 3-speeds. The CHP discovered the manual trans was not a good idea; drivers liked to run them up to about 70 mph in second gear. That is a great build. The front view of the model reminds me of being in SoCal in the early 70's. On the freeway, seeing that big Dodge grille in the rear-view mirror always brought my foot off the gas pedal immediately. Even though the Dodge often turned out to be a driver-training car from a local high school.

Looks like the police weapons/equipment are the same as every version of this kit. A service revolver, AR-15-ish rifle, sniper-ish rifle and M2 .30 caliber carbine. Plus a tear-gas gun and pump shotgun. And two radio consoles; one for under the dash, the other the vintage computer keyboard with first-aid kit attached. Just FYI, Master Box does a series of 1/24 scale figures called "The Heist." It consists of 2 bad guys trying to get away with a duffel bag of cash, 2 cops blasting away at them, and a wounded female victim. The weapons and police gear are way too modern for a '78 Dodge, but a dedicated diorama builder could fix that.

Palmer did 5 artillery kits. All reflected the same care and attention to detail as their car kits. That is, they were often not what the box claimed they were, with goofs both major and minor. And that legacy continues! In the 1990's, Squadron re-issued some of the Palmer artillery kits in its "Encore" series. These were in plain white boxes and labelled "1/24 scale." They're more like 1/16 scale. So if you had dreams of hitching a cannon behind your 1/24 scale pick-up, it won't work. Here's a thread at Fine Scale Modeling that discusses the Palmer artillery kits. http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/3/t/69936.aspx

Wouldn't that paint eat the rubber tires? Tamiya TS sprays are synthetic lacquer (according to Tamiya). I've always used Tamiya #XF-2 Flat White acrylic to paint whitewalls and tire lettering. Never had a problem with any reaction. Years ago, I tried that with flat white enamel and learned my lesson. The enamel paint on "rubber" never dries. Just FYI on Model T tires: until 1919 American Model T's used 2 different tire sizes on the front and rear wheels. Canadian-built T's didn't. Here's a long thread about that from a Model T forum: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/80257/109798.html?1255311482

This link should take you to the 2012 documentary "Beware of Mr. Baker." In the first few minutes, Mr. Baker attacks the documentary film-maker with his walking stick.

This one looks like a "miss," though I've never built it. Here's a current eBay listing with parts photos and the instructions. It's an old motorized kit with a battery box built into the chassis. It does have opening doors and hood. The old ESCI 1/24 450SL kit might be a better place to start, if you want a 450SL. https://www.ebay.com/itm/ARII-Micro-Ace-1-24-Mercedes-Benz-450-SLC-1977-scale-model-kit/173931172129?epid=1041345305&hash=item287f1b1121:g:kAYAAOSwB-1Y7n9N

Some photos from the Carolina Motorfest today. That '52 Chrysler Imperial only has 29,000 original miles! Its "Fire Power V8" might help some of us with detailing vintage hot rods. I was hoping the flea market vendors would have some old model kits just pulled out of the garage. No such luck. But I did stop at a hobby shop and pick up the AMT '23 Model T roadster that was just re-issued.

That's a great eBay seller! I had an eBay sale a couple of weeks ago. One item I sold was an old 1/24 scale resin body + a donor kit. I wrapped the body in layers of tissue paper and tried to protect it as much as possible in packing. When it was delivered, the buyer messaged me to ask if I had another body. It got broken during shipping. There was no doubt about when the damage happened. I had posted several pix of the body in the eBay listing, showing it was in good shape. The buyer didn't demand his money back or anything and this wasn't my fault. I still felt bad for the guy. So I refunded him half of his money and told him to keep the kit.

I haven't seen anybody else mention the AMT "Showroom Replica" kits. The Ollie's closest to me had stacks of them: the '05 Chrysler 300c, '09 Corvette, '10 Camaro etc. They have a "Showroom Replicas" logo in one corner of the boxtop. Pic below. I'd never heard of these kits before I saw them in Ollie's. According to the Round 2 website, they're unassembled promos: "Since then, several all new kits, based on modern muscle cars have been released in AMT’s 'Showroom Replicas' series. These kits harken back to the days of the aforementioned promotional models and really show how the brand has come full circle." These wouldn't be worth $9.99 to me. I don't have much interest in late-model cars anyway and they wouldn't seem to have many useful parts to steal.

Rescue Models makes an upgraded wheel set for the Alfa kit: https://www.spotmodel.com/product_info.php?products_id=52795

That ITALERI Alfa kit is confusing. It was originally released as PROTAR kit #224 in 1995, with no engine. ITALERI re-issued it the same way, no engine, as kit #3691. In 1997 it turned up in a REVELL (Germany) box, now with an engine. Italeri re-issued that one in 2018 as kit #3653, shown below. The re-issues with an engine still have the one-piece windshield with trim molded in, goofy front suspension, and other issues mentioned here.

Those MENG 1/35 kits are nice. They don't have the "Toyota" lettering on the tailgate. But there are several ways to fix that problem, including decals, rub-on lettering or the plastic letters from Slater's. VOYAGER photo-etched set #PE35580 is made specifically for MENG kit #VS-004 and has the tailgate letters: http://www.voyagermodel.com/productdetails.asp?itemid=PE35580

Good luck! And when you do find them, they will be expensive. The ITALERI "Armed Pickup" re-issue was only in 2011. I found one in a Los Angeles hobby shop and would have bought another, but those kits seemed to vanish overnight. I built the one I bought, which doesn't help you. A few comments/warnings about the BJ-44 kits... All original ESCI issues of these kits had the doors molded in place and came with tops - #3027 a full soft top, the other 2 a hardtop. That was a good thing, because the interiors of these kits are seriously lacking. There's not even a firewall. It's all open space from the interior to the grille. No foot pedals. That's really obvious on the Italeri reissue, which does not have a top. It does come with a .50 caliber machine gun and mount - the same one ITALERI tooled up for its 1/24 scale WWII jeep kit. Both the BJ-44 and Jeep re-issues said "Upgraded Moulds" on the box. But the only upgrade is that gun, the basic kit is untouched. The ITALERI "Armed Pickup" reissue doesn't even have an instrument panel decal for the speedometer etc., though earlier BJ-44 issues like the Philippines Taxi did. BTW, that Philippines Taxi is one of the very few ESCI car kits that included chrome parts. Those parts are miniature horses and other chrome doo-dads that are mounted all over the body. Totally bonkers but...interesting. On the plus side, the ESCI/ITALERI BJ-44 has a well-detailed exterior with all the nameplates etc. where they should be, including the "Toyota" letters in the grille. All these are curbside kits with no engine, but detailed multi-part chassis. I'm hoping ITALERI will reissue another BJ-44. Maybe the "Savannah Master" with the roof rack, jerry cans and other useful accessories.

Stopped by the Ollie's in Anderson, SC today, 9/30/19, for those in the area. Saw no semi truck kits, from either AMT or Lindberg. This Ollie's had the AMT '55 Corvette and big stacks of several AMT "Showroom Replica" kits: the '05 Chrysler 300c, '09 Corvette, '10 Camaro etc. All were priced at $9.99. The store also had a few Lindberg non-car kits, including the old 1/95 scale Nantucket Lightship. A great kit to practice weathering. Lightships are interesting to me because they're anchored in place and don't go anywhere, the engines being removed to make room for the generators and other lighting equipment. The only other lightship kit I know of is the ancient FROG kit of the Trinity/South Goodwin lightship (which broke its anchor chains and capsized in a 1954 storm). The South Goodwin kit has been re-issued by Revell.

Big Flea Market Day! The Revell '59 Ford is partly built, but very neatly. The multi-piece body is assembled, which will just save some work if I get inspired to finish it. For younger viewers, the '64 Fords are AMT/ERTL Blueprinter issues, basically promos in kit form. Released circa 1987 and only available to subscribers of the "Blueprinter" magazine. Round 2 will probably reissue that kit soon, but at a higher price than I paid for these. I already have the Italeri Mercedes Cabriolet but couldn't resist another. Maybe I'll rat-rod it (just kidding).

Hobby Lobby seems totally unpredictable when it comes to model kits, as this thread shows. Ditto Ollie's, but they don't have as many stores. When Ollie's had its big model clearance a couple of years ago, people in here were finding all kinds of great 1/25 scale car kits. Not at the 2 Ollie's in driving distance of me. They only got piles of the old Lindberg barking dogs - ships, armor and aircraft. And very few car kits: some NASCAR snaps, the 2 Stroker McGurk kits, etc.

Mark Nickelson wrote that, in his Cybermodeler review of the kit. He's only suggesting the Huey kit as a source of missing interior parts, like the collective sticks: "There are two yokes, an instrument panel, no collectives, no crew figures, no deckplate, no pedals. The seats are molded into the fuselage halves. The wheels are crude. But this is a nostalgia trip, remember. This is how things were done, back at the actual dawn of plastic modeling. Most of what you could use but don’t get can be had cheaply by cannibalizing a Monogram Huey, itself a period piece." https://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/atl/kit_atl_a502.shtml

Our closest HL, in rural South Carolina, seems to get kits later than other places. The first Atlantis kits showed up about a month ago. The same 3 kits others have mentioned: B-24, B-25 and HUP-2 helicopter. I had to have the HUP-2 kit just for its history. It was originally released in the early 1950s by the company "Helicopters For Industry." HFI didn't last very long, and Aurora got the molds. I always liked the bonkers "Army Mule" markings, and the upgraded kit decals has those plus 3 other versions, including Navy and Marine rescue choppers. The retail HL price for that kit is $19.99, or with the 40% off coupon, $11.99. The kit is very simplified. But as online reviews have noted, it can be improved with parts from the old Monogram UH-1B "Huey Hog," which is also cheap and easy to find.

This 1/35 scale kit arrived on my porch today. It's the old Peerless-MAX/Italeri Dodge WC-54 ambulance that dates back to the early 1970s. Still a nice kit, and still the only WC-54 ambulance. Skybow/AFV Club did new kits for most of the other Dodge WC's, but not the ambulance. The Czech company BILEK has been reissuing that old kit over the past several years, with new resin parts and decals. This M.P. version comes with a resin luggage rack for the roof and some cargo to put in it. Along with a few other resin parts like an antenna base. BILEK has done a Signal Corps version and re-issued the ambulance version.

Nice haul on the 1/35 scale military stuff. The Hobby Boss M4 High Speed Tractor is a good candidate for "civilianizing." Many of those vehicles were dumped cheap as surplus after WWII, in both the US and Europe. A search on "civilian M4 tractor" turned up lots of interesting pics. Some were converted into cranes or (very) heavy tow vehicles. They were really useful in the logging industry, like the one below.

Hasegawa did one version of its 1/24 scale Jeep with a pretty nice utility trailer. That was kit #20221, released in 2005, so eBay is probably the only source for that one. At least unless Hasegawa decides to re-issue it. You can also find the Hasegawa 1/24 Jeep in a Cyber Hobby (Dragon) box, shown below. That's Cyber Hobby kit #43247, an armored Jeep from the Battle of the Bulge. It has photo-etched parts from Voyager, including a radio and the armor plates. This kit also has a nice big Cartograf decal sheet. It's also long out of production. Glancing at reviews of the various 1/24-25 Jeep kits, some builders love the Hasegawa Jeep and others hate it. FWIW, the general consensus is that the old Italeri 1/24 scale Jeep is still the best kit available.

Hot-rodding the ICM early Model T's might be a little tricky. Unlike the Renault Taxi, those kits don't have a separate chassis. I (mostly) built the ICM Model T Speedster. The frame rails are part of the fender assembly.

A 1965 kit for a 1965 price. Thanks, Hobby Lobby! Stopped in the closest HL today and went to the "Clearance" section at the back of the store. Two kits were sitting there: an AMT Plymouth Prowler and a '65 Lincoln Continental. I couldn't quite make out the price on the Linc's red discount sticker, but figured it was $7.50 or so, and worth that for the parts. At the register the cashier muttered, "That doesn't look right." She called over a manager and said, "The original price on this was $29.99. But the scanner is saying $1.87." The manager said that was right. She pointed to another red sticker under the $1.87 sticker, and said, "We've already marked some of these down once and they didn't sell. We're trying to get rid of them." So with sales tax, $1.98. Or about what this kit would have cost when it was new.