Mike999

My closest Hobby Lobby's had the same kits for a long time too. I stopped in yesterday. Still none of the newer stuff: no Imperials, '60 Chevy pickups, Boss Mustangs or '68 Chevelles. The '60 Chevy pickup must be a huge seller. Several online vendors already show it as Out of Stock or Not Available. About a week ago I asked one vendor to notify me when it's back in stock, but no response yet.

At the big local flea market, I have a bad habit of buying any scale models I see. Just to give them a good home, I guess. I'm trying to break that habit, and it may be working. Recently I passed on an ENTEX 1/20 scale Porsche 914, which was originally a Bandai kit. Also an old Tamiya 1/20 Formula 1 car. Don't remember which one. The seller seemed open to negotiation. But both kits were partially built, Glue-Bomb Style, and might have been missing parts. The 914 also had a cracked body. So I managed to leave them on the table. Around here, we have a bunch of antique stores and also a bunch of thrift/junk stores. The only difference seems to be the prices.

It sure is. I was at a car show many years ago and stopped to admire the "wood" dashboard on an open car. (Don't remember which car, sorry.) The color was deep and multi-colored with a very complex wood-grain pattern. The car's owner was standing there and told me it was done with paint. I couldn't believe it.

They do, maybe, eventually, but it ain't easy. I put 3 of those Signature 1/32 scale diecasts on eBay in 2017: the '39 Lincoln convert, '41 Plymouth, and '55 Packard Caribbean. No bids, zip, zilch. Tried again in June 2018. The minimum bid was $4.99 each, and that's exactly what they sold for. One bidder bought all 3. I got those die-casts years ago at a Wal-Mart close-out sale. Probably for $4.99 each... It's a shame that they get no respect. As your photos show, those Signature die-casts are little jewels. They have better details than many 1/25 die-casts. Separate door handles, nice sharp paint jobs and trim. The Caribbean has engine-turned trim in the interior. The '39 Lincoln came with an optional up-top or boot. That '41 Plymouth 4-door would be great re-painted Olive Drab, as a WWII staff car. And they were all sold in very nice little clear plastic display cases. No, I wouldn't be interested in any of yours. Still trying to sell some of mine.

Or we could do what Ed Wood did: get some paper plates and paint them silver. "Because all you of Earth are idiots!...You see!? You see!? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!" Just thinking about that goofy movie makes me laugh.

Yep, it's a "navalized" B-24 with a BIG single tail. That Matchbox/Revell kit is the only 1/72 Privateer ever done. A few months ago, "Air Classics" magazine (IIRC) ran an article about a couple of these converted into propaganda planes, near the end of WWII. They flew over Japanese-held islands/territories and broadcasted surrender messages. They had huge loudspeaker arrays hung on them. That might make an interesting conversion.

Great job, especially on the two-toning! Some kit history: that Ford Transit was originally an ESCI kit, molded back in the early 1980s. A couple of different versions were released, one being a Hertz Rental Car van molded in bright Hertz Yellow plastic. Another was a Canon rally support vehicle, molded in white. And a sort of "promo" version, still an unassembled kit but with Ford Motor Co. mentioned all over the box. Rumor said that Ford paid ESCI to tool up the kit, and at some point ordered the molds destroyed. The rumor was easy to believe, because the kit was never reissued after the 1980s and brought high prices on eBay for many years. Happily, those rumors were wrong and Italeri reissued the kit just a couple of years ago.

Yes, Revell did release the Privateer! I wasn't sure and had to go search. Pic below, to help in your own searching. It appears to have all the same options as the original Matchbox kit. You're right about those old armored cars. They did look frail and always ready to fall apart. But some of the Rolls-Royce versions built during WWI were still being used in North Africa during the early years of WWII. So they must have been built extremely well.

You owe me a bottle of brain bleach.

Oh yeah, those bombers from the "flying house" school of aviation design! Like the Bloch 210 and the Amiot 143. I love those things. You're right about the Heller molds going East at some point. I have the 1/72 scale Amiot 143 in a SMER box, and got it at a kit swap meet a long time ago. I don't know if it was a leased run or if SMER got the molds outright, either. SMER re-issued a lot of kits from other companies. I do hope your prediction comes true and somebody gets the molds. Here's a fun review of the Heller Amiot 143 by our buddy and forum member Faust: https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/heller-1-72-amiot-143-oob/

Congrats on the haul! I still have your lust-list for my trips to the flea market. I just deleted the Matchbox Buffalo and Seafox. That only leaves the Matchbox Norseman and Mosquito, I believe. The vendor with the huge collection of airplane kits never returned, which is annoying. He had 2 of the Matchbox Privateers. I got one and wish I had grabbed both. I recently got the Copper State Models 1/35 scale WWI Lanchester Armored Car, which also looks like a very nice kit. I wanted that vehicle for years, but it was only available as a rare and expensive resin kit.

At least one exists in 1/24 scale, though it might be easier and cheaper to build your own: the Danbury Mint '41 Cadillac Sixty Special die-cast has a flathead V-8. You might find a damaged one cheap at a flea market or on eBay. I've stripped a couple of junker die-casts for parts. The engines usually have nice plastic accessory parts, like the air cleaners, exhaust manifolds etc. But the block itself is usually metal, which will make mods a little tricky.

Do those Minicraft kits still come with the 1/48 scale figures? I think 3 figures were included: a mechanic, working on the engine, and 2 standing passengers. As I remember, the figures were straight out of the 1970s, wearing bell-bottom trousers etc. Here are some unusual marking ideas for a 172. These are from the Italeri kit, which is a re-box of the old 1/48 ESCI kit, not a Minicraft. Italeri's Cartograph decal options include the Cessna that landed on Red Square in 1987; the Irish Air Force; and Croatian AF During the Balkan Wars of the 1990s, Croatia drafted at least one civil 172 as a spotter aircraft. It was painted in camouflage, as shown below. I believe that 172 was eventually returned to its orginal owner.

Then from 1957-59, you could have your cake and eat it too, with the Ford Retractable hardtops. If you ever see the book "Skyliner" by Ben J. Smith, grab it. Smith was a Ford engineer on the original retractables, and the book is full of rare photos, mechanical drawings etc. Smith also designed a Mustang with a retractable hardtop. Here's a local newspaper story about him and his cars. https://www.providencejournal.com/cars/content/20140928-auto-biography-retractable-hardtop-roof-makes-ben-smith-s-cars-stand-out.ece

Many years ago, a low-rent used car lot in my area had a very weird Corvette. It was a C1, a '61 or '62 IIRC, with a '63 split-window roof grafted on. It was like a lot of our model builds - looked OK, if weird, from about 20 feet away. But moving closer, the (red) paint was massively flaking off the trunk area where the roof was added. Patches of raw fiberglass, and/or Bondo, were also visible. This car sat in the back of the lot, with the real clunkers, and never moved out of its spot. Then one day it was gone. I often wondered what happened to it and how it came to be built. Maybe the '63 was totaled in a wreck that took out the front end. Otherwise I couldn't figure out why somebody butchered 2 good Vettes to create that Zora-stein's monster.

Diorama ideas: how a Citroen DS saved Charles de Gaulle. The Jalopnik article includes a video clip from "Day of the Jackal." https://jalopnik.com/how-the-citroen-ds-saved-a-french-presidents-life-5928024

Fake Cadillac. The '57 Chevy El Morocco. According to legend, Chevy General Manager Ed Cole was not amused when he heard about it. The El Morocco contained all kinds of creative fakery. e.g., its "Dagmar" front bumper protrusions were '37 Dodge headlights, reversed and stuffed with fiberglass. https://www.motortrend.com/news/12q2-1956-1957-chevrolet-el-morocco/

Some possibly bad news, at least for those of us who also do Off-Topic Modeling: "Military vehicles in 1:35 or 1:72 were never a strong side of Heller and will not be so in the future either." Just like their model car line, Heller did some 1/35 kits that were quirky but would have never been done by anyone else. Like the AMX-13 tanks and the vehicles built on their chassis: the 105mm self-propelled gun and its ammo carrier, the troop-carrying VCI and even the tracked ambulance. For decades, those were the ONLY AMX-13 kits available. It was only in the last couple of years that Takom and Tamiya did new-tool AMX-13s. And way back in the 1970s, Heller did a 1/35 scale GMC truck that included an engine, the only kit that did. Their 1/35 scale Jeep was an unusual Hotchkiss-built version, IIRC. They even did a kit of the Gnome-Rhone French military motorcycle. In later years they released the French VAB. And in 2014, the VBCI eight-wheeled vehicle used in Afghanistan, complete with mesh stand-off armor. Heller also did a wide range of 1/35 figures that look pretty bad by today's standards. Stiff and zombie-ish. But the weapons and equipment were very well done. And the only place to find French gear, if you wanted to build a diorama set in the First Indochina War or Algeria. One figure set included the only 1/35 scale camel available until the early 1990s. Another had a 1/35 scale mule in it. Great stuff and I'll miss it. Hitting eBay before the crisis pricing starts...

That price change is weird. Maybe he was editing his eBay listings and goofed. Moved the decimal point to the left. Then realized his error: "OMG! I listed a $5000 kit for only $500! Gotta fix that!" I don't have a clue but it's fun watching this bizarre listing. This seems to be the kind of eBay seller I gripe about all the time: the Anteek & Junque dealer or Wanna-Be American Picker who knows absolutely nothing about scale models. And can't be bothered to spend a few minutes searching eBay to learn anything about them. As for the $90 Round 2 '65 Ford: the seller probably saw an original AMT kit with a similar asking price and didn't look any further. I may go too far in the other direction. But for those thinking about having their first eBay sale, here's one thing I do. I search on Completed Items and keep notes on what a kit sold for. This doesn't take long and the notes look something like this: "AMT 32 Ford Coupe: BIN\$20\$25:$15\2B, $17\4B." That means 2 kits sold at Buy It Now for $20 and $25. Two others sold at auction, for $15 with 2 bids and $17 with 4 bids. As least this gives me a ballpark idea of what the kit is really selling for.

The gun talk reminded me of a charming guy in my neighborhood with an interesting hobby: he's a doper who supports himself by breaking into cars, and sometimes houses. Couple of years ago, he went on a Sunday morning shopping trip. Among the loot he stole from cars: 2 loaded handguns. After that morning of hard work, he got high and settled down in his car for a well-deserved nap. That's where the cops found him, surrounded by stolen property, and arrested him. Just recently, he decided to go for a new Personal Best, I guess. Along with some other cars, he broke into a Chevy Tahoe that was a Deputy Sheriff's patrol vehicle. He stole 2 police rifles, body armor and other tactical gear. This guy is a Frequent Flyer with all the cops in the area. So they went straight to his house with a warrant, and recovered the police gear along with a bunch of other recently stolen stuff. He's currently in jail on bond of $200K plus. And I hope he stays there.

A new paint rack. $4.00 at a thrift shop. It's a "Lazy Susan" thingamajig that turns. Saves a lot of room on the bench. Other special-purpose paints, like metallics, I keep in a different place.

I just checked Thomas Graham's book on Revell model kits. He says all the Highway Pioneers were 1/32 scale.

Not so weird, just obscure: the Leach car. Later models were powered by a Harry Miller-designed 6-cylinder SOHC engine. Hemming's Classic Cars mentioned it this month, with a photo of a Leach and its owner, early cowboy star Tom Mix. The Leach was built in Los Angeles and very popular among Hollywood stars, since it was rare and expensive. Here's Gloria Swanson posing with her Leach close-coupled coupe (maybe on Sunset Blvd.? ) Check out the details like the scallops around the side and rear windows and the chrome luggage racks. http://theoldmotor.com/?p=70254

Here's a 2018 thread about ordering Aoshima parts, from the Automotive Forums. I have not done this myself. I ordered some Hasegawa replacement parts once, but that's when Hobbico was still their distributor and I ordered thru them. Good luck! http://www.automotiveforums.com/t1153437-aoshima_replacement_parts_.html

At a local flea market recently, I found a stack of old Motor Trend magazines cheap. One was the February 1962 issue. That was the Car of the Year edition, and the COTY was Buick and its revolutionary new V-6 engine. Back in the Classified ads, a '36 Dodge panel truck, "looks and runs almost like new," was offered at $895. A '48 Lincoln Continental convertible in "excellent original condition" could be had for $950. Then this ad caught my eye: "MODEL CARS - 1/25 scale. Former dealer selling out stock & private collection. AMT, Jo-Han etc. 1949-'60s available. First come, first served." I'm redacting the name and address. Oh for a time machine...