Mike999

Here's a link to the kit on the Hobby Lobby website, for US $29.99. You're in Canada, so I'm not sure how expensive shipping will be. There's a Hobby Lobby in Niagara Falls, NY, if that helps. https://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-Hobbies/Model-Kits/Cars-Trucks-Motorcycles/1985-Oldsmobile-442-FE3-X-Model-Kit/p/80793363

Wonder why the Aerocycle never caught on? Its driver had a safety harness and everything. To keep him from falling into those contra-rotating blades, powered by a modified Mercury outboard engine. Of course, it might be troublesome if he got shot, or lost his balance trying to fire his rifle...or even landed on ground that wasn't perfectly smooth, since the rotors would dig into the dirt, rocks, etc. and fling them around. History of the "Flying Platforms" at the link. http://www.airvectors.net/avplatfm.html

Here are some neat conversions to that PYRO 1906 Renault, including a Phaeton and a Grand Prix racer (in pic below). I've also seen it converted into a World War I cargo truck. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/automotion/renault-1-32-models-t1209.html

Here's a thread from July 2018 about the PYRO Stevens-Duryea touring car. I like these kits myself, and have quite a few of them in the stash. PYRO did some Brass Era cars not available anywhere else in smaller scales, like Lozier-Briarcliff and Stevens-Duryea.

Not much more bizarre than the Tsar Tank, and Russia actually built one of those...

I just saw this posted on Missing-Lynx, a military modeling board. Link to original post below. A quick search showed other Shapeways vendors writing about it. On Feb. 4, Shapeways is implementing new minimum prices. The Missing-Lynx poster says some of his products will increase in price by 20-25%, with some increasing over 50%. He may have to discontinue some of his more expensive items. So if you want any Shapeways stuff, you might want to order it before then. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missinglynx/shapeways-price-increase-as-of-febuary-4th-t318015.html

Three years later, they're still available at good prices. Even at Famous Overpriced Auction Site! On 12/22/18, the "Monster Machines" double kit of the Challenger and Showboat only got 1 bid and sold for $9.25 + $15.33 shipping. Back in January 2018, I won the same "Monster Machines" kit on eBay for a little less, and I was the only bidder. I was watching "Ending Soonest"* and the auction was ending in about 1 minute with no bidders. Not long ago, the Ivo Showboat was in one of the Ollie's kit blowout sales for $7.99. So ignore inflated prices from the Rare Vintage Collectible Anteek & Junque hucksters, unless you want a mint original kit from the early Sixties. *A trick I use when scanning the "Ending Soonest" eBay listings: set "Location" to "US Only," so I can find actual kits. Without wading thru 480 individual listings of paint from China or 1/72 scale resin figures from Russia.

Already happening! When I wanted some 1/24 scale AK-47s a few months ago, I found a seller named "Anyuta" at Shapeways. Along with 1/24 scale, they have AK-47s in 1/10, 1/12, 1/15, 1/16, 1/18, 1/35, 1/48, 1/50 and 1/60 scale. And probably other scales, that's just the ones I saw with a quick search a minute ago.

Once I bought an AMT/ERTL Fireball 500 cheap at a kit swap meet. You're right, no mention of the trailer anywhere on the box. The kit was open, so it was easy to check and make sure the trailer was in there. I took out the trailer and put the Fireball 500 up on eBay, with some other incomplete kits I robbed parts from. Here's one of my favorite "complete bonus" kits, with TWO complete bonuses! The MPC '75 Dodge van. It includes a Yamaha Dirt Bike, plus a set of workbenches and storage cabinets. As it says on the box, "Bonus: Complete workshop, can be built as van interior or displayed separately in racing scene diorama." My only complaint about the workbenches is that all the tools are just relief-molded into them, not separate parts.

Thanks for another great review! I have several of these, and planned to use them in Vietnam-era dioramas. Other builders have done that, usually with the three-wheeler heavily rusted, weathered etc. Not sure if I should encourage this obsession...oh, of course I should! Some of these kits also came in a "Diorama Club" series. I have one of those, the '55 Daihatsu 3-wheeler. But they came with some neat extras. The Daihatsu has two large pipe sections to go in the bed. Also a traffic sign, a garbage dumpster, a dog house(???), a telephone pole and a section of metal fence. Plus a black diorama base to put everything on. Here's the Mazda 360 from the Diorama Club series. It seems to have a fountain/water pump, a red Japanese postal box, a statue, a phone pole and a wooden fence. And a tree!

For anyone who hasn't seen it - the 1991 movie "The Rocketeer" has some replica Gee Bees, along with other vintage aircraft (and cars). A real fun movie!

Here's an interesting article on the massive Ford GAA V-8 engine that powered the M4A3 Sherman tank in World War 2. It started out as a V-12 aircraft engine - Henry Ford's attempt to compete with the famous 12-cylinder Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Since I build military stuff along with cars, the whole subject of Sherman motivation fascinates me. It really was a case of necessity being the mother of invention. M4/M4A1 Shermans: they used radial aircraft engines. But as WWII started, those engines were desperately needed in airplanes. M4A2: powered by a pair of GMC 6-cylinder Diesel truck engines. The US Army hated that idea. To minimize supply headaches, it wanted all its vehicles to be gasoline powered. It palmed off the M4A2 on Lend-Lease users like Britain, France and Russia. And the U.S. Marines, who liked the M4A2; it could be re-fueled from any Diesel-powered US Navy landing craft, boat or ship. M4A3: used the Ford GAA engine as mentioned in the article. M4A4: the Big Kahuna! Chrysler built a 30-cylinder Godzilla of an engine it called the "A57 Multibank." It was 5 MoPar 6-cylinder engines mounted around a common crank, and was so big the Sherman chassis had to be stretched for it to fit. Chrysler claimed it could still run if 12 of its 30 cylinders were dead. The US Army hated that idea too, believing it would be a giant maintenance headache. But in the field it was very well-behaved, and put to good use by Lend-Lease countries. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/v8-ford-gaa.html

From the article I linked above: "A studio mechanic spotted the three '55 Chevy hot rods on the back lot and bought the camera car since it was in the best condition of the three. He pulled out the Chevy big block for use in a boat and his son ended up with the car. The son repainted the car white with a candy-colored stripe down the sides and over the back, dropped in another 454, and drove it to high school as a daily driver. The car saw movie duty again when, during filming of Smokey and the Bandit, it was used to record motor sounds that were dubbed in for the Trans Am."

"American Graffiti" used 2 of the '55 Chevys from "Two Lane Blacktop." One had a 427 L-88, the other a 454. Here's a page full of interesting info about the cars and what happened to them. The Criterion Collection DVD set for "Two Lane Blacktop" also includes a special feature on the restoration of a '55 Chevy used in the movie: "Guide to the three Two-Lane Blacktop/American Graffiti '55 Chevrolets: Main Car 1 - Equipped with a 427 crate motor, M-22 Muncie, 4.88 Olds rear, fiberglass front end, doors, and trunk lid, straight axle front suspension when built. Used for exterior shots in "Two-Lane Blacktop," modified for "American Graffiti." Main Car 2 - Equipped with a 454 crate motor, M-22 Muncie, 4.88 Olds rear, fiberglass front end, doors, and trunk lid, straight axle front suspension when built. Used only in "Two-Lane Blacktop" for interior scenes. Stunt Car - All steel-bodied car equipped with a 454 crate motor, TH 400 automatic, Olds rear of unknown gearing. Used in "Two-Lane Blacktop," modified for "American Graffiti." Crushed in the late 1970s." http://unofficialamericangraffiti.weebly.com/the-1955-chevy.html

That Lindberg Winnie Mae is a happy childhood memory for me. Built it as a kid. I loved the dramatic box art, and those markings showing all the places Wiley Post visited. Years ago, long before the last reissue, I found an original Lindberg kit and grabbed it. I just took an Internet cruise and that kit is still very popular, with lots of build articles. Came across one guy who built Amelia Earhart's red Lockheed Vega. He combined parts from the Lindberg and the old AMT 1/48 kit of the same plane. Decals for Earhart's Vega and others are available from the aftermarket. Back on-topic, this came in the mail today, the Heller 1/72 scale Bloch 210. Got it for a reasonable eBay price, with free shipping. From the French between-the-wars "flying house" school of aircraft design! Like its stablemate, the Amiot 143. These things have so many windows and so much room, you almost expect to look inside and see fine art on the fuselage walls, carpeting and maybe a fireplace, buffet table and bar.

Probably. Here's a link to eBay Completed Items for the Model King AWB Falcon. Looks like you can get one for the same price as a current kit at Hobby Lobby, or not much more. In Nov. a clean body, hood and bumpers got 9 bids and sold for $17.50. Looks like somebody just wanted the chassis/engine for their own body. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sop=1&_sadis=15&_stpos=29672-9125&_from=R40&_nkw=model+king+falcon&_sacat=1188&rt=nc&LH_Complete=1

Pretty salty from 2006 and the last Model King re-issue! I have one of those with the sticker from a Los Angeles hobby shop still on it. Their price was $34.99. I bought several, and remember even at that price, the shop sold out pretty quickly and didn't get any more. Same story with the Model King '64 Comet. I happened to be in the hobby shop when those were unpacked. I grabbed two. When I stopped in the store one week later, they didn't have any left. Just checked my eBay sale lists. I sold a '59 Imperial back in 2017. Started the bidding at a little more than I paid for it, which was 20% off retail. It sold for $46.00. And I'm really glad I sold my diecast 1/18 scale Barris "The Car" on eBay in 2017! I see it's just been reissued, in that video. It was first issued in 2003, never re-issued AFAIK, and by 2017 there was a huge demand for that weird, ugly thing. I like weird and ugly, but needed to thin down the diecast herd. It got a lot of bids and sold for $178.25.

Tamiya makes XF-16 Flat Aluminum, in the bottle. It dries dead flat but needs thinning, it's pretty thick. Tamiya also makes Aluminum TS-17 in a spray can, which I've never tried. One aircraft modeler said he had good luck airbrushing with the Games Workshop line of acrylic metallic paints. If I want a larger part painted silver-ish, like a weathered fender or door, I use one of the cheap Chrome-Silver Krylon sprays from Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby. Then overspray that with a Flat Clear to dull it down. Then use the salt or rubber-cement treatment or whatever, and overspray that with the body or rust colors.

This pic was identified by the poster as being from World War I. The Mack is clearly marked "US Army." And interesting for its passenger - a 6-ton tank, the U.S. version of the French Renault FT-17.

Well, here's a neat build idea for that kit. The bright yellow '51 Chevy convertible that Steve McQueen drove in the 1980 movie "The Hunter." As he often did, McQueen bought the car after the movie wrapped, just because he liked it. In 2013, it sold for $84, 000. https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2013/03/25/steve-mcqueens-chevrolet-sells-for-84000/

Yep, disappointed again. Thanks to everybody for the heads-up. Took a closer look at the listing, which says 75mm x 50mm x 210mm. Or in inches, 2.95 H x 1.97 W x 8.3 L. Nowhere close to 1/24. As Tom Waits said, "The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..."

One of my favorite dead horses to flog! Yep, what you said seems to be exactly what happens. Sellers take a quick look at eBay, see somebody asking a ridiculous price and think "Ka-CHING!" They don't bother to look at "Completed Items" to see what these kits really sell for. This mostly seems to happen with people who don't know anything about scale models; the wanna-be American Pickers and the general Ye Olde Anteek & Junque dealers. As somebody else said, I like to look at their other eBay listings and see what else they're selling. I see "eBay Fever" all the time at a big local flea market. I ask the price of a common kit on a table, get quoted something ridiculous, always followed by: "It sells for more than that on eBay!" No, people are ASKING more than that on eBay. But not getting it. Another sales pitch is: "Model cars sell for $30 now at Hobby Lobby!" Yes, but they have a 40% off coupon. So unless you want to knock 40% off that old AMT-ERTL kit in the water-logged checkerboard Wal-Mart box, no deal. These guys really go crazy when they find a promo, because they know from eBay that promos are a solid-gold investment opportunity. Doesn't matter that their promo is warped like a banana, filthy with ground-in dirt, has opaque glass, is missing one bumper and the other is broken in half. They still ask $75, because "that's what they go for on eBay."

Here you go. I snapped these pix just now. Excuse the quality but I was in a hurry. (It's cold in the basement!) That's the Revell '55 hood sitting on the AMT '55 2DS body. As you can see, it's a very close fit.

Has anyone seen this 1/24 scale die-cast garbage truck made by KDW, in real life? I did a Google search on the site and didn't find any posts about it. Came across it accidentally on eBay today. It appears to originate in China, and I guess the truck is some kind of generic Chinese vehicle. It looks sort of toyish. But that garbage body...complete with Dumpster!...sure looks like it's just begging for some detailing and weathering. Quite a few eBay vendors are selling these, mostly from China. Here's a listing from a U.S. seller, $32.39 with free shipping. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1Pc-KDW-G-Scale-1-24-Diecast-Material-Transporter-Garbage-Trucks-KDW-Model-Toys/153189167160

The Monogram Macks are nice kits. Also easy to find and not very expensive. I've seen that Tank Truck painted in camouflage as a WWI military vehicle. The Monograms are 1926 trucks but the real thing doesn't seem to have changed much from 1918. You'll sometimes see this old double Mack kit, released many years ago. It was a special run Monogram did for Depot G Hobbies, a model train company. I think Depot G is out of business now. The kit included the Monogram Stake and Tank trucks. Like the regular Monogram kits, it seems to go for reasonable prices, even at Famous Auction Site.