Mike999

Great job! Let's see if anybody else remembers this story, which I'm pretty sure was about #722. Though I'm old and might be wrong: After a race, a journalist razzed Sterling Moss about slowing down in the curves. Moss told the journalist to get in the car and put both feet hard on the brake pedal. The journalist did. Then Moss took one hand and pushed the car. It rolled easily. No brakes at all. Moss said, "I've been driving it that way for the last 100 miles."

Horrible news but thanks for the update. Those pics from Zuma Beach took me right back. I used to work in Agoura Hills. Sometimes for lunch in summer, we would drive straight down Kanan Rd. thru Malibu Canyon to Zuma. Get us a hot dog from one of the vendors and look at the scenery. (I lived in L.A. for many years until re-locating in 2015. ) Malibu Canyon was always a tinder-box, just waiting to go up in flames. Miles and miles of dry scrub brush. If we got heavy rains the previous winter, that just made more brush grow. No rain and the stuff got drier and drier. The place couldn't win. Fires often started in Malibu Canyon. Back in 1993 a massive fire burned up a big, beautiful park full of old-growth trees in Thousand Oaks. My gf at the time lived close to that one, and we walked thru that park after the fire. It was eerie. There was always a fear that fires from the Canyon would "jump the freeway" and burn into Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village. Which seems to be what happened this year. Awful.

For newbies who've never actually seen a TKM model and might be tempted to buy one, I keep these pix hanging around the hard drive. Behold! The TKM Models 1948 Cadillac Series 60 Special. Look closely and you'll see the rare Asymmetrical Roof Option, where the passenger side of the roof is way lower than the driver side. For tall chauffeurs, I guess. The whole greenhouse/roof is too low and makes the Caddy look sort of like a chopped custom, or an armored car. The chrome trim piece on the front fender shouldn't be there, that was a subtle body crease and not a separate part. The "Cadillac" nameplates above it must have taken a LOT of work to create, which I appreciate. But both are crooked, in different directions. Finally, even the voids and pinholes have pinholes and voids. Still, in a fit of insanity I started on this tur...key. The roof is straight now, after much filling and sanding. The greenhouse is a little more spacious, after some careful file work. The bumpers are cut away from the body for chroming/replacement. The chassis and interior from a cheap Jada die-cast Caddy will fit. And incredibly...so does the '48 Cadillac grille from the Revell '48 Ford chopped custom kit! I'm still building it as a junker, maybe a shot-up gangster car rotting in the Nevada desert. For most TKM models, a junker is probably the best way to go...

Thanks for the price list, Mr. O! I like weird cars almost as much as Faust. So I sprung for the Air-Trax Renault Estafette van a few years ago. It's a clean casting, with some very fine pinholes in places like the wheels but otherwise good. Heller was planning a plastic Estafette, and got as far as showing box art for 2 versions, regular and police. But it looks like Heller has dropped that idea, so the only Estafette available is the Air-Trax kit.

Some of those 1/32 scale kits even have engines. At least the 1987 issue of the Lindberg '32 Plymouth roadster does (kit #2143). I'm guessing that was a PYRO re-pop, like the rest of Lindberg's 1/32 car kits. I just checked the PYRO '32 Plymouth 4-door sedan in my stash and it does not have an engine. That's one of the oddball PYRO "Table Top Series" kits I really wish Lindberg would re-issue, if possible. We can't have enough 4-door sedans, of any vintage.

Kit swap-meet raffles seem to be a rich source of plastic turkeys. Here's a kit I won at the NNL West show in Chatsworth, CA around 2012, IIRC. From AeroPlast in Poland, a 1/35 scale VW Bug "Polizei." AeroPlast also did this as a rally VW, the only difference being the decals and a blue police light. I hated this kit at first, but have to admit the little loser has grown on me, sort of like a fungus. It is 1/35 scale and an early split-window VW, so it will fit into a WWII diorama. I suspect, but do not know for sure, that this kit was "borrowed" or "adapted" from the Czech company CMK's 1/35 scale early VW Bug. They have a lot in common, like individual (but clunky) door handles, and a separate roof insert. The CMK kits were released in several different versions; their Afrika Korps kit had a cloth top insert (but not the correct, wider fenders for the big sand tires).

About 200 years ago...Marine Corps, 6 yrs. Primary job was in the Air Wing, working on Infrared and Forward-Looking Radar systems. Also did a tour as a Drill Instructor at MCRD San Diego. (Though I went thru boot camp myself at Parris Island). In case you ever wondered, D.I.'s do go to school to learn that job. When I was in, we went to Drill Instructor School for 6 weeks. We called it "The Pervert Factory." Spent most of my career in the aerospace/defense industry, which took me all over the world: Europe, Asia, Central America, the Middle East, etc. By coincidence I was living in Saudi Arabia when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Later I lived for nearly 4 yrs. in Alexandria, Egypt, which was a lot of fun.

Yep, I'm at the other end of SC, in the Upstate. Prime moonshine liquor country years ago, since it's up in the mountains and near the borders of GA, TN and NC. Spent many summer vacations in Myrtle Beach as a kid. One other thing I saw at the Flea Market yesterday: an MPC '80 El Camino promo, dirty and badly scratched, especially the glass. It was priced at $30. Hmm. That seemed high, especially with the shape it was in. Stepped away from the table, whipped out the phone and went to eBay Completed Items. A bunch of those El Caminos have sold recently, for prices as low as $7.99. Thanks, technology!

Those Mercurys were a great find! Nice clean builds. Six thrift stores are located near me and I try to hit them every week. One worker told me they get new stuff in on Wednesday, so I go then or Thurs. Never found anything as nice as those Mercs. Mostly partly-built newer kits good for parts. And the big local Flea Market was a bust today. I did see a pair of '60 Ford promos with the worst warping I've ever seen. The poor things were bent nearly double in the middle and looked like bananas. I passed on a Hess Training Van/GMC Motorhome for $4. That price reflected its condition. I already have a couple of those in bad shape, for small parts like the running lights. And a couple more in good shape and complete.

Definitely acetate. A guy at the local flea market has Jo-Han '58 and '59 Cadillac promos that he's been trying to sell for months. Both are seriously warped, with parts of the bumpers broken and other damage. He's still asking $75 each, because "that's what they sell for on eBay."

I'm skeptical about that, too. FWIW, I just checked and the same statement about the '34 molds is in the 2017 issue of Graham's book. That book was delivered to me on the same day as "Muscle Car Model Kits" by Some Guy...which I'm reading right now and thoroughly enjoying.

Thanks! Bookmarked...

The biggest differences I see, with just a quick look: 1. The Roden kit has a detailed, multi-part engine. 2. Much finer detail overall, as we'd expect from a kit made in 2018 compared to one made in the early 1970s. Parts like the radiator guard in those older kits were pretty thick and clunky, and many builders replaced them with Eduard photo-etch. The same Roden part is very thin. I don't think it even needs scraping down with a knife. Those Italeri Dodge WC-** kits were originally issued by the Japanese company Peerless/MAX. The Command Car came with a water trailer and the Personnel Carrier included a cargo trailer. Italeri took both trailers out of the kits and sold them separately. The Peerless/MAX Ambulance had figures of a stretcher crew and a casualty. Italeri dumped those parts, too. Here's a review of the Roden kit, with some complaints and some praise. The biggest praise I have: somebody finally made the M-37 series! https://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=13995

Be warned: the tires in the kit shown below, and its many different versions, can have their own special problems. I've owned/seen quite a few of these 1/24 Unimogs with tire issues. These kits come with big, hollow Dunlop tires that have great sidewall detail. But I've seen the following problems with those tires: 1. The tires collapse on themselves and warp, maybe because they are big and hollow. Sometimes this is minor, and might straighten out when mounted on the wheels. Or with some heat from a blow dryer or hot water. But I had one set that looked almost like pretzels and were too far gone to save. AFAIK, the only source for these tires is the Revell Unimog kits. Most of us won't have a spare set in the stash. 2. While they're collapsing, sometimes the tires "bleed" a sticky fluid like tar that will ruin anything else it touches. It doesn't help that the tires are just thrown loose into the box. While most of the parts in these kits are bagged, the body is NOT. If the tires lie on the body for a while, it will be ruined too. Age doesn't seem to be a factor in this. I have a Unimog kit from the 1980's and the tires are perfect. I had another, much newer issue with tires that had collapsed. Maybe Revell changed their tire formula at some point. So if you have any of these kits, you might want to open them up and check the tires. And if they look OK, put them in a Ziploc bag to keep them away from the body.

Delivered yesterday, with some other stuff. I know, wrong scale, but I'm sure many former members of the military saw these vehicles and rode in them...hopefully not in the back! The Roden 1/35 scale M-43 Dodge ambulance. Unlike its earlier Dodge M-37 and M-42 Command Car kits, in this kit Roden did not provide the spare tire carrier mounted across the driver's door. The kit still has 5 rubber tires (with sidewall details), since it uses the "rubber sprue" from the earlier kits. Looking at photos of real vehicles, apparently not all ambulances had the spare tire carrier mounted. It's a pretty easy part to scratch-build anyway, all flat pieces, and most of it is hidden by the spare tire. This is a typical Roden kit, with very complete engine/chassis detail. The chassis is molded as one piece, always good, with lots of tiny parts to hang on it. Somewhere on the internet, I found a post from a former army mechanic who worked on these vehicles. He said EVERYTHING on it was painted olive drab, including the chassis and engine block. It includes 4 stretchers for the rear compartment. The decals cover an olive-drab US Army vehicle or a blue Air Force ambulance, both from Vietnam 1965. The instructions weirdly call out the blue USAF ambulance as "US Army."

The Ukrainian company ICM has released 4 different 1/24 scale figures in S.W.A.T. gear. I ordered 2 of them. They came today and look pretty good with nice details - the embossed red cross on the first-aid kit is very visible, etc. Looks like we get some extras too. From a quick look inside one figure, I think ICM uses a generic weapons sprue, with 2 different assault rifles. The unused parts are marked as "not used" in the instructions, but are still on the sprues. They're available from many different online vendors.

Posted a page back, and almost a year ago: in the 2006 edition of his book, Graham said "Monogram reportedly still has the molds."

It's Halloween Day, so most appropriate that another zombie thread rises from the grave! Something people may not know about the Revell '59 Cad Seville hardtop: the original issue, in 1995, had the very rare vinyl top molded into the roof. It was nicely done, with a good vinyl texture and the seams. This is the issue in a big box, with a photo of the car on the boxtop. Later re-issues, in the smaller box, do not have the vinyl top - Revell smoothed it out to a standard metal roof. I saw that mentioned, probably somewhere on this board, and looked at the bodies in the 2 kits. The roofs are different. A warning: before buying the kit in that small box, try to open it and check for warping in the roof pillars. This kit was a very tight fit in that little box and sometimes the roof got squeezed down too hard. I saw one of these kits on clearance at Hobby Lobby; it was a return and had exactly that problem. It was only about $10 so I bought it anyway. The kit is worth that much just for the engine and other parts.

Couple of those Preiser sets shown below. These are G scale (1:22.5) but should look OK with 1/25. Preiser also makes "real" 1/24 scale figures. Somewhere here, I have a small book published in Germany about Preiser. All their scale figures are modeled on real people. The big set shown below is called "The Wedding Party" and has the veil-carriers etc. The set of 3 women is "Wedding Guests" and one of them is a photographer. HobbyLinc also has Preiser figures, here's a link to their G scale Preiser page: https://www.hobbylinc.com/cgi-bin/s8.cgi?cat_s=&str_s=preiser+g+scale

This photo shows how simple the Aurora Indy Winners were. This one seems to be missing some parts, only has 3 wire wheels and 2 are broken. It's up on eBay right now, with a Buy It Now price of $10.95 + shipping. If you want to see it, here's the link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1-24-AURORA-MASERATI-SPL-1940-INDIANAPOLIS-500-WINNER-RACE-RACING-CAR/202454014359?hash=item2f23331997:g:qBUAAOSwb-RbppRY

Aurora did the even more rare MBT-70 in 1/48. The joint US-German tank project in the 1970s. That was the only plastic model of that tank in existence until a couple of years ago, when Dragon/DML did it in 1/35 scale. Lots of great old stuff on that list. Looking forward to them, even if my wallet is not...

Here's a fun page about the Aurora 1/48 artillery kits, including that 8-inch howitzer. One kit in here that I've never seen but sure hope Atlantis re-issues: the totally fictional but also totally cool M-8 Cargo Carrier with a Lacrosse missile launcher mounted on top. What a great post-apocalyptic anti-zombie weapon! http://modelarchives.free.fr/archives_P/Aurora48AFV_P/Aurora48AFV_kit_P/AuroraAFV48_USguns.html

They sure were fun! I remember when those armor kits were released in the Aurora big square boxes, with a vac-u-formed diorama base inside. That was in the '70's, when dioramas were getting big. About the same time Shep Paine did those great "how to build a diorama" inserts for the Monogram kits.

Also the Chevy Rescue Van (red or white) and the '40 Ford Art Box issue (orange or white). The one hobby shop in this area still has both of those gathering dust on the shelves, but the molded-in-color versions only. No molded-in-white versions. And the '57 Chevy is definitely the modern 1990s tool, with opening trunk. I have one. Molded in white. People who've tried it say the photo-etch parts in that kit, like the grille, will fit the Revell '57 Chevies perfectly. I think one of the model-car magazines mentioned that.

In addition to the Maisto 1/24 Harleys listed, I have these. Wal-Mart put these Maistos on clearance a few years ago and I bought a bunch. Recently picked up a few more in a mixed lot of model stuff: 1962 FLH Duo-Glide 1968 FLH Electra-Glide 2000 FLSTF Street Stalker 2000 FLTRSEI Screamin' Eagle Road Glide Hallmark has done several Harley Christmas-tree ornaments that are 1/24 scale or close to it. In 2013 the ornament was a modern Harley Street Trike, which is what a modern Service Car would look like, I guess. You can see its "hanger" in the middle of the seat. I found one at a flea market not long ago. Pic from the internet: