Mike999

Update: I emailed HobbyLinc here in the USA and asked if they would be carrying the Heller M-F 2680. Their response: "We hope to have that one but do not have a schedule of when." Meanwhile, the best eBay deal I could find is linked below. Seller is in the UK. His price is approximately US $30.76 plus shipping of about $9.82, for a total of $40.58. Other foreign sellers have it at a lower price, but higher shipping, as usual. This seller has over 70,000 positive feedbacks, so he seems legit. When I checked a few minutes ago, he still had the kit in stock. I ordered one and will let you know how it works out. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Heller-1-24-Model-Kit-81402-Massey-Ferguson-2680-tractor/392138004192?hash=item5b4d3f16e0:g:w-0AAOSwn6Rbtr1F

For a little more variety...Thunder Models is doing a 1/35 scale WWII Indian 741B motorcycle. Mirror Models is also doing the same Indian in 1/35. I don't know if they are the same kit, there are so many offshore kit manufacturers showing up these days.

If you need parts for that kit or the Ford Car Transporter, let me know. I bought 3 Globals in the original Revell boxes at a flea market...but all are missing the wheels and tires. I think they do have 3 untouched sets of decals and 3 complete "furniture loads." Somebody online said the grand piano is often missing from that kit, for some strange reason. Also have 2 boxes of parts for the Car Transporter, again with no or very few wheels/tires. But the lot did include a Car Transporter that was untouched and still sealed inside, like your Global Van Lines truck.

Thanks for the compliment! And what a coincidence - way back in 2012 I wrote about the Italeri re-issue of the Toyota BJ-44 in here. Link below. A few things are out of date; Great Models Webstore no longer exists. It was bought out by Sprue Brothers several years ago. And the Italeri BJ-44 re-issue is very hard to find now, like the original ESCI kits. But these days you can find 1/24 scale AK-47's, at Shapeways. Another coincidence: I'm just about finished with my own BJ-44, after setting it aside for a LONG time. Building it as a "technical" used by the Amal militia during the Lebanese Civil War. Hope to post pics of it soon.

Thanks. But like I said in the other thread, this is one of my Grail Kits and I couldn't believe I found it at a flea market. I'm real old, so maybe you can get it at my Estate Sale. The seller said it came from a Western Auto store in Lyman, SC. The store closed about 15 years ago and its whole inventory has been sitting in a warehouse ever since. He didn't find any other kits in that Western Auto stash. I asked. From reading other threads in here and other forums, those rear doors are very hard to find. Ditto for the "paddy wagon" bench seats and interior divider panel. IIRC, the paddy wagon parts were not even in the 1966 re-issue of this kit. You probably noticed the big ugly tire mark on the panel truck floor. Fortunately it's on the bottom of the part.

Nice clean build! I'm thinking of building this kit as a plain, non-Hurst Cutlass. Probably as a stocker, or a slightly beat-up and weathered "work car." I have a stock (flat) hood. Can an Olds expert tell me what else I need? Grilles, and maybe a set of wire wheel covers? Model Car Garage sells a nice photo-etch set with the grilles/emblems for an '83 to '85 Cutlass, I think. Thanks for any help.

You could have doubled your agony, and got the kit shown below, with the Messerschmitt KR200 and BMW Isetta 300. What you have is the "High Tech" version of the KR200. The Isetta also got that "High Tech" treatment, with white-metal and photo-etch parts. Then Gunze released the double kit with both cars, but dropped all the white-metal and photo-etch from both. I have the double kit and just checked - plastic parts and rubber tires only. You probably noticed that the roof, windows and body sides of the KR200 are all molded as one big clear piece. Survive masking/painting that, and we have to glue the very delicate, separate chrome windshield surround and window-trim pieces onto the clear windows. That should be fun. (The Isetta is even more...interesting; its whole body is one big clear part.) Good luck!

G-r-r-r! Went to the Ollie's again in Anderson, SC, today. Still nothing new, same as last week: '75 Corvettes, '71 T-Birds, some NASCAR kits, "Art Box" Piranha, Stroker McGurk. Was hoping for a refresh. The only other Ollie's in this area is about 50 miles away but I may have to try it next week. Nothing Clearance Priced or really new at the Hobby Lobby in Anderson, either. One weird thing: the HL in Easley, SC has had the Revell '85 Olds 442 for weeks. The stores in Anderson and Seneca SC still don't have it. Also hit a huge weekly flea market today, but found nothing kit-related. Just a gaggle of die-casts, mostly NASCAR. Shrug. That's the way it goes, feast or famine...

HobbyLinc has the '60 Fleetside box art up on its site. Says "Due late December, 2018." Start making your Christmas hints!

Pictures of the 3 versions in the kit:

Italeri #3661 Range Rover Police KIT HISTORY: This is a straight re-issue of the ESCI Police Range Rover kit from the early 1980s. ESCI was an Italian company that made scale model kits/accessories from 1972 to 1991, when it went out of business. Many of its molds passed to Italeri. See the Wikipedia link below for a full ESCI company history. ESCI's 1/24 scale Range Rover series started with kit #3029, a plain stock vehicle. Two rally versions followed: the VSD Dakar Rally Rover, later reissued by Italeri as its kit #3694. And the Camel Trophy rally vehicle, which had a big roof rack holding a spare tire and 2 jerry cans. The Camel kit has never been reissued but we can hope. Especially after this reissue. The series also included this Range Rover Police version. After its first release in the early 1980s the police Rover re-appeared once, very briefly, in a Humbrol box. Until this latest Italeri reissue, like the Camel Trophy kit, it was very hard to find. I used to search for this kit on eBay. Very few were ever listed and those had Nosebleed Prices. The Scalemates link below shows a timeline of all the ESCI and Italeri Range Rover kits, with boxtop photos. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Very good. Those old ESCI molds are holding up really well! All parts are clean and well-defined. I don't see any sink marks or mold lines on the very sharp body. On my kit body there is a very tiny amount of flash on the bottom of the right rear window opening. A sanding stick will fix that. There is a big waste-plastic support bar in the windshield (see stolen photo below). That monster will take some VERY careful cutting to avoid damaging the windshield frame. The body and all other parts are sealed in one large plastic bag, with clear parts in a separate bag. Tires are also bagged separately. The kit is curbside, with a hood molded shut and no engine. But it has good chassis detail, with separate brake drums, shocks etc. In typical ESCI fashion, the basic chassis is made up of 2 side rails glued to the front and rear axles. WARNING FROM EXPERIENCE: make sure the chassis is square and sits flat during assembly. Otherwise after the build is done, the dreaded "one-wheel lift" might show up. The rear tailgate/hatch is only molded in place with a few pieces of plastic. It might show a gap if left alone and should probably be filled with some strip plastic. But for an open tailgate/hatch, it's already halfway there. The plastic "holders" just need to be carefully cut out. With a little more work, it could be hinged. BUILDING VERSIONS: Hey, it's a 3-in-1 kit! Sort of. Parts and decals are included to build one of the following. Making things easier for us, those complex Day-Glo orange and checkerboard police decals are all on the big, beautiful decal sheet: Version A: British Transport Police, 1980 Version B: British Great Manchester Police, 1980 Version C: Dutch Rijkspolite, 1979 The 2 British vehicles are right-hand drive, the Dutch is left-hand drive. One of my favorite things about this kit is that ESCI didn't just settle for different dashboards. Underneath, there are separate chassis parts for the left and right-hand drive vehicles. Also separate wipers for the different versions, including the rear window wiper. This also means we have to WATCH OUT for the different versions called out in the instructions. These are clearly labeled "Version A/B/C," so it shouldn't be a problem. But pay close attention to STEP FOUR (4) of the instructions. That step shows where to drill the holes for the front and rear wipers. The kit includes 2 different styles of police lightbars for the British and Dutch versions. The British versions also have a police siren and lights mounted on the front bumper. PARTS COUNT/COLORS: Rather than torture you with my lousy low-res photography, just click the link below to Axel Modellbau in Germany. That site has good photos of all the sprues. White parts = 1, the body Black parts = 83 Clear parts = 28. All the police roof lights are molded clear and will need to be tinted with Clear Blue paint. The 5 rubber tires are generic SUV-type shoes with no sidewall lettering. Only 4 tires are used. The spare is mounted on the left side of the interior with a cover, so it's taken care of with plastic parts. No chrome parts are included and none are really needed. INSTRUCTIONS: Double fold-out, 8 pages, including a large parts layout photo. Two pages are full-color illustrations showing where all the decals go for the different versions. Instructions are clear line-art drawings with part numbers and paint callouts. But the "Color Table" only shows numbers for Italeri paints. Not a problem, the colors used are all pretty basic. DECALS: Absolutely gorgeous. Along with all the complex police decals and instrument panel decals, they include "Range Rover" emblems for the front fenders/hood/tailgate. RECOMMENDED FOR: Vintage SUV fans, police car enthusiasts and anyone who wants a quick weekend-type build (famous last words!). After assembly this one just needs a good coat of white paint, and maybe not even that. The body looks good enough to polish out and the black window trim looks pretty easy to paint. The decals will do the rest of the work. Hit it with a clear coat and you're done! (Also famous last words...) ESCI company history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESCI Timeline of Range Rover kit releases: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/232257-esci-3029-range-rover Photos of parts and decals: https://www.axels-modellbau-shop.de/katalog/en/italeri-3661-range-rover-police-1-24.html

W-e-e-e-lll, I might find some use for them... That whole Mini-Art 1/24 figure series is great. For years just about the only 1/24 figures were expensive resin/metal, expensive Preiser plastics, and those guys in the old Italeri 1/24 Truck Accesories kit. Another Ukrainian company, ICM, is also doing some really creative figures these days, though not yet in 1/24. I might have to get this 1/16 scale figure just for the Coolness Factor.

Also got a HobbyLinc delivery yesterday... 2 Italeri Range Rover Police kits (I plan to put up an in-box review of that one). Revell Tweedy Pie Revell "Streetburners" '70 Ford Torino And the Mini-Art 1/24 figure set "Erica & Kery." I only need it for the suitcase. Honest, really...

Casey added box art photos, which I found helpful since the old photos were gone. Here's some (quick) parts layout photos of the Gangbuster '32 Chevy. This is the one I found yesterday at a local flea market.

Thanks! That's a Grail Kit of mine and I was really happy to find it. After a closer look with the instructions, the kit seems be complete. Has a couple of small "tire burns," but in places that won't show. Like under the panel truck floor. The glass is in good shape. Gotta say, the hot-rodded small-block Chevy V8 in that kit sure looks weird and under-sized. Or maybe MPC got it right and all the others are too big. The original owner glued that engine together, and stuck the front and rear axles to the frame with some kind of non-modeling glue. Otherwise it's unbuilt.

Duster and ambulance van? Thanks, that's the first I've heard of those at Ollie's. Is the ambulance the Chevy van released a couple of years ago, molded in red or white? I'm guessing Ollie's got all red ones, like they got all orange '40 Ford Art Box kits. Not a big deal, worth $10 for the gurney and other ambulance parts. Also guessing that's the old MPC '75 Duster also released not long ago, with the figure etc.???

I've dealt with Tokyo Hobby on eBay several times and never had a problem. At least on kits, their prices are very good. On shipping they seem to be the rare seller who under-promises and over-delivers. Every time, I think my stuff has arrived before their estimated delivery date. Here in the USA, Freetime Hobbies has some detail-up parts from Studio 27, KA Models and others. I don't buy these items enough to know how their prices compare. But they ship fast and often have sales. https://freetimehobbies.com/

Flea Market Day! The '50 Ford still has the Hobby Lobby $29.99 price tag on it. But the seller was only asking $10. Grabbed the '69 Firebird mostly for the OHC 6 engine. The Charger box is ratty but everything inside is still sealed. And at $5, the sealed Revell '66 GTO was too cheap to pass up. The MPC '32 Chevy kit chassis is partly built, along with its hot-rod Chevy V8. The .30-cal machine gun, fire plug and a mail sack are also built. And part of the "Gangbuster" figures are glued together. The kit is missing a few minor parts, but the really important stuff is in there and untouched: the stock panel delivery body, rear doors and "paddy wagon" interior parts. Also the fenders with dual spare-tire wells. As everybody knows, the Gangbusters Chevy panel was later mutilated into the Dark Shadows "Vampire Van" and can't be un-vampired. But the chassis in that kit is identical to the original MPC '32 Chevy release and the stock versions later released by AMT (Connoisseur Classics, Blue Ribbon Rod etc.)

Along with the stocker and racer, Hasegawa also does the Cosmo as an L10B police car. It has parts and decals for the Hiroshima Prefectural Police or Tokyo Metropolitan Police. There are also several versions of the kit that were used in Japanese TV shows and movies, if you want something really different.

That "Matilda" kit was a huge flop, just like the movie that spawned it. I remember seeing it for giveaway prices at hobby and toy shops all over the Los Angeles area. (This was long ago, when toy stores still existed and actually sold model kits. Hard to believe, I know.) Now I wish I'd picked up a few of them. Looks like the raised roof might be a good start for an ambulance or camper. Here's a link to the "Matilda" movie, for the morbidly curious. Poor Robert Mitchum... https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077917/

Model Armor World goes both ways. At one end, builders who research their project down to how many rain streaks the tank had on it at 1:05 PM on July 11, 1943. At the other, those who do absolutely beautiful and bonkers stuff like this Post-Apocalypse DHL delivery Land Rover. Built by Aleksej Gruzdev of Minsk, Belarus. It started life as the Tamiya 1/35 scale Land Rover Ambulance from the mid-70s. And whatever we think of the subject matter, the work sure is top-quality. He almost re-built the whole kit.

Joke's on me...I found the older Revell Escalade cheap at a swap meet, and thought I would convert it to an Escalade hearse, as shown below. I plunged right in, creating the vinyl roof and its "halo" chrome bar, and generally wasting a lot of time... ...because something eventually occurred to me that people smarter than me (which is just about everybody) would have figured out before they started work: this standard wheelbase Escalade won't ever work as a hearse. Well, maybe a hearse for a Mafia funeral, where the Dearly Departed was blown up by a car bomb and would fit in a very short coffin. But now I'm thinking I could use TWO Escalade kits, stretch the wheelbase to the ESV length, and...no. Just no. Not even I am that insane...

All the "Art Box" '40 Fords I've seen so far had the "White" or "Orange" sticker. Though if I owned a hobby shop, I might be tempted to yank those stickers off... When this kit came out, my closest hobby shop in Los Angeles got a shipment of half "white" and half "orange" kits. The white ones sold very quickly. The kits with the "Orange" sticker stayed on the shelves for months, until the store cut the price on them. As for plastic colors, all the Trophy kits I've seen have been molded in black, gray, or light blue. At a local flea market a while back, one seller had an original AMT '40 Ford coupe, '40 Ford sedan and '49 Mercury. All 3 were molded in light blue plastic. I grabbed the 2 '40 Fords which were untouched, the Merc was partly built/painted and missing some parts. Along with the great vintage box art and decals, those original Trophy kits had entertaining history write-ups on the instruction sheet. The '40 coupe mentions that the car is "twenty years old now." The '40 sedan talks about these cars being pulled out of farmer's barns, etc. Fun stuff.

Congratulations on the well-deserved awards! I really like the camper trailer and the big truck.

Here's another review of that Aerosani from Terry Ashley at Perth Military Modeling Society. Terry is a VERY detail-oriented modeler. Like the other reviews, he says sand down those rivets. But he also mentions 5 missing rivets. This sounds like easy stuff to add, if you're so inclined: "The interior consists of the Commander’s and Driver’s seats but these lack any seat cushion detail and the 10 magazine rack located under the Gunner’s station is not included and there are only 3 spare drum magazines supplied in the kit." I have that kit but as usual haven't got around to it. I thought it was a great deal for the price, which I remember was only about $10 at full retail when it first came out. https://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/trumpeter/tr02322.html