Mike999

Good question and I don't know for sure. Maybe I could have saved myself some work! I read all the articles I could find on these CHP Buicks and didn't see the rear window cranks mentioned. I even looked at the first season of "Highway Patrol," which used those Buicks, and thought I saw window cranks. Though there aren't many shots inside the Buicks on that show. I decided to leave them in because a couple of articles mentioned what I did above: in 1955 the CHP didn't transport prisoners (except an occasional DUI). Their job was pursuit and interception. And I figured it would be pretty hard for a perp to escape from the back seat of a 2-door sedan.

Back in the 1990s I went on a few business trips to South Korea. One day we had to drive from Seoul down to Taejon, about 100 miles IIRC. Our Korean hosts drove us in a car I'd never heard of: a Kia. I remember it was a fairly big 4-dr. sedan and very comfortable on that long trip. I'm not sure if it was a model ever sold in the USA, or Korean Domestic Market only. The first American Kia dealerships opened in 1994, according to Mr. Google. On one trip, we visited a company that resulted from a recent merger of two big corporations: Lucky, which operated a chain of gas stations/convenience stores, and GoldStar, an electronics company. After the merger they became Lucky-GoldStar. Better known today as LG. And those gas pumps look incredible. Thanks for the info.

Another vote for embossing powder. As everybody says, it's dead easy: paint (or white glue) on the floor, shake the embossing powder onto the wet surface, then turn the interior upside down and knock off the excess. If you have thin/bald spots, just carefully re-apply a little more powder The (bad!) photo below shows that "Recollections" embossing powder on the interior of a Maisto die-cast '55 Buick California Highway Patrol car. I had to work around the accelerator pedal, which is molded in place. Here's a Bonus Tip in that photo: the quarter-panel upholstery was made with HO-scale corrugated metal. (Armrests/ash trays are made from Evergreen rod and the window cranks are from the parts stash.) I did a little more wash/dry-brush on the seats after the photo was taken. I wanted the seats to look sort of used and grubby, it's a cop car. I could have made the back seat area even grubbier. While the 1955 CHP didn't usually transport prisoners in the back seat, they sometimes carried DUI arrests to the local lock-up. But a Technicolor Yawn might have been a little TOO much realism...

You can order directly from the Archer website. They have a downloadable PDF catalog you can print out at 100% to make sure you're getting the right size rivets etc. The site also has YouTube tutorials and other useful info. Or, as Ben wrote, you can buy them off eBay or online vendors. FreeTime, HobbyLinc and MegaHobby all carry the Archer stuff. But if you want to see everything available, their own website might be the best place to start. Then shop everywhere else for the best price. http://www.archertransfers.com/SurfaceDetailsMain.html

Not all Prestige kits had those parts. The 3 Prestige kits in my stash all have different extras: '55 Mercedes Gullwing: has the "car show" parts you mentioned. '63 Corvette roadster: has the old "Drag Strip Accessories" parts pack. The one with the vintage TV camera, flags etc. When the Prestige kit came out, those accessories hadn't been available for a LONG time. So I was glad to see them. '63 Ford Galaxie 500 hardtop: has a base with a pen-holder built in. At least the other 2 have useful accessories. That pen-holder base might have been useful if you needed some black sheet plastic, I guess. Otherwise a big yawn.

Thanks, that gives me some (bad) ideas. Especially since I have some Monogram Classic built-ups bought cheap from eBay and flea markets. "...which he purchased for one hundred dollars at a junkyard." Yep, they were just old cars. Tons of real classics were sitting in Los Angeles car lots and junk yards in the late '40s-early '50s, partly because of the movie industry. Stars liked rare and expensive cars: Duesies and exotic foreign makes like Isotta-Fraschini or Delage. Many of those became orphans, hard to service and maintain once the original owners dumped them. One of my stalled projects is the Heller '34 Hispano-Suiza K6 limousine, dragged out of a junkyard and used as a surfer's wagon. Replacing the original engine with a Chevy Stovebolt 6 is harder than I thought...

After these sales, I'm amused when I see the close-out kits at the big local flea market. Marked up to twice or more the clearance price, of course. I did sort of admire the chutzpah of one vendor with some very familiar-looking kits, whose sales pitch was: "You'd pay $30 for that kit at Hobby Lobby!" No I wouldn't. I'd do what you did, go to Ollie's and buy it for $7.99.

And that other fine print says: "Beautiful twin multicolored packaging assures sales on contact." The shadow looks like maybe the "twin packaging" was a clear plastic bag or something similar. Just guessing, I've never seen that offer before either. Nice find.

Aurora did a series of 22 different 1/32 scale hot rod kits, like the one in your picture. 21 of those kits used the same Chevy 409 block, with different carbs, manifolds and exhausts. The only non-409 was kit #603, the "Snap Dragin" '27 Ford tall T coupe. It used a Ford 390 engine. And thanks to Casey for the info about the Good Guys Taxi being based on the MPC '28 Lincoln. I never knew that. But the Good Guys box art is so fugly, I never cared what was inside or what it was based on.

For anyone building a Unimog model, here's a huge load of photos and other reference material from the Rocky Mountain Moggers. While Unimog is not huge in the USA, some do get imported, especially in the Pacific Northwest and mountain states. Fire equipment fans should find the Unimog-American LaFrance fire trucks interesting. They come in many different configurations. And the page even has a Toys & Models section. http://www.rockymountainmoggers.com/links.html

When I said "jalopy," I meant something more like this. A basically stock Model A, with various parts pulled (or falling) off. A high-school kid's first car back in the 1940s or '50s, probably bought or yanked out of a farmer's field or a geezer's garage. Complete with hand-lettered crude sayings, in every sense of the word "crude." Like "Don't laugh, your daughter is inside." Here's a nice example, even if it's not a Phaeton. According to the caption, this photo of a jalopy named "Boogie Woogie" was shot in Florida in 1940.

At a model show about a month ago, I found a mint unbuilt "Special Interest Series" '30 Cabriolet from the 1970s. Been trying to find one for ages. The seller wanted $30 and would not go below $25. So I coughed up the dough and brought it home with me. A quick check on eBay "Completed Items" shows the Cabriolet has recently sold in the $20-30 range (and higher). But that's before shipping is added, so $25 sounded reasonable. The Cabriolet seems a lot harder to find than the Coupe and Phaeton, which have both been re-issued. I'm not sure but I don't think the Cabriolet has ever been reissued since the 70s. At a different show, I found a nicely built and unpainted stock '30 Phaeton for $5. I might turn that into a jalopy, either on its own or by cross-kitting it with the latest Phaeton reissue. That reissue didn't have the stock parts, only the hot-rodded V8 and modern wheels/tires.

Thanks for another great review. The development of the Me-210/410 is a fascinating story, with all the political infighting between Fieldmarshal Erhard Milch, Hermann Goering and Willi Messerschmitt. Goering even joked that his epitaph would be: "He Would Have Lived Longer Had The Me-210 Not Been Produced." I'll probably pass on the kit itself. Not long ago I got the Pro Modeler 1/48 kit for a low price. And after building a Fine Molds kit years ago, I decided that the company should change its name to "Mediocre Molds."

Yep, the Gangbuster Lincoln has a pair of grenades. I just modified them to look like Russian grenades, for a 1/24 Middle Eastern "technical" model. The GB Chrysler probably has them too.

When I was in HL last week (and posted the OP), I forgot to check the paints. Went back today and got a bunch. Couldn't resist those 1970s prices of just over a dollar a can for Testors spray paint! The store is also having a 30% off sale on Krylon spray paint, so I stocked up on their Flat White. No new mark-downs on kits in that store (Seneca, SC). It had one Tamiya Gama-Goat but definitely not clearanced, it was still $49.99. I always liked that bizarre., ugly vehicle. The Marine Corps was still using them when I was in, about a hundred years ago. I thought nobody would ever make a model kit of it. Then in 2010, Commanders Resin models came out with a 1/35 Gama Goat. It's nice, with an engine and photo-etched metal parts, including the fenders and hood. But it also has the air-bubbles, voids and other annoyances of many resin kits. I remember telling myself I'd better get the resin kit, because surely nobody would ever do a Gama Goat in plastic. Then three years later, guess what Tamiya releases...

Saw something new on eBay a little while ago: the Ukrainian company Master Box is doing a series of 1/24 scale figures aimed at truck builders. The first set I saw is "Hitchhikers - Erica and Kery." Complete with suitcase! Looks like 6 figure sets are planned so far. In the second picture below, look up at the top to see some of the others in the series.

Always good advice. I don't really mean to hoard a lot of kits, I just never get around to building them. Or a better one comes along and I get rid of the older one. Sometimes that works out in my favor, for example... Recently I bought the Bestcarmodels '61 Corvair Rampside resin kit. It's expensive ($75), but I know Mike and the quality of his work. At a show once, he explained to me how he mastered his '50 Olds station wagon. It was complicated and mind-boggling. That guy is an extreme perfectionist. I had the resin copy of the old Palmer '61 Rampside, which was only sold on the internet some years ago by a small outfit called Corvair Models. Because it was a direct copy of the Palmer kit, it was in about 1/27 scale with a multi-part body and just not very good. But it was the only Rampside kit until Bestcarmodels came along. Had an eBay sale last week and put the Corvair Models Rampside up, with a starting bid of $29.99. I was just hoping to recoup most of the $75 purchase price of the new resin kit. That old Rampside sold for over $160. (/humblebrag)

"POS" confused me for a moment. I was thinking of a different acronym than "Point Of Sale..."

Fri., 6/22/18: just dropped by the local Hobby Lobby. This store has only been open for about 2 months. They had quite a few heavily discounted kits, in the scale model aisle mixed in with the regular-priced kits. All these were marked down to $7.49. I don't think I missed any, but may have: AMT/R2 '57 Ford Polar Lights McEwen Barracuda Funny Car Revell '76 Ford Torino, both versions were marked down: Starsky & Hutch, plus the regular stock Torino Revell '64 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt, last re-issue with both hoods Revell Mazda RX-7 Revell Porsche 914 Revell Yenko '69 Corvette

Getting those kits for about US $16 each was a good deal. If you plan to keep some "on the shelf," maybe keep the 2 kits on top. They are more unusual "combination kits," with the trailers, boat, motorcycles etc. Here are some prices from eBay in the U.S. Only 1 Monogram "Offroad Adventure Set" has sold recently, for US $50.39 +$12.00 shipping. Several "Gone Fishing" kits have sold for prices ranging from $24.95 to $64.00. I had an eBay sale that ended last Sunday. One item I sold was the Revell "Mach 1 Formula Team," which is similar to the "Gone Fishing" set with a racing boat. It got 17 bids and sold for $36.51 + $10.15 shipping.

For people who'd rather airbrush an acrylic, Tamiya X31 Titanium Gold (81531) looks like a close match for that color.

Yep, Revell speculation has definitely started on eBay. Last night I came across the recently released Revell '78 GMC Big Country Pickup for $59.95 +$9.85 shipping. The same seller had the Baja Bronco for $44.00 + $8.75 shipping. But other sellers still have the same kits for more reasonable prices, keeping in mind that retail on these kits seems to be $29.95 now. Maybe I'll run over to Hobby Lobby and fill up 2 shopping carts with Revell kits...(just kidding). Usually when I search for kits/parts on eBay, I get a bunch of hits from an eBay seller famous for his very high parts prices and long listings. That didn't happen last night, and I wondered why. He seems to be gone. Checked the eBay Community and saw no info, just this note: "Offline since 05-18-2018." A little more looking shows that he is "No longer a registered user."

In a fit of temporary insanity, I started building a ProShop '78 Trans Am as a junker. (Will finish one day, honest!) I have the black one with gold striping and accents, and it's very well done. I wanted the paint and striping to look weathered, not just painted over with Dullcote. The answer turned out to be a Scotch-Brite pad, one of those things you scrub dishes with. It was coarse enough to flatten and scratch the paint, but didn't sand off the gold striping and other decals. Except where I wanted it to, by bearing down and sanding harder. Also wanted real open grilles, which is one of the weak points of that kit IMO. The answer to that was some brass mesh that I found in a hobby shop long ago.

Flea market day! A few model kits were lurking there but none I wanted. Mostly aircraft kits, but a few of the usual NASCAR kits that seem to be there every week. I did find an on-topic book: "The Pacesetter: The Untold Story of Carl G. Fisher: Creator of the Indy 500, Miami Beach & The Lincoln Highway" by Jerry M. Fisher. Looks like an interesting read, written by Carl Fisher's last living relative. Fisher was a self-made entrepreneur in several fields. While developing Miami Beach, he crossed paths with another developer down there - Al Capone. Fisher also became an early civil rights advocate. When one of his African-American workers fell into a vat of boiling tar, Fisher drove the man to a hospital in his personal car. The hospital informed Fisher that it wouldn't treat "his kind." En route to another hospital, the man died. Fisher was outraged and spent the rest of his life fighting for equal rights for all Americans. The seller of the book cracked me up. I asked, "How much do you want for this book?" He said, "I want twenty dollars. But I'll take two."

A constant problem with my work bench. Convenient excuse: "I'm in the middle of this build, and I might lost small parts if I clean everything up." Of course, if I was really organized, I wouldn't have to worry about losing anything. I ignore that. Instead of nailing down more plywood...next time you're in Loews or Home Despot, check out the area where they cut the sheets of clear Plexiglas and such. They often have big off-cuts just sitting in the trash can. I've found several pieces that cover the "working area" of my bench and one that covered nearly the whole bench where I paint. These are useful because they make a hard cutting surface and you can scrape dried glue/paint off of them (or wipe wet stuff right off). They may give these off-cuts to you free, or charge you a couple of dollars. I've had both happen. Just ask an employee.