Mike999

AMT '64 Lincoln convertible, off That Auction Site. Being a geezer, I remember that thru the 1980s and 90s, these were still not very popular, meaning not too expensive. Neither were the AMT Imperials. That's changed now, of course. By 1964, even AMT had to admit that the idea of a "competition" Lincoln was just goofy. So the 3 options for this one are Stock-Custom-Touring. The Touring version has a big luggage rack and a couple of suitcases. And a driver figure!

If a photo-etched carb linkage suddenly appears in your workshop, it's mine. It got crossed in the dimensions. Will keep an eye out for your fuel pump. Thought I had left the Carpet Monster behind when I moved into a house with a concrete-floored basement. Nope, not a bit of difference. Except now the parts just hit the floor and bounce into that other dimension.

Here's a photo of a "civilianized" Faun transporter.

Also true in 1/35 Military Model World. Where the consumers shell out $50-100 or more for the latest super-detailed kit. Then easily add another $100 for photo-etched detail sets, resin modification/correction kits and real metal tank tracks (often $25-50 for those tracks alone). And the military model companies, like Meng and Takom, are always cranking out the military equivalents of '61 Chryslers and '48 Packards. There's a whole "what-if" sub-genre of vehicles that were prototypes, or never even got built. Sometimes there'll be 2 or 3 competing kits of the same military vapor-ware. As for who's building these things, apparently everybody. In a magazine I recently saw a stunning "what-if" diorama of a German Panther tank with a Japanese crew. As it might have been used in the 1945 last-ditch defense of Japan. It was built by a young Japanese woman.

Zoom Zoom: "Well...25/30 years ago I think I paid $20 bucks mint in box, so that's better than the $35 Round2 will likely go for." The model companies probably don't want to hear this - but that's exactly what I often think on eBay these days. I recently got a Jo-Han '60 Plymouth wagon for $42 and a Jo-Han '76 Eldorado for $25. At a time when the umpteenth release of an old AMT or Revell-o-gram kit is selling for nearly $30+ retail, those seemed like flat-out bargains.

Cruising eBay recently, I saw a seller with a bunch of vintage AMT kits, dating back to the early 60s. From an estate sale, and the listing said "I know nothing about models." No kidding. In almost every photo, the tires were lying right on white plastic. I messaged the seller, warned them about "tire burn" and suggested they put the tires in a small Ziploc bag. Seller responded and thanked me for the warning. Said "I saw that tire burn on some parts, but thought it was just from old age." Grrrr. I really try not to hate people who find great model stashes and know nothing about models. But it is HARD...

What?!? No love for the '58 Fireblast?

The original AMT 32 Ford coupe. An aunt gave it to me as a birthday present. Building it as a dragster, I managed to hack out the fabric portion of the roof with a box-cutter, almost removing one of my fingers in the process. Wired the engine with black sewing thread. Entered it in a contest sponsored by the local 5 & 10-cent store and won a third-place trophy. When Revell released their new 1/25 scale '32 Ford coupe, it looked like they had nearly duplicated the car on the old AMT box art. Right down to the scallops and metallic blue paint. Not sure if that was intentional, but I got a big kick out of it.

Here's some long-winded trivia about one of the sets for the original "Blade Runner" - the Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles, with its 5 floors of Steampunk-ish exposed elevator machinery and open atrium. That building has a lot of fun links to science fiction (though it wasn't named for sci-fi writer Ray, but local millionaire Lewis Bradbury). Built in 1893 at 304 South Broadway, it was designed following the descriptions of future buildings in the first American sci-fi novel: "Looking Backward From the Year 2000" by Edward Bellamy. His cousin Francis Bellamy wrote the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. One of the building's architects was George Wyman. Wyman's grandson was Forrest J. "Forry" Ackerman, who created "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine and was a life-long collector of sci-fi/horror memorabilia. His collection included the Maria robot from the 1926 movie "Metropolis," and a hand-written letter from a 10 year old fan named Stephen King. (Back in the 1980s, you could just call up Forry and get a guided tour of his house. A friend and I did that once.) Another movie set in the Bradbury was the 1951 re-make of the German crime movie "M." That one recently played on Turner Classic Movies and is worth watching. Much of it was filmed in the old Bunker Hill neighborhood of Los Angeles. One guy who grew up in that neighborhood, dirt-poor after his father deserted the family: Jack "Dragnet" Webb.

Misery loves company! I've been hit lately by a rash of those spoofed Area Code/Prefix calls on my cellphone. Very easy to spot - 2 years ago I re-located from Los Angeles to the East Coast. Kept my old L.A. cell number. So whenever that Area Code/Prefix pops up, I immediately block the caller and delete the call. Some friends from L.A. call occasionally but their numbers/names are in my approved list. For the "Unavailable" pests and zombie-debt collectors on the landline: I used to amuse myself by answering the phone with something like - "Tele-Com Crimes Task Force. How can I help you?" But that's not really a good idea. Simply answering the phone tells these clowns that the line is active, and you'll stay on their call list forever. Even worse, they'll probably sell your number to other crooks. So now I just don't answer.

And one day earlier, Nov. 10, is the 242nd birthday of the Marine Corps. It was born in 1775 in a Philadelphia tavern, the first Marine recruiting station. Which a lot of people would say is most appropriate. :-) One of the first Marine recruits was a former slave, John Martin. He fought with the Marine detachment aboard the brig USS Reprisal, seizing British ships in close combat. Martin and all his fellow Marines died together when the Reprisal sank in October 1777. I taught that kind of stuff to recruits when I was a Drill Instructor, many burgers and beers ago. The Marine Corps sure has attracted a bunch of...interesting individuals over the years. Maj. Gen Smedley Darlington Butler was the youngest Marine General in history, and still the only Marine officer to win the Medal of Honor twice. He was also the first American General since the Civil War to be put under house arrest and threatened with a General Court-Martial. (Apparently for saying bad things about Italy's Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini). Lt-Col Evans Carlson resigned his commission in the 1930s, went to China as a journalist, and made part of the Long March with Mao Tse-Tung's army. That's where the Marines got the phrase "gung ho" - Chinese for "working together." Carlson went back in the Marines later and formed the first Raider units in WWII.

No, not THOSE kind of models! Plastic scale models! What's wrong with you, Seller? Will take this opportunity to say I just dealt with a real bucket-head on eBay. No names, because I don't want to expose the board to legal threats, or even a tantrum. I'll just say that this seller lists a lot of decals and accessories. Ordered an item on Oct. 16 and seller marked it "Shipped" the next day. Expected delivery date was Oct. 21. When it had not arrived by Oct. 28, I asked for a Tracking Number. They did not send a Tracking Number, just sent me another "Shipped" notice, moving the delivery date out. It still hasn't arrived. I asked for a refund, and don't believe it ever was shipped. This seller has lots of Positive feedback, but some Negatives in the past year. Many of those Negatives said "never received the item." So as always, caveat emptor.

One of the best "Engrish" names ever for a kit! This eBay auction ended just now. I was scanning "Ending Soonest" and happened to see it...

Ha! On-topic for the scale anyway...on eBay years ago I won an original 1/35 scale Peerless-Max Dodge WC-54 Ambulance. (It had a stretcher crew and casualty figures, which were removed for the later ITALERI re-issues.) Advertised as "mint & complete but open, in original box." When it arrived, it was missing ALL the chassis and suspension parts, tires & wheels etc. The seller apologized, saying he "knew nothing about models." He just looked in the box, saw some parts and assumed it was complete. He refunded my money and told me to keep the kit. Lesson learned, and that's why I quoted Bill, for the "non-modelers" part. It was a long time ago, but that experience taught me to take a closer look at listings. If the seller was listing a bunch of non-model related stuff, that was a tip-off that they probably weren't a Model Person. So I'd often message them and make sure the kit was as described. But if the seller was listing all model kits, that was also an indication that they most likely knew what they were selling.

Do you mean the Monogram Land Rover, as shown below? Or a Revell re-pop of somebody else's kit? I'm always looking for working vehicles like the Land Rover. But in 1/24, only know of the old ESCI kits. And Aoshima's nice Range Rovers. One of my grails is the FROG 1/16 scale Dennis Ambulance, also shown below. Had one years ago and foolishly sold it. It's very simplified and motorized, and comes with crude zombie-like figures. But it's weird and I'd like to have another. They come up VERY rarely on eBay and sell for mega-bucks when they do.

MENG also makes a 1/24 Hummer H1 Upgrade Kit with that "over the hood" bull-bar, a roof rack and a wading extension. I've seen it discounted at some online vendors.

The Russians built a whole bunch of different "Aerosani" vehicles in WWII. All riding on skis and powered by aircraft engines. The simplest version had 2 open cockpits, holding a machine-gunner in the front seat, and driver in the rear...with the radiator for the water-cooled engine right above his head. Trumpeter and other companies make scale models of these vehicles in 1/35 and 1/72 scale.

Thanks all. Threads like this always make me feel better. Schadenfraude or something...a few of my epic goofs in the past few months... --Subaru Sambar van: what could possibly go wrong? It's a simple curbside. Painted the body in a nice metallic ginger color, to match the boxtop. Got the decals on. Was mocking it up with the chassis and heard an ugly sound. I flexed the body too much and it cracked all the way down the passenger side. --AMT Opel GT: building it as a junker. What could possibly go wrong? Got the paint looking nice and grungy. Rust, followed by exposed gray primer, followed by remnants of yellow. Spent a lot of time drilling out the hood "nostrils," fully detailing the engine with freeze plugs, casting ribs, wiring, grease etc. Then noticed that AMT got the back of the interior completely wrong. Should have just left it alone, but didn't. Oh well. Maybe I'll put that engine in a junkyard scene... --Phantom of the Opera 1/8 figure: needed to strip paint from the head. Thought I was dipping it in alcohol. Didn't pay attention and put the plastic head in a bottle of lacquer thinner...

I've never seen that Greenlight Shasta in the Hobby Lobby closest to me. But I just checked and it's on their website. At the Freetime Hobbies open house 2 weeks ago, I saw one for $19.99 and grabbed it. (It's currently showing as "Out of Stock" on their website.) Couldn't resist, especially since it has an interior. Even if you can't see much of that interior thru the jalousie windows!

Here's the Fireball 500 car I'd like to see somebody release! That blue 1960 Dodge Seneca 2-door sedan. It was a guest star in "Fireball 500" in 1966, and also appeared in "Thunder Alley" in 1967. (I have all the American-International beach/teen movies saved on my WD-TV box. No, I don't know why...)

No problem. I have lots of old 1/24 figures that are not very good. I can just amputate their feet.

ICM #24009 1/24 American Mechanics (1910s) (3 figures). Already in stock at some on-line vendors. Since overalls are pretty generic, I can see these girls being useful in all kinds of dioramas: fixing a broken-down car on Route 66 during the Depression; gas-station attendants and "Rosie The Riveters" during WWII; helping the boyfriend fix his hot rod (or working on her own) in the 1950s; under the hood of a Sixties muscle car, etc. etc.

Earlier this year, Testor's announced it was dumping the Model Master II (TWO) paint line - that was the International & Military colors. They used exactly the language above: "discontinued because of lack of support from the marketplace." At that time they were keeping the regular Model Master paints. So I'm wondering if they really are killing all Model Master paints, or if we're still seeing news about the earlier shake-up (bad pun intended). Here's a thread about it from Fine Scale Modeler in June 2017, where several people contacted Testors directly: http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/tools_techniques_and_reference_materials/f/18/t/175408.aspx

Thanks! I really like Model T trucks, and just did some on-line window shopping. Hobbylinc.com and Megahobby already have it in stock, at prices between $47-$50. Given the current prices of re-issued domestic kits, that doesn't seem too bad.

Thanks. But no, and I just spent a long time searching for it. Hoping he puts it on his own website soon. Here's a link to Anthony Hazelaar 's awesome model collection. If you have any interest in antique Fords, this place is a must-see: http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/modeltrucksandcars/