Zoom Zoom

Looks great; you did a great job hiding the fact that the basic kit has a few "issues"...never has there been a perfect kit, never will be either

Tamiya just had a 15% price increase across the board. Their GTR MSRP is $66, the P/E set is $18.50, so full MSRP is a staggering $84.50. Suddenly $19 Revell kits seem like a dream come true. It's a really nice kit...but Fujimi's will retail for $47.95 in the US; if Fujimi does a separate P/E set, it may end up being close to $40 US if recent Fujimi P/E sets are any indication (2400 yen). Fujimi's doesn't have the engine insert, but it does have chassis/driveline detail missing on Tamiya's. The parts count may very well be higher on the Fujimi kit. MRC is now the Aoshima importer to the US. As usual with any brand that's represented by MRC, prices have skyrocketed. MRC's Aoshima GT-R pricetag is $55.98. I thought Tamiya's curbside NISMO Z car was insane at $45; it's now $52 after the price increase. Aoshima's version is $54.98 Thankfully most in-the-know modelers buy direct from Japan or elsewhere in Asia and save a ton of $ on this type of kit. It's no wonder the LHS's can't compete w/imported stuff from the mail order companies.

I wish Revell had a kit of the new ZR1; I'd take the open-hood Fujimi or Aoshima GTR kit and stuff it in there just because I could...

Aw fiddlestix....wish I could change my answer...

Ooohh...Grand Am, Can Am, Laguna S3...pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease Gimme a reason to quit building so many new/import/exotic kits (not that there's anything wrong with that ) ...I need me some good disco-era models if only to use up my supply of BMF

Nice! No need to spend big bucks to get great results. Just use good "modeler's intuition" and anything is possible. My photo setup is right next to where the laptop sits...build, photograph, upload all within a few steps of each other. Film? What's that?

Cool, thanks for the heads-up. Looks decent...wheels might be undersized... Revell AG new products

Well, it's late July for another week or so...and if they haven't updated that date, I'd say by this time next week someone will have 'em in their hands

OMG that is pure awesomeness Great idea, great execution so far. A refreshing change of pace from what's been most common here as of late...

Ouch. But at least it's now pre-disastered, and less liable to be hit again. Yesterday GTMike400 (who hasn't posted here in ages due to work, school, women, working on his car) had a bad wreck, some guy who had already crashed his own car this week made a left turn in his rented Pontiac into Mike's BMW at 45 MPH, T-boned him sending Mike sideways into a telephone pole. Mike's all banged up, lacerations/bumps/bruises and three crushed knuckles...left hand is all wrapped up, right is in a splint, and he's royally PO'ed...he put a lot of work in his car to have some dimwit take him out like that...I hope the other driver fries...

Oh no! Don't do it! You'll destroy their value! Oh wait...you can get any of them for well under the MSRP of a new Revell kit. I love destroying promo value whenever I get the chance So what's in store for these models?

Looks fantastic! Should be a fun build, as simple as it is. Their prototype photos of the finished model look great. I have the Flintstone body...I think I'll have to make it as a bit of a custom, making it accurate too much work, and I do have the Fujimi parts needed for it.

I know! I know! You can find the answer....this Friday

Very cool model, nice to see it in yellow instead of red Funny how we've gone full circle and now complain when the tires on our models aren't skinny enough

Guess I was asleep at the wheel; that's the first time I noticed the intentional jab at Lexus, seeing that there's an LS460 in the spot ahead of the Audi I saw one of the Lexus sedans doing it's parking trick at a car show (over and over and over); it was almost painfully slow to get into a parking spot. I might parallel park once or twice a year, if that...but I can certainly do it much faster and more accurately than the gizmo mobile.

While hobby shops are generally lousy around here, they all carry Microscale products. Google Microscale Foil Adhesive and you'll find plenty of vendors. Same for Testors foil.

It's a double-edged sword; I doubt many would like what a modern car looked like if it did have the same visibility that older more upright cars with thin pillars would allow. Combine the fact that bodies are a lot stronger than before, much safer in accidents/much stiffer body allowing for much better suspension tuning and quieter ride, and trying to make cars/SUV's as aerodynamic as possible without looking like a charicature of a cinder block, well...suffice to say nobody has solved it, from any company, without electronic gizmos.

While I agree with that sentiment, have you actually tried to do that in some of today's vehicles? It's damned near impossible to see out the back of most of them! Thick pillars and massive blind spots are a lot more prevalent today than a few years ago. Cameras are quite useful if can't see out the back. You can turn around and crane your neck all you want; you won't see much back there. My 20 year old sedan has amazing visibility. Most new sedans have terrible visibility by comparison; thicker pillars, raked glass, impossible to see the corners of the car. Sports cars and many SUV's are horrifically hard to see out of. I drove a 2nd generation Dodge Intrepid one time that was awful for changing lanes, the visibility was so bad that even when I turned to look when making a lane change from left to right I couldn't see if there was a car there or not...I had to rely on the mirror for something I usually rely on my own eyes for!

Actually BMF has always had a problem with the adhesive getting less effective over time. I had that problem in the '80's and '90's when I was building a lot of chrome-laden subjects. The cracking is a problem in the last 8 years or so; older sheets started getting very fine cracks and occasional wrinkles...nowadays not only do they get the fine cracks, but practically fissures in the sheets; hold it up to light and see how bad it is. I have no idea what in the world has changed w/their manufacturing, and I hope the figure it out, or put a mfg. date on the package. I use very little of it, it's not particularly economical to buy a big sheet that's not getting anywhere near used before it's unusable. Keeping in the fridge is a big of a PITA.

Microscale still sells their Micro Metal Foil Adhesive. It's good stuff. I wish I could find some thinner foil than the stuff I have. Kitchen foil works, but it's not as forgiving as good BMF...the kitchen foil is thicker and thus harder to cut and manipulate. BMF suggests refrigerating their product for longevity. I don't know how well this works; I did get a nice fresh sheet about 6 mos. ago, and rarely use BMF, so it's still in the fridge (in a plastic bag). I never opened the package, but after a quick check through the window it still looks perfect. We shall see...

Third time's the charm, this one's a knockout. The simpler paint scheme is tasteful and the model has a timeless look about it. Glad you had the patience to keep on plugging away with this one, it was worth the effort!

I rather liked those old Nissan ads with the "No Parking Except For Bob" signs Works for me

Unfortunately I have to hear him every week...it's often rather painful I'll certainly agree with his statement about this subject, though...since I'm not dumb enough to side with just one political party on important issues

Talk about a stupid idea. People are burning that gas voluntarily; it's not like there's a shortage... It would also likely put a lot of restaurants out of business. So is that good for our economy? Sheesh...if I'm in a long line, I turn off the engine. It's not rocket science folks...but seems everyone in this country is always after that magic pill. If the gov't is so worried about wasting fuel when the car isn't moving, maybe they can do something about all the traffic signals that aren't timed/computerized to improve traffic flow! Nope, can't do that...pass it along to the citizens...put people and companies out of business... There are other politicians talking about returning to the double nickel speed limit...talk about a completely idiotic overreaction; the reason it was implemented was because of a serious fuel shortage during the Arab oil embargo. Any politician that implements a new speed limit to "save fuel" should be run out of town...people are already driving slower and driving less...we don't need the gov't making needless laws that are so ridiculous that they encourage people to break them, so that local governments and insurance companies can collect another windfall from people "breaking the law"...makes my blood boil! Gas is expensive, it's not scarce...people say and do really stupid things when times are tough.

Thinning Future? As CAL mentioned, you don't have to thin Future to go through an airbrush; it seems almost thinner than water. I guess people thin it because their minds are trained to automatically thin a "paint" before running it through an airbrush. In my experience Future sprays so thin all by itself you have to be really careful with it; apply it in very careful light mist coats at first; if it runs a tiny bit it's not a big issue, either blot a corner w/a paper towel or just let it dry, most of the run will disappear. It shrinks a lot as it dries. As more Future builds up on the surface, the heavier/wetter you can shoot it. You have to be particularly patient if you want to shoot it in one sitting; you need to take a few breaks between coats. If anything it needs a thickening agent before it's sprayed. I even went so far as to put some Future in an open glass jar inside a dehydrator for a couple hours prior to spraying. It definitely was easier to shoot as it was more "paint-like" in how it sprayed and laid down. With practice it's pretty good. It's definitely not as durable as most clearcoats; it doesn't like being wetsanded (dry sanding with micromesh is fine), it does polish out, and you can easily remove it with glass cleaner if you don't like it. I prefer other clears...Tamiya or Testors lacquer clears; decanted and sprayed through the airbrush, and sometimes applying one last wet coat of Tamiya clear straight from the can. For more delicate paint and decals, Mr. Hobby B-501 clear is awesome stuff, it's like an extra-heavy-duty Future in a spray can, it's a water-based clear acrylic that sprays nicely (decanted or from the can), dries really fast, and has an almost Teflon-like feel to it; it's a bit harder to sand at first to get out any orange peel prior to buffing it out. It won't eat decals like other hobby clears. The only economical way to get it though is through Hobbylink Japan; get a few cans shipped when buying a kit or two, saves on shipping expense. It's 500 yen per can; Gunze clear is usually 9 or 10 bucks in the US if you can find it, and I think the US distributors have dropped it. Future is a pretty good carrier to help shoot artist's/craft acrylics on models.