Zoom Zoom

Ha, after 6 years people are still griping about the DBS! I'm surprised Hobby Design hasn't filled the void as they've done with other Asian kits that came either with incomplete or engine at all. There's a sliver of a market for Tamiya DBS buyers/builders that would gladly pay the price, because the hobby attracts enough OCD builders that want it all...regardless they're going to have an impressive model at the end of the process. Tamiya listened and learned from the criticism of the DBS and other forays into simplification. The customers have spoken, they pay Tamiya's premium prices and they expect the entire premium Tamiya experience beyond simple subject matter. Done. Since then their full-detail kits are again as complete as expected. Their current kits prove that they know what their customers want and are staying on top of the game-both curbside and full-detail, and in a few instances US prices are lower than expected vs. previous products. There they go, making me respect them even more! Meanwhile I'm working on my vintage Pacer wagon kit that is in no way, shape, or form even remotely "Tamiya-like". I'm disappointed that the well-respected, well-earned term "Tamiya-like" was co-opted in the Camaro box review as a negative; it's completely at odds with my own personal experience building multitudes of Tamiya (among many other) kits. Maybe I'm reading far too much into it, but on the surface it seems unnecessary and somewhat dishonest, given the context and the fact that if Tamiya kitted the DBS today it would be truly full-detail. Tamiya doesn't deserve the swipe IMHO, and the Camaro needs to stand on its own without a hint of artificial support, especially if the intent is to do it at the expense of another manufacturer that doesn't even compete directly. If it's a great kit, the world will know soon enough as they actually get built. And I hopefully will enjoy building the Camaro soon enough

I believe it's silver...boring, boring silver I have no idea if there will be promos, but the fact that they developed the full-detail and curbside versions side-by-side means there's likely a good chance the curbside exists because of potential promos. The pre-printed stuff on the full-detail kit also seems to make a case for that as well.

When Tamiya TS-13 clear became unobtanium a few years back, I tested U-Pol Power Can Clear mentioned by Bill above. I will never go back to Tamiya clear! I love it. Word of warning, the spray can and nozzle itself are not great. If you shoot the clear directly from the spray can, it can easily overpower the paint/primer and craze the plastic underneath. In that respect Tamiya kills it. I really can't recommend it if you don't airbrush it, unless you properly seal the plastic. And it might very well spray just poorly enough to cause orange peel. BUT...I decant and airbrush the U-Pol, thinning it anywhere from 10-30% with Mr. Color Thinner, and it is amazing how smooth it flows from the airbrush and even resists running. It also dries fast, I've had zero issues of it attacking paint/plastic/decals, and I've also tested it as a sealer between primer coats and it so far has worked perfectly as a sealer. It doesn't polish out as easily as Tamiya, but that's the "cost" of having a far more durable surface that won't get sticky from handling. I can get roughly 10 models cleared from a single can of U-Pol. TP Tools in Ohio seems to be the only place to reliably find it, whether their own website or Ebay.

There is a snap kit version of this model that should be on the shelves later this month. The full-detail glue kit is apparently a month behind the snap kit.

Still mad about that Tamiya DBS, eh? Looks like a great kit. Almost cruel that there is no comparable Mustang kit. I certainly hope Round2 offers ZL1 & Z28 variants along the way.

I can't say it's my favorite longroof by any stretch of the imagination, but it's my latest finished model. Fun new reissued MPC Pinto Cruising Wagon. I made the antenna, used better headlight lenses (toned w/a bit of my panel line wash to give them some dimension), and flipped the front spring/spindle units to give it a decent rake.

Very nice work taking a very average model that needs a lot of TLC and making it into a stunning replica!

No real Trabant left the factory half as nice as this model!

Nice pics! That said, I have to say after reading the following, I have lost respect for those who put on this show. As a photographer, you might want to know about this. In the link, the second photo is of a maroon Lincoln Zephyr from last year, a car that was destroyed in a fiery crash later. Barry Wolk, the owner of the car, has contributed to the fund... https://www.gofundme.com/2htexwc

A group of us went to Dreamland at one of the Birmingham shows (back in the 90's) and all got food poisoning. Never again! Yeah, those ribs were great until that. I don't think any of us has dined at a Dreamland since. The one nearest my home near Atlanta burned to the ground, was supposed to be rebuilt, but never was.

There you go! Looks awesome, the roll bar design and location is perfect now. Such a sweet model!

Very nice model! I'm also wanting to build a racing Tiger. Yours is quite inspiring, the Cobra-esque graphics look great. My only critique is with the roll bar location. While visually it looks good in the rear corners of the cockpit, ideally it would be placed much closer to the rear of the seats, and in fact the harnesses often attach to a portion of the rollbar, at least in more modern-built racers, including vintage racers.

Interesting; I went into that exact dealership to look at one up close in the showroom...I think they had one painted black as well when I was there. The door was open on it, a brand-new car, and the leather upholstery was already cracking. Horrible quality on those cars, but at least they didn't look like 1:1 scale poorly-assembled plastic models of kit cars like the Bricklin

Ah, must have been a momentary Fotki issue. Thanks!

The photos of my model are on the 1st page of this thread, they still show up fine for me and they've not been moved on Fotki.

Matt, I love your "new" BRAT STi! Glad I could help in some way. Makes me wish the old AMT kit was the Mk.II BRAT. Congrats!

Beautiful...glad I bought one of these and an extra set of the Hasegawa wheels! Love Harold's stuff. Saving this thread for reference.

No worries. Great products, great quality, great service, fast shipping.

VW had a sense of humor. Think about it...everywhere but the US it was a Golf Caddy. Pretty cool resin transkit from C1 Models available for the Revell Rabbit/Golf. Had a blast building it. http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrbbdbfqkgsgwbdxdksdtwdfsd,vi/wttkwwbdqxwfqgwskgbxbsfgbftkk/8/10258/13927406/IMG_4350-vi.jpg

Bingo. Like it or not (I do not like it), but Fujimi ruined the short tail and perhaps the entire plastic F1 market for the time being. I endured the pain building 4 Fujimi short tail kits. Even if Aoshima offered their own short tail, not sure I'd get it at this point. I had no qualms selling the two Fujimi long tails recently, I don't really even like long tail F1's. They're iconic cars, they're not going away or down in popularity, and prices of real ones are getting silly insane. If Aoshima has done any development on the F1 short tail, they should just sit on it for a few years, keep the development on the down low and then wow the world with an F1 LM and a few race cars before Fujimi can hurriedly reissue their turds.

Here are my shots. Had a great time, 6 of us ACME members attended this year. Most of us had an epic adventure, flying in/out of LA, going to Petersen Museum, driving around Hollywood/Westwood/Beverly Hills/Santa Monica/Malibu and also driving up Highway 1 from Morrow Bay through Monterey, going to Blackhawk and Canepa Collections, and of course the NNL West. Funny to see the cars in Silicon Valley; almost half of them electric and/or hybrid, and even had an autonomous Google pod car pull up next to us at a light coming back from dinner in Mountain View. The automotive landscape to be seen in coming years in the rest of the country... http://public.fotki.com/grdeyed/model_car_shows/nnl-west-model-car/

That's terrible! Great to meet you on Saturday, fun show!

It's a great kit...very simple, I built this during the 24 hours of LeMans in '07:

I had the same issue w/my Grex Tritium TG. Once I replaced my O-ring (and bought spares), I began to take better care of it. First I make sure the needle always comes out of the airbrush and is inserted back into the airbrush from back to front, so the blunt cut-off end never goes through that O-ring first. Second, I always use the blue needle lubricant applied to the needle in the general area it goes through the O-ring. This helps to protect the O-ring from the solvents and from the friction of the needle itself going through the O-ring. I have had zero issues since replacing that first O-ring, but I'm also careful. If it becomes an issue again, I'll have to source better O-rings. So far, not necessary, and I use the brush a lot.

X20A is only for acrylics, it works fine for Tamiya acrylics, but you can also use isopropyl alcohol and sometimes even cheap automotive lacquer thinners to thin Tamiya acrylics. The lacquer thinner works for acrylics and decanted lacquers. You can also use Mr. Hobby/Gunze Mr. Color Thinner, it's nearly the same thing as Tamiya, and you can order big 400ml. bottles of it online, it lasts longer. And if you have any issues with blushing, or spray in cold conditions, you can get Mr. Hobby Mr. Leveling Thinner to slow the drying time. I use the Mr. Color thinners all the time. I find all paints seem to spray a bit better after decanting w/a few drops of thinner.