Zoom Zoom

I'll certainly be "changing the channel" and doing something other than following ALMS any longer. Used to be my favorite racing, by far. With the ALMS getting the shaft by NASCAR/Speed/Faux News Corp and sponsors, they have set upon us the most annoying spin cycle ever. They have repeatedly badgered their true fans on Facebook by posting "our series is all rainbows and puppy kisses because of this awesome new TV/internet package! ABC! ESPN2! ESPN3! More people watch those networks! The actual press releases are bad enough. But the male bovine feces they are handing out to the fans is ridiculous. While completely glossing over the FACT that this year (unlike last year) there will be ZERO hours of live, televised coverage. ZERO. Last night on Facebook they had the audacity to say that the 12 hours of Sebring "only" had 8 live hours of TV coverage last year on Speed. This year the entire race and qualifying is online, and TV coverage is on ABC! What did they not say? Repeat after me,..ZERO live hours of televised coverage. VS 8 hours last year. On the medium that the vast majority of their fans prefer. Race summaries a day late on TV? No thanks, the coverage was horrible when they last did that. It's one thing to understand that the ALMS apparently cannot afford real, live, televised coverage due to whatever reason. Instead of humility, they put the spin cycle on high, and keep badgering fans who know better with fabricated "facts". That is what lost me as a fan. They can't be honest with us. They can't present what is going on in a way that I have any empathy for them. I only see the fact that I can't sit and watch the races as I have enjoyed them in the past. The ALMS is ignoring and glossing over the fact that they are a sinking ship, and they are clearly a part of the problem by their lack of taking their real fans seriously. They are treating their fans as if the fans are under-educated potential sponsors, people who might actually believe the spin put in front of them, in order for them to support the series...with their cash. Think the fans are unhappy now? I can imagine what the situation will be like in a year if they don't return to real, live, TELEVISED coverage. The package they have would work a lot better for the future, but right now it cuts out a lot of fans from seeing the racing they want to see in the medium that they want to see it in.

It's about time! I can think of about 3 agencies I want to build.

Blame Mercedes Benz, not Revell, for the fact that the US-packaged version has been canceled due to licensing issues.

Nice conversion work I've considered doing a similar conversion, but I'm lazy and want a few more of you guys to do it, so that Revell eventually offers this kit to us

I'm awaiting an email reply from inside Revell. Tower Hobbies shows a mid-February restock. I'm pretty sure the first run sold out fast, it's that good of a kit. This happened with the Revell AG Audi R8 kits. Sometimes what happens is a Revell AG kit is reboxed for US consumption, if the Revell AG boxed version sells out, it is discontinued by the distributor in anticipation of the kit from the US sales channel. Right now communications might be crossed. I suspect a licensing issue, or perhaps not enough pre-orders for the US version. Looking at the MRC/Aoshima page, they don't have the stock SL63 any longer, nor any indication of getting the SL 65 Black Series. Licensing issues w/Mercedes, perhaps?? It wouldn't surprise me. Don't freak out, the Revell AG kit will be still available, you just won't get the same price as a Revell US kit. For the $35 discounted price of the Revell AG kit, it's still a good model.

My April issue of Scale Auto just arrived... MCM issue #154 was excellent.

That came out perfect, incredibly cool and further cements your "style" to a "T"

Very cool. I might steal this idea for a Pontiac

In a "F"lash, Ferrari has renamed the F1 car F150th Italia. I'm sure they won't pickup any more viewers or fans, but for now we can put a cap on the issue and put it to bed. Do people tailgate at F1 races?

I'm sure it all amounts to just another attention grab, more than anything else, and using the automotive "press" and blogs as their paparazzi. They knew exactly what they were doing when they named the car, they knew it would stir up attention. Attention = Advertising. Okay, so I won't watch F1 this year. Not like I needed yet another reason. Lesson learned

Glad it worked for you A word of advice for this particular airbrush; the needle/head assembly are relatively "closed", paint tends to build up a little around the tip of the needle and the surrounding head. Normally you spray in one direction, let off, spray in the other direction, let off, etc. Every time you let off the trigger and then start it again, you generally get a small "blip" of buildup that dislodges and lands on your paintjob. What you might think is dust/dirt in your paint is from the airbrush itself. When spraying a body w/the 150, either don't let up while spraying, just keep the paint flowing as you make the passes over the body. If you do let off, don't aim the airbrush at the body when you start the flow again, and you'll eliminate a lot of "nits" in the body. Learned this the hard way... Actually, it's a good idea for any airbrush, but the 150 is by far the most sensitive to that paint buildup and it does it consistently, but it may happen to any airbrush.

It's not that anyone will confuse the two, but with the litigious society we live in, every company must protect their own trademarks and names, if they let it slip, then a more nefarious entity may be allowed to "steal" it. This is the same brilliant climate that has strangled our hobby with licensing woes. The legal profession has created quite a lucrative industry for themselves for their clients

Of course...as soon as the new 1:1 model arrives, a kit of the old one becomes available. Isn't that what always happens? Lindberg's '97 Crown Vic, Revell's FWD Impala, now the Charger. Every one of them a "used car" replaced by a newer bodystyle by the time the kit hits the market. The Charger kits were announced by Testors in July of '05 at the IPMS Nationals in Atlanta. At the time they mentioned a police version available "in about a year". When announced, the Testors rep at the show said the regular R/T and Daytona versions that had just been approved, would be on the market by Christmas that same year. I did the math in my head, on the shelf 5 months after starting from scratch... I knew they were absolutely full of it, a new kit never gets done that quickly, figured a year would be more like it, and of course it was...for the R/T and Daytona (nice kits when they finally hit). So they're only about 5 years late to the party with the police cruiser, having gone from a Testors box to Lindberg, having Chrysler go through three owners in the meantime. Cue the golf clap, we set a new world record! That said, I love it! Charger & Magnum police cars look killer. Pick up some Revell Uptown Magnums if you want a base-model non-SRT Magnum to kitbash w/police parts. You'll have to add door handles. As for the Lindberg police cars...ever skeptical, I'll believe 'em when I see 'em I hedged my bets and picked up a diecast Testors Charger police car as an insurance policy, "just in case"...

150 is a dual-action. Sounds like the needle is not fully seated, take the brush apart at the back, loosen the screw around the needle, and push the needle as far forward into the airbrush body as possible so the very tip of it fully seats in the "closed" position, then re-tighten the screw around the needle in back, and replace the cover. Read the parts manual, learn how to assemble/disassemble it, and start practicing!

I have no idea. If it's made in Japan, maybe. If it's a Japanese nameplate but American-made for American consumers, doubtful. I have a friend who has owned his Cobra 289 for 36 years now ('cause it's a lousy daily driver ). It's one of my favorite looking cars of all time, his car is gorgeous, I've been lucky to ride in it to a few car shows. It is also a beast; it has more than plenty of power. Even w/the 289, it twists and squirms under aggressive acceleration which in itself is almost breathtaking. The 427's are insanely overkill...the 289 has all kinds of character already

Thanks for the comments; I do love building offbeat subjects, sometimes boring...lots of guys love boring old cars like Falcons, I like some boring new cars like the Prius I love the shape of the car, it's a shame to me that it belongs to such a dull car to drive. Ditto the VehiCROSS...I love the moonbuggy styling, but it's nothing special at all underneath...rides like a buckboard, sucks gas at a prodigious rate, performance? What performance?

The price differential is because the model is going through more distribution channels and traveling across more oceans, and shipped in finished packaging vs. unfinished. A Revell USA kit is produced in China, but I believe all of the kits are shipped "unfinished", and not placed inside of finished packaging, until they are in the US. They aren't shipping separate kit boxes, they are shipping a container in bulk of bagged kits and parts. So the ZR1 was made in China, shipped in bulk quantity to the US, then packaged and distributed throughout the US. The ZR1 in Revell AG packaging was made in China, shipped to Europe, packaged in Revell AG box w/Revell AG instructions/decals. If you get this kit in the US you are paying for the fact that it has traveled the world a lot further, and shipped to the US in a finished box. Extra level of middleman involved. It's not some evil method to rob you of your money. Caveat Emptor... When Revell AG kits are sold via Revell USA in Revell USA boxes, they arrive to the US the same way that the Revell USA kits arrive from China, but they come from the factory in Poland, shipped in a container of bagged kits, that are shipped unfinished to the US and packaged here. That's why they are priced similarly to Revell USA kits when sold that way. It works the same way overseas. Kits packaged for US consumption, but sold overseas, are far more expensive there than they are here. Look at the online websites from Japan, for instance, to see how much a Revell kit (from US or Europe) or AMT kit will cost them.

It's great tape, warts and all.

Oh please, you know they have to go a little more mainstream than that. I think they'd make a whole ten dollars of profit on an Amphicar

The yellow "Frogtape Delicate" is merely Shurtape CP-60 with the thin bit of edging barrier "PaintBlock Technology" that acts with water. Regular Shurtape CP-60 is essentially a domestic version of Tamiya tape, and far more economical, works the same. Frogtape isn't really necessary or scaled for model cars, The regular Shurtape CP-60 is a permanent addition to my tools/materials, works like a charm. I found it at Sherwin Williams (home paint). Shurtape CP-60

Absolutely STUNNING I love how you've added so much character and changed it so much, but it looks completely believable as if this version was also done by GM design. Can't wait to see this in person! Will you be in Anniston on March 19? If so, we need Covert to bring his Astro-Vette to display along side of it.

That's an amazing job, looks fantastic Especially considering the nature of the model you started with-this is by far the coolest MPC Ventura model ever

Cover your eyes and go hug your '57 Chevy I need to print out a new license plate that says "SMUG"

Attention all boring traditionalists! There is plenty of fun & plenty of life in the post-Model T, post-'32 Ford, post-'49 Merc, post-'57 Chevy, post-'69 Camaro world When I built this Tamiya kit, it was before it (the 1:1) went on sale in the US. Somehow the photo ended up on the 'net and I had people contacting me asking me how I got my 1:1 VehiCROSS so early and how much they loved it. Most of them were people who were on waiting lists for the real thing Tiny market, but most enthusiastic. I've ridden in a VehiCROSS...it's just a shortened Rodeo underneath...slow, thirsty, rides like a hobby horse but looks like a moon buggy.

Money well spent, I'll take all of those, especially the X-100