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Thanks! It was a long time ago, the glass was difficult to remove. I vaguely remember it was a tedious job of careful ungluing with some X-acto scribing and gentle prying. The prepainted/pre-assembled nature of this kit was frustrating but it is literally the only game in town. It still looks good; I remove it from a display case every few years.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what everyone accomplished in the special issue. I had fun planning/modifying/building my 2 subjects that were done specifically for the special issue; the bonus being I got two of my “most want to build” models complete and on display with my other 2020 pandemic builds. I’m grateful I was given quite a bit of deadline leeway...I needed it!

Hey there stranger! Hope you are doing well. I just checked my two Gunze XKE’s, they both (low tech curbside & high tech full-detail) have the removable HT as part of the clear tree. Not sure if Heller’s XKE roaster has a HT or not, I only have the racing coupe kit. Maybe Revell’s XKE will get me to build the Gunze variants, they look good aside from rear wheel opening (easy fix removing material) and I figured a way to paint/build it with the roadster body seam filled.

Interesting. I have had the Panamera kit for ages waiting to see if there would be either a Revell Sport Turismo variant or aftermarket. I’ll likely get the USCP version if it’s their usual quality and it actually happens before I get distracted by something newer. I know the Panamera kit has some wonky body issues I’d need to fix just building the sedan OOB. Funny thing is now in 2020 that I’ve seen Taycans out in the wild and know Porsche already did a mild softroader Sport Turismo concept the Taycan itself is just a much newer/better looking car than the Panamera to my eyes, and since I can’t afford the real thing I want a model of one. I’d be okay with Welly diecast for that matter if kit or resin doesn’t happen.

Obviously not because it wasn’t out long before it was discontinued. Got my second Rabbit at Ollie’s for $7.99. Search hobby shops and swap meets, it’s not that rare a kit.

Revell took their excellent GTI and made a US-spec Rabbit. Great kit but didn’t sell well and they ended up blown out at Ollie’s. Beats the old 1/25 AMT Rabbit by a mile as well as the Esci kit.

This kit is a 914/6, always was a six cylinder.

This SA Aperta build is superb! Looks like a real car, nice choice of color scheme.

The SA Aperta is an open-top mish-mash of 2 seater 599 GTO and 599 GTB. Completely different car than the very long 4 seat GT car 612 Scaglietti.

I use an adblocker on my laptop. I see ads on my phone, they aren't too intrusive. The continuing issue I see is that I view "unread content" threads, and occasionally, like today, I see what look like private messages showing up in the most recent search. Examples old and new:

Not just kits, but diecast too. For those building 2010-up models there are plenty of diecasts out there available cheap enough that provide wheels, mirrors, interior parts, etc. If you want a 2015-up Mustang GT and want your Revell toy to look like a “real” model there are Maisto, Welly and Motormax models out there. I bought two Maisto Assembly Line Bugatti Chirons (40% off each, essentially full retail for a new Round2 reissue) to get me one set of the same wheels/tires for a Santa Fe I’m working on. I’m left with 3 other sets of wheels (two sets of front, one set rear) and one full set of smaller tires. I want to redo the Chiron w/o opening doors and in a better/unique color scheme, leaving the other for whatever. I had the new Academy Santa Fe and an idea spawned by a rendering and had to do it: Santa Fe N

It was okay for the era and if one is stuck on 1/25th it’s even better. I got a neat built one in Toledo for $1 years ago, really well built/painted in black like a GTI with wired engine and everything, but it had suffered from some sort of heat event that melted the roof. For a buck it just had to come home. I stocked up on the excellent 1/24 new-tool Rabbit, GTI and Cabrio kits from Revell; the Rabbit version done for US consumption is really a hidden gem and were blown out cheap at Ollie’s. Waaay better than the AMT kit that’s going to be more $$ than the Revell Rabbit full MSRP was when current. Revell Germany issues sold here have gone way down in price in the post-Hobbico era. Revell needs to do new- tool Mk. 1 and Mk. 2 Scirocco kits. The AMT Scirocco is meh at best and 1/25 is “fingernails on a chalkboard” for me regarding imports, but it’s the only stock game in town.

Excellent path to take. You'll likely appreciate the quality long after you've gained more experience. Ask questions before buying to make sure you know what you're getting into, as Tamiya has had some ups and downs along the way to the point today if all someone can complain about is that the latest kit doesn't fit their very personal, very narrow ideals/demands, that's not on Tamiya, it's on them. When I was younger and found it difficult to afford/justify Tamiya kits vs. domestics that were much more budget-friendly I didn't understand at that time (early 80's) that Tamiya kits were worth it to younger builders until I finally took the plunge. The owners of my LHS carried everything, they knew their products and customers, they even tried to sell younger builders on the true value of Tamiya kits (I was buying the new AMT Datsun 280 ZX that day, I did and I built it, even with their friendly/offhand comment on how Mr. Tamiya was going to be very sad that day LOL). I questioned the logic at first thinking all those guys wanted was more $ per kit sold. Later when I bought/built a couple Tamiya kits, saw their 280 ZX's & other kits built the light finally went off in my thick skull.

Amen. They learn, they adjust, they improve. They seem to be healthy enough to invest in the future by making excellent products consumers want. The stumbles that they created along the way are minuscule compared to the continual comedy of errors their competition seems to self-inflict when saving time/$$ is their first priority and only way to survive.

When the Testarossa came out my co-worker and I visited our local Ferrari dealer during lunch, a convenient 5 minute drive from work. There sat a black Testarossa with a $119k sticker price (perhaps $109k plus ADP). Hated it in photos, loved it in person. So when the Tamiya kit popped I immediately built it. Thank goodness black does a decent job *ahem* hiding that hideous vertical panel gap in the doors. I liked the 512 TR even better. Blindly thought the Rosso kit was as good as Tamiya. Was I ever wrong, the fit of suspension/chassis and other parts gave me fits. After the pain it came out great, gifted it to a modeling friend who was moving out of state. Replaced with the R/M 512 TR, which arguably solved the side strake issue better than the other players. Wheels/tires bleh, but Rosso sold their 512 TR wheels/tires separately. Win...I think, but still unbuilt.

Perspective: Tamiya’s 959 kit debuted 33 years ago in 1987. It currently retails for $22.50 in 2020 dollars before any discounts. Yes, it’s definitely flawed. I’ve actually been working on one in the past year with a few local friends as part of a group build. Mine’s going to be like a modernized restomod like the love child of Magnus Walker, Bruce Canepa and Hurley Haywood all in one because it’s a solid/fun canvas to start with and I’ll likely just glue the engine cover down. What kit wasn’t flawed in 1987, especially looking from 2020 perspective? The 959 builds up into a decent looking model OOB and they got the basics right. Yeah, the engine cover fit isn’t great and the rear spoiler requires molding in, you have to be good at body and paint. With Canepa revisiting real 959’s as continuation builds with Porsche’s blessing they already have rebuilt 959’s the same “wrong” configuration Tamiya did theirs. Cool! Spend millions for a real one or about 20 bucks for a kit...no 40% off coupon necessary. Earlier this year I built Tamiya’s new Supra kit. Brilliant engineering, basically the most enjoyable experience possible. They just keep moving the goalposts. Immediately on it’s heels I built the allegedly “Tamiya-like” Moebius ‘65 Comet. Ralphie’s Dad has nothing on my ability to string together a tapestry of curse words to describe my adventure beating that Comet into submission. Five times the effort, easily three plus times the hours spent vs. the Supra to make it almost look as good as if Tamiya had made the base kit. I love my finished Comet with modified suspension, aftermarket wheels and extra engine detail and a vinyl top. It was worth the pain and looks great, yet it sits there mocking my outrage at the battles it waged on my sanity. Twice since 2016 I made the mistake?! of building an all-new Tamiya kit followed by an all-new Moebius kit. Tamiya kits make you look and feel good with ease. If want that from other companies you’re likely going to have battle scars and war stories. I knew that full well before starting the Comet. It fought me harder than the Moebius Ventura. If the Mustang GT4 was coming from anyone but Tamiya I’d automatically buy/build at least one. Without hesitation I preordered two because it’s not just “Tamiya-like”, it’s the real thing and I can’t wait to get them on the bench.

I build kits from domestic & overseas companies, have been doing so for decades. I'm stupid happy that the Mustang GT4 is coming from Tamiya, have two on order and different ideas for both. The kit is right up my alley, I've been following sports car racing since the mid '70's, a Mustang fan since the '60's when my aunt bought herself a new '65 Mustang CV and then another new one in 1970. She loved those cars, it was infectious. From my countless hours spent at the bench Tamiya has more than earned my respect; I build models from nearly every company and have been building them for 50 years, Tamiya stands rightly atop the heap and they somehow manage to improve even more with every kit they introduce, they also learn from past mistakes. They're far smarter/savvier than anyone in this thread, myself included. I've seen the buzz in social media from the guys that are going to happily buy/build multiples. Tamiya's going to have no problem selling these kits. They have a worldwide audience of enthusiasts building their models, at a younger average age that gives hope to the future of this hobby. The only fail (really a travesty) I see in regards to this Mustang model is the simple fact that it's taken over 5 years for only one company, Tamiya, to make a serious enthusiast-oriented kit of a modern 2015-up Mustang. It's up to their usual high quality and customer satisfaction, regardless of complaints about the lack of an engine, which is fine by me, I build primarily for the design aspects of a car, not the guts that make a real one work (unless they're visible in a closed up car). I can't get in and drive any of them. Big picture: domestic kit companies have handed the enthusiast builder market for this subject (and others-like the new Ford GT) on a silver platter to Tamiya. Revell's 2015/2018 super-simplified Mustang GT's were paid for by Ford for promotional purposes, they had to be simple enough for a toddler to build, cheap and fast-tracked to get them out in a short timeframe and are inferior in detail to even cheap 1/24 diecast models, and meanwhile Revell is no longer a domestic company. You want your Revell Mustang or Ford GT to look like a Tamiya kit when finished? You're going to have to sweat for it, and don't turn it over or look too close inside. There is no domestic company for whatever reason that is healthy and viable enough anymore to take on an easy-selling subject like the modern Mustang, otherwise it would have happened by now. Meanwhile those of us buying/building the Tamiya kit will be happy that someone somewhere was capable of filling the void. The aftermarket will step up as they always do with modern racing subjects because serious builders often spend many multiples of the kit purchase price on aftermarket super-detailing supplies. That's a win for the kit company, the aftermarket, and the builders. Bottom line: we're getting a killer kit of a modern Mustang from literally the best company possible to tackle it at this point in time. That's honestly all that matters at this point.

A couple times a week when viewing “latest/unread” posts I’ll see a private message sent to someone as if it was a regular post on the forum. The software used here is supremely jacked up.

I also use jars; now that Tamiya sells 3 different sizes of jars I prefer those over the Testors jars due to size limits and metal lids that get gummed up too easily. If I only need small quantities, I use a cup.

Any of them. The #46 gloss clear is a favorite. It’s thick and you use almost 3 parts thinner to 1 part clear. I look forward to trying the new Tamiya clear lacquer in a jar, TS 13 doesn’t take well to decanting & thinning, it’s too soft, probably better to shoot directly. I’m hoping it works like Mr. Hobby #46 which lays down smooth, dries really fast!and durable and can be handled w/o getting sticky which is a problem with decanted TS -13 and enamel clear.

Tamiya will soon have many/most of their spray lacquers in new LP jars for those that like to airbrush and/or mix & match the colors for custom or closer-to-OEM shades that are close but not quite accurate. Preliminary testing is quite favorable. I had training in college in color theory and instinctually mix colors by eye to my liking, whether from jars or decanted. I often want to paint something immediately w/o waiting on ordered paint. I’ve decanted plenty of Tamiya paint in the past 10-15 years, I prefer laying down the paint in much thinner layers vs. the firehose effect of using just the rattle cans. This followed a period (my post-enamel phase) of using their rattle cans on nearly every project and loving it, aside from using it up quickly and darker colors pulling away from sharp edges. As I progressed I desired more control and returned to airbrushing. A single can goes a lot further, allowing more paint jobs per can, and issues of the paint pulling from edges stopped entirely. I use their primers as intended directly from the spray cans, it saves time, dries very smooth and the thicker coats are good for protecting the plastic especially if I shoot aftermarket auto paints. Mr. Hobby primers and clears are IMHO superior to Tamiya. Harder to find w/o internet, worth it if you can find it. I found this out during the period that Tamiya sprays, especially clear, vanished for a period and I needed substitutions. They have Mr. Surfacer grades for bodywork through finished primer that’s the smoothest I’ve ever encountered, and both spray cans and jars of each grade. They also have an amazing white base color. The only (few) times I’ve had auto lacquer craze using Tamiya or Mr. Hobby primers was when I didn’t apply enough primer.

Only 60 copies? Glad I got mine when I did at NNL East. I’ll build as a custom too.

Mine was finished a week ago, bring on the GT4!

Tamiya USA posted on their FB page that it would be available in March.

That photo is of Tamiya’s 1/10 scale RC GT4.