Zoom Zoom

Oh, I've definitely seen it. I'm in total lust over the GTO. A lot of people think it's too tame for the GTO moniker, but they said the same about the 288 GTO when that came out and it was a nearly instant classic. You can go to Ferrari's site and build your own on their configurator. I wasted spent about 2 hours there on a Saturday morning and came up with a bunch of paint schemes...you know, just in case I get to build a kit of it

I built one, love the fact that it looks "relatively" stock. The flat hood and poverty caps made it a kit that I'd own, I'm not at all interested in drag cars but this type of mild street machine / pro-touring look does interest me.

I just looked at a couple models built about 5 years ago using black Sharpie marker for inner window masking, and I see no sign at all of fading. Looks good as new.

Fujimi stuff isn't doled out very often for review! I'm on my own to get this one as soon as it hits. I see Hobbysearch still has their 20% off sale until May 31...looks like it can be had for a bit over $40 shipped. Revell AG's version is due in June... Where's my 599 GTO?

That is what I assumed with your question; the Sharpie marker is for the inner black surrounds, not for exterior trim (it is too shiny for that). Yes, the Sharpie is glossy w/a slightly blue tint, but that doesn't matter when it is on the inside of the glass. Go over it a couple times to make it as opaque as possible. On a finished model, you cannot tell that it is a Sharpie vs. the far more labor-intensive drill of masking inside and out, making templates, painting, waiting for it to dry...all completely unnecessary. I will airbrush the areas only if the kit has precut window mask stencils, which saves a good amount of time and much easier than making stencils.

Black inner window surround? Try a chisel-tip Sharpie pen. Works great with a little practice; it's easy to freehand when you let the chisel-tip take a "set" along the edge of the glass, once it's "set", you can draw the marker back and forth a few times until the ink is fully opaque. I'll never paint window surrounds again, unless the kit already has pre-cut window masks. I easily save an hour or more per model by using a Sharpie and nobody will ever notice the difference. Red Sharpies are great for taillight lenses...I never paint those anymore; a waste of time and paint. It dries almost instantly without any film thickness. I don't have an example of the window tint.

That's awesome

I could easily live with that!

I love seeing how you detail your models to the Nth degree. I always admire those who build to that level and standard. So I can understand why you might pass on this kit... I far prefer the simple life of building more common (but high quality) models like this one. To me they're worth it; my enjoyment comes from building models for their appearance, for design aspect, not for mechanical details. You might be surprised how few MFH kits I would buy, even if the cost were equal to Tamiya. I just don't like tiny detail parts, especially photoetch and anything white metal. I far prefer Profil24 or Fisher kits over MFH. For the high-parts-count, high-detail multimedia kits, I'll live vicariously through others and I'll keep building & enjoying the simpler kits

1989-1994 Ford Taurus SHO. 2011 Mustang GT engine is also The Secks:

A Japanese guy on Automotive Forums says that at least for Japan they want the Lotus 79 out first. I can't explain why, but regardless...your LHS may already have the DBS, but probably not for the lower price that the online Japanese sources will have it for. I'm about to preorder a Fujimi 458 for 20% off list, it's due in late May...can't wait for that one. It is a stellar year to get Aston DBS, Ferrari 458 (from 2 sources), Mercedes AMG SL63, Mercedes SLS, Mercedes SLR 722, Corvette ZR1, Viper ACR, '62 & '66 Impalas, and the Moebius models on the horizon. I would expect the next go-round of Japanese kit announcements, or perhaps Revell AG, to have the Ferrari 599 GTO. I may need smelling salts if that happens I'd be ruined if I bought/built F1 cars. I can't keep up as it is.

Surprise! The DBS is available in the US right now. Someone found it in a hobby shop in Colorado; I looked it up on Stevens International website, and it's available. I can't wait to see more of these beauties built!

Mark, how many have you counted? I know of three, the one I built, the one Mike built, and a third that a builder in Singapore that bought his at his LHS around the same time magazine review copies arrived in the US (Tamiya would probably like to know about the Singapore deal, since you can't buy this kit until May 22, even in Tokyo). I doubt Tamiya is handing them out like candy, but it is important for them to get them out to the right folks in a timely fashion to sustain the buzz about their new product. For the record, for at least the past several years Tamiya has been sending out advanced copies of many of their kits for review. Revell has been doing this as well in the last couple years. I was able to alert Revell to an issue of several half-scale decals in one of their all-new kits, about a month prior to the official sales date. Revell appreciated the alert, immediately revised their artwork (so I assume the next run has the fixed decals) to remedy the error. Sure beats having the issue dragged through the mud on an internet forum

Nice work! Great looking model . My review sample was finished a couple nights ago. People who like Tamiya models and/or Aston Martins should really dig this kit. I think it is amazing that Tamiya can announce a kit like this in February (Feb. 4th by my records) and have advanced copies in reviewer's hands 2 months later, and on the shelves worldwide roughly a month after that. It's also amazing that people actually complain about something like that...objectivity goes completely out the window when we don't get our toys yesterday I compared the model w/photos and I've seen a few of the 1:1 versions in person. To my eyes Tamiya nailed the shape...as usual. One of the most gorgeous cars on the road today.

I remember a vendor in Toledo having these oddly coloured resin repops of old slush-cast promos sometime back in the early-mid 90's, they were all about $35 or so and what you see is what you get. They had the Tucker but I bought a 48 Packard CV from them, a lot of work later it became "Packarderm" aka the "Pregnant Elephant" as the cars were called. The resin is nicer than Sam Miller's was. Pretty much urethane resin, cast in color. Sam used bondo and fiberglass resin a lot. These were overpriced at $35. I feel like stripping it down and refinishing it; the clearcoat yellowed and the ultra 80's/90's street rod look is terribly dated now, and my building/finishing skills are also a lot better. Sam Miller's cars could look decent w/a bit of work:

Add to that the fact that Trumpeter allegedly cut out the American kit designer after the patterns were done; I say "allegedly" but I'm pretty sure that is what happened, simply by looking at the end product. To me it would be insane to have the person who designed the kit in the first place not to be involved in the tooling & test shot phase. Somehow I have a lot more confidence that Moebius "gets it", and won't let that kind of thing happen. Nothing worse than bringing out subject matter aimed at serious adult builders that doesn't nearly live up to the hype, much less the expectations.

Moebius would be crazy to botch their kits to Trumpeter levels of incompetence. I have good feelings about what they're doing, hopefully they follow through without cutting corners. So far so good, but we'll all have to wait until they're on the market.

The best shows seem to be in the spring and the fall. Some in the summer. Winter can be hazardous. That said, if you are planning a show, make sure you don't plan one that overlaps another on the same weekend. If you are trying to make a big show, this is especially important.

If it's a 5.0, it's not a 2010, but a 2011.

It's an Excalenet by Pygmy Motors

I really wish that Charger police car had made it..we only waited 4 years for it, and it got almost all the way to production At least I found a Lindberg Jaguar D Type at a show recently for 5 bux. Guess that was good thinking...I was waiting for that reissue...which obviously won't be happening.

NO! I was all excited about the Mustang, and realize it says "2010". I sure hope there is no visual difference between a 2010 and 2011 engine, because the 2011 Mustang has the new 5.0 engine that blows away the 2010 4.6. Seriously...Revell need to not make the 1999 Cobra mistake all over again. If they're tooling a new Mustang GT, it really needs to be the 2011, especially since the kit probably won't be out until 2011. The Cutlass...well, looks like I'll finally buy one. The '48 and the midget both look sweet.

Good stuff, I'm in for a Mustang, the Cutlass (didn't care for the first version issued), the '48, and the midget. On second look, that 2010 Mustang really needs to be a 2011. Any Mustang fanatic would know exactly what I'm talking about. That 5.0 badge on the fender means a serious upgrade under the hood. As soon as 2011 Mustang GT's are on the street (any day now), the 2010's become the "depreciate like a rock" red-headed stepchildren of late-model Mustangs. A 2010 kit coming out when the 2011 is available on the street seems like a rather short-sighted tactical error on Revell's part. I hope they already know this or made a mistake, or at a minimum have a GT500 coming later to make me even more easily forget the 2010 GT.

I'm 99% sure any Mk II Toyota kits were tooled up years ago and are not full-detail. Most Japanese kits didn't have engine detail until later in the '80's, and still many of them are curbside unless it was a particularly special or historic car. It would help to know what year, but if it's a '70's or '80's era car, it's likely curbside with a very simple chassis that at one time was probably fitted with an electric motor.

Scale Kraft has been gone for awhile. Guido Fiew was on a hiking adventure in Belgium and fell about 200 meters down a mountain and almost died from the accident from blood loss alone. Months later he returned home to South Africa, and had to give up the resin business due to lingering damage to his ability to use his hands. He returned to his previous work in architecture. There had been talk of him selling the masters/molds, but nobody knows if that ever happened. Sad loss; he made some very unique subjects.