Zoom Zoom

New 1/24 scale diecast model by Welly. Not sure if they'll offer it through US distributors, I had this shipped from a friend in Germany. Do the right searches and you'll find European Ebay and online retailers that carry them. Also available in red. It's a pretty neat model of the bay window van. No plastic kits so far, the companies seem to think that VW vans were all made prior to 1967.

That poor Impala did not deserve such a tasteless turn of fate.

It happens sometimes w/Tamiya sprays; being lacquer it can melt the layer below it, and their pigment isn't terribly dense. Spraying from the spray can may cause enough of the lacquer "melting" around high spots around panel lines that it can be annoying. Decanting does help tremendously; allows you to build up layers of paint in much thinner coats with a lot more precision. It still won't guarantee zero pullback around panel lines if you get a final coat a bit too wet, but since I've been decanting & airbrushing (I decant Tamiya the vast majority of the time) it hasn't happened to me. You probably have a perfectly good paint job going...wetsand what you have now for another coat, decant some of the red, respray and fill in the light areas, slowly build up to final wetter coats. Don't fall into the typical trap of stripping perfectly good paint that has a flaw or two. Flaws can usually be fixed, and a flawless paint job is pretty rare even in perfect conditions.

I also think their quality is second-to-none, the kits I have from them are excellent, and I see exactly what you are talking about in the rear quarters of the resin vs. the 1:1. My eyes are not lying to me when I compare the two above photos. That's not a slam against anyone, that's just a simple observation. Most models have visible flaws. It is up to each buyer to determine how badly they want a model vs. any potential flaws that may spoil the model experience.

Easy peasy. Real.

The DS was a pretty amazing car for its time. They actually were fairly reliable at some point, they lasted forever if rust was kept in check. The hydraulic system might have been a bit prone to leaks as they got older. Having ridden in one in the '70's, it was very Lexus-like for the time; amazing comfort...very quiet, a cloud-like ride. Also very fuel-efficient for the time, but also a very slow car. The springy floor and the weird "on-off" switch for a brake pedal, the 4-on-the-tree manual transmission, the rotating drum speedometer...the car looked pretty weird but it was definitely a very unconventional car with a lot of influence worldwide. As history goes, it's definitely got a spot on the top 100 cars of all time.

Revell's only new edge Mustang is unfortunately the '99 Cobra, the Mustang that even Ford would like to forget forever. I'd love to see a GT, Mach I conversions...but so far, nobody offers them. Seems the resin industry doesn't acknowledge new edge Mustangs...'05 and newer, yes. But after that..zero, zip, nada. Wonder why the aftermarket and/or Revell has ignored the new edge Mustangs? Seems like the Mach I, GT & Bullitt would seriously spike sales of the very unloved '99 Cobra.

Spent the day w/the same friends having a "Sebringpalooza" that will be together in June for LeMans; got the body together and ready for paint for my "Lucybelle" Testa Rossa LeMans build this year, and also did body prep on another white Ferrari (612 OTO that will have 20" Challenge wheels). The Peugeots sure looked good, dunno why the 'Vette's were so spastic in pit lane. Anyone who thinks Ferraris are not reliable can look at their race and street history...and look what happened to Jaguar...they do deserve the "unreliable" moniker. Great race, but the end wasn't nearly as exciting as some of the others we've known from Sebring, Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca... The new Audi is fugly.

Doesn't mean much to me, I don't "do" 1/18th...and honestly a lot of people don't know what to really look for on these...you definitely chose the only photograph of the model that could be interpreted as 1:1. You did good, it wasn't exactly a landslide

Those panel lines were a dead giveaway

I also use a Sharpie permanent marker; for black glass surrounds I use a chisel-tip (rather than the standard fine tip) marker as I have great success using the marker freehand with this type of marker because with a minimum of pressure the tip takes a "set" along the edge of the glass, and you can draw it back and forth with pretty good control. Chisel Tip Marker It doesn't take a lot of practice, and if you do mess up you can use some compound to remove it. If this is too difficult, get some Shurtape Gold (this is almost exactly like Tamiya masking tape, easy to use, very thin, and when burnished in place you can see a color change) in a couple of widths, use this to make your window mask and then use the Sharpie or whatever paint you like. This is essentially the same kind of tape that they make the window masks with for Tamiya/Aoshima/Fujimi kits. This is the stuff, it's easiest to find at a Sherwin Williams paint store (home, not automotive): Shurtape Gold CP 60

That's easy. Silicone is used on the molds, so the parts have come in contact with silicone, and silicone is the bane of any painter. Some casters use a silicone-based mold release (which keeps their molds in good shape a lot longer). If the part feels at all greasy, normal methods to clean styrene will not work to clean the resin of the mold release, I learned this the hard way. Simple way to find out? Do a tape test. If after cleaning the part, if regular masking tape won't stick to the resin, it needs to be cleaned further. On a particularly greasy part that didn't like to be painted after I tried nearly everything in the book (Westley's didn't work, nor Naptha, nor wiping w/lacquer thinner, nor Dawn & warm water, nor Prep Sol, I found that Easy Off oven cleaner finally got all the mold release residue off and that the part could be painted without fisheyes. Most resin doesn't require this, but it happens enough that it never hurts to be safe...I give every resin body a quick soak with Easy Off, never a problem with either paint adhesion or fisheyes. Sometimes a problem won't appear until a builder tries to mask off for a two-tone, or remove excess bare metal foil, to find out the paint didn't stick to the resin well enough.

I haven't tried them with anything other than the proprietary thinner, which works perfectly with them. They discontinued the aqueous acrylics, this is what has replaced them. Thinned w/their own thinner, they are fantastic paints. Tamiya aqueous acrylics thin with Mr. Color Thinner & Tamiya lacquer thinner (essentially the same thing), and thus sprays to a much finer mist than using their X-20A thinner...spraying acrylics with lacquer thinners makes them lay down like we expect.

That's one serious looking Magnum! Nice work.

Thanks! I guess I need to work on my reading comprehension...I couldn't find "Work" and kept confusing it w/"Wave" It's a bit convoluted but it works...I'll see if I can get some this way as it's gone from HLJ & HWJ.

I doubt that will happen, Ed made the move to New Jersey due to family considerations.

I still have not found it on their site. I've done the search. I've found the page with Wave products. Can someone copy/paste the exact product line or number from the Wave products so I can email them for exactly what is needed? I feel like I have to juggle chainsaws while sipping through a straw and rubbing my belly at the same time just to find a simple product

No, they didn't. Kit tires should stretch over them adequately.

My package from Germany from Scale Production finally arrived today...DHL packages shipped to the US come via the regular postman. I got some of the new 20" BBS Challenge wheels intended for the Ferrari 599 GTB or also the 612 Scaglietti. They are very nicely cast, almost no flash at all.

Finally got my DHL package from Germany! I was able to obtain three Welly 1/24 scale models that aren't sold in the US. The Porsche is already discontinued. The VW T2 van is brand-new. Interestingly, the Alfa and Porsche look much nicer in person than in photos, while the photos flatter the VW. The VW is destined to be repainted in "Little Miss Sunshine" yellow & white. Extra points if I can find suitable figures and a recording of the sticking horn

I kinda liked it too; if I had two of them I might have kept it like this. Ron Hamilton has a really neat variation of this kit that he's scheming up...can't remember the exact package it was, but it was a white car w/red, white, blue accent theme.

Good luck with it; I had a nearly identical restoration a couple years ago (though no box or extra parts). Bone-stock built Caprice in red. Paint stripped off well, tire damage to wheels/wheel backs. Photo Album of restoration Here's a few shots of it: Before: During: After: It looked like this for one day only for a Donk theme at the Birmingham NNL in '08:

Thanks! Jada plastic kits are quite nice. If they had realistic chassis & wheels/tires, they'd be better than Revell & AMT. The only one to avoid is the Corvette. This is their Shelby GT500:

LOL that's a good way to compare them Sorry you can't make it...we'll see you in November and we can get the photo then...it would be a cool contrast between the two...though my model is Fred Flinstone simple compared to yours (no engine, no chassis detail other than to hold the wheels and snap the car together...my chin splitter makes for a good "Japanese style" snap together chassis). My mirrors aren't glued in...might try to find some smaller racing-style mirrors that aren't quite as obnoxious.

I don't mind the number of doors. I do mind the fact that it looks like a mis-shapen potato w/a Corvette front end. I wasn't impressed in photos, and in person it only gets worse. Great interior...but that exterior is beyond fugly.