Ace-Garageguy

Maybe they're thinking about a re-release of the "new-tool" Ala Kart (the one with the itty bitty little underscale engine)...which I'd happily buy if they retooled the engine...after actually MEASURING ONE AND DIVIDING BY 25.

I'll spend what it takes to get what I want, but I look for "deals" and shop...and sometimes wait...for the best price I can get too. Somewhere around $125 is the tops I've shelled out to get a pristine 1/25 kit, and a couple hundred plus to get a few larger scale things. I recently bought a built-up Pocher for right at $150. It needed a full rebuild, but so what? It's a very 'spensive model if you buy a cherry.

The "stars and bars" is the Confederate flag. Considered to be the "enemy" of the United States at the time. Also considered by many to be a symbol of intolerance, bigotry, and violence towards minorities. And how the hell do you draw the conclusion Joe supports ISIS?

Glad you guys enjoyed it. I believe there is a kit of the Renown-sponsored Mazda. I need to add it to the queue of my all-time favorite race cars (GT40 MkI, several Chaparrals, McLaren M8, Porsche 917, 906, 904, 550, etc...).

Well, they make detail stuff for German military vehicles, and Germany was very much the "enemy" at one time...if you recall. Maybe the ISIS flags aren't so much to "glamorize" the organization, as to make available to modelers of contemporary military engagements flags to identify the enemy by. After all, they fly their flag on just about every vehicle (a lot of Toyota and Nissan pickups). And speaking of contemporary military engagements...there are some really bizarre improvised weapons in that part of the world. Very Mad Max, and some look to be quite well made.

I guess I've been lucky. I'm about the same age as the OP, but other than needing more light to work, and sometimes the aid of a magnifying lamp, I'm functioning about the same as I did 20 years ago. Part of it may be due to the fact that I make things for a living, day in, day out, building 1:1 hot-rods and doing a wide range of custom work. I guess that may keep all of the circuits tuned and the hand muscles and joints lubed too. Whatever the reason, I'm profoundly grateful I can still do the things I enjoy most. I do have arthritis in my right hand, but I've also found that when I'm getting plenty of exercise, the pain and stiffness in my hand pretty much go away. I've also noticed that my vision is sharper when I'm exercising frequently. I can not stress enough how much better overall I believe people would feel if they would keep themselves at close to their "ideal" weight...or not more than 20 or so pounds over it...and get frequent cardio exercise that raises their heart rate for at least 20 minutes a day. Even every other day. I've let myself go to pot several times, and each time it's a little harder to get fit again...but it is SO worth it. A parked car deteriorates faster than one that's in use, and a human who is sedentary goes downhill a lot faster than one who's very active. PS: I've always been bad about putting something down and immediately forgetting where I put it, especially if I put it somewhere "special" so I'd be sure to remember. Always. Not creeping dementia, just sometimes a distracted idiot.

Cragars and Americans were the top line wheels, the coolest hippest and most desirable. Americans were, of course, the first "mag" wheels on the market in 1956. Keystone was sortof a second-string line. Within the lines were various styles of wheels as well. Both of the wheels in the top photo have steel rims, and they weren't the coolest and lightest all-alloy wheels, like these. All-alloy Cragars or all-alloy Americans were the ones to have...simply because they were the ones the real racers used. Everything else was also-ran...but the steel-rim jobs were more practical on the street if you tended to get a lot of curb rash. The alloy-rim wheels could crack if abused. Once they cracked, of course, they wouldn't hold air. The steel rim wheels could still hold air if the rims got bent. And the prep under the plating on the center of that Cragar in the top shot really is pizz poor, as mentioned by Mkie_G. I wouldn't accept it, but that's what a lot of stuff looks like these days, and people seem to think it's fine.

I missed this earlier. Looks great so far. I want a real one.

Well, it's not too late. They already have 75% of the kit tooled.

Three little Tobettes in the mailbox when I got home. The Mako Shark snapper is slated to become the XP87 The '63 snapper will donate its rear deck as part of an AM Grand Sport roadster conversion. The '67 427 roadster will most likely end up something like this. All three for less than $15 each, including shipping.

Shouldn't be too hard to scratch-build one. Plenty of reference photos available.

I'm beginning to wonder if there's a Pokemon GPS reference location in my front yard. Over the past week or so, I've been getting a ton of people looking at their little hand-held devices literally drive on to my lawn and park (no curb, quiet side street). I now have a nice dead pair of tire tracks where grass used to be. I guess playing some retarded frigging game transcends the right of someone to HAVE a decent looking lawn. I think spike strips may be in order.

Cool little car, great concept, very clean. One way to possibly make it work in 1:1 would be to use the old VW transporter gear reduction boxes on the outboard ends of the axles, but rotated 90 degrees to the rear. This would have the effect of allowing a Porsche (or VW) gearbox mounted too far forward to still put the wheels in the right place. I don't know the exact dimensions of the VW boxes, but something of exactly the right dimensions could be fabbed, using either gears or a Hyvo chain and sprockets.

Yeah man !!! Like, everyone knows that, like, if it was in a movie, like, it HAS to be, like, TRUE.

Ed's photography is a constant reminder that to find beauty, all you need to do is open your eyes. It's hard for me to believe there could be a more beautiful world than the one we all share.

And a large percentage of the bozos claim it was done with CGI...so they're obviously too ignorant to even realize CGI capable of doing that quality didn't even exist in '69. Digital animation was in its infancy at the time. Of course, one of the downsides of being stupid and ignorant is to assume everyone else is equally stupid and ignorant too.

I'm always amazed that two "scale models" of the same subject can be so very different. You'd think measuring units hadn't yet been standardized from the looks of things sometimes. Seriously, the red model has a taller ducktail spoiler that extends down the sides of the rear fenders. The lower curvature of the rear fenders is also different, as is the size of the rear window. Otherwise, the contours of both rear ends are quite similar. I don't know anything about various versions of the Mk IV, or how it may have been modified during its racing days, but those two factors could account for the obvious differences in the photos.

Ken, I think you've got its origin. Pretty much exactly. Amazing. Though I think the one in the OP is a much later version, with the government-mandated "anti-head-whacker-bar".

Yeah, I'm not totally opposed to the idea of a hot-rod plastic sweetheart, but that doesn't really address my cherry problem.

I think it's a real shame, and a real sad statement about one of the problems with people, that a bunch of morons who probably can't even do a good job changing a light bulb have managed to get any traction for such a stupid idea. It doesn't matter WHAT you do, how good or clever or spectacular it is...there's always some nothing piece of walking human excrement who'll try to tear it down. Pathetic.

Since R2 seems to like the idea of getting more mileage from old kits, a REAL no brainer would be to simply tool a '27 roadster body (and modified fenders if required to fit in the rear) and use the rest of the old-tool '27 T kit. I'd buy multiples, as there are a LOT of iconic hot-rods I'd like to do based on a '26-'27 T roadster, but I'm not a real fan of any of the resin bodies.

1969: US lands first men on the Moon. 2016: What's a book?

You have to admit though that, seein' as how R2 has a significant library of old kits, and that tooling a whole new kit is a significant cash outlay, it makes more sense for their particular business case to fill the company coffers in the short term by restoring smallish bits of existing classic kits. It wouldn't really make sense to try to go head to head with Revell and Moebuis, who pretty much need to rely on fresh blood (though I'd buy just about any re-release of Revell's vintage stuff...PARTICULARLY THE PARTS-PACKS) when they can probably keep the profit machine ticking over nicely doing what they're doing. It would be really REALLY great to see some all new AMT-labeled kits that had the feel of the old classics though. Revell kits always feel like Revell kits, Moebius kits the same. If you know what I mean.

She's going to take some work, and you may have to make her into a custom or drag car to get her looking decent, but I LOVE seeing people bring back glued-to-death messes. I've done a few of my own.