64Comet404

There's very little left, unfortunately. From what I have heard over the years, most of the tooling went out the doors with employees, who then sold it for the scrap value. It's a shame, because I have rarely seen a Jo-Han body that didn't accurately represent the 1:1 version.

The correct date is the 22nd of September. I have sent an e-mail to the webmaster to have the date changed.

Thanks, Peter. The info came from the early draft of the flyer, so I will check to see which date is correct.

The Ottawa Scale Auto Contest will be taking place on Saturday, September 22, 2018, from 9:00-4:00. It is being held at the Calvin Christian Reformed Church, 1475 Merivale Road, Ottawa, Ontario. This year's themes are, Show Cars/Show Rods, 70 Years of NASCAR, and 75 Years of Jeep. For more information, please check out our website at www.ottawascaleautocontest.com We look forward to seeing you at the show!

Finished the Porsche tonight, so decided to throw up some pics. A bit of wiring and weathering is all that was needed to show off the kit. All paints used are Vallejo acrylics. A bit out of the ordinary, but it does make a neat addition to the collection.

I can think of a few subjects I would like to see, which would fit in with their 1960's and 70's theme: 1. Datsun 1200 coupe/sedan (some parts sharing between these and the available Sunny Pickup) 2. Datsun 510 2-door 3. Mazda RX2-4 coupes 4. Ford Cortina Mk.I/II 5. Any of those odd early '60s Japanese cars you can only find in 1/32 from Arii.

There's a club I haven't heard of in a long time. I will see a couple of names on occasion over on Spotlight, but that's about it. The only person I knew who kept track of the members was Dave Evans, but he passed away a few years ago.

The best cars I have had have been reliable and fairly entertaining to drive. Unfortunately, they get replaced by cars which just aren't as good overall. I owned a '99 Toyota Solara, which I bought with 130,000 km on the clock. All the toys, and great fuel economy to boot. It carried me through several road trips and a return to college. I traded it in with 285,000 km, and bought a '06 Solara, which was nowhere near as reliable. I traded that car for a '06 Matrix, which was almost as luxurious, but had plenty of room for hauling cargo (model shows, gigs, etc.). I sold it to a friend of my stepmother with 235,000km on the clock, and bought a brand new '14 Focus hatchback. After enduring several transmission replacements, I really want my Matrix back!!!

They didn't have any at the time, Steve, but they have restocked. I was at the meeting last night, and two people showed up with built tractors (unpainted, but still built).

The membership of the Kingston Scale Automobile Club have made the decision to not have our annual contest this April. While our club has been putting on the show for many years now, we have had some discussions about when, and how, the contest is operated. Our show tends to fall one weekend after NNL East, and there are many modellers who can't justify two travel weekends in a row. In addition to the timing, we have had some turnover in membership, which has led to lots of discussion. Therefore, instead of running this year's contest in a rushed, half-assed fashion, the club is going to take the time to get details hammered out to our satisfaction. Hopefully, this time will reduce the chance for injury/death coming to any member who innocently (if foolishly) asks: "We haven't talked about the contest tonight..." While we are discussing changes for the contest, it will still be held at the same location (Royal Canadian Legion Branch 560, Montreal Street south of John Counter Blvd.). Our confirmed date for the next contest is Sunday, May 5, 2019. We thank all our long-time attendees from Ontario, Quebec, New York, and Pennsylvania, who have continued to support our show for over 25 years, and look forward to seeing you next year. We will be posting information as it unfolds. Thanks again.

The aircraft is finished! Decals are touched up, and an airbrushed coat of Future seals everything in. There are some small details which I could refine, but it's good enough for a shelf model.

It's not a model, but this was so neat, I had to buy it. My Dad used to have these when I was a kid, but they have long since disappeared (turned into decorations for a school Christmas play, and then thrown out). I haven't decided if I will open it, or frame it for hanging above my workbench.

From my experience, the worst tire burn in more recent kits is from the BF Goodrich Radial TA tires in 1980's MPC kits. There is something in the chemistry that just loves to leave tire imprints right in the middle of the window glass. I have seen imprints from all manufacturers, but the old Revell kits from the 1960's seem to be the worst offenders (just like the S-W-C Willys posted above).

I would buy one of these kits. I remember the kits in the stores, but was never able to buy one at the time. The built-ups I have found have been too badly glued to disassemble.

I sprayed the plane with Tamiya grey primer, followed by a coat of US Navy Blue. The colours listed by Revell are a bit of a mixed bag, since the decals represent an aircraft from the end of USN service (1955-56), which would be a gloss dark blue. The instructions ask you to paint the model in blue with grey undersides, which is more of a WWII appearance. The blue I painted it is a compromise, since a gloss dark blue would make it look like a Corgi toy. The model is an issue from the early '60s (H-175), but I had access to a set of decals from the mid-1990s SSP issue. I realized my mistake in using the newer decals as soon as the insignia was applied. Whoever did the colour match was obviously a stranger to a Pantone chart, because the shade is way too bright (closer to Ford engine blue). I have a bottle of Insignia blue, so some painting will be in order.

The LHS received a fine load of new releases from Revell this week, several being from Germany. I have always liked the look of the Porsche Juniors ever since I saw my first one in the pages of Excellence, so I was happy to get my hands on one. The Panamerica was on the shelves, but as I still believe that a Porsche with an adult-sized back seat is a form of sacrilege, someone else can review it. According to the box, the kit contains 76 parts, molded in a variety of colours. As much as I like the Heller Ferguson, I also like being able to finish a kit once in a while. The engine assembly and other assorted pieces are molded with sufficient detail, though I wish they hadn't molded the gear levers onto the drivetrain halves. Some drilling and pinning will be in order. The rear fenders have molded holes for installing a roll-over bar, but blanking plates are included. Three different styles of seats and two different types of railing are included. Some research will be required to find out which ones represent an original tractor. Roll-over bar and steel wheels. Some nice detailing to be found, considering this kit is billed as an Easy-Click kit. If this is what Revell AG is up to, I won't worry so much about the upcoming 356 kits. Lugged rear tires and treaded fronts. The front tires are actually the same diameter as the steel rims in the Revell 29 Ford Roadster kit, so someone who wants a really narrow set of steelies for a drag car may be in luck. A choice of stickers or waterslide decals. I believe the decals are Cartograf, and the metallic silver decals look metallic. I wish some of the US companies would figure out this process, and use it in their decals. Even if you may not be into tractors, this is still a fun kit to check out. I will be showing build photos in the All The Rest section soon, but I may have to pull out a Fujimi 356, just so I have something to pull behind the tractor...

Thanks for the comments. The stabilizers are a close match when you look at them from the front of the plane, but the angles really do look off-centre in that picture. For a kit tooled over 60 years ago, the parts fit is pretty good, but you do miss out on the detail found in today's kits. I'm in the midst of painting and decals, so I hope to post more pics shortly.

I wanted to start off the new year by starting and finishing a model. Therefore, I went digging through a small collection I recently picked up, and came up with a bagged Revell kit of a Martin PBM-5 Mariner. The original plane flew in US Navy service from the early 1940s up until 1956. The kit was first issued in 1957, and tooled in the ever-popular 1:118 scale. I assembled most of the airframe one afternoon while watching TV, and then began seam filling soon afterwards. More to come...

Looks really nice. Guess it's time to start adding to my buy list for NNL East.

I remember those wheels being advertised in the back of Street Rodder magazine back in the early '80s. IIRC, the spokes were painted to look like wood. I remember building both versions of the kit back then, and have unbuilt kits to do the custom, as well as the stock black and gold versions.

IMC produced a few Lotus-Ford Indycar kits. There was a ‘63 and ‘65 Jim Clark cars, and a STP car (I think it may have been a Graham Hill ride, but I am not certain).

Hi Bob, the Indy 500 combo is the version I have. Completely fictitious graphics, but great for the kids. The Willard Battery car is the same kit as found in the AMT and MPC kits, though there was a 1/32 version. The Rislone Special was a variation of the Olsonite Eagle kit, but with an Offy engine. IIRC, Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland used to offer a transkit. Have you had any luck in tracking down the three IMC Indy car kits?

I found that the mouldings for the Lotus and the Watson were in need of some TLC by the time of the MPC run. The copies I had always had poor fitting body panels and twisted parts. I was fortunate to locate an earlier AMT double kit, and it made a world of difference in assembly. I would also suggest picking up some decals from Indycals or another vendor. I placed the yellow MPC decals on the green bodywork, and they turned out to be a bit...translucent...

Great pics, Howard. It’s nice to see that Supershow has gone back to a good mix of different bike genres (I stopped attending when the number of Harleys made the show look like an episode of Chopper Build-Off). I miss going down and seeing what bikes were on the build tables.