Aftermarket Woes

[ACody9879]

I figured I would start this since I am arriving at a bit of point in frustration.

It seems to me lately that some aftermarket items are becoming harder and harder to find and buy.  For example, with 1/24 cars, I would like to have realistic seatbelts and not the crappy decals or the cheap material Tamiya sometimes includes.  I have been trying to track down these types of things for a while, and it gets frustrating, but then I realized something.  We as modelers sometimes hoard kits, why not hoard aftermarket?

I looked at my stash and saw I have full aftermarket sets just sitting on the shelf and some are for kits I don't even own.  My favorite is a full 1/35 LAV-III LORIT conversion that I don't know if I'll ever get around to building.

Thinking about this, some of the frustration dissipated and I renewed my search for those darn seat belts. (BW, I am trying to find belts in red, black, and green)

Do any of you have a butt load of aftermarket in your stash?

 

Also, anyone know where I can locate some seatbelts? LOL  

Edited March 23, 2017 by ACody9879

[peter31a]

Oh, yes. Increasing stash of resin bodies, Replicas & Miniature parts, Modelhaus tires and parts, aftermarket paint (MCW & Bob's paints) Slixx and Gopher decals. Definitely not just kits being hoarded.

[astroracer]

Good looking seat belts can be made with medical or athletic tape. use black for black and the white can be painted any color you desire. I included the tape in all of my seat belt kits when I was still in the business...

mark

[Impalow]

Do any of you have a butt load of aftermarket in your stash?

Also, anyone know where I can locate some seatbelts? LOL  

Yes... a true butt load... wayyyyy more than actual kits.

 

and what kinda seat belts are you looking for?    Just photo-etched buckles and stuff?   Model Car Garage has some nice sets.. of OEM styles.   If you are looking for racing harness , detail master and pro tech have some nice pieces.

another option is to look at entire detail sets for kits you don't even have (crazy modeler, tamiya, hobby design)  sometimes you can get the entire set of photo-etch with seatbelt hardware for the same price as just the seatbelts... and you will have a lot of other random bits for future projects.

I purchased a crazy modeler photo-etched set for a tamiya ferrari FXX for 15.00 of ebay and have used it on my last 3 builds, and there are still a bunch of little parts left.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CARZY-MODELER-1-24-FERRARI-FXX-ETCHING-UP-GRADE-PARTS-FOR-TAMIYA-KIT-/272565713271?hash=item3f762eb977:g:wLUAAOSwQNRXLDx6

These are the belts on my cuda seats... (belts themselves are made from .005 styrene scuffed in one direction with 120grit and primed with black primer)

Edited March 23, 2017 by Impalow

[High octane]

I laughed back in the late 90's when a fellow modeler showed me two shoe boxes full of aftermarket items. Not funny anymore as I too have two shoe boxes full of aftermarket stuff, and that does not include my resin kits or bodies either. I use Model Car Garage Seat Belt Hardware and masking tape for my seat belts. I cut strips of regular (tan) masking tape and feed the end thru the buckle or latch end of the hardware, fold it over and place it on a piece of wax paper. Then I usually give the tape a couple coats of paint in any color I choose. When dry I can cut the belts to length and I usually put a tiny drop of glue on both ends of the belt when I apply them to the seats. This is really simple and looks good too.

[ACody9879]

The green seat belts are for my Epson NSX kit, it's all but done except for the seat and some minor carbon fiber decals I am waiting on.

The red, I prefer 2mm since I am going to use them on my FXX that is on the work bench along with a custom Porsche I am planning.  Black for everything else.

I have plenty of buckles thanks to Tamiya

[ACody9879]

I laughed back in the late 90's when a fellow modeler showed me two shoe boxes full of aftermarket items. Not funny anymore as I too have two shoe boxes full of aftermarket stuff, and that does not include my resin kits or bodies either. I use Model Car Garage Seat Belt Hardware and masking tape for my seat belts. I cut strips of regular (tan) masking tape and feed the end thru the buckle or latch end of the hardware, fold it over and place it on a piece of wax paper. Then I usually give the tape a couple coats of paint in any color I choose. When dry I can cut the belts to length and I usually put a tiny drop of glue on both ends of the belt when I apply them to the seats. This is really simple and looks good too.

Looking at my stash right now, I saw I have four different 1/32 PE sets for F-4 Phantom cockpits, but I only have one kit.  I think I buy some intending to buy the kit and later am unable to buy due to price/availability.  I could probably make a fortune on selling some of my aftermarket PE stuff

[CometMan]

I have a pretty good collection of decals. Quite a few of the for Indy Pace Car conversions. And also for my ships and planes because many of the big model companies won't (or can't) include historically correct insignias or nose art decals in their kits.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I've been stocking up on aftermarket bits when they come up cheap, or when I happen to connect with a favorite vendor at a show. Last two times I saw Replicas and Miniatures, I bought a lot of stuff I'd wanted for a long time but hadn't got around to ordering, and some things I didn't even know he made that looked really useful. Same with some Historic Racing Miniature bits, etc.

I probably buy more now, as I put off buying bunches of stuff from Modelhaus...and then one day they were gone forever.

[Ramfins59]

Yes, over the years I have accumulated quite a "hoard" of aftermarket parts and accessories.  I have PE sets, PE parts, resin and aluminum parts.  I used to keep them all in a large shoebox, but it would always take seemingly forever to find the pieces I wanted for a particular project.   My solution was to organize it all into various categories (Batteries & cables, Bolts & Fittings, Brakes & Master Cylinders, Distributors, Engine Parts, Grilles & Custom Pieces, Hose (Radiator & Heater), Hubcaps (Custom Pieces), Interior Parts & Accessories, Lights & Lenses, Sets (PE), Wire (Assorted Colored Wire For Spark Plugs).  I put all of the items in each category in small, separate plastic bags and then use metal Acco Binder Clips to hold each bag and hang it onto small cup hooks which I screwed into the front of a wooden bench in my model area.  This method makes it a whole lot easier and faster to find the parts I'm looking for.  I keep all my decal sheets in Zip Lock bags in a drawer of my workbench desk.

For seat belts I use PE buckles from MCG and either 1/8" wide craft ribbon, or narrow strips of painted masking tape.

[Mike999]

Glad I'm not the only addict. And no, I don't need any help, I guess.  I have too much aftermarket for armor, aircraft AND cars.

To go along with a 1/16 scale figure, I was recently about to scratch-build a WWII German 200-liter fuel drum.  Then Mr. Internet showed me that a company named "Classy Hobby" made a really nice set of those, complete with the raised lettering on the lid.  The set also includes eight 1/16 scale 20-liter jerry cans, with photo-etched metal seams (photo below).  Got the kit from eBay for a decent price.

At a Calif. swap meet a few years ago, one vendor was clearing out a huge stash of car aftermarket stuff, very cheap.  I grabbed several sets of OOP American Satco off-road tires. Some red and blue-wall tires.  A bunch of MCG etched sets.  And a couple of Ross Gibson engines, a Hemi and a Slant 6 Power Pak. Also a resin Ford 6.  And many other useful doodads.  I spent a big chunk of my model budget for the day at that one table, but it was worth it.

 

[Tom Geiger]

Seat Belts-  1/16" wide ribbon purchased on eBay.  Lifetime supply is less than $10.  

 

And These buckles were just carved out of Evergreen strip.  Once in the car, nobody notices the lack of detail.  I've also used the buckles off those awful kit part seat belts. 

I will also endorse the Model Car Garage photo etch buckle sets.  One tip though- If you are using their buckles, add some plastic to the backs of them. Buckles are not paper thin.  I cringe every time I see that on a model!

[PARTSMARTY]

I have a ton of aftermarket stuff and will never have enough -lol. !!!

[Snake45]

I have very little car aftermarket, other than some Modelhaus repro parts. I still have a large stash of Squadron vac-form airplane canopies and True Details cockpits and wheels from my airplane phase, which could return at any time.

[gtx6970]

This is one area I have very little. There was a time I did lots of added detail to every car I built. Seats belts, Fuel lines,  brake lines and cables.  completely wired under hood. 

Now I have a shoe box of various misc aftermarket parts that rarely if ever gets opened anymore.

I do have maybe 8 or 10 Resin bodies, but only because the subject  isnt  avail in any other medium  ( a Utility truck bed as an example )

[Tom Geiger]

As collections get sold, part of that is resin kits and aftermarket parts.  One local dealer who buys estates and such will take the aftermarket stuff and spread it across a table at a club meeting.  You can pick out a handful of things you want and he estimates what he will charge you.  Last time I had 4-5 packages of photo etch and such and he charged me $10.

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

I'm personally keeping Norm at Replicas and Miniatures of MD in business!!! Best resin parts in the biz... I use gaffers tape for seatbelts, it's already black and sticks to the seat. Available at any music store (Guitar Center or Sam Ash or on line) and one roll will outlast you and your heirs. If I'm using really small photo etched harnesses, I will cut strips of post-it note paper and spray paint it black for belt material. Super thin to fit through those small slits....-RRR

Edited March 24, 2017 by Rocking Rodney Rat

[1930fordpickup]

If I see it and I have the money I may buy it even if it is old stock . As Bill said sometimes if you wait you will regret it. Most kits come and go but the aftermarket rarely comes back. 

You are lucky Tom being a night shift guy I can not attend club meetings around here.