AIR-TRAX pricing list 2018

[MrObsessive]

I haven't seen this posted here as a thread, so I thought I'd show this as it was talked about on another forum. I have a pic of Tapani Rauramo's (Air-Trax) price listing of his latest kits. I have a couple of 'em and his castings IMO are EXCELLENT! Very little cleanup is needed and there's kits/transkits here that you won't find anywhere else.

I could REALLY kick myself for not buying that absolutely gorgeous '69(?) Aston Martin kit that he had when I saw him and Juha Airio at the NNL East a couple years ago. He still has it listed, so I may bite the bullet and give myself an early Christmas present.

You'll see his email address in the pic if you're interested in anything and do be patient as sometimes it can take a bit till he gets back to you.

Enjoy!

[SfanGoch]

Not cheap. Neither are some of the donor kits required Chevrolet Corvair "Bertone Style" Styling Study - requires an AMT 1965 Corvair........yeah, right. Good luck finding one without breaking the bank. Same with finding an AMT '69 Ford Galaxie. Not to mention the difficulty/impossibility in trying to find window glass for a number of kits for which no donor kits exist. To each his own, I guess.

Edited November 10, 2018 by SfanGoch

[Paul Hettick]

Bill, how are Tapani's castings compared to Juha's? Years ago I bought several kits through Tapani. Along with giant air bubbles and short shots everywhere, when I repaired the holes in the bodies, primed and painted them, the resin started peeling off in layers. Hopefully his quality has improved but what I received from him 8 years ago were quite poor in quality. All of the castings I received  through Juha were perfect. 

[Rob Hall]

2 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

Not cheap. Neither are some of the donor kits required Chevrolet Corvair "Bertone Style" Styling Study - requires an AMT 1965 Corvair........yeah, right. Good luck finding one without breaking the bank. Same with finding an AMT '69 Ford Galaxie. Not to mention the difficulty/impossibility in trying to find window glass for a number of kits for which no donor kits exist. To each his own, I guess.

I'm sure the '69 Corvair would work also,  it and the '69 Galaxie are very common, both were just reissued a few years ago. 

Edited November 10, 2018 by Rob Hall

[Rob Hall]

23 minutes ago, Paul Hettick said:

Bill, how are Tapani's castings compared to Juha's? Years ago I bought several kits through Tapani. Along with giant air bubbles and short shots everywhere, when I repaired the holes in the bodies, primed and painted them, the resin started peeling off in layers. Hopefully his quality has improved but what I received from him 8 years ago were quite poor in quality. All of the castings I received  through Juha were perfect. 

I've heard that...don't know about Tapani's.  I have one Air Trax kit, the '69 Marauder--got it from Juha and it is excellent. 

[restoman]

I've got two of Tapani's kits, the '69 300 2 dr and the Cordoba/300. Both are very good castings with few pinholes. They are pricey but I wanted them so price didn't matter.

[Rob Hall]

The '73 Riviera sounds interesting to me, may have to get that one to go w/ the '71 and '72 I have. 

[MrObsessive]

Paul from what I saw at the NNL and from the couple kits I have (Volvo P1800, Ferrari 250 Lusso Transkit), the castings are very good. Not necessarily Modelhaus quality, but none of the issues you mentioned.

This Volvo in particular has some flash to clean up around the windows among other places and parts, but the cleanup for me would be easy enough. BTW, I bought this one about 10 years ago, so I don't know what happened in your case. The Lusso transkit I bought was from this past NNL East and once again, the quality is quite good.

Now given what I just mentioned I know the Volvo came from Tapani, the Ferrari I'm not sure as I bought that through Ed Cervo (Island Collectibles) but it was in an Air-Trax box.

Edited November 10, 2018 by MrObsessive

[MrObsessive]

1 minute ago, Rob Hall said:

The '73 Riviera sounds interesting to me, may have to get that one to go w/ the '71 and '72 I have. 

I'd like to see that one first before I jump on it. I got one from Time Machine Resin and while it's not bad, the roof crown isn't quite right. From a side profile on the 1:1, there is a definite curvature and the one I have the roof crown is too flat.

Fixable, but I don't want another one that I'd have to fix as well.

[Rob Hall]

7 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

I'd like to see that one first before I jump on it. I got one from Time Machine Resin and while it's not bad, the roof crown isn't quite right. From a side profile on the 1:1, there is a definite curvature and the one I have the roof crown is too flat.

 

Fixable, but I don't want another one that I'd have to fix as well.

It's a subtle shape that seems hard to get just right...the AAM '71 and Modelhaus '72 I have aren't perfect..

[Ron Hamilton]

I have several Air-Trac Resin products, and I am quite impressed. I started on the 82 Dodge Mirada and the 78 Cordoba. I have to decide on the exterior and interior colors. I may have to bite the bullet for one of those 69 Chrysler 300 4 door hardtops. I have the two door, and it is quite nice. The 73 Riviera is much nicer than the All American 71 I have. The 70 Marauder is quite nice too.

[Dave Toups]

On 11/10/2018 at 9:48 AM, Paul Hettick said:

Bill, how are Tapani's castings compared to Juha's? Years ago I bought several kits through Tapani. Along with giant air bubbles and short shots everywhere, when I repaired the holes in the bodies, primed and painted them, the resin started peeling off in layers. Hopefully his quality has improved but what I received from him 8 years ago were quite poor in quality. All of the castings I received  through Juha were perfect. 

I have several AirTrax kits. In general, the ones cast by Juha are better in quality. The "Juha cast" ones I have are the Marauder X-100, Dodge Mirada, Triumph TR-6 and they are excellent. The others are cast by Tapani: Ford Cortina Super Estate, Aston Martin DB V8, Anglia 100E & Triumph Herald. The last two I bought many years ago and they are pretty rough. The other, more recent "Tapani cast" ones are much better, but still require more clean-up. The Aston in particular. Still, it's better than carving one from scratch.

[ChrisBcritter]

Renault Fuego? VW 411/412? Someone tell Faust about those! 

The '39 Pontiac sounds interesting, too - guess it's based on the Monogram '39 Chevy?

[Mike999]

Thanks for the price list, Mr. O!

I like weird cars almost as much as Faust.  So I sprung for the Air-Trax Renault Estafette van a few years ago.  It's a clean casting, with some very fine pinholes in places like the wheels but otherwise good.  Heller was planning a plastic Estafette, and got as far as showing box art for 2 versions, regular and police.  But it looks like Heller has dropped that idea, so the only Estafette available is the Air-Trax kit.

Edited November 14, 2018 by Mike999
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[MrObsessive]

Missed the Renault Fuego! I can't remember the last time I've seen one of those! Yeah, that's right up there in the 'weird' car category.

For whatever reason, French cars never did well sales wise here in the states. I guess the dubious build quality among other things hasn't helped their reputation over the years.

[MrObsessive]

Looking over that list as of now, I'd sure like to see an early '80's Chrysler Imperial. You know the one with the 'bustle back'?

Very unique car that just isn't seen any longer.

[CapSat 6]

8 hours ago, MrObsessive said:

Looking over that list as of now, I'd sure like to see an early '80's Chrysler Imperial. You know the one with the 'bustle back'?

Very unique car that just isn't seen any longer.

Southern Motorsport Hobbies does the NASCAR version of the 80's Imperial: http://stores.smhracing.com/81-imperial-nascar/

I bought one of these Imperials many years ago from TKM Models. I was just a bit  extremely disappointed when I got it. The best way I can describe it is: folk art. I'm sure you have heard about TKM's models before: the caster had good intentions, but the execution was, to be kind, lacking. I cut it up in an effort to make it into something buildable. I had good intentions and a basic lack of skills, too.  

I have one that was done by John Heyer. It's MUCH better than the TKM piece, but still not what I would call "Air Trax" execution. It's sort of a stalled project - I began building it as a mild street rod. I'll have to post some pics when I get home. 

Lastly, I started trying to make one out of a Monogram '81 Thunderbird body about 15 year ago. It looked like it was going to work. I had an extra scrap Heyer body (with voids in it) that I was going to use for the nose. Once the SMH body came out, I just bought one of those, so that it could languish in the box with my own attempt. I'll have to find that one and post pics of that one, too. Although I have never really announced this before, I am the King of Stalled Projects- everything is a good idea to me! 

A skilled builder might be able to combine the Air Trax Mirada with the SMH piece and make a stock one.

Hint, hint, Bill G....  ;)

 

Edited November 14, 2018 by CapSat 6

[Mike999]

24 minutes ago, CapSat 6 said:

I'm sure you have heard about TKM's models before...

For newbies who've never actually seen a TKM model and might be tempted to buy one, I keep these pix hanging around the hard drive.  Behold! The TKM Models 1948 Cadillac Series 60 Special.  Look closely and you'll see the rare Asymmetrical Roof Option, where the passenger side of the roof is way lower than the driver side.  For tall chauffeurs, I guess.

The whole greenhouse/roof is too low and makes the Caddy look sort of like a chopped custom, or an armored car. The chrome trim piece on the front fender shouldn't be there, that was a subtle body crease and not a separate part. The "Cadillac" nameplates above it must have taken a LOT of work to create, which I appreciate. But both are crooked, in different directions.  Finally, even the voids and pinholes have pinholes and voids.

Still, in a fit of insanity I started on this tur...key.  The roof is straight now, after much filling and sanding.  The greenhouse is a little more spacious, after some careful file work.  The bumpers are cut away from the body for chroming/replacement. The chassis and interior from a cheap Jada die-cast Caddy will fit.  And incredibly...so does the '48 Cadillac grille from the Revell '48 Ford chopped custom kit!   I'm still building it as a junker, maybe a shot-up gangster car rotting in the Nevada desert.  For most TKM models, a junker is probably the best way to go...

 

[CapSat 6]

19 minutes ago, Mike999 said:

For newbies who've never actually seen a TKM model and might be tempted to buy one, I keep these pix hanging around the hard drive.  Behold! The TKM Models 1948 Cadillac Series 60 Special.  Look closely and you'll see the rare Asymmetrical Roof Option, where the passenger side of the roof is way lower than the driver side.  For tall chauffeurs, I guess.

The whole greenhouse/roof is too low and makes the Caddy look sort of like a chopped custom, or an armored car. The chrome trim piece on the front fender shouldn't be there, that was a subtle body crease and not a separate part. The "Cadillac" nameplates above it must have taken a LOT of work to create, which I appreciate. But both are crooked, in different directions.  Finally, even the voids and pinholes have pinholes and voids.

Still, in a fit of insanity I started on this tur...key.  The roof is straight now, after much filling and sanding.  The greenhouse is a little more spacious, after some careful file work.  The bumpers are cut away from the body for chroming/replacement. The chassis and interior from a cheap Jada die-cast Caddy will fit.  And incredibly...so does the '48 Cadillac grille from the Revell '48 Ford chopped custom kit!   I'm still building it as a junker, maybe a shot-up gangster car rotting in the Nevada desert.  For most TKM models, a junker is probably the best way to go...

 

All I can say is: the 83 Imperial that TKM did was worse than this. Imagine a slush cast body, sort-of K Car proportions in the middle body, with huge overhangs (and the attendant "nose bent nearly to the sky"), and not a straight line on the entire body.  

To be fair, TKM was a very early entrant into the scale auto cottage industry (these were produced a LONG time ago), offering ambitious and interesting subject matter. 

I did speak to the owner on the phone once (this was before I actually received my Imperial ), his heart was definitely in the right place...he had a passion for the work and the subject matter. It would have been great if he came along now instead of the early 80's and tried to do these in 3D...    

[Foxer]

I've spent the past seven years slowely working on reproducing the Triumph TR4A I had from the old Air-Trax TR4 kit. Now I see they had some more complete kits with the TR4A and % that would have eased all the things I had to create, like doing a 3D Print for the unique turn signal castings. I still wish they would post some photos. Their quality is very high now, not as thick as this OLD TR4 casting I have.

 

[dimaxion]

All TKM , I have one more WIP . Quite presentable in Glass Case side by side when mixed into other builds . Would I build more , yes !  The Lincoln MK VI Bustle Back .   Thanx ..  

[MrObsessive]

That is ummmm..............interesting! Yeah, that's it!

Oh yeah------I'm VERY familiar with TKM and in fact had a rather nice conversation with him on the phone many years ago (mid '80's). I could probably turn one of his models into a reasonable facsimile of what it's supposed to be. But I drive myself crazy enough with my own conversions that I do coming from my own mind!

Now, some of you may think I'm totally wacky, but I'm of a serious mind to turn that Starsky and Hutch Torino into a proper 1977 T-Bird. The wheelbase is 'bout right, and in 1:1 they did share windshields. I know they're NASCAR versions out there in resin, but for something like this I'd much rather work with plastic.

Just a crazy idea I've had rolling around ever since that Torino kit came out. Heaven knows whenever I'd get around to it----have waaaaay too many projects staring at me now!

John, I have to say that 1980-85 Seville ain't half bad! That is one of my favorite cars of the '80's!

 

[Rob Hall]

Someone once described TKM kits as 20 ft models--they look good from 20 feet away, behind a closed door. 

I like the idea of a '77 T-Bird...my Mom drove one back then, as a kid I rode in the back seat...

[CapSat 6]

Pics of the John Heyer Body...ignore the lower rear bumpers...I had cut into them to add custom exhaust outlets from a Revell 90’s T Bird...

[NuovoSFPD2n3/4]

On 11/14/2018 at 6:42 AM, CapSat 6 said:

All I can say is: the 83 Imperial that TKM did was worse than this. Imagine a slush cast body, sort-of K Car proportions in the middle body, with huge overhangs (and the attendant "nose bent nearly to the sky"), and not a straight line on the entire body.  

To be fair, TKM was a very early entrant into the scale auto cottage industry (these were produced a LONG time ago), offering ambitious and interesting subject matter. 

I did speak to the owner on the phone once (this was before I actually received my Imperial ), his heart was definitely in the right place...he had a passion for the work and the subject matter. It would have been great if he came along now instead of the early 80's and tried to do these in 3D...    

I remember speaking to the TKM owner also.

Around 1984 - 1985 I think.

Yes, very nice person to speak with and he had an extensive catalog, he even had a Greyhound/Trailways Scenic Cruiser in 1/25 scale!

I ordered one of his 1946 Chevrolet Fleetlines. 

I still have the catalog, and the unbuilt Fleetline.

 

As for "Mr T" and his Air-Trax offerings, I have his 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, and it's very nice.

I have the earlier more challenging issue with the bonnet needing to be scribed and broken free, but I understand that he has added another body option by having the bonnet molded in place. 

Edited October 24, 2019 by NuovoSFPD2n3/4
Poor grammar