What did you get today? (Model Car Related Items)

[oldcarfan]

On 8/18/2025 at 7:06 PM, meechum68 said:

Newest guy from across the pond!  

And great acquisitions everyone! I like that little Ford roadster! 

I have that same Mazda kit and have been thinking of trying to use some Gundam fine line markers to do it like the illustration. 

[Roncla]

The courier just delivered MFHs latest release

 

 

[A modeler named mike]

4 hours ago, Dpate said:

How durable is this stuff? After using so many different chromes I’ve stuck with spazstix as it’s the best I’ve used.  Looks just as good as this spoon does, and about the same price just need gloss black base. 

Not sure how durable it is since I was just turned on to it. I painted it on a black spoon since that's all I had. I thought for the amount that I applied on the spoon dried fairly quick and flowed out evenly. 

Edited Wednesday at 12:47 AM by A modeler named mike

[Dpate]

7 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:

Well what might be the last HLJ shipment for sometime, depending on how things shake out over the coming weeks. If you're not in-tune with international sales because those kits/items aren't your jam, know that more and more places - including large ones like Hannants in the UK are going to stop accepting U.S. orders at the end of this month with the end of de minimis. Great time to be alive...

Please tell me PlazaJapan is not on the list? 

[meechum68]

4 minutes ago, Dpate said:

Please tell me PlazaJapan is not on the list? 

Not sure but I am very concerned as ordering imports is cheaper from Japan than buying in the US. 

I also wonder if Amazon will get slapped by the tarifs as well. 

I do have some stuff coming in Monday.. and then have one last kit from Japan coming in .. late Sept

[niteowl7710]

6 hours ago, Dpate said:

Please tell me PlazaJapan is not on the list? 

So far I haven't seen any word out of them, but the way this is currently shaping up to go down is (and this is factual, not political) is that the overseas vendor is being setup to collect the U.S. tariff pre-shipment and then remitting it to the U.S. For bigger companies this requires tweaking of their systems to determine points of origin and then set tax rates and so and so forth. This is already a requirement of many vendors in order to pre-collect the EU VAT.

This is all (and I admit to a bit of editorializing here) a "scam" to float the current story that foreign governments are paying the tariffs and it won't affect you the consumer. But of course you the consumer are now going to pay that tariff - or hideously worse a flat fee that for Japanese products is $80 regardless as to the value of the parcel contents - anyways.

It's akin to how income taxes work...if you're hit for 15% of every Plaza Japan order that's not so bad in pieces, until you figure out how much you paid over the year. If people had to pay their income taxes in a lump sum in April instead of 26 or 52 bite sized chunks there would be riots in the streets...

The other option of course is to not buy things from overseas and patronize local businesses. That sounds great in theory, but many don't have a LHS, and the ones that do probably don't have one that stocks in the esoteric things you can only get from self-importation.

[meechum68]

Got my 2 of my last 3 orders from Japan.  The last one I have is due to hit Sept 25th, I really hope that is a very ... large guesstimate! 

Good part this last orders puts my Imports at 16 kits in my stash.  

I wish my LHS carried Initial D stuff, but they do not. I have to see what my online places carry now.  I know they are niche group of kits so, that could make things harder.  

[johnyrotten]

20 minutes ago, meechum68 said:

Got my 2 of my last 3 orders from Japan.  The last one I have is due to hit Sept 25th, I really hope that is a very ... large guesstimate! 

Good part this last orders puts my Imports at 16 kits in my stash.  

I wish my LHS carried Initial D stuff, but they do not. I have to see what my online places carry now.  I know they are niche group of kits so, that could make things harder.  

Nice haul.👍👍

[64SS350]

Got a few pieces from VCG Resins yesterday. Some for the current Suburban build, the rest are future needs.

 

[oldcarfan]

1 hour ago, meechum68 said:

Got my 2 of my last 3 orders from Japan.  The last one I have is due to hit Sept 25th, I really hope that is a very ... large guesstimate! 

Good part this last orders puts my Imports at 16 kits in my stash.  

I wish my LHS carried Initial D stuff, but they do not. I have to see what my online places carry now.  I know they are niche group of kits so, that could make things harder.  

I've been stocking up on the Initial D kits as well just in case of tariffs. 

[meechum68]

37 minutes ago, oldcarfan said:

I've been stocking up on the Initial D kits as well just in case of tariffs. 

Exactly, and I will soon get the Manga as well because.. cars! 

 

I have quite a few more on my Amazon wishlist, so hoping things dont get all sorts of sideways. 

[Bainford]

19 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:

 

The other option of course is to not buy things from overseas and patronize local businesses. That sounds great in theory, but many don't have a LHS, and the ones that do probably don't have one that stocks in the esoteric things you can only get from self-importation.

Additionally, those LHS will also have to deal with the same tariff system when they purchase stock, and pass the fees along to the consumer accordingly.

[Cool Hand]

Supplies.

[stitchdup]

while wandering around edinburgh yesterday i found a small railway shop with some models. the kits were expensive (near double the price of the same kits i can get locally so i bought some woodland scenics briar patch to add to my dioramas. i only realised today i'm flying so will have to go through security and its looks very like a decent amount of weed so i'm going to get searched. the citadel spray stick i bought will also look suspicious on the scanners (i know this because i was janitor at my local airport for a while so i know what they can see on their screens) I also got some more brushes and a set of paintmarkers from "the works" so if you are in the uk i'd have a look as 10 good brushes are only £3 and they are good quality. i think i'll go to the airport fairly early the morn, lol

 

pics from the internet, my box of the plantlife is packed full compared to this one

[niteowl7710]

14 hours ago, Bainford said:

Additionally, those LHS will also have to deal with the same tariff system when they purchase stock, and pass the fees along to the consumer accordingly.

Yeah but  like any other retailer everyone is taking a minor hit and passing on a fraction of the actual tariff. Otherwise Round2 kits wouldn't have gone up $6, they would have gone up $18. The tariffs aren't new for retail, they've been ongoing since April. Even with the "pause" there was a baseline 10% for everyone. The big change is the end of the $800 de minimis exemption for everything from everywhere on 9/1. With self-importing there's no one to take the hit but you. The "sinister" part is the "simple flat fee" which for Counties with a Tariff Rate of less than 16% (Japan is 15%) is $80.

$80 for a box regardless to the content value...to do the math for everyone it would otherwise require you to have a box with a total value (contents & shipping fees) of $540 to reach that $80 at the actual 15% tariff rate. 

If billing is done correctly, if you dared order something Chinese from HLJ, Plaza Japan, et al, you'd now get whacked with the 55% tax bill (or $200 flat fee). It has the potential to make most IPMS models along with Meng & Beemax/NuNu effectively impossible to self-import unless you wanna eat that. 

 

Edited Thursday at 05:16 PM by niteowl7710

[1959scudetto]

Got me a 2nd Ebbro Lotus 49 (1967 version) 2 days ago.

Yesterday came a  Revell JB Aston Martin DB 5 with additional 3 D printed parts from USCP (grille, wheels and tires) for € 20,00 (less than the wheels alone would cost) - seller had already started and laid down an excellent paint job after blending in all the JB gadgets I don't need anyway. First I wanted to turn this into a convertible, but its paint is too nice to cut it up.

[Mr mopar]

Mail call just had too get one more of these enjoy !

[niteowl7710]

19 hours ago, meechum68 said:

Got my 2 of my last 3 orders from Japan.  The last one I have is due to hit Sept 25th, I really hope that is a very ... large guesstimate! 

Good part this last orders puts my Imports at 16 kits in my stash.  

I wish my LHS carried Initial D stuff, but they do not. I have to see what my online places carry now.  I know they are niche group of kits so, that could make things harder.  

It won't do much for the Fujimi kits, but Aoshima set up U.S. Distribution through Lightspeed Global's NY warehouse, so they should be easier to get than they were in the past to any hobby shop/vendor who wants to put the effort into things.  Fujimi I believe is still being imported via Model Rectifier Corporation (MRC) out of NJ.

[Daddyfink]

LHS buy 

 

 

[WillyBilly]

A couple Pontiacs. Well, one Pontiac, and a rebadged Holden.

[FoMoCo66]

1 hour ago, Daddyfink said:

LHS buy 

 

 

Nice, I picked this one up this past weekend. Im excited for the 4 weber setup on the windsor.

[meechum68]

Great finds folks! 

And thanks for the information on the fees. And options for kits!! 

 

[Bainford]

8 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:

Yeah but  like any other retailer everyone is taking a minor hit and passing on a fraction of the actual tariff. Otherwise Round2 kits wouldn't have gone up $6, they would have gone up $18.

 

Sure, but in the fullness of time that is not sustainable. The LHS may shoulder our tariff burden for a while, and the weaker ones will follow suit to remain competitive, and milk their existence for as long as they can, and some of them will eventually lose. If we pay $6 tariff on a kit, that means the LHS has to cough up $12 per kit, and that has to come from the profit of that kit. Actually, it may not be quite that bad, as the LHS will pay a tariff on wholesale cost, while we pay a tariff on retail cost. But lets say that cuts the LHS share of the burden down to $6 (an optimistic guess, I think), that must still leave a pretty thin profit margin on a model kit sale. Ultimately, the consumer is going to have to eat the full cost. Unfortunately, it is still going to happen at the cost of a few LHS.

I realise my take on this is rather simplified, but nonetheless, the math doesn't work. 

[niteowl7710]

3 hours ago, Bainford said:

Sure, but in the fullness of time that is not sustainable. The LHS may shoulder our tariff burden for a while, and the weaker ones will follow suit to remain competitive, and milk their existence for as long as they can, and some of them will eventually lose. If we pay $6 tariff on a kit, that means the LHS has to cough up $12 per kit, and that has to come from the profit of that kit. Actually, it may not be quite that bad, as the LHS will pay a tariff on wholesale cost, while we pay a tariff on retail cost. But lets say that cuts the LHS share of the burden down to $6 (an optimistic guess, I think), that must still leave a pretty thin profit margin on a model kit sale. Ultimately, the consumer is going to have to eat the full cost. Unfortunately, it is still going to happen at the cost of a few LHS.

I realise my take on this is rather simplified, but nonetheless, the math doesn't work. 

Well the hobby shop isn't paying the tariff, Round2/Revell/Moebius/et al are, they're the importer of their own product. It's then sold to distributors who sell down to hobby shops so the tariffs are being absorbed across a few different layers. Given the tariffs are being paid on the wholesale level the $6 might be a 100% pass through rate when you're considering a singular tariff charge on an entire container of products...when that's then split back down over thousands of units...

[Mr mopar]

Mail call yesterday enjoy !