Mike999 Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, 57peppershaker said: Never seen an Astro before in kit form. Any more info Mike ? Fujimi released 5 or 6 different Astro-based van kits, starting around 2002. Versions included several 2WD and 4WD Chevies, the GMC Safari, and a couple with wild custom decals. A quick online search told me something I didn't know: the Astro was a very popular vehicle in Japan, approaching cult status. That Other Model Car Magazine gave the kit a good review, way back when. Their only complaint, IIRC - the price was pretty high for a curbside kit. It has no engine detail. (Not too useful in a van anyway.) The chassis is very well-detailed with lots of separate parts. So is the interior, with separate armrests for the seats, decals for the instruments, etc. Here's a thread from a real Astro/Safari fan forum, with pix of some different Fujimi kit boxes: http://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopic.php?p=8590 I checked a few U.S. vendors and none have the kit in stock. (Just noticed you're in the U.K., sorry.) Tokyo-Hobby on eBay does, with one currently listed for $19.70 + $12.80 shipping. (Link below.) That's a good price. These kits usually sold stateside for $40-60, I think. If you've never dealt with Tokyo-Hobby, many people on here have, including me. Never had a problem. They're one of the best Japanese sellers I've ever used. https://www.ebay.com/p/Fujimi-Rs-87-Chevrolet-Astro-LT-4wd-1-24-Scale-Kit/2254472321?_trksid=p2047675.m4097.l9055 Edited December 28, 2017 by Mike999 error Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highway Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 58 minutes ago, Mike999 said: It has no engine detail. (Not too useful in a van anyway.) Unless you REALLY feel the need to see the fan and fanbelts LOL!! My mother had a 90 Astro (a little older than the kit represents but still the same body) AWD and all you could see opening the hood was that, couldn't see much if any of the engine at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57peppershaker Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 Thanks for the Astro info Mike. Its pretty cheap to ship to the UK so might go on my list. Unfortunatly 1:1 Silverado rear bumpers are not so cheap to import and the UPS guy wanted import dutys thats cleared my kit funds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike999 Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 17 hours ago, 57peppershaker said: Thanks for the Astro info Mike. Its pretty cheap to ship to the UK so might go on my list. Unfortunatly 1:1 Silverado rear bumpers are not so cheap to import and the UPS guy wanted import dutys thats cleared my kit funds Wandering off-topic since it's a slow week...one of your former colonies must have copied your Customs procedures: Egypt. I worked there from 2005-09. An Egyptian driver who worked with us had a newish Ford Escape that was always breaking...something. To avoid him having to pay the outrageous import duties, we used to carry stuff for him in our luggage when we came back from the U.S. Bringing stuff in was free. But shipping it...ouch! Our employer once sent me a polo shirt with the company logo on it. ONE shirt. By the time I finished paying all the "special import duties" etc., shipping that shirt cost the company nearly $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 Movie Vehicle Opportunity -- Every time I see that Astro kit I think of this van from "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". That was the name of the band. I always wanted to buy one of the Astro vans but as said, the price got in the way at $50-60 in a hobby shop. None of our local show vendors ever stocked it. I figure one of these days I'll find it at a show. And as MIke said, "slow week on the board" so I'll relay my story about an Astro van. This one was a first generation model, kinda like the Jimmy Flintstone brick version, but a window van with seats. Back when I worked for a pharmaceutical company in New York, this was our department van. The site we worked on was 300 acres with buildings spread across maybe 200 of those, on a network of internal private roads. If you had a project or meeting at the other end of the facility, you would take the van. Every department had vans or electric carts to get around. And a lot of these vehicles were older but had a minuscule amount of mileage on them since they never left the property. Most of them didn't even have license plates. So our vehicle was a dark blue 15 year old Astro van. Due to their grounds crew's love of spreading salt, the entire lower body was eaten away. The dark blue paint was faded and peeling. I don't think anyone ever washed those vehicles. It looked like hell, but fired up every day. Other departments were getting new Ford mini vans so our department put in to buy one. We were denied because it would have been a capital purchase and capital funds were spent for the year. But there was plenty of expense fund money. So out of necessity, with a bit of spite rolled in, our department head took this van, which might have been worth $1000 and sent it out to a local body shop. All of the rust was fixed with welded in replacement panels and it got a shiny new white paint job so it would look like the other vans on site. That was an $8000 expense! I moved to another department and their vehicle was a five year old Ford minivan with 5,000 miles on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete J. Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 With all the talk about vans, I wonder if any of you ever built a race van? Just for the record, the most common vehicle in the first three Cannonball Baker, sea to shining sea memorial trophy dash in the 70's were Dodge vans. Of course they were fitted with 300+ gallon gas tanks for the event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heyjohnxx Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) Then you have the whole Japanese race van culture. The van of choice seems to be the 1990s Dodge (Ram) van for some reason. Pretty wild. Lots of videos on Youtube. Edited December 31, 2017 by heyjohnxx addition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
935k3 Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 On 12/29/2017 at 2:28 PM, Pete J. said: With all the talk about vans, I wonder if any of you ever built a race van? Just for the record, the most common vehicle in the first three Cannonball Baker, sea to shining sea memorial trophy dash in the 70's were Dodge vans. Of course they were fitted with 300+ gallon gas tanks for the event. There was this F1 engined van by Renault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) Ford did a series of "SuperVans" , the first was built with a GT40 chassis and drivetrain. Supervan 2 installed a DF series F1 engine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Supervan Edited January 1, 2018 by afx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete J. Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Very cool! I was not aware of these. May have to try and cobble one together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64Comet404 Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 The weirdest kit I have is a Pyro 1/8 scale 'Surf's Up'. It's a chopper-style bicycle, complete with a fabric canopy roof, towing a surfboard trailer. The box art shows a teenage girl riding the bike, and there is a figure included. The figure looks as if the Pyro tooling department grabbed one of the office workers, and told her "We need you for a project. Here, wear these clothes!!!". Imagine the reaction of the poor kid who went into the hobby shop in 1970, bought the kit based on the box art, opened the kit, and found out he had bought a model of his mom... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
935k3 Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) On 12/29/2017 at 2:28 PM, Pete J. said: With all the talk about vans, I wonder if any of you ever built a race van? Just for the record, the most common vehicle in the first three Cannonball Baker, sea to shining sea memorial trophy dash in the 70's were Dodge vans. Of course they were fitted with 300+ gallon gas tanks for the event. Note the fast food trash on top of the dash. There was also this Ford Transit with Jaguar XK 220 running gear. It ran at the Goodwood festival a few years back. her is a video about it. Ford Transit XK220 Edited January 2, 2018 by 935k3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) Enough with the vans guys. I want to see weird kits, like the title of this thread says. Like Ken posted above, showing us the Pyro Surfs Up bicycle and trailer. The vans maybe weird. But, they are not scale kits. (As far as I know). By the way, I must be getting old. Because the girl from the kit that Ken showed doesn't look too bad to me. Is there any chance of seeing more of this kit? I've heard rumors that some of Pyro's larger scale kits weren't too bad. Edited January 2, 2018 by unclescott58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disabled modeler Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 8 hours ago, 64Comet404 said: The weirdest kit I have is a Pyro 1/8 scale 'Surf's Up'. It's a chopper-style bicycle, complete with a fabric canopy roof, towing a surfboard trailer. The box art shows a teenage girl riding the bike, and there is a figure included. The figure looks as if the Pyro tooling department grabbed one of the office workers, and told her "We need you for a project. Here, wear these clothes!!!". Imagine the reaction of the poor kid who went into the hobby shop in 1970, bought the kit based on the box art, opened the kit, and found out he had bought a model of his mom... that is cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike999 Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 This one is NOT "in my stash," but it sure is weird. And there's a girl in it. From an eBay auction that ended a few minutes ago. The seller provided very little info: "Vintage Japanese Anime Kit #25 by Aoshima, 1/30 Scale. Made in Japan, parts in sealed bag, w/japanese girl figure, all paper work included, box in very good condition." It looks like a cross between Ed Roth's Orbitron and a Martian War Machine from "War of the Worlds:" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atmobil Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 That must be Elon Musk's next big project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robberbaron Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) 22 hours ago, 64Comet404 said: The weirdest kit I have is a Pyro 1/8 scale 'Surf's Up'. It's a chopper-style bicycle, complete with a fabric canopy roof, towing a surfboard trailer. The box art shows a teenage girl riding the bike, and there is a figure included. The figure looks as if the Pyro tooling department grabbed one of the office workers, and told her "We need you for a project. Here, wear these clothes!!!". Imagine the reaction of the poor kid who went into the hobby shop in 1970, bought the kit based on the box art, opened the kit, and found out he had bought a model of his mom... I think we need to pin this thread - it's the gift that keeps on giving! The above one is another classic: my favorite part is that they have the girl on the box art popping a wheelie. I can just imagine the directions they gave to the artist: "Eh, all them dumb kids like the wheelies. Better show the girl popping a wheelie. Oh yeah, also: We based the figure on Mabel in accounting, but you better not make the girl on the box look like that..." ? Honestly, I'm with you Scott, she really doesn't look bad at all. But I bet the average 12 year old buyer back in the day would have been PO'd... Edited January 3, 2018 by Robberbaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike999 Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Good old PYRO! I like their kit #M-165 Police Cycle, also released under the same kit number as "N.Y. Police Cycle." It has a blurb on the box side reading: "Harley Special 3 Wheeler with handsome police officer figure..." (Pix found on internet) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 17 hours ago, unclescott58 said: By the way, I must be getting old. Because the girl from the kit that Ken showed doesn't look too bad to me. Is there any chance of seeing more of this kit? I've heard rumors that some of Pyro's larger scale kits weren't too bad. Not only she doesn't look bad, the quality of the sculpting and even molding seems pretty nice to me. Especially considering it is a PYRO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 7 hours ago, Mike999 said: Good old PYRO! I like their kit #M-165 Police Cycle, also released under the same kit number as "N.Y. Police Cycle." It has a blurb on the box side reading: "Harley Special 3 Wheeler with handsome police officer figure..." (Pix found on internet) Can we see more of this model? And even though I prefer girls, I can not tell by the one picture, if the officer above is handsome or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike999 Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I snapped a quick pic of the police officer. Also found a pic of him painted on the internet. Maybe he's chasing Mabel From Accounting on her "Surf's Up" bike... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike999 Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Sadly, Handsome Police Officer eventually quit the P.D., grew a beard and started wearing fringed buckskin duds and bell-bottoms. He also stole his Harley trike and customized it into something he called The Gladiator. It is believed that drugs were involved. A LOT of drugs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggon Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 3 hours ago, Mike999 said: A guy I know from high school would have done this. Really, he would have. He's 63 now, looks like Yosemite Sam, and yes, drugs are involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike999 Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 And did Mabel From Accounting appear in another PYRO kit? "The Curler" Surf Tricycle is also 1/8 scale, with TWO figures! "Boy and Girl Surfers," according to the box art. I can't find a pic of the kit contents and don't have this one (and don't plan to get it). Since we all interpret Great Art in our own way, I'll interpret this box art as : Mabel is running because Surfer Dude stole her Curler; she's about to whack him with her surfboard and take it back: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamsuperdan Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 On 12/27/2017 at 2:55 PM, 57peppershaker said: Never seen an Astro before in kit form. Any more info Mike ? Check the Finished builds over in light trucks. Just before the holidays I posted my finished Astro build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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