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::::::::::::::::::: Model News August 2005 ::::::::::::::::::

If you thought your model truck was big, well, check out these. Hmm, you know, if you need to make a beer run, and everyone's over for the big game, that could come in handy ....plenty of room for hauling' chips too.

Monsters in Motion has a DVD all about the Aurora Monster and Figure kits. A real piece of model history. Anyone got a review? Looks interesting.

While you are on their site, be sure and check out the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen plastic 1/24 scale model car, Captain Nemo's Automobile. Very slick.

Back up ! I was down for the Hurricane and without power, but should be posting some updates tonight. Stay tuned !

If you are into big scale models, (and who isn't ? Built one of those myself). Largescalemodelers.com has just opened up their new site. Check it out.

ModelTruckMafia.com has added a few vehicles in his online gallery as well.
 
First is the Revell of Germany Volvo 670, second is an Italeri 378 flatbed show truck, and last but not least the 2005 Pontiac GTO NJ state trooper car. Take a look at them when you have a chance.

If you like Aircraft Carriers feast your eyes on this ! Yeah, yeah, it's not a model, but it's one hell of an illustration. Hope you have a big monitor ! Hmm, imagine a cutaway model of this ship, about 6 feet long...

Just a quick note about the Revell Ferrari 612. The body is painted, cleared, and work has begun on the chassis and engine. The color is a Duplicolor GM shade.

Modern Motorsports has started producing a resin 2005 Dodge Nascar Charger body in resin.

The General Lee is finished, check it out here.

I have been pushing the limits of my modeling time. The 1969 Charger project is almost complete. The decals are on it and the body/chassis are assembled. I still have some detail stuff to do on the outside, but in a few days it should be done.

Over time I have been getting some Super Hero kits. In fact I have a Captain America model on the way. The elusive one so far has been the Revell Batman. In the 1970's I build the Superman, Batman and Spiderman kits. Back then, those were probably Aurora kits. The Revell kits I believe were only available at Toys R Us (I bought one of mine there).

I am glad the model companies have released these. I wonder how they appeal to today's kids?

Scale Modeling by Chris has released their 2-bay garage kit. At only $ 45.00 it sure beats scratch building one, or searching down all the needed sheet plastic just to attempt one. It also includes signage and some of the wall sheets have a brick pattern. That's going the extra mile for an easy and accurate build.

Topend Miniatures is making a massive narrowed Ford 9 inch rear end for your next racing or tubbed project.

Oh, and then there's MCG's Ford Skull Grille for your next Rat Rod project.

Almost done with the underside of the 1969 Dukes Charger. Here's a sneak peekto hold you over. The front wheels are posable left to right, which is why they are not exactly straight. And there is still a few things to do.

So far construction has been basic modeling. I did reshape the wheel mountings to fit the Keystone rims, but that was no big deal. The interior, while well molded, does not fit well together, so that's gonna be a whole 'another story.

Just a quick link. Check out this guy modeling an orange.

Now, where do I get a kit of this? That's right, it's Lobo. It looks like it may be more a statuette cold cast figure than a kit, but man that's bad ass. There are a few more pictures here.

I have built some figure kits, notably my Robocop and Darth Vader, and I still have other kits to do, such as a Revell Superman and Robin. Most good figure kits are garage products, very limited, and very hard to find. Usually they are only produced for a very short run. Sometimes the plastic injection companies release a kit, but not much anymore.

Maybe I should get around to building that Bionic Repair kit...

If you're into the Batmobile, (and you're already online so you must have a computer), check out the new Batmobile 2 icons from the iCon Factory. The Batmobile Set 1 is pretty cool too if you haven't seen those before. Sadly neither set includes the George Barris 1966 TV version.

I have always wanted a model of the UFO Skydiver. If you never saw the show, the SkyDiver is part aircraft and part submarine. The show was on for one season, but I remember when it first came on TV in 1970, on friday nights, and as a kid I would lay on our living room rug and watch it. The SkyDiver was only one of the great models on the show.

Probably the most well known kit was a resin one made by Wave. It is hard to find, and I have bid on a few on eBay without winning, but for the last couple of years, I hardly see one on there anymore. The kit is 18 inches long, one of the larger scale kits that came out.

There is a 12 inch kit that shows up now and then, from Studio 2, but the monster kit would be their 3 foot long model. Now, if you don't feel like building a model and want to save time, a die cast replica is out.

Of course, the granddaddy of all SkyDivers is Martin Bower's scratch built one.

F1 Specialties now carries a new Lion Roar photoetch set for Tamiya's 2005 Williams FW24. I particularly like the screens. Very realistic looking.

Currently I am working on a couple of models. Still doing the NX01 Enterprise as mentioned before. But started on a 1969 Charger, to make my own personal version of the Dukes General Lee car. I am using the Revell Charger kit. I have already sanded off the vinyl roof pattern and started painting the parts. Assembly should be straight forward. I plan on using some MRC Keystone Klassic rims and tires I bought years ago. Those are some of my all time favorite rims for full size 1.1 cars.

So far, I have been trying some new orange paint, which has the perfect color I want, but once I shoot the top of the body, we will see how it looks. I painted some of the parts, and even clear coated a few of them, and there was no unusual patterns or bubbling, nothing scary like that. We'll see what happens in a few days of it setting.

The Duke AMT kits, Daisy Duke's Jeep and the General Lee have been reissued (or reboxed I should say) since the new movie is out. So if you have been interested in them, now's the time to grab them with new or old box art. (who would ever have thought there would be a model box with Jessica Simpson on it?)

Of course, AMT dropped the ball on Cooters Tow Truck or their Roscoe P Coltrain Sheriff's Dodge police car. But never fear. There are decals, from Bugsy's Junkers, to build your version of these famous rides.

There's the decals, so for the Sheriffs car, you only have to pick up one of the recently issued Batman Goon Cars. That's right, it includes all the cop parts. Done deal.

Cooters is a little harder, since the original issue model with the tow bed hasn't been reissued for many years. But if you want to start with a GM truck, and do your own tow bed, you could maybe start with a 1972 Chevy Pickup for the cab portion.

Jesse's truck was a 1970's Ford Pickup, and none of those have been issued for a lot of years, but if you can score a kit like this, you'd be halfway there !

When is a new model, well, "new" ? It it new when you change the box art ? Is it new when you alter the mold, or add a tree with new wheels? Is it new when it just came out, even though the mold is from, say 1959 ?

Let's take a quick glance at the usual big domestic brands, and see what kits are all new molds. How about Polar Light's offerings, with a 2005 Ford GT40, a 2005 GTO, 1964 GTO, 1965 Dodge Coronet, and a soon to be 2005 Mustang. That's 5.

Now AMT, with a 2005 Chrysler 300 and a 2005 Cadillac Escalade. That's 2.

Revell, 2005 Corvette C6, 2006 Mustang, 2005 Impala Police Car. There's 3.

There are many all new kits from overseas companies, such as Trumpeter, with a 1960 Bonneville and a 1963 Chevy Nova. Testors is planning the 2006 Charger.

So what we are left with are a whole lot, and I mean a lot, of reissued kits. Not exactly new. Not that I mean that is a bad thing, reissues are great for subjects that would never deserve a new tooling today, and it's great to get a model over and over, some seem to rarely ever go out of production (The Monogram Revell Boss 429 Mustang kits comes to mind, it's almost always out). And if you never built the original issue, a reissue is "new" to you, right?

But it also shows how few all "new" kits we get this year, even if we're just looking at the car and truck kits.

If you are into dioramas, you may want to check out Chris's new Gas Station/Garage Kit. I am surprised no one has released a comparable product before, but it looks like a winner if you want a diorama in kit form rather than scratch building your own.

Speaking of scratch building, check out this 1/16 scale Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I always wanted to scratch build an example of this car, though I would do it in 1/25 scale. Aurora made a kit of the car, but it lacks detail, and I don't think the scale is accurate.

I have a Thomas Flyer kit, for parts if needed. The thing I am not sure how to replicate is the boat/wood section in the rear on the ole Gen II. One day I will make the attempt. The Beverly Hillbillies car also would be a good donor for parts.

You know, sometimes you just wonder why a kit subject can't be made. Why it just can't "happen". I mean, let's look at a Ford Cobra Daytona. The cars were produced by Ford around 1963-1964. I think they only made about 5 or 6 of the real race cars.

There has been one well know model made of the car, by Gunze Sangyo, a high tech kit with metal and photoetch parts. But sadly, this kit lacks an engine. And it's out of production. It also goes for $ 75.00 or more on ebay. (Originally the kits were around $ 20.00 or so). If you were a model manufacturer, and you saw people were willing to pay that much for a model kit, wouldn't you be dusting off that mold and getting that model back on the shelves? Hey GS, where are you ?

That aside, why doesn't a model company produce a new kit of that car ? I'm not talking about Revell's 1/32 scale slot car. or a Die cast example. I mean a full blown glue kit with an engine?

You can get decals for a Cobra Daytona. Island Collectibles does carry a resin and metal kit, with an engine. It actually looks pretty good. ($ 245.00).

But I would really like to see a plastic model of the car issued.

Guess the new Polar Lights Ford GT40 kits will have to hold me over till we get one.

I was visiting a website, the Cape Cod Scale Modelers Association. Anyway, one of their members built a fire truck using an older Dodge W300 truck cab. Luckily, he has step by step photos of the build. Check it out. It's pretty cool.

It appears to be a somewhat scratch build cab, among a lot of other parts. The attention to detail on the fire apparatus is amazing. Look closely at the fire hoses and generator.

Although it may be a different kit then the one in the build, Scale Equipment Limited offers a resin 1958 Dodge pickup kit. I know the man who mastered the original (Mike M.). In fact, he called it the "Lassie Truck" , since on the original TV show, Timmy's father had a pickup like it on the farm (he also had Fords on some episodes).

If you are a first visitor to the Model Blog, the July blog has been archived. It is also listed in the right column if you want to view older postings or look for something I may have talked about before. If you did not get a chance to read July, I recommend taking a look. :0)