Faust

When I say “silver”, what comes to mind? Is it a very precious metal? Is it the hair on an elderly gentleman? Or, is it the streamlined shape of a prowling fish? One thing that should come to mind is fast ‘50s jets, with their penchant for bare-metal silver chrominess! And, just like those real jets, there were a lot of kits from that time that tried to capture the look with silver plastic! I recently came across a quintet of such kits, and they’re silver in that they are supposed to look fast, they are aged, being from the ‘50s, and they are somewhat precious! For some

Sometimes, you end up with a bunch of similar things without even trying. A perfect example of that is my (admittedly small) collection of Lindberg 1/20 model cars. I never really went out of my way to collect them, I just kinda bought them when I saw them. Then, I realized I had a gaggle of them hanging around my stash! So, I thought it would be fun to visit a bit of a model car Brobdingnag and see how the “bigger half” lives. I have some older MPC 1/20 kits, but the Lindbergs are neat because they’re all from the ‘90s, when kits of this size were really not a thing! C

Since it’s been a while, I thought I’d put up another Dinky Army review. However, I wanted to do something really out of left field, something that’s not as often thought about when one thinks of Dinky Toys. That something is a French Dinky Toy! Yes, as oddly juxtaposed as it may sound, today’s topic is a Dinky Toy made in France, in a French box, not related to a British toy at all. Adding to the fun, it’s an incredibly piece-y and complex bruiser of a toy, the Brockway Bridge Layer! So, if you’ve ever had an imaginary river you needed your Dinky Army to cr

When I posted the stuff I got at HeritageCon 14 a couple of weeks ago, I had a lot of interesting kits on display. I asked people what they wanted me to review first, and I was totally unsurprised by the result! The winner was the oh-so very weird and wonderful Suzuki Carry “Matsuri Van”! I mean, if you can’t see a Kei-class truck with a dude Taiko drumming on the roof would be the winner, then you need to go back to ESP-school, I think! Just like me when I bought it, I think a lot of people are drawn to the weirdness and want to see what it’s all about. So, being a fi

With road trips across borders being taboo, and no model shows, the last few years have proven to be a bit of a challenge when it comes to getting my hands on old, weird sprue. Thankfully, I’ve had a local show buy up an old collection and my good friend Alan has pitched in to help me out, too. However, this past weekend, the dam broke when the HeritageCon 14 show took place in Hamilton, Ontario! It was a huge show with lots of great things to see, and lots of weird stuff to buy! I may have gone a little nuts, but you can judge that for yourself! Check out my haul at th

Yeah... nothing says lovin' like another heapin' helpin' of Vega, right?

A friend and reader messaged me a while ago and asked what had happened to my losers. I mean, everyone knows I love loser cars, but I had drifted a bit away of late. I had a good influx of WWII planes and especially those that float, and I’ve gotten into Brass Era stuff a lot more lately. To be honest, I’d not even noticed my “loser output” had fallen! I promised him that I’d redeem myself before spring, and I’m here today to do just that. Because, when you want to show you’re strong with the Losers, you can’t just show up with anything. You can’t just bring a ’79 Mustang to a Must

One of the newer arms of the Cthulhu-like octopus that is Transformers branding and merchandise is brought to us by Flame Toys. Their “Furai Model Kits” are buildable, smaller-sized versions of their incredibly detailed (and expensive) “official third party” figures. I have a few of these kits, and while they look good, I was very eager to see how they actually built up as models. I started with the kit I had been very much eagerly hoping to get, namely Drift. As a samurai-inspired giant robot warrior from space, he’s halfway between a Gundam and a traditional Transformer in design

Thanks Curt! Yeah, being a Matchbox, the chances of it being 1/72 are pretty good. I've kinda wanted to get their 1/32 Spit F.22, but I think that's a bit hunk of only moderately decent plastic... 😕 I'm sure your Eduard spit will turn out looking much nicer than my old Matchbox! Good luck with it!

Thanks! It was a bit of a fight, but Matchboxes always are!

While it’s true that I generally like the more obscure subjects, I still have a soft spot in my heart for the classics. When it comes to WWII planes, there is arguably none more classic than the Supermarine Spitfire, the RAF’s thoroughbred that went on to spawn a dizzying variety of different versions throughout its career. However, even when it comes to the famous Spit, there are some obscurities to be had. One of those is the LF.XVI, a clipped-wing, bubble-topped fighter based on the famous Mk.IX. Now, what would make this even more appealing as a modelling subject? Why, if the k

Yeah, we likely would! I'm cool if he wants to adopt me. 🙂 Adopting adults is a thing now, right?

Finding new subjects to model is one of the great parts of this hobby, at least for me. When I branched out into building cars about 13 years ago, I never thought I’d build much more than a couple ‘80s loser machines. Well, then I found models of Street Vans, and Japanese Cars, and then weird Japanese cars, and it just spiralled from there. My most recent source of interest is, as some of you know, Brass Era (BE) cars. I remember seeing these in museums I’d go to with my Uncle when I was little, and always thought they were cool. Now, I have started to set my sights on collecting k

It may not be an iron-clad rule, but I do find that I prefer two-seat versions of single-seat aircraft. Oddly, I also prefer the single seat version of trainers… I guess I’m perverse like that! It turns out that there are a lot of planes about which I really don’t get that excited until you add an extra seat. A perfect example of that is the F9F-8 Cougar. I had the old (and not-so-good) 1/48 as a kid, but I didn’t think much of it; the design looked slow and heavy, and like a lot of transonic jets it just didn’t do much for me. However, the two-seater, or “Twogar” as it’s often kn

I agree, they'd be awesome on a track. I think putting the 1910 Buick on a Scalextric track would be a scream! Matchbox was great. Sure, their planes were meh, but I love them to death, and their cars and tanks are not only quite nice, but definitely interesting subjects!