Faust

If it’s not “what you’ve got” but “what you do with it”, then, unfortunately, the armoured vehicles of the WWII Imperial Japanese Army come up short no matter what you do. As a nation that had no real need of conventional armoured forces, the Japanese never really developed powerful tanks in the vein of their German allies or the Americans and British. However, as the American island-hopping campaign got underway, it became apparent that some new weapons would be needed to counter the types of tank their enemies preferred. Thus, like many other nations, the idea of the “tank destro

What’s black and white and red (and yellow, orange and purple) all over? If you said “A newspaper!” then you need to share whatever you’re putting on your Cheerios in the morning, because hogging that isn’t cool. If you answered “WTF are you talking about?” then you KNOW you’re on the right track for something crazy. What uses that palette? Well, here are some hints. MPC. Harry. Bradley. Minitruck. If you guessed the “California Sunshine” kit based on the Datsun 620 mould, then pat yourself on the back, because that is correct! I received one of these classic beauties f

The ‘50s were an exciting time, with airplanes improving, performance-wise, in leaps and bounds, and with new, futuristic shapes taking to the skies in increasing numbers. Swept wings, delta wings, rockets and afterburners… it was as if all the sci-fi serials had exploded into life overnight. For aviation-minded youths of the time, it was only natural to want to build the “latest and greatest” of these new aircraft as soon as possible. To that end, the modelling companies of the day often tripped over each other to be the “first out” with kits of new and racy planes, sometimes to t

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?