Faust

Well, it seems like the snow is finally saying good-bye and the model show season has begun! In Southwestern Ontario, the first show of spring is the massive event that is HeritageCon in Hamilton, at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. As always, it was a great show, and there was plenty of awesome stuff on display. There were also plenty of awesome vendors, and I did very well on books and kits! Of course, most of the kits I got are weird as heck, so it only made sense to put them altogether and do a posting on them! Check out the weird mix of brass cars, airplanes and sci-fi I dug u

It’s been 40 years since a new cartoon about transforming robotic weapons and interstellar war hit the airwaves. No, I’m not talking about Transformers; I’m talking about Robotech! With its distinct visuals and storytelling, Robotech made an indelible impression on many of us back in the day. For many, it was their introduction to anime, which, for some like myself, has become a lifelong interest since! One of the more recent attempts to revive interest in this now-nostalgic (man I feel old) property was a tabletop wargame financed by Kickstarter in 2014. Unforntunately, the “Robot

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been almost 63 years to the day (Feb 20, 1962) that John Glenn rode Friendship 7 and an Atlas ICBM into orbit to be America’s first Man in Space! While space doesn’t seem to hold as prominent a place in the public consciousness as it used to, there’s no denying how big a deal the Space Race was at the time. It might be something of a negative commentary about our world that journeying beyond it no longer seems to hold our attention. But I don’t want to dwell on that! In a recent journey to a local shop, I came upon a more-or-less perfect reissue of Revell’s

Well, it’s the early part of a new year, so what a good time to take a look at the oddball mix of kits that I was able to accumulate over the holidays! Unfortunatley, I couldn't figure out where to put this, since it has cars, planes and sci-fi all in one post. So, I put it here. If someone has to move it, that's cool, and I appreciate the help! Some were Christmas presents, others finds at local stores, a toy show, and even a few online purchases! There’s everything from old to new to something old being new again! One thing’s for sure, though; if you know my tastes at all, then y

One of the greatest forms of losermobile is the kind that is let down completely not by design, but by birth. Either shoddy workmanship, materials or both result in a great design being little more than a cautionary tale in the annals of automotive history. A great example of that is the Alfa Romeo Alfasud, a sporty, fun-to-drive car that was everything one could hope for, while also being an unrepentant rust magnet! In the case of the ‘Sud, the design was willing, but bad metallurgy and cost cutting doomed it, and the resulting flesh was weak, so to say. Obviously, hav

One of the great parts about being a modeller is being able to embrace the more esoteric subjects, or kit makers or even kit formats so that the hobby never gets stale. With the explosion of Japanese Sci-Fi and Anime kits in the past decade or so, this has never been more true. However, not every kit made for the the Japanese home market is intended to make it across the oceans to us here in North America. Just like in the early days, when mech kits were little-known and something of a niche, there are mech kits that, even today, remain largely unknown and unavailable. A perfect ex

If there’s one thing I like, it’s a two-seater. Most of my modern jet kits are, in fact, two-seaters! Well, that’s except for the ones that are single-seat variants of two-holers! That’s just the kind of backwards guy I am, I guess… However, I love esoteric aircraft as well; those things that are a bit more off the beaten path really appeal to me. Not a surprise, then, that I’ve long wanted a kit of a two-seat MiG-23 for my stash. I my eyes, the “UB” variant of the Flogger is probably one of the sexiest Soviet aircraft of all time, but it’s not one you see in plastic very often!

Since I was looking for a change of pace from ill-fitting MPCs and picky airplanes, I thought the Airfix Bond Bug seemed like a great choice for my next build. While it’s far from perfect, it’s certainly very much unlike anything else I have, and I have multiple Japanese 3-wheelers, so that’s saying something! I’ve managed to get the chassis all together and ready for installation, so I thought I’d share it with everyone. This part of the kit is actually quite good, with only minor modifications needed! Enjoy! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2024/09/13/bond

Breaking records and advancing technology is a lot of what interwar aviation was about. Whether it was civilians risking it all for fame and fortune, or military test pilots pushing new frontiers for the glory of their homelands, going higher, farther and faster was a frenetic, and dangerous, game. While post-war X-planes from many nations are decently catered for by model companies, the same can’t really be said, especially nowadays, for these interwar pioneers. Thankfully, FROG had a whole series of “Trailblazers” kits that paid plastic homage to some of these aeronautical achiev

One area of interest that seems to be taking off in the scale replica world lately is that of Japanese cars, particularly older cars from the ‘70s and even early ‘80s. There’s not a lot written in North America about these cars in comparison to the domestics of the period, and this air of mystery has helped fuel the increasing popularity of these rarely seen and little-known automobiles. Interestingly, there were a lot more kits of older Japanese cars back in the day, when they were current, than you can find now. Sure, some have been reissued, and many “updated” to match the curre

You know the saying… when MPC throws you lemons, make… well… something! That was the situation I found myself in when it turned out that the old MPC California Sunshine show truck kit was anything but accurate. With decals that didn’t fit and results that didn’t match reality, it was time to come up with some kind of “Plan B”. So, I did. I thought it’d be fun to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Macross: Do You Remember Love movie with a truck that would look like it was an homage to the film but from back in the day! To this end, I present the finished

They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Well, true as that may be, there are a lot of examples of things that have gotten a lot of publicity yet, unsurprisingly, don’t seem to be all that great. Notoriety is no guarantee of success; we’ve all seen it so many times that it barely needs to be said. However, some people, or companies, will always choose to push the limits; to try and stretch the limits of good taste in the quest for fame and success. Sometimes, those limits are elastic enough to stretch, and other times, like an old elastic band, they break suddenly and sever

Ah Spring! The time when a young man’s fancy turns to… Weird Sprue!! Well, of course it does, what else did you expect from me? 😊 This year’s HeritageCon was its usual great show, and the Vendors’ room had plenty going on. I got a very interesting mix of kits; it was heavy on classic anime kit subjects but also had some newer stuff, some airplanes and a whack of brass cars! In short something for everyone, and everything for me! Check it out below, and let me know what your favourite is! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/he

There’s a lot to love about building model airplanes; the research, the importance of the real machine, finding a cool cammo scheme or personal markings that catch your eye… all of these and the desire to recreate a piece of history is what draws a lot of us into the hobby. For me, it’s always wanting to have a “toy” (or replica) of something I find cool. However, in a lot of ways, modelling aircraft isn’t always a place to express one’s self. There’s not a lot of leeway for imagination, and rivet-counters can quickly turn a slightly-off model into a less-than-enjoyable target of opportunity.

Thanks to the rather mild winter weather here, I haven’t had to shovel much this year, so that has give me some time to make some more progress on my California Sunshine “Valkyrie Truck”. I’ve managed to get the guts all assembled, now all that’s left is the bodywork and exhaust! Check out my progress here – maybe I’ll actually get this thing finished this calendar year! Will wonders never cease, eh? https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2024/02/12/california-sunshine-update-2-youth-takes-guts/