Faust

Holy crud! I thought I put a lot of work into things! Man, that' is awesome! You're rocking this thing, and it looks great so far! Looking foward to seeing this one! Just don't put "Boss Hogg" on the fender, like the old Ertl 1/64 car. God I hated that...

Summer is a great time for road trippin’, and nothing makes a trip better than getting some good sprue along the way. I did well on a two-pronged trip in August, and I just got the stuff organized. I thought it would be fun to share my haul from Michigan to Hamilton , Ontario! Check it out at the link below; if you thought I had eclectic tastes before, well… just think that now I’m going from Barbie Vette to nuclear missile, and all points in between! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/scores-and-collections/2019-end-of-summer-haul/

No, it wasn't my intention to do that to the front suspension! I actually never noticed it until earlier this morning, and then I was very much "What the..." and went and checked the model, and yup, it wasn't just the camera lying. While it was a neat idea, and the wheels did fit over them, the whole "Front disc" brake thing was troublesome, and they were hard to get glued in at the right angle. That's why it looks that way. It just didn't fit any other way! I wonder if the Reissue is the same?

I think this might redefine “labour of love” for me; the BRAT is finally done! It took a lot, and there were so many big and little things that had to be done to get the darned thing together, but I have to say it was all worthwhile. Since turning one down at the dawn of my interest in car kits, I’ve always wanted a chance to build one of these lovably oddball machines. I got my chance when I picked one up about a year ago, and now it’s done and on my shelf. Check out my original AMT BRAT, with custom-resized decals in all its chicken-tax-evading glory at the link below, and let me know what you think. Who out there is building the resissue? I’m interested to know if it has the same issues! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/amt-matchbox-1-25-1978-subaru-brat/

That's so awesome! I love the Orao, and I love that people build weird stuff like that. Great job on it too. I do wish they'd do a 1/72 two-seater! Now THAT'S a sexy plane! Great work, and you should be proud!

When it comes to the Cold War, there’s little more iconic, at least in Europe, than the Avro Vulcan bomber. With an advanced design and powerful engines, the Vulcan was the bomber that looked like a space ship and handled like a fighter. I remember seeing it when I was very young at the London (Ontario, Canada) International Airshow. It was amazing then, and it’s still amazing now, even though XH558 is no longer flying. Of course, this symbol of British achievement makes a natural subject for a toy from a top British maker. Dinky thought so too, and thus undertook to develop and sell a Supertoys-sized replica of the silver, dart-like bomber in the mid-1950s. Space, jets and all things fast were all the rage, and Dinky thought a Vulcan would be a sure seller. They were right. However, due to a serious oversight, only 500 or so of this mould were ever produced. They were so awesome they LITERALLY broke the mould. Amazingly, I have (thanks to my brother) managed to get one of these for my collection. If you’ve never seen one before, I’m not surprised. I hadn’t either until I got mine as a Christmas gift. Check out Dinky’s biggest example of “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” at the link below. https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/dinky-toys-supertoys-no-749-992-avro-vulcan/

It's a shame the whole show wasn't animated like the intro! Still, it's a good-looking show, and more entertaining that Votoms or Layzner, both of which have cool mech designs but disappointed in character and story, in my view. I never did get the bigger kits; they were good, eh?

For me, building models is an equal part of artistic expression and attention to detail. It all depends on the kit itself, and how I’m feeling at the time. When it comes to Gundams, though, it’s a toss-up, in most cases, as to whether I’ll build it box-stock or customize it. One thing I do love to do, though, is make non-canonical MSs fit into their respective (although usually it’s the UC) universe! As if reading my mind, Bandai’s excellent “Build Fighters” series kits walk the perfect line between canon and fanciful, and there are many great designs that improve on their originals rather well. One example of that is the fanciful, knight-like “Gyancelot”. With a plumed headdress, cape and Zeon Crest-shaped spear, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s just not UC-able. However, that’s just what I did – reworked the mech’s colours and backstory so it made sense within the UC timeline! Check it out below, and let me know what you think. Have you had any other ideas of what to do with your Gyancelot, if you have one? https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/bandai-1-144-yms-15gc-gyan-crusader/

An old adage is “If it looks right, it flies right”. This implies that a well-designed, well-flying plane is one that is aerodynamically sound, and that this translates, on some subconscious level, to a perception of beauty. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but by and large it is pretty true. (I think the A-10 is hot, so don’t bring that as a counterexample!) Of course, beautiful planes are one thing, but just like how I like loser cars, I have a thing for making pretty airplanes ugly. I absolutely love it when a plane gets all kinds of lumps and bulges, be it for EW purposes, or some other reason. One thing above all that I love is a big spine! Taking an otherwise lithe and athletic aircraft and putting a MASSIVE SPINE on it just works. OA-4Ms, Thunderstick II Thuds, Sufas… you name it, if it has a big spine or a hunchback, I’m on it like… well, a fat spine on a lithe plane! Thus, I was pretty pumped to get my hands on the Zveszda Mig-29SMT. Nothing takes the “Russian-chic” of the Fulcrum and junks it up like a massive hunchback of a fuel tank! Add a centreline tank to add a belly, and the poor SMT’s just got “fat and slow” written all over it! Check out Zvezda’s take on this last of the original Fulcrum family at the link below. You can’t like to yourself any more; you know you want it! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/zvezda-1-72-mig-29-smt-oob/

The BRAT keeps on rolling! Well, not physically, since I haven’t done the wheels and tires yet, but it’s metaphorically well on its way! One part of cars I really like is the interior, and while it’s simple, the old AMT Brat has some nice detailing. The texture of the carpet and the detail on the door panels and seats is great; it’s a bit too bad it isn’t going to be more visible! Still, I’ve had a good time building it, and I’m glad that I cut the bucket separate from the bed. Best move ever. I’ve also got the paint on, and that meant it was time to look at the decals. Since this is an original BRAT, not the reissue, I don’t have that super-nice looking new sheet to work with. I had a scan of it, but that’s cheating, and I wanted to make the originals work. WOW… that’s quite a fight! Check out the ups, downs ins and outs at the link below! Despite what it looks like, I think things are getting close! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2019/07/31/brat-update-3-sit-down-dress-up-and-hold-on/

The Battle of the BRAT rages on! I’ve been hacking away at the original AMT BRAT for a while now, and am making good progress. Thankfully, the body seems to have the highest number of flaws, since I was able to get the chassis and engine done without major issue. Of course, that doesn’t mean AMT still didn’t find ways to disappoint; that would be unthinkable! From poor location to just plain old forgetting to finish the job, the BRAT has some interesting quicks in its lower half. You can check out the chassis and engine at the link below, and if you’ve got a reissue of this kit, let me know if they fixed the issue on the motor. https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2019/07/16/brat-update-2-topless-on-bottom/

If you know me, then you know my thing is weird cars, the everyday and what I call “loser cars”. One of the most recognized, reviled and joked about loser cars of the Automotive Dark Ages was the Ford Pinto. With a reputation for blowing up like a stick of Looney Tunes dynamite and a design that was a weird mix of practical and impractically underpowered and underbuilt, the Pinto has long epitomized how low things could go. It’s no surprise then that I was beside myself with excitement when Round 2 anounced they were going to give us our SECOND Pinto reissue. First, there was the Pony Express wagon, followed now by the AMT 1977 hatchback! For Pinto-philes (even sounds gross) and loser-lovers like me, getting a chance to own the second-ugliest installment of Ford’s incendiary blighter was something that had only been hoped for. I managed to snag one a week and change ago, and I’m really surprised to see that no one else out there seems to have jumped on this one. Of course, that might be because, unlike me, they knew what to expect! Check out my out of box review for this new stain on your modelling display at the link below, and bring your fire extinguishers! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/1-25-amt-round-2-1977-pinto-runabout-oob/

Is it funny, or sad? Or is it funny, because it's so sad!? :)

There’s not much more fun than a road trip, unless it’s a road trip that also includes going to Hobby Shops along the way! A couple of weeks ago, my brother and I ended up doing some “hobby shopping” in Michigan, and it was not without considerable success! We managed to find all kinds of old, interesting and (of course!) sad car kits that begged to become part of the stash. Being kind-hearted, we of course took them in! Check out this weird mix of everything from MPC Annuals to JoHan promo-kits at the link below! Don’t forget to vote for your favourite, either! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/cross-border-car-bonanza/

I do love a good mech, and I have a particular fondness for mech shows and designs from the ‘80s. Even though I didn’t grow up with a lot of mech shows, there’s something about the animes from this time frame that others just don’t have. One thing that was nice is that there weren’t ‘rules’ yet for how a Gundam, or even a non-Gundam should “look”. Before EVA’s “Stringbean Chic” approach, mecha could be chunky and still look cool. A perfect example are the mecha from Metal Armour Dragonar. While they have some Gundam in them, they are just as much equal parts Layzner and there’s a hint of “super robot” in there too. I was very lucky when I found pretty much every Dragonar kit had been reissued a few years ago, and go my local shop to order them for me. Since there hasn’t been much new in the world of mech kits that’s grabbed my attention lately, I decided I’d bust out a classic and review it! If you want to see how a Hero Mech was done in 1987, then check out my out of box review on the classic 1/144 Dragonar 1 + Lifter, below. In some ways, we’ve come a long way, but there’s still a quaint charm about this guy! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/bandai-1-144-xd-01-dragonar-1-xdfu-01-lifter-1-oob/