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?

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!

While it is only a couple days into the new year, I can’t help but think of the old saw “Out with the old, in with the new!” Of course, when it comes to sprue, I can’t really abide by that at all. I’m more like “In with the old, in with the older and weirder!”. I know it doesn’t really follow the spirit of things, but you know me… always have to be contrary. In that fine tradition then I would like to share with all of you a great classic car score I had in late November, in the one Toy Show I managed to get to before COVID started shutting everything back down again! Now, when I s

Well, it was a push, but it’s done in time for Christmas! With a lot of sanding, grinding and polishing, my Fumina Christmas Angel Custom version of the Bandai Axis Angel kit is ready for display on the Big Day. I’m glad to be able to add another Gundam-based Christmas ornament/display to my holiday decorations, and I think she looks rather good. Check out this new addition at the link below, and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/bandai-non-scale-super-fumina-christmas-angel-custom/

Sometimes the things I like are just so esoteric and awful that there simply isn’t a kit of a particular subject. I know, it seems weird, but it’s true. However, sometimes I get lucky, and there will be a pre-built replica of the object of my desire/dismay! This is most true when it comes to cars, and particularly European cars! One perfect example of an unsurprisingly unkitted subject is the Renault 14. While Renault has made a lot of successful (in Europe, at least) cars, the pear-like 14 is not one of them. It’s ugly, weird and shockingly corpulent in the wrong places. Thankful

Well, the air is getting colder, the nights much longer, and the Christmas decorations have been in the stores for a couple of months now, so that can mean only one thing: It’s about a month from Christmas! With that in mind, I wanted to do another Christmas Gundam project. However, I’ve got Santa, a sled, an elf and a reindeer… what’s left. That’s when it hit me: an angel!! So, inspired by this realization, I dug my way through my stash to find my Super Fumina Axis Angel kit. I mean, it’s already a girl, and has angel wings, so I’m most of the way there, right? Right? Well, maybe

Given all the weird stuff I build and collect, like 4-door Vettes and early, useless jets, it should come as no surprise that the weirder it is, the more I’m likely to be drawn to it. My reputation precedes me, too, it seems, since my brother and (now late) uncle worked together to give me five of the Arii 1/32 Owners’ Club three-wheeled trucks for Christmas some time ago. I thought it was high time to dig one of these little weird guys out and give it a go. On a whim, I decided to take a run at the Mazda K360, since it’s not as well-known as the Daihatsu midget, and thus was even

When they say “Truth is stranger than fiction”, sometimes, they aren’t kidding! The desperate last days of WWII in Germany saw any and all ideas for defence of the Reich at least given consideration, no matter how outlandish they were. That some of these ideas were greenlighted, and even made it to the flying stage, says a lot about the state of Germany’s science and politics in the early-middle ‘40s. One of the weirder and more dangerous vehicles to make the leap from napkin to launchpad was the Bachem Ba-349, or BP-20, “Natter”. A vertically-launched, tiny, rocket-propelled poin

Yeah, I like Japanese WWII planes, for the most part. A lot of glass though! Thanks to my local shop getting in so much sprue this year from one guy's collection, my WWII Japanese inventory has grown a lot. I'd say I have most of the main single-engined fighters (save the Shoki, which I dislike) and a lot of float planes. I still don't have many larger planes, save for Peggy and the Ki-109 (I think) interceptor. Sadly, the venerable TA-4J didn't win, but it is one of my favourite two-seaters. That they could put a second seat in such a small plane and STILL make it wo