Faust

Yeah, by '85 things had started to turn around all over the place. The GM F-Bodies and their Mustang rivals were starting to climb out of the hole, and the smaller performance cars were getting a lot better. Things like the Shelby Turbos helped a lot. Sadly, TC3s were way done by then... I'm equally sure I saw a number of them, but just don't remember either. They were kind of that type of car!

Well, I finally got it done! After a lot of fighting with the bumpers and a few other fit issues, my take on the MPC “Fuzz Duster” Volare is finished. Since I like to try and immortalize the “losers” in as stock a form as I can (usually), I chose to do the model as a straight-up 1980 Road Runner. These are not common today, and weren’t even very common back in the day, actually! With it’s very square looks and very staid motor, the last Road Runners weren’t much to get excited about. However, the Fuzz Duster kit has everything you need to build one of these now largely forgotte

Loser cars. If there’s one thing I love to get kits of, it’s loser cars. Most people like muscle cars, Ferraris and other exotics or classic cruisers. Not me. If you’ve seen anything else I’ve built or reviewed, you know I love to hate to love my loser cars. What’s more amazing that having a great selection of these things as kits? Finding out there’s a model of a loser car I didn’t even know about! Recently, it was brought to my attention that there was a kit of a Plymouth Horizon TC3. AWESOME! I knew about, and have several, of the Omni 024, it’s Dodge stablemate, but I wa

One of the things I like most about aircraft, well any vehicle actually, is the ways in which the various models of it can vary. I am a huge fan of variants, and there’s little I like more than the two-seater of a one-seater aircraft. This is almost a universal thing for me, and it’s not a surprise that if there’s a trainer version of a given plane I have gone out of my way to get my hands on it. I’ll often turn down the one-seater until I have gotten the two-seater! A perfect example of this is the mighty Su-17/20/22 “Fitter” family of swing wings. I particularly like this

Always glad that my models bring out memories, and hopefully good ones. I grew up with cars like this littering my town house complex, so I have a soft spot for them! :) Yes, it is a factory fresh car. Almost all of my cars are built that way. No matter how beat down, rusty and dilapidated a car may end up, all of them,from the greatest Muscle Car to the lowliest Econobeater, started life as a happy, shiny car. All were built shiny and delivered with gleaming chrome, shiny tires and mirror reflective paint. At least they're supposed to be. I want to capture that moment in my models

If there’s one thing the cold and snowy winter weather is good for, it’s finding some time and excuse to go hibernate in the modelling room! I’ve been hard at work on the Fuzz Duster, and I’ve gotten the interior and engine/chassis done. There’s still a lot of work to do on the body, but it’s coming along! Check out what I’ve got at the link below and let me know what you think! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2017/01/12/volare-mid-build-update-sit-down-and-feel-the-lean-burn/

Sometimes, getting what you wished for isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. While I’m not a hardcore armour modeller in the sense that I go out and get all kinds of fancy aftermarket stuff, I still like my tanks to at least be half-decent kits to start with. I also like them in small scale, so that’s why I’ve gravitated towards the old Matchbox and Fujimi 1/76 models. They’re small, well-detailed enough and simple enough to be fun. However, I was hoping I’d be able to find a Flakpanzer IV for my collection. I hadn’t been able to find a record of such a kit in 1/76, so you can imag

If there’s one thing I like, it’s Street Vans. I love them in all their forms, too, not just model kits (although I DO love those). I also like die cast replicas, and sometimes, you can get a die cast van that’s different enough to make it worth talking about. Just in time for Christmas, should you celebrate it, comes a van replete with Stars and Angels, but not likely in the way you’re thinking. If you like oddball die cast semi-knock offs, Street Vans or just want to check out something out of the ordinary, then click on the link below. I’ll let this Hong Kong oddity do the rest

I don’t know about you, but when I think of submarines, even WWII submarines, I think of relatively large ships designed to prowl the ocean depths like sharks stalking their prey. I don’t really think of costal patrol submarines; small boats with short range and limited armament. However, that’s exactly what the German Type XXIII was; a ‘brown water’ sub designed for shorter duration patrols in coastal waters. I was quite pleased to find a kit of this interesting craft a few years ago on a trip to a local shop. Since then, it seems like there’s been more interest in the Type XXIII,

Oh, that one, in chrome and blue, is Cyclone, I believe. I have it in chrome and red/pink. I always liked the design, but when I was a kid the pink was a bit girly. Never seen another one in the flesh, though. I hear you on Poncho fandom. I'm still a big Pontiac fan, and the reasons you cite are a big part of that!

Hey Jay! That's an awesome use for the Dirt Digger! Kind of like the Special Forces rapid attack buggies, but with a post-appocalyptic bent! that'd look sweet. I used to have a kit I'd take to work on while waiting in dealerships for my car to be serviced. I'd take over their coffee table and sit on the floor etching, sanding and trimming. People would invariable ask me about what I was doing, and most had built kits as kids - even the women, which surprised me! I loved Fast 111's, and their customs were awesome. Very "space-y". I JUST got a Jet Screamer l

Sometimes, it’s nice to take a trip back in time to when kits were supposed to be simple, fun entertainment for kids. Yes, there was a time like that, and many of us remember it. There were, to be sure, big expensive kits, but for those just starting out there were simpler kits with fewer parts, and even a snap fit if we hadn’t got our gluing skills up to par. A great example of kits of this type are the MPC “Fast 111’s” snap fit kits of the early ‘80s. These were roughly 1/32 replicas of, if you can believe it, 1/64 Diecast cars! The Kenner Fast 111’s line was invented as a

You're welcome! I don't get to really let the kits loose all at once often, so I like to take the odd group pic. :) I wanted that Fiero for ages... finally found one a year or two ago. I never had any of them originally; I wasn't in to modelling much then, and not cars at all. That's one reason I'm going so guns-out to get as many as I can now!

When it comes to armour kits, I will admit that I’m not as hardcore as some people. I like my tanks small, simple and cool looking. Of course, if the kit is a Matchbox then it doesn’t matter at all WHAT the subject is, I’m buying it. I LOVE the little old Matchbox 1/76 armour kits, and find they tick all the right boxes. They’re small and easy to display. They build up fairly simply and they are, almost to a one, all of vehicles I think are cool looking. Even if I’m only “meh” on the vehicle, usually the diorama base sells me! One of the collection I picked up a while ago wa

I am very pleased at how it turned out. I do like the SAAF scheme a lot. Thanks for the encouragement!

The British officially decided, in a Defence White Paper in 1957 that missiles, not manned aircraft, were the way of the future. However, since there were a few programs that were already too far along to stop, these “last few” were allowed to reach completion. On aircraft was the legendary Lightning interceptor. The other was the Buccaneer, an large, fast and tough naval attack aircraft. Eventually the Bucc’ went on to serve not only the Royal Navy, but also the RAF, taking part in the 1991 Gulf War with great success. However, while it was a great plane, the poor Bucc’ didn’t do

Everyone knows that I love loser cars. I seem to gravitate towards the odd, eclectic, underpowered and unloved. Well, there aren’t too many cars that are more of all of those things than the AMC Pacer! That’s why I was so stoked when I got my hands on the MPC ’78 coupe from Round 2 a couple of years ago. I’d seen the on the second hand market, and wasn’t about to pay what they wanted there. It never occurred to me that there would come a day that we’d be able to actually go into a shop and CHOOSE between two different Pacer kits! However, when I saw the new AMT ’77 Pacer Wagon in

Sometimes, my love of esoteric subject matter and my almost perverse addiction to old, cruddy and more-or-less-completely-undesirable kits intersects in a cool, but ultimately painful way. A perfect example of this is when I encountered, and proceeded to snap up, a whole mass of Farpro Japan kits in a (now defunct) local shop. These are the ancient Aoshima kits, but without the cool box art. That means they’re just dogs with mangy coats, I suppose. Still, the part of me that loves a challenge and roots for the underdog can’t help but want to see these 50+ year old gems built. I’ve already bu

As you guys likely know by now, I do love my MPC car kits. There’s something about grabbing onto an MPC, whether original or reissue, that just gets my engine turning. One thing that’s for sure, they really had distinctive box art. It was so much better, even at its blandest, than some of the Revell and Monogram stuff of the same era. Just for something fun to do, I took a few more pics of some of my newer MPC kits and put the box art up on my website. If you want a retro blast, check it out. Do you remember building any of these, back in the day? https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-ki

You know that old saying that “Nothing worthwhile comes easily”? Well, I guess it’s true, because I consider MPC kits to be a fun and worthwhile use of time, but man, the sure can be a pain in the posterior. The particular kit I’m referring to in this case is the Gold Rush Show Van! Yes, I finally got it done, but it didn’t come easy. That having been said, it certainly looks like the wild vannin’ creations I remember seeing around in my younger days, and having one on display is pretty darn exciting, especially if you love vans or MPC’s crazy over-the-top customs! Check out this fat-wheele

I agree completely! Imagine my delight on receiving this set, all age-related pokes aside, of course! :)

While they may not be up to the fine detail standards of current armour models, I am personally a big fan of the old British Dinky Military toys. They are solid, moderately detailed and definitely neat period pieces. I’m mostly familiar with models from the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, since that’s when my Uncle was young and thus had the catalogs for them. I just recently had a milestone birthday, and my brother decided to help me “over the hill” with a large, custom-made Dinky Gift Set that contained a good number of models I’d never even seen before! If you want to see how to apply modelling

Thanks, guys! I'm glad everyone likes him! I agree, that figure models of Transformers would be awesome. The Bay-formers, especially, would lend themselves to all kinds of awesome aging, washes and metallization techniques!

As a great fan of robots and mecha of all kinds, I really wish that there were good kits of Transformers as they appeared in robot mode. Not just little kits of the toys (which there were), but stylized replicas that didn’t transform and just looked cool standing there. Unfortunately, that’s not something that seems to be out there. However, the next best thing, of course, is making your own! Sometimes, I’ll come across a Gundam (or other) kit that is surprisingly similar to a Transformer, or some other robot, and I can have a blast re-purposing it and customizing it. That’s what happene

Thank YOU for the compliments! I would do a couple of things differently now, but I'm constantly learning and developing new tricks as I go. The next Farpro might end up better than this one, who knows. I do have seven of them, after all! Still, for such a dog of a kit, I was pretty pleased. At least the price was right, and I don't think there are too many others out there crazy enough to bother even spending time on something like that!