Faust

Well, that's your take. You've seen mine. My feeling is though, given that this is a pretty modern and relatively expensive kit, that there's a lot of ways that Zvezda could have done the intakes better. With such a long seam and no real positive location, getting things to line up right is not that easy. I've built a tonne of kits, and this is the only one I've seen that had intakes that were this odd. If you can do those intakes with a little spot of Mr. Surfacer, then I applaud you. However, I am building this kit, not you, and I found the intakes rather tricky. You can see fro

I don't know if you can blame gravitationally induced phenomena, but yeah... I have a model of the Trabby and would love a Yugo kit! Oh, by the way, did I mention I have a COBI (Polish Lego) FSO Polonez? Yeah baby! Jealousy will get you nowhere. The cars I love will do the same! :)

A challenge is one thing, but sometimes you just run into something that’s just difficult for no reason, and it seems as if the designers can be heard sitting in their conference room snickering “Hah! Let them figure THIS out!” Sadly, the Zvezda Mig-29 SMT is one such kit. Don’t get me wrong; it’s a nice enough looking kit, and all the weapons and features it has still make it cool. However, there are some design choices that break the “questionable” boundary and spin off into the void of unnecessary complexity. A perfect example of this latter kind of design are the intakes on Zve

Some people say you can never have too much of a good thing. Then there’s the person who coined the term “Embarrassment of riches”. Well, somewhere between those two things comes something I think most modellers are familiar with: a collection. Now, I don’t just mean a collection of things that are related, like “British side-by-side Two Seaters” or “Third Reich Research Aircraft”. No, I mean when you have multiples of the same basic thing, like “All Subtypes of Navy Phantoms” or “Every Sherman Variant” or, my favourite “A Boatload of RX-78s, even though they’re not your favourite Gundam”.

Pretty much everyone who knows me knows that I love loser cars, everyday cars and the stuff that most people don’t even think about. Well, there’s not much more of a loser everyday car than one of the best-selling, but most boring, of all the ‘70s three-box sedans: the Ford Granada! Unfortunately, while the real car sold well, there wasn’t a lot of interest from kit makers. Just imagine the awesome MPC decal variants that COULD have been made with an early Granada kit! However, I recently was given quite a rare little gem; one of the 1/32 Lindberg Ford Granadas! Depicting a ’76 Ghi

Amen!

There’s nothing quite like the unknown to get the old imagination cranking. One facet of this from a modelling perspective is to embrace sci-fi subjects. However, there’s another way to go about it, and that’s “What-If” or “whif”-type subjects. Of course, for some of us, both are equally as much fun, and my stack of anime kits and Luft ’46 creations attests to this. One of the cooler Whifs that’s kind of real, but still not really known, is the stealthy Blackhawk (?) derivative used in the raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound. Sure, the raid left a tantalizing souvenir in the form of

There’s nothing quite like the unknown to get the old imagination cranking. One facet of this from a modelling perspective is to embrace sci-fi subjects. However, there’s another way to go about it, and that’s “What-If” or “whif”-type subjects. Of course, for some of us, both are equally as much fun, and my stack of anime kits and Luft ’46 creations attests to this. One of the cooler Whifs that’s kind of real, but still not really known, is the stealthy Blackhawk (?) derivative used in the raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound. Sure, the raid left a tantalizing souvenir in the form of

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

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 se

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 origina

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 purpos

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.

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

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 P

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!

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 h

Well, it’s taken me a while, but I’ve finally managed to make some headway on the BRAT. I was very excited to get one, since I had turned one down (stupidly) years ago. I think it was a good thing, though, since I’ve built up my skills at cars in the meantime. And let me tell you… boy, do you need to be ready to leverage some skill against this thing! After a lot of work, modifying the body and interior pans, adding, reshaping and scribing parts, the body is pretty much ready for paint! However, it was a long haul. Given that the reissue is due out in a month or so, you can get a p

I have that CRX kit too, I think. The Ballade Sports CR-X1.5, right? What colour was your car? You can't be Hondas for durability, but their high resale after that many miles never ceases to amaze me!