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Post by Faust on May 20, 2016 15:51:14 GMT -5
Glad you like it!
Oh, man, one of these in 1/16 would be awesome. The 1/20 is nice and big, I can only imagine what you could do with an even bigger canvas!
Glad, too, that the write-up was of interest too!
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Post by Faust on May 19, 2016 19:10:42 GMT -5
We’ve all been taught that it’s what’s inside that counts. Well, that may sound like a platitude for the social engineering of grade school but it certainly is true when it comes to making a knock-out Street or Show Van! Thankfully, the old MPC Dodge Van kit, including the amazingly outrageous Gold Rush, listened to what they were taught, and gave us a really good interior to grace their wacky custom vans! Complete with “shag” carpet, Naugahyde couches and shingles (Yes! You read that right!), the inside of Gold Rush is every bit as crazy and over-the-top as its outside! Check out my take on this Vannin’ luxury love nest at the link below. The good news; you can have just as much fun with the newly released Bad Company! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2016/05/19/gold-rush-update-2-no-guts-no-staffroom/
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Post by Faust on May 5, 2016 19:35:27 GMT -5
Alright! It’s on! I just couldn’t keep my hands of that Gold Rush for long. I’ve been slamming away at it for a bit now, and I think it’s time to show what I’ve got done so far. Like all MPCs, Gold Rush is a bit of a mixed bag; long on awesome, but short on the basics like fit and well-thought out engineering. You know how it goes, if you’ve ever built one! Anyway, I have gotten a lot of preliminary work done on the body, flares and even done some custom exhaust work. Thank goodness for the reissue of Bad Company, too. I found a great use for some of its pieces, too! Check it out here: adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2016/04/21/gold-rush-update-1-work-that-body/
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Post by Faust on May 5, 2016 19:27:21 GMT -5
I’ve always been a fan of two-seaters, whether they’re purpose-built trainers or two-seater versions of frontline combat machines. There’s something about the longer canopy and change in overall proportion that I think just makes most planes look better. That’s why so many of my models (both built and in the “stash”) are two-holers. Of course, it goes without saying, that the more obscure the plane is the better I like it, and if it’s a two-seater than you can pretty much bet I’m going to pick it up. That was exactly the case when I came across the Models kit of the Taiwanese AT-3 Tsu-Chang. This is a pretty unknown aircraft, purpose-designed for training, but like so many of its ilk, it has a secondary combat capability. I am really quite pleased with how this little bird turned out, but let me warn you; this is not an easy kit to build. It’s simple, sure, but that simplicity masks some serious issues. Still, there’s not likely to be an Tamigawa or Trupet-boss kits of it soon (although, who knows…), so what you sees is what you gets, as they say! Check it out and let me know what you think! -models-172-aidc-at-3-tsu-chang/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/planes/-models-172-aidc-at-3-tsu-chang/
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Post by Faust on Mar 25, 2016 7:00:20 GMT -5
I have some AMTs from the mid-late '70s that astound me with their cheapness (MONZA, I'm talking to YOU) but others, like the Scirocco and Capri II Ghia that are very nice. I just hate those damnable ungluable half-tires. As for MPC, they don't always make great kits, but when they do, they're all over it. I'm a bit of an MPC addict, I must admit.
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Post by Faust on Mar 24, 2016 16:40:04 GMT -5
By now, I’m sure anyone who knows me realizes that I do have a soft spot for MPC kits. The good folks at MPC seem to have been on the same wavelength as me when it comes to what makes a great car kit. Good interior detail, bizarre subject matter and a heaping helping of ‘zeitgeist’ are all essential. They must also have known that I LOVE street vans, since they made a bus-tonne of them back in the day. Mind you, there were a lot of the real things back then too! More than any other maker, I think, MPC really seemed to embrace Vannin’, and that means there are a lot of good (well, interesting, at least) van kits out there. Recently, Round 2 reissued one: Bad Company. This was the 1982 annual of the mid-‘70s Dodge van. However, there were many other Dodge street vans before Bad Company. One of the rarer ones seems to be Gold Rush, a completely crazy custom van that could only have arisen from MPC in the ‘70s. My brother managed to snag me a copy, and I present to you an out of box review for this wild roller at the link below. For whatever reason, I don’t seem to be able to find many other reviews of this thing, so maybe it’s been forgotten? Well, I couldn’t let that stand! Check it out, and rest assured, THIS THING WILL GET BUILT!! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/mpc-124-gold-rush-custom-dodge-van-oob/
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Post by Faust on Feb 25, 2016 18:21:23 GMT -5
If it’s one thing I like, it’s a giant robot. Of course, if that giant robot happens to be all junked up with extra armour, missiles and guns, well, that’s just all the better, then! Despite my love of nice clean mecha with lithe lines, it seems I never really build that many of them. I’m always drawn to build the ones with all the added “stuff”. The Full Armour Gundam 7th is no exception. Of course, one explanation is that there’s NO version of this mech WITHOUT the armour, so it’s not like I had a choice! Coming from a little-known Gundam game (that we in North America didn’t get, I don’t think), the Full Armour 7th is a pretty obscure machine. Of course, it its original colours, it’s also a very gaudy and clownish-looking one too! I think that a heavy armour suit should look the part, so I decided to totally reinvent this mech’s colour scheme. By darkening it up and unifying the colours, I think I got it looking a lot meaner and more like the walking tank/battleship it was supposed to be. Take a look and let me know what you think! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/mecha-robots/bandai-1144-hguc-fa-78-3g-full-armour-gundam-7th-ground-custom/
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Post by Faust on Feb 20, 2016 10:56:40 GMT -5
Lookin' good! That's the nice thing about a custom van, you can always hide flaws with decals! Not that I might have done that, at times... I'm eager to see this one all done up!
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Post by Faust on Jan 23, 2016 8:27:33 GMT -5
Thanks for the compliments, guys! I will likely enter this into my local show in the fall this year. It's not a great replica, but I'm hoping that the paint and rescribing will allow it to stand up at least more-or-less even with newer competition! Not too many people want to bother building these really old kits when it comes to planes, so I don't expect I'll see another one of these around anytime soon! It's funny; car builders love old car kits, because those subjects have never been reissued, I guess. Plane guys always want the newest version. Me, I take the car-guy love of old kits and apply it to planes and tanks, too!
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Post by Faust on Jan 14, 2016 20:23:23 GMT -5
One thing I like about modelling as a hobby is that it always gives me a chance to try something new. In this case, that’s building armour! I’m not really an armour builder by “trade”, but I do find tanks and fighting vehicles very interesting. I have been scared off by the complexity of armour kits in general, but then I found some old 1/76 Matchbox kits! With their small size and cool diorama bases, I figured I could get some practice on weathering and doing groundwork, all at the same time! So, here’s what is actually my second piece of armour in recent times, the old M16 “meat chopper” from Matchbox. Please let me know what you think, and I’d really appreciate feedback since I’m new at this and would love to hear how to get better! Thanks! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/ships-and-tanks/matchbox-172-m16-halftrack/
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Post by Faust on Dec 31, 2015 10:17:46 GMT -5
You know how, at this time of year, there’s a big push for “out with the old, in with the new”? Well, certainly you MUST have known that I would do just the opposite! Just in time for New Years, then, I thought I’d treat everybody to a great remind of just how far we’ve come from some of our darker days in motoring history. Nothing makes the past look better than distance, but it’s still going to take a few years to make anyone miss, pine for or maybe even forgive this horrible little toad of a car: The Daewoo Lemans! Remember when the great LeMans nameplate got stuck onto a horrible sputtering little Korean junkbox? If not, you will when you check out the out of box like below! Have a peek, and be glad that with each passing day, ever fewer of these things can be seen on the roads! Happy New Year! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/academy-124-daewoo-lemans-gse-oob/
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Post by Faust on Dec 17, 2015 20:15:23 GMT -5
Well, after a bit of time away to work on some other stuff, I managed to get back to the Farpro Saiun that I was getting closer to finishing. I can say that while the Saiun is a very attractive plane, the Farpro kit needs a bit of work to get it to do the real airframe justice. Still, with a bit of work and some patience, I think I got this old chestnut actually looking pretty darn good. I love to see what I can manage to do with an older kit. I like to see if I can make an old kit look like a new kit, or at least not look quite so out of place on a show table! Check out the fruit of my labour, and let me know what you think! Thanks! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/planes/farpro-172-nakajima-c6n1-saiun-myrt/
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Post by Faust on Dec 3, 2015 20:08:20 GMT -5
One facet of Nazi Germany I particularly fascinating is the way in which Hitler and his closest compatriots managed to take the concept of a “cult of personality” and weave it so totally into the fabric of the nation. In so many ways, the Nazi leader and his cronies became indistinguishable from the state itself. Let’s face it, Hitler, in so many ways, WAS the state. One very physical symbol of this was Hitler’s penchant for spectacle, all the way down to his ride. The Mercedes-Benz G4/W31 is a perfect example of the brutish spectacle that Hitler made of almost everything. I’ve always wanted a model of that car, and am glad to see that Revell Germany makes a really nice new kit of it. Of course, anyone who knows me knows that I generally eschew “nice new kits” and go for the “old and obscure” first. I didn’t even know if there WAS an older kit of the G4, but I figured I’d know it if I saw it. And, then I DID see it! Check out my out of box review on the old Marui 1/35 G4. Sure, it’s not as nice as the Revell Germany kit, but it sure is a lot harder to find! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/marui-135-mercedes-benz-g4w31-oob/
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Post by Faust on Nov 5, 2015 20:37:45 GMT -5
I really would rather build a model of a car that I used to see driving all over the place than a model of some supercar I’ll never have a chance of owning. That’s why I gravitate to the “loser” and “everyday” car kits. In the ‘80s there was a chance to actually get kits of everyday cars, but as time went on, it got harder and harder. By the mid-1990s, there were hardly any kits of common cars. That’s what makes the Lindberg 1996 Sebring Convertible so awesome! Not only do I remember lots of them around, but I also still see some come the summer time! I know Lindberg was also responsible for the promos for the Sebring, so it’s no surprise they’d spin it into a kit. However, I was expecting something like their Caravan kit, not something as deluxe as the Sebring turned out to be! To see what I’m talking about, and take a gander at what might be one of the last “everyday car kits” of the 1990s, check out my out of box review of this kit below! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/lindberg-125-1996-sebring-convertible-oob/
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Post by Faust on Oct 7, 2015 15:58:11 GMT -5
Thanks for the compliments, guys!
The tires I used are those in the kit. They stick out a bit far because they were scaled for the IMSA flared version, or "custom" version as they called it. It was a shame; even with filing that's as far as I can tuck them in.
It cost me first place at a model show. In fact, afterwards, they told me that the tires prevented it from placing at all, but it was otherwise well enough done to get first. Huh... Oh well... I still like it! Not my fault MPC can't make tires!
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