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Post by Faust on May 13, 2021 19:13:34 GMT -5
It's a wicked-cool kit. It's really part B-2 and part Millennium Falcon. When you see that was something taken seriously and planned out, and then you see boring stuff like the B-45, it makes you wonder how all that imagination ended up in one place. Heck, if it wasn't for German engineers and British Engines, would the Soviets even have had decent jets until the mid '50s? Of course, you could say that the British hardly had them at all... (see Attackers, Swifts and Javelins for details)
If it's as nice as the other RoG Luft '46 kits, it should be awesome.
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Post by Faust on May 12, 2021 20:42:47 GMT -5
Highly advanced German jet bombers have made it across the Atlantic and now threaten New York! Space-age technology years ahead of the Allies allows the Luftwaffe to strike back! America’s nose bloodied! Hitler’s new fighting jets open a terrifying new front in a truly global war! War Cabinet sent reeling! If those sound like headlines from a pulp fiction novel, dime-store boy’s annual or some kind of alternate history movie poster, then you’re pretty much on the right track. However, it’s also an accurate depiction of the box art on one of my favourite models of all time, the ultra-futuristic Arado E.555. This titan of Luft ’46 subjects is still a kit I can’t believe that a mainstream kit producer actually made, nevermind that it has seen multiple releases! The crazy part is that this 6-engined flying wing was a real project, this particular variant being the first in a family of “Amerika Bombers” developed by Arado. For a look at this “not-quite-ripped-from-the-headlines” bomber, check out the link below! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/revell-germany-1-72-arado-e-555-out-of-box/
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Post by Faust on Apr 28, 2021 20:44:11 GMT -5
I guess it’s true – it’s always the ones you least expect! When I bagged a tonne of Matchbox kits a month or so ago, and I asked everyone to vote on which they’d like to see reviewed first, I figured it’d be something relatively famous, and weird only in it’s being a Matchbox. Something like a Spitfire or Tempest or Panther, even the Prowler. Nope. I mean, there were some weird ones in there, with the Siskin and BAE-125/Dominie, so I was thinking maybe that would be the most popular. Nope again. I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised when it was the biggest and weirdest of them all, the Supermarine Stranraer! Given that the Matchbox is the only way to get a Stranraer in styrene, even in 2021, the appeal should have been obvious. So, check out this massive collection of wings and struts flying in formation. Oh, it’s “BYOI” (bring your own interior) to this party, just so you know! Get ready for some classic, classic stuff! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/matchbox-pk-601-1-72-supermarine-stranraer-oob/
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Post by Faust on Apr 14, 2021 20:40:39 GMT -5
It’s not a surprise when companies try to associate themselves with what’s “new” and “cool”. While modelling in the 2020’s might not be quite so fixated on this, there was a time when modelling was a more general hobby and companies did try to ride the coat tails of profitable and hoped-to-be profitable enterprises. There are lots of kits of vehicles from famous TV shows produced from the ‘60s to the ‘80s, so it really comes as no surprise that Monogram also decided to produce a kit from the much-hyped “New Monkees” TV show that aired in 1987. Sadly, Monogram’s bet didn’t pay off, and the New Monkees Mustang GT Convertible doesn’t carry the same cultural weight as the original Monkeemobile, Knight Rider’s KITT or even Magnum PI’s Ferrari 308. However, they did indeed kit the New Monkees Mustang, and I came across one last year at an antiques store. It was so weird, such a piece of ‘80s kitsch, that I had to get it. Now you can check out what you might have missed back in the day at the link below! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/monogram-1-24-new-monkees-mustang-gt-convertible/
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Post by Faust on Apr 2, 2021 11:27:20 GMT -5
Oh, man!
This is like my journeys to the March Break Custom Car Show (the London Ontario "Autorama") come back in full 3-D!
That paint is amazing. Well friggin' done!
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Post by Faust on Mar 31, 2021 20:42:11 GMT -5
If there’s one thing I love about going to hobby shops, it’s seeing some of the old stuff that’s for sale there. Most shops carry the newest and shiniest, but a lot of them also have a section for old collections that have been bought, and that’s where I love to hang out. With all the current travel restrictions, hobby shop runs have been off the table for a while, but thankfully, a local shop came to the rescue with a buy of 1,200-odd old kits!!! Of course, my heart leapt at the prospect, and I wasn’t disappointed! Among these time-travelers were boxes of Matchbox kits, and you know me… I do love me some Matchbox! I managed to get 20 of them that I didn’t already have, plus some other goodies! Check out this haul at the link below, and don’t forget to vote at the bottom of my page! There’s a lot to love here! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/matchbox-mega-score-march-2021/
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Post by Faust on Mar 24, 2021 20:14:40 GMT -5
Anyone who knows me knows I have a thing for old kits and obscure subjects. However, I also have a thing for cool robots, and if you stick a cannon on its shoulder or a beam shield on its arm, chances are good I’m going to buy it. Now… what if you have an old kit, that also has a beam shield??? Yeah, you KNOW that’s going to get me excited! And, it just so happens Bandai must have known that too, since they reissued a bunch of F-91 and Silhouette F-91 kits a couple of years ago. The first one I had a chance to get to the bench was the 1/100 Cluster Gundam. This has a special place in my heart, too, since I build one way back in the middle-late 1990s, when I was just getting into Gundam kits and anime in general. Thankfully, my skills have improved some since then, so this time I think I was able to do the Cluster justice. Check it out below, and let me know what you think. I never thought that there’s be retro Gundam modelling, but I guess it proves not only can you go back again, but that everything old is new again, too! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/bandai-1-100-f-90y-cluster-gundam/
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Post by Faust on Mar 10, 2021 21:19:27 GMT -5
If it’s one thing I normally don’t associate my modelling interests with it’s 1/35 armour. I’m just not that big into armour that I want to spend the time and money on large-scale tank kits. Normally, I just get the COBI (Polish Lego) tanks and build them if I want a big tank. They’re fun and easy. I’m also not super-attached to or enthralled by any armoured vehicles. Well, okay, there are a couple, but they’re darned few. One, however, that I definitely have a thing for is the South African G6 Rhino SP Gun. I love things with six wheels, I love oddballs, and what is odder than the G6 in the world of armour? Not much. I’ve wanted a kit of the G6 for years, but nobody has made one. Well, not until recently. Then Takom (a brand I have no experience with) brought out its massive 1/35 Rhino. I wanted it. Badly. Me, the “not-a-tank-super-casual-Matchbox-armour builder” guy. I saw one, once, in a store, and gagged on the price. I thought it over and decided to take the leap, and of course, it was gone by then. I did get a second chance, in the summer of 2019, and took it. I have to say, it’s not like anything I’ve experienced before and I think it’s going to be an interesting journey. If you’re curious about what this one is all about, you can check it out at the link below! Wish me luck! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/takom-1-35-g6-rhino-oob/
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Post by Faust on Feb 24, 2021 21:12:44 GMT -5
Some kits are a lot more work than you think they’re going to be. Sometimes, it turns out to be worth it, and other times it turns into a bloody nightmare you can’t wait to be done. Then, just once in a while, both happen, and a nightmarish kit turns out okay in the end. A perfect example of that is the 1/72 Zvezda Mig-29SMT. It’s a beautifully detailed kit, but it’s shockingly overengineered, and like Dio says in “The Devil Cried”, it’s not “smart, just clever”. It fought me almost from the get-go, but I will say that, now that it’s done, it does look pretty darned good. Is it worth the struggle? I’d say yeah, but you can check it out and let me know what you think! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/zvezda-1-72-mig-29-smt/
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Post by Faust on Feb 10, 2021 21:31:29 GMT -5
Interwar military vehicles are not something that a lot of model makers pay much attention to. Unless they saw action in WWII, the various transitional armoured and mechanized vehicles of the Pre-WWII period are pretty much forgotten. In many cases, modellers can’t even get kits of these types of vehicles. A perfect example is the awesome Morris Commercial D/CD. This half-car, half-truck six-wheeler was used as a staff car by the British from the late ‘20s, but is virtually unknown today. As a result, if you want a replica of this cool, but obscure, vehicle, you’re somewhat out of luck. Thankfully, Dinky Toys came to the rescue in the late ‘30s with its #152b, the Six-Wheeled Reconnaissance Car. Sure, the Commercial wasn’t really for recon, it was a staff car, but that doesn’t stop the Dinky from being a neat replica of an all-but-unknown vehicle! While it’s not up to modern armour kit standards of detail, check out this cool little time-traveller at the link below. Who knows, maybe one day we WILL get a kit of this thing! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/dinky-six-wheeled-reconnaissance-car-152b/
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Post by Faust on Jan 27, 2021 21:47:57 GMT -5
Sometimes, it’s the ones that you least expect that surprise you the most. After years of trying to create “BMW Fighters” in the form of the abortive Mustang SVO and Merkur XR4Ti and even Taurus SHO, Ford finally got a hit with the tenth-generation Thunderbird Super Coupes. With slick styling, legitimate (for the day) performance and advanced suspension, the T-Bird SC was as close as any of the Big Three ever really got to competing with Germany and Japan back in the day. Just like how the T-Bird surprised its rivals, I was blown away that the Revell 1992 T-Bird SC beat out things like the MPC Schwinn Krate and AMT Pinterra to take top spot in my poll a few weeks ago. Surprising people seems to be the SC’s way of doing things! I know I was surprised to find out how good this kit actually is, too! Check out this oft-forgotten kit from the time when Revell US really knew what it was doing, and “daily driver” models were still a thing! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/revell-1-25-1992-thunderbird-sc-coupe-oob/
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Post by Faust on Jan 13, 2021 21:47:14 GMT -5
With Christmas truly over, all the decorations long down and the new year proving to be not yet much better than the last, I thought it would be fun to show that it wasn’t all bad news. I thought it might be nice to see that even in the midst of some of the worst times something simple like model kits can bring a lot of people together, even if they can’t be right there. What better way to do that than to show you guys the rather eclectic mix of models that I got for Christmas, and for you to help decide which one you want to get reviewed first. Check out my haul of cars, bikes planes and tanks (oddly, no robots!) at the link below, and let me know which one you like best! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/christmas-haul-2020/
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Post by Faust on Dec 30, 2020 20:54:03 GMT -5
So, as for most of us, I’ve pretty much had it with the dumpster-fire that is 2020. It’s been exhausting and worrisome and just plain stupid, and I’m more or less over it. It is fine for it to pizz right off and never make its kind known again. Of course, I’m sure it’ll only get worse from here, but that kind of positivity is something for another day. In the spirit of 2020, that Grand Conjunction of Murphy’s Law and Sisyphus’ landscaping chores, I thought it was a perfect time to show how the Pioneer 2 Flagon G was coming. If there’s any project that really wallows in the spirit of this past year like a pig in its own manure, then it’s this thing. Check out all the “fun” below, and really, really… don’t try this one at home. Have a safe and profitable 2021, everyone! Happy New Year! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2020/12/30/flagon-g-update-1-take-it-in-almost-throw-it-out/
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Post by Faust on Dec 16, 2020 22:15:57 GMT -5
We all know that “retro modelling” is now a major force. We’ve seen the reissues and the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia have never been put to more use than now. There’s a lot of demand for repops of old, hard to get kits of weird, not-kitted-since subjects. I thought this was a new trend. I was surprised to find out just how “not new” it was when I got my big box of models in the mail from Alan. In that box, among all kinds of cool stuff, was a Hawk Hupmobile Runabout. This is certainly a subject you don’t find kitted today, and I wasn’t surprised to see it was from the mid ‘60s. However, I was surprised to find out that even then, the model and the subject were both retro, being issued in the mid ‘50s by Kaysun. Thus, you could say that this unusual model really is an early example of a retro-repop! Check out this ancient replica of an even more ancient relic at the link below. It won the poll I put up, but I’m glad I did. I find Brass Era cars fascinating, and this kit is pretty awesome. adamrehorn.wordpress.com/hawk-kaysun-1-24-1909-hupmobile-model-20-runabout-oob/
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Post by Faust on Dec 3, 2020 13:22:47 GMT -5
Thanks man!
It's funny... I don't like the fiddliness of armour, but for some reason, these little Matchboxes just make me smile. I guess it's the right mix of fun and detail.
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