Wire Wheels (15-Inch 60-Spoke)

Published: March 4, 2015
Company: 3D Model Parts

The future of modeling has arrived! 3D Model Parts is a company specializing in 3-D printed resin accessories for car and ship models. Their only offering for cars at the moment is these wire wheels. They will work as 15” wheels for 1:25 scale cars, and14” wheels for 1:24 scale cars.

Available with 3 different styles of knock-offs, the wheels come in a pack of 5, with an instruction sheet that explains how to work with them. The wheels and knock-offs each come attached to a thin wafer of resin, not unlike traditional resin parts, which must be sanded away to release the part. I found it easier to cut the wafer away from the knock-offs, as they were too small to hold against any kind of sanding surface without also sanding the skin off my fingertips.

The wheels… more

1978 Corvette Indy 500 Pace Car

Published: October 5, 2014
Company: Revell

In 1978, the Corvette was celebrating its 25^th anniversary. In recognition of that milestone, it was name the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 race that year. Chevrolet released the car in a striking 2-tone silver and black paint scheme that had every motorhead drooling. I was a teen at the time, and I built MPC’s annual Corvette kit. It didn’t come with any of the striping or pace car decals, but I painted in that color combination anyway: it was that cool.

Revell has recently re-released its kit of that vehicle, and it was my good fortune to get hold of a copy of it to review. With all the proper decals for a true pace car, I could finally build the model the way I wanted to do it all those years ago.

The kit comes in Revell’s standard box, with the… more

1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible

Published: April 20, 2012
Company: Revell

The 1950’s were a decade of joyous excess in automotive design. After the austerity of the Great Depression and the deprivations caused by World War II, Americans were excited and optimistic about the future and America’s position in the world, and our cars showed it with increasingly powerful engines, multi-tone paint jobs, acres of gleaming chrome, and space-age tailfins. The pinnacle of this expression came in 1959, when General Motors unleashed its latest automobile designs. Every model, from the lowliest Chevrolet to the poshest Cadillac, sported tailfins the likes of which would never be seen again. Of these, the Cadillac fins, reaching nearly as high as the roof of the car, have come to symbolize the best (or, to some, the worst) of what that era offered.

Revell/Monogram… more

Ed Roth's Outlaw

Published: February 27, 2012
Company: Revell

Ed “Big Daddy” Roth was one of the greatest hot rodders of all time. Starting in the early1950s, his customs and show cars have become the stuff of legend. The Outlaw was his first use of fiberglass and, when it hit the car show circuit in 1960, it became an instant sensation. Thanks to Roth’s deal with Revell, the Outlaw lives on along with many of his other creations. Revell has seen fit to release it once again; let’s take a look at it.

The kit is molded in white, with an extensive chrome tree; there are probably more chromed parts than there are unchromed. Four soft vinyl tires, a decal sheet to replicate the custom paint job, and a sheet of acetate for the windshield round out the list of parts. As an added bonus, the kit includes a 6-piece car show trophy, a signboard, and… more

Volkswagen T1 Samba Bus

Published: December 11, 2011
Company: Revell

In 1950, Volkswagen brought out a vehicle that, like the Beetle before it, would become an icon of the 1960’s – what we now know as the Micro-Bus. It was available in many different versions over the years: panel vans, pop-up camper vans, and even as an open-bed pickup truck. But one of the most popular was the Samba Bus, also knows as the 23-window van due to the large number of windows. There have been a number of versions of this vehicle in kit form over the years; let’s take a look at the latest one from Revell.

The kit is molded in white, with chrome and clear trees as well. Four vinyl tires and a large decal sheet round out the list of parts. All engraving is crisp, and there is no flash to speak of. Seams are fairly light and easy to remove.

The instructions are a… more

Ferrari 250 GTO

Published: September 2, 2010
Company: Fujimi

Background

In 1962 and 1963, Ferrari produced a small number of cars that were essentially racecars for the street. FIA rules at the time required that at least 100 examples of a car had to be built in order for it to qualify for racing in the GT class, but with a little sleight-of-hand and a few other tricks, Ferrari managed to get by with building only 39 vehicles in a couple of variations. These cars have gone on to become legendary and highly desirable, to the point where collectors today will pay several million dollars to get their hands on one. Over the years, several kits of this vehicle have been produced. I still have a 1/24 scale slot car that I can remember my Dad purchasing and building in the mid-1960's, and I also have a kit (still unbuilt) that I… more

1960’s Batmobile

Published: January 15, 2010
Company: Johnny Lightning

Batman has been around in comic book form since the 1940’s, and while he may not be able to fly or swing from spider webs of his own making, he has always had one thing that very few of the other superheroes have had: a really cool ride.

Playing Mantis (which owns both Johnny Lightning and Polar Lights) is coming out with a whole batcave-load of Batman-related vehicle kits in various scales and media. One of the first to come out is the die-cast 1960’s Batmobile in 1/24th scale. This is NOT the Batmobile from the TV show that we all know so well, but the Batmobile from the comic book. It is similar in many respects to the TV car, but it has some major differences.

The kit comes packaged in what has become a standard box for pre-finished kits: a heavy, oversized cardboard… more

Fixed Open Hood Hinges

Published: April 14, 2009
Company: J3 Models

Those of us that like to display our automotive models with the hood open generally face two problems. The first is, of course, having an accurate-looking hinge mechanism, and the second is keeping the hood open. It’s just about impossible to build accurate-looking hood hinges that are also strong enough to do the job they are supposed to do: they’re fairly complicated mechanisms with springs and multiple pivot points that just can’t be accurately reproduced in plastic. Well, J3 Models has a solution to this problem in their fixed open hood hinges.

Each hinge consists of a piece of photo-etched (I assume) metal representing the hinge itself, and a spring which attaches to the hinge to produce a fairly good replica of a hood hinge in the open position. There is a large… more