Justin Porter

Looking like a good start. Hasegawa sells a nice variety of "bulk" photoetch screens in different patterns. You might find something that suits the mesh you're looking for.

Small but important update. The kit steering wheel was another situation where I felt that a highly-visible detail was just plain awful. I did some searching and found that this PE set by Highlight Model Studio fit the bill nicely. A little bit of work with nippers, knives, and bending tweezers later and I am happy to say a massive improvement was made. Also, luck of luck the kit decals actually cooperated too!

I'm glad you pointed out the Gunze rear fender openings because they are absolutely wonky. I built the Gunze curbside roadster too and I am equally not 100% convinced on their radiator opening either. It's not as undersized as the old Revell E-Type tool, and it's not the "what happened at the cowl?" issue of the new Revell E-Type, but it feels puckered somehow in a way that makes me squint. Honestly, I have to hand it to Heller. Their E-Type FEELS the most right to me and that's just on a roadster to roadster basis. Obviously they still hold the FHC crown.

A '63 Corvette either based on the bones of the '67 Vettes OR entirely as a fresh tool on the level of the '71 Mustang or the K5 Blazer would probably do reasonably well. I don't know if it would necessarily be a huge success but I could see fairly well. While I do understand that fundamentally a C1 Corvette is a whole different beast from a C2 Corvette, the last runs of the '62 and '58 Corvettes - Revell's two most recent new tools for classic Corvettes - may not have generated enough sales for Revell to be convinced that the market is strong enough for yet more new tooling for classic Corvettes.

I am absolutely looking forward to seeing how you can carve a 330GTS out of all of that filler. The resin caster certainly didn't make your life much easier!

Such a sharp build so far! The orange you mixed for the interior really jumps out.

Another mock-up now that wet sanding and polishing has been finished. The bumpers, grille, and side vents are test fitted here after being painted in Alclad Chrome and cleared with Aqua Gloss.

I would imagine that with their good friends and neighbors down the street at Gunze Sangyo having produced a stunning - for the time - E-Type kit, it simply didn't clock to Tamiya to produce one of their own during the time they had the Jaguar license. The fortunate thing is that while they had the license they gave us arguably the two finest Jaguar kits full stop in the Mk.II Saloon and their XJR-9LM. Personally speaking, an XK-120 FHC in 1/24th from Tamiya as a companion to their astonishing 300SL Gullwing would have been my wish.

Cobra Motors 2K Clear is on and I am SERIOUSLY happy with how the body pops now that it has its shine.

If we look currently at the 3D printing kit space, we're seeing that manufacturers are popping up that are producing full kits of cars previously not offered in 1/24th-1/25th scale frequently with far better detail than many current (and certainly most vintage) injection molded kits. Look, for instance, at Red Wheel and their astonishing Tucker and Cadillac kits and think to yourself that this has been accomplished by essentially a "one-man band" serving every role from CAD file to shipping and wholesale. If this can be accomplished by such an individual - even granting that this is a very talented and dedicated individual - then think of what could happen if a full company devoted the time and investment into producing kits of that quality. Currently, we're already seeing in military kit companies like Rye Field Models, Special Hobby, and Arma a move to include 3D printed detail parts in their kits in place of traditional resin casting. NuNu has also moved towards including 3D printed parts for better detailed grilles in their touring car kits.

From my retail brain, I see a few things that I'm certainly looking forward to having on the shelves. As a builder, I'm honestly still looking forward to the early Barracuda and I'll be happy to have the '68 El Camino street machine back as a source for scavenging.

And as the second step with Cobra Motors Red Wine, the distinct red stripes as this build was inspired by Chassis #1183GT.

Big step as the first color coat is now on! I'm using Cobra Motors Grigio Thalisse as the base color.

Sometimes, the work just has to be put in. My reference car in this build had one very striking - to me at least - detail in that it had slimline bumpers. These were a very stark contrast to the kit's bumpers with their overriders. This meant a trip into the bleach for the kit bumpers (as well as other bits of brightwork since if the bumpers are going to be one shade of chrome then everything should match) and then time to get cutting and sanding. It's honestly a good thing I did this too because the kit bumpers had some pretty unsightly sink marks and mold lines. It took two applications of a guide coat and sanding sessions with Tamiya 320 grit sanding sponge to finally get the bumpers right for the project.

The Tamiya Alfa is such a joy of a kit. I'm happy to see your builds and glad you've got the USCP detail sets, too.

A quick update as I have been able to start work again on my Italeri 1/24 Ferrari 250GT California. I located some excellent 3D printed resin seats from Yamamoto Model Parts to replace the kit's AWFUL seats. I included a picture to compare the two! The interior received a coat of Mr Color C385 IJN Roundel Red which will work just about perfectly for capturing the car I intend to replicate.

No, not really. Revell has been reducing their MSRP, not increasing it. Tamiya keeps a tight lid on pricing for their older tooling and has been cutting prices on reissues. Aoshima and Fujimi have plenty of sub-$30 kits at retail pricing, and even new tool Hasegawa kits are less than $40. These kits were high dollar pieces when they were brand new, retailing around $30-40 at a time when you could walk into Walmart and buy AMT for $15. They were released around the time when Accurate Miniatures also made the effort to produce premium niche kits for the American audience with their Corvette Grand Sport and their McLaren M8B. If anything, Moebius is actually bringing them in at a price break for builders because if the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Inflation Calculator is to be believed, then even at the low $30 end of the Galaxie Limited Chevies when they came out in 1998, adjusted for inflation that's a $58.97 pricetag today.

Even if we JUST keep it to 1/24 scale Ferraris in plastic, we have no 166MM, no 250GT Lusso, no 250GT LWB TdF, no 312PB, and no Dino GT4 but thank heavens we got the Rainbow and the Mythos, right?

Really sharp build of a great Tamiya kit.

Even more progress on the Lotus Type 91! The engine is now attached to the monocoque and I've started adding the kit plumbing. I also used the kit carbon fiber decals on the upper monocoque which turned out really nicely. I've left the upper monocoque unattached at this point so that it will be easier to install the belts when they arrive.

I'm so happy that we're getting all three body styles. I am expecting these will be quite successful for Moebius.

Really a fun project. Mini Retro is one of my favorite guys in the aftermarket right now. He just announced a MkII Sprite/Midget kit that will pair nicely with the Bugeye transkit.

Moving along at a good clip gets the front suspension all set and together. The engineering on this kit really does encourage you to just keep right on building. Unfortunately, the kit seat harness decal curled up beyond repair the moment it hit the water SO I will be sourcing a photoetch and fabric harness to replace it. I also couldn't resist the dry fit of the monocoque and engine on the floor.

Absolutely well turned out. You ought to be really pleased with that GTO.

Day 2 on the Lotus build and I have the gearbox and the beginnings of the rear suspension together. I also managed to construct the DEV's headers which were a little fussy (as one expects) but were still leagues easier than the old tool Tamiya DFV headers.