R & R Vacuum Craft

[imatt88]

Hey all,

Anyone tell me about R&R Vacuum craft resin kits?

There is a whole bunch of Pontiac resin kits for sale on eBay right now, wagons, ragtops, hardtops, late 50's early '60s era..

Any of these worth picking up? They sure do look good

Cheers, Ian

[falcon wagon]

Some are better than others be warned

[Monte's Motors]

I find R&R resins to have the most problems in fitting the windows. Way to resin around the area causing a lot of trimming.

Here's some R&R resin

[Chuck Most]

I'd say if you can find a casting that's ten or more years old, go for it. Ray was still doing some fairly good casting. THe new stuff is... well... to call it rough would be heaping too much praise on it.

[Aaronw]

Mark don't base your experience for the whole line up on one R&R kit. I have several and they range from what you describe to a pretty straight forward body swap. I'm currently (well off and on the past year, due to my own screw ups) working on a 4 door 1953 Ford that uses the Lindberg 1953 Ford kit. Other than my slow building rate there is little issue with the actual conversion. I understand it is not 100% accurate, but only a 1950s Ford fanatic would know that and I couldn't point out the errors.

Certainly not the best resin in the world, but I've seen much worse, they can be worked with and the prices are not unreasonable.

If you get them from Star Models, you can email Steve who runs the place and he is pretty good about giving you a realistic assessment of a particular kit.

[imatt88]

Thanks for the input guys.

I have a little experience working with resin, mostly aircraft related stuff, but not the kind of work you guys are describing.

Most of the stuff on eBay was going for anywhere from $48 to $55. Not bad I guess.

Well, maybe some other time. I think I'll try Modelhaus for my first resin kit

[Greg Cullinan]

I am newb at modeling and also was intrigued with R&R on Ebay.

I went ahead and purchased a 78 four door Caddy.

I don't have much to compare it to,the only other resin I have

is a Flintstone piece.But it appears decent and not too different than styrene.

[Chuck Most]

What Mark said- Steve won't sugar coat it- he'll tell you exactly what's what with everything he carries. I've bought almost all my R&R stuff from him- never once was something made out to be better than it actually is!

[imatt88]

Greg,

Nice Caddy, what kit are you using as a doner, or is it a complete kit?

Chuck,

How do I contact this Steve? Does he have a website?

Thanks,

Ian

[Foxer]

I have a '50 Plymouth body I'll sometime convert to a '51 I had. It's not the greatest body but it's the only game in town and Steve was up front about the quality from the start.

Here's a link that has his email on it.

Edited December 12, 2010 by Foxer

[imatt88]

Foxer,

Thanks for the link

I might take a stab at one of those mid '60s Pontiac wagons one of these days.

Nice Plymouths, BTW

Cheers, Ian

[george 53]

Ian, where abouts in Michigan do you live? If you can ever get to the DAAM/DMCC toyshow at the Macomb County Comm.Coll. in Warren, he started showing up again. He sells ALOT cheaper at the shows, I picked up his 71 Delta 88 for 50 bucks. He sells them thru Steve for around 65. Plus, you get to SEE what your getting that way. And then you can decide if you want to give it a shot. Hope this helps.

[Greg Cullinan]

Greg,

Nice Caddy, what kit are you using as a doner, or is it a complete kit?

Thanks,

Ian

Ian,

It is complete besides the wheels,I have some left overs from Johan kits.

I say go for it,you'll never learn not trying!

Good luck,Greg

[imatt88]

George,

Thanks for the info.

Unfortunately, I live in the western UP, probably the furthest point away from you that I could possibly be

I haven't been to the Detroit area since my aunt passed away in 2007. Since its about a 10 to 11 hour drive to get to you, I don't make it there very often

I would love to see these kits up close. It would be nice to see what I'm buying before I buy it

Hey Greg,

It always helps to hold on to those extra parts

Cheers, Ian

[Modelmartin]

Unfortunately, I live in the western UP, probably the furthest point away from you that I could possibly be

I would love to see these kits up close. It would be nice to see what I'm buying before I buy it

You are a lot closer to Minneapolis. Steve Kohler comes to the NNL North every year and brings lots of R&R with him. Think about coming down to our show. It's the first Sunday in June. Check out the flyer at rpmmodelclub.com

[Plankwing]

I ordered an R&R 1957 Pontiac Safari from an eBay seller (April 10, 2011). The photo with the listing was small enough I did not see that the body was a 1957 Chev Nomad, not the Safari. I did find that unwelcome surprise when I opened the package. A recheck of the listing (I make a pdf of every listing from which I order) confirmed the photo shows the Chev body, not the Pontiac. I returned the kit for a refund (which the seller timely remitted). Just now, I see what is essentially the same listing from a different seller. My inspection of the photo of the listing appears to be the same Chev body with '57 Pontiac grill and bumpers ... which obviously do not fit the Chev body. So it appears R&R is representing a '57 Nomad as a '57 Safari. Let the buyer beware.

[Chuck Most]

I ordered an R&R 1957 Pontiac Safari from an eBay seller (April 10, 2011). The photo with the listing was small enough I did not see that the body was a 1957 Chev Nomad, not the Safari. I did find that unwelcome surprise when I opened the package. A recheck of the listing (I make a pdf of every listing from which I order) confirmed the photo shows the Chev body, not the Pontiac. I returned the kit for a refund (which the seller timely remitted). Just now, I see what is essentially the same listing from a different seller. My inspection of the photo of the listing appears to be the same Chev body with '57 Pontiac grill and bumpers ... which obviously do not fit the Chev body. So it appears R&R is representing a '57 Nomad as a '57 Safari. Let the buyer beware.

Must have been a mix-up there, the R&R Safari does have a Pontiac body-

[Plankwing]

I know the photos on Resin Realm show the Pontiac body, but those showing up on eBay have the Chev body. I've gotten several resin kits via Resin Realm but have been informed they are out of the '57 Safari, don't know when they will be back in stock. I snagged a '57 Safari from eBay, not the R&R casting, don't know the source. Has the Nomad script on the tailgate, nothing else for parts, just the body. Photo attached.

[Chuck Most]

Huh... weird! Wonder who casts that one?

[Plankwing]

I finally found one of the correct 57 Safari resin kits and got it. Not too bad a kit.

[Bert]

since your talking about the 57 Pontiac, I have a few questions. How hard is it to work with, like opening the doors, and trunk. I've bid on 2 diecasts, and lost them both. I need to build my hotrod, and at this point in time I'm thimkimg about modifying a amt 57 chev to look like it.