I think I just MIGHT have you beat on the cholesterol. and that's only because of that gastric bypass that almost killed me twenty years ago. otherwise, you sound like all systems go, damn your eyes. and it seems like you've already seen to the "Many Happy Returns" part, but it's a wish I'll include anyway, just for fun. one question…
I think I just MIGHT have you beat on the cholesterol. and that's only because of that gastric bypass that almost killed me twenty years ago. otherwise, you sound like all systems go, damn your eyes. and it seems like you've already seen to the "Many Happy Returns" part, but it's a wish I'll include anyway, just for fun. one question: do you have a lifelong sense of being a little too early because of the Bastille Day thing? I actually WOULD. it's the kind of dumb thing for which I've always been a sucker. and while I'm here, what was (or IS) your favorite model brand? I'll take it as gospel, since you're the expert here. I remember always being disappointed by the size, except for ONE brand I thought was spectacular...I remember it was Lindberg Line, but I could be wrong (it occurs to me that I might've said all this before, in which case I apologize). and I never realized that different companies had their own models of the same ships because I think I assumed that every brand had some kind of copyright on each item. on "mature" reflection, the idea is, I admit, pretty ridiculous. but what was I...like eight or nine? I remember having the most fun with medieval weapons, which were easy to build, completely in keeping with my skill level.
Growing up it was Monogram. Today it's Eduard, a company in Prague, that make model kits that are really "miniatures" of the real thing - or as close as you can get with injected plastic. As far as each doing everything, as a friend points out, "an Eduard Spitfire isn't putting money in Tamiya's bank account." (They do both do Spitfires - Tamiya does one, Eduard does the series)
it's been so long that I didn't know anything about ANY of these non-US brands. or am I misremembering? and what do these things cost nowadays? thirty bucks? fifty bucks?? am I lowballing?
There are in fact now no longer any American companies. Monogram got bought by Revell 30 years ago, then Revell's German branch bought all when there was a bankruptcy 8 years ago. The old Revell molds and some others have been bought by a company called "Atlantis" and are produced in China - there's a big "nostalgia market" for the old kits (guys like you reliving childhood joy). Lindberg got bought and now re-releases old kits for that market too. The Japanese kits became really good in the 70s and then better, so now Tamiya is considered the best kits for kit design and "buildability." The Eastern Europeans started making their own kits during the Cold War, then afterwards they pioneered "limited run" kits that allowed them to do :odd ball" items that a mass market might not support. Then they upped their technology about 20 years ago and now they are the world leaders for quality and detail. All that improvement comes at a price - that P-38 has an MSRP of $80 - I got it at a discount inernet hobby shop for $68 and $14 for shipping (thank you Louis DeNoJoy). There are very very few neighborhood shops left - I'm lucky to have access to one here in the SFV, and it isn't stocked like it used to be but it's good for paint and materials. If you want to see what people are doing with the hobby, look up iModeler.com or Modeling Madness.
I think I just MIGHT have you beat on the cholesterol. and that's only because of that gastric bypass that almost killed me twenty years ago. otherwise, you sound like all systems go, damn your eyes. and it seems like you've already seen to the "Many Happy Returns" part, but it's a wish I'll include anyway, just for fun. one question: do you have a lifelong sense of being a little too early because of the Bastille Day thing? I actually WOULD. it's the kind of dumb thing for which I've always been a sucker. and while I'm here, what was (or IS) your favorite model brand? I'll take it as gospel, since you're the expert here. I remember always being disappointed by the size, except for ONE brand I thought was spectacular...I remember it was Lindberg Line, but I could be wrong (it occurs to me that I might've said all this before, in which case I apologize). and I never realized that different companies had their own models of the same ships because I think I assumed that every brand had some kind of copyright on each item. on "mature" reflection, the idea is, I admit, pretty ridiculous. but what was I...like eight or nine? I remember having the most fun with medieval weapons, which were easy to build, completely in keeping with my skill level.
Growing up it was Monogram. Today it's Eduard, a company in Prague, that make model kits that are really "miniatures" of the real thing - or as close as you can get with injected plastic. As far as each doing everything, as a friend points out, "an Eduard Spitfire isn't putting money in Tamiya's bank account." (They do both do Spitfires - Tamiya does one, Eduard does the series)
it's been so long that I didn't know anything about ANY of these non-US brands. or am I misremembering? and what do these things cost nowadays? thirty bucks? fifty bucks?? am I lowballing?
There are in fact now no longer any American companies. Monogram got bought by Revell 30 years ago, then Revell's German branch bought all when there was a bankruptcy 8 years ago. The old Revell molds and some others have been bought by a company called "Atlantis" and are produced in China - there's a big "nostalgia market" for the old kits (guys like you reliving childhood joy). Lindberg got bought and now re-releases old kits for that market too. The Japanese kits became really good in the 70s and then better, so now Tamiya is considered the best kits for kit design and "buildability." The Eastern Europeans started making their own kits during the Cold War, then afterwards they pioneered "limited run" kits that allowed them to do :odd ball" items that a mass market might not support. Then they upped their technology about 20 years ago and now they are the world leaders for quality and detail. All that improvement comes at a price - that P-38 has an MSRP of $80 - I got it at a discount inernet hobby shop for $68 and $14 for shipping (thank you Louis DeNoJoy). There are very very few neighborhood shops left - I'm lucky to have access to one here in the SFV, and it isn't stocked like it used to be but it's good for paint and materials. If you want to see what people are doing with the hobby, look up iModeler.com or Modeling Madness.