JohnnyBros718

And yep! Even as an eight year old kid watching the series here in the States in '72, as much as I adored the Interceptors (and the ladies who launched them), the Bronx boy in me shook my head thinking, "Hmmmm, only one missile?! Those pilots had better be real, real good!!" And I definitely would have been the guy who missed! 🤣 But I also would have bribed my Crew Chief to strap a little extra non-regulation firepower to my Interceptor...no doubt resulting in a demotion to laundry detail, vacuuming purple wigs and shining white go-go boots. Seriously, really looking forward to seeing the kits Round 2 is going to release from the series: I'm hoping for a) an Interceptor; b) a Mobile; and c) SkyDiver... And like any Gerry Anderson show, there is always a selection of wonderful hardware to wish for...including the way-cool support vehicles and craft! So awesome to see a commercial interest (model kits!) in the franchise, what 50 years after broadcast?!! Currently enjoying re-runs of Fireball XL5 on Prime now!!! Lots of fun, especially when accompanied by a grown up beverage. Take care, Folks! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Heya, Pete, That was a fun video --- very well produced! Not how I envisioned it as a kid, but hey, everyone gets to use their imagination on anything unseen... Something this complicated and seemingly time consuming would necessitate a need for one or two more Skydivers to maintain Earth defenses. Honestly, I always imagined that Sky One would just dive back into the ocean and utilize sonar to align itself with the sub for a re-capture and docking beneath the waves. Then back to business! Heck, I could never figure out how the Moonbase Interceptor pilots got from that cool slide into the pilot's chair of their craft... Did they get dumped out onto the platform at the bottom of the slide onto the launch platform, brush themselves off, and then hop into the lowered seat, which raised them up though the Interceptor's bottom hatch and into the cockpit? Who can say? Fun trying to figure all of this business out... Whatever the case, it was a cool looking video with a great Derek Meddings / Gerry Anderson / James Bond vibe!!! Thanks again, Pete! WIth Regards And Aloha, Johnny B.

Great build! Also love the various subtle tones and weathering!!! Nice work! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Heya, Chris, Absolutely agree --- the DV Dune Spice Harvester was pretty basic and underwhelming and to me, not on par with the other designs of the film, which were great. Even the weird, balloon-like Harkonnen Harvester was a more interesting and unique and-Dune-like design...would have rather seen that beast kitted first... Again, just my opinion... I'll likely buy all three kits anyway to support the cause and hope that we see other subjects from the film show up as future releases as well. Maybe we'll see the Atreides Frigate, the older model 'thopter Paul and Jessica flee in, the cool fighter that Duncan Idaho flies up in, the Imperial Herald's orb ship and others (gotta pull out my Art of Dune book and re-watch the film again) if these sell well. No doubt, Part II will feature new hardware and ships as well! And thanks, Chris (Whitestar12), for confirming the price point and release ETA!! With Regards Aloha, Johnny B.

Wow! This is GREAT news!!! Thought the day was long gone where we'd see model kits from movie franchises other than Star Wars or Star Trek (both of which hold a special place in my heart)... If they are reasonably priced, I will buy multiples of the 'thopters...and maybe one of the harvester (even though I prefer the overall design of the newer DV Dune to Lynch's (I hated the Atreides 'thopter in that), I still prefer the wheeled bug-like Lynch Harvester to DV's boxy, industrial factory-on-tracks design, as Lynch's seemed more Dune-ish to me...) Loved the DV 'thopters and look forward to the kits being released --- maybe if they are initially on the smaller side, if these sell well-enough, Meng will release larger-scaled versions...? Fingers crossed! And thanks for the update! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Sadness that the actor passed away... His performance and his character, for me, combine to make the most interesting, complex characters the I have seen in Star Wars in some time. Ray Stevenson will be missed... And as much as I like the character, out of respect to the actor and his performance, I do not believe that it should be recast. We will see what the season finale brings next week. With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

These are fantastic, Pete! Great greeblie work, and imagination, and skill!! I always thought that there would be lots of old, out of date, decommissioned, etc. military hardware sitting around the Star Wars universe, and some enterprising individuals would likely figure out way to jerry rig much of to get these systems up and working for their purposes... Awesome work! I particularly dig the detail on the replacement feet!! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

The Two Falkes are looking good! Love the detail and paint on the engine and cockpit that leathery red-brown color of your pilots' flight suits is fantastic! Agreed that the Falke is a great subject and a lot of fun! You are inspiring me to pull mine out of storage and get back to finishing it... Looking forward to seeing them both painted up, side-by-side. Keep up the great work and keep on having fun with them! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

WOW! Fantastic build, super-detailing and paint and weathering work!!! Had the Rocco Minitanks (1/87, maybe??) as a kid many moons ago and always thought that this was a very cool-looking vehicle. Thanks for taking the time and effort to share with us, Blimp! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Heya, Sharp! This was a Covid build, so alas, did not bother to take any pictures... That said, as soon as I can get myself set up with one of those free image storing/sharing services, I will try to post a few in-progress (meaning base-coated, but not painted, as it stands --- well sits --- right now ) pix of this ugly-beautiful beast...along with the unpainted Namer (still gotta get the glass masked, and add this little chain detail in two spots on the hull; same issue for the D9R, which has like ten million windows to mask (oofah)! And maybe pictures of a base-coated Academy Merkava IV and base-coated Achzarit... Yep, have a fairly large traffic jam --- very apropos considering I live in grid-locked Los Angeles --- of unbuilt or built-and-unpainted or built-and-base-coated kits... Sadly, painting is usually where projects hit a dead stop for me...part of that is me, as I do not enjoy the painting as much as I enjoy the build, detailing, etc... Throw in the weather --- it is often way too hot or, believe it or not, too cold to go out to the garage and paint. So with this additional excuse, I've got the perfect recipe for projects to grind to halt and remain dormant (sigh), and unpainted, or just base-coated. That said, despite some ongoing airbrush and compressor issues, I have made progress painting the Border Models Apocalypse tank! This project was such a pain to assemble (no doubt, Modeler Error combined with some annoying aspects of the kit) that I am actually ENJOYING painting, which is a shocker for me! I will try to get some mediocre pictures of that in progress build up in the Science Fiction board as soon as I can get the image sharing thing figured out... Back ta the Nagmachon... I absolutely agree, Sharp, that it is so unique that it would look great on a base onto itself. No diorama or vignette necessary. Definitely an eye catcher (kind of looks like a love child of a Dalek??) of a subject!!! At last month's club meeting (Los Angeles Miniaturists), I was able to pick up another Tiger Models kit of this Nagmachon at a great price --- I rarely build the same kit twice, as I rarely finish the first kit first! That said, in my paranoia that Tiger Models may or may not be defunct, I also went ahead and purchased their early version of the Nagmachon, without the doghouse or ("dawghouse" as we'd pronounce it back in The Bronx, while drinking our "cawfee"...), just the four shields with armored glass. And as much as I want to jump in on that one, first, before starting anything new, I HAVE to finish something!!! Hence, I continue to press on with that silly-but-interesting sci fi Apocalypse tank... Given family, work, and other commitments, I am hoping to have that silly two-barreled, four-tracked beast finished in a month or so...we shall see! Thanks, Sharp --- really appreciate the encouragement!! You keep on building, bruddah! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Heya, Folks, Absolute fun --- almost a joy! --- assembling the Meng Models Namer IDF heavy APC! Not that I have painted it yet as I still need to mask all the glass. Nearly the same for the Tiger Models Nacmachon (late with doghouse and bar armor).. This kit build seemed to go on on and on and one, but was never boring or overly troublesome (okay, some of the slat armor was a bit tricky)!!! Managed to get this one base coated, at least... Just for contrast, can I throw in a "worst build in some time" candidate? Border Models Apocalypse Tank --- great subject but the indy link tracks and the LEDs requiring 90 degree bends (nope!) combined with a few other hiccups, made this the most unpleasant build in a long time.... Of course, take my critique with a grain of salt s "Modeler error" is always a possibility! The irony as that I am further long on paint on this one than the two far more pleasant builds noted above... Have purchased a second Nagmachon kit and plan to pick up another Namer at some point in the future. Great fun, those two!! Happy Modeling!! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Hoping Takom will one day release a 1/16 SAS version of their jeep, along with crew, armament and stowage... No doubt, it would easily double the current retail price of the kit, but would still be cheaper than the very pricey, but-cool-looking resin conversion sets on the market by SOL. Cannot imagine that this would not be a big seller. Heck, I was hoping that Tamiya would give us an updated SAS jeep kit in 1/35, when they popped out their updated jeep kit, with new stowage, weapons, and crew, but alas, that did not happen... Time will tell! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Alas, can't think of any kits off-hand in 1/72, but Shapeways has a lot of choices... You just have to survive their terrible search engine! Yeah, the Bandai U-Wing kit has two of the Rogue One Imperial tanks in 1/144. And to Misrule's point, there is one or two sets from the Bandai 1/144 UC Hardgraph series that feature their M65A1 Semovente tank... The other has the cool hover trucks. Again, wrong scale, I know. Wonder if any of the Thunderbirds tracked vehicles were ever kitted in 1/72...? Good luck, Sarduakar! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Thanks for the tip, Julien --- truly never would have thought of masking the canopy windows before assembling 'em: brilliant, dude! And great to hear that that the kit appears very buildable and that the late model Cobra is flying in your direction... Looking forward to reading that one, and seeing you delve into the initial Cobra release... Thanks again, Julien! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B. PS AM re-reading an old book on the technical and service (military and civilian) history of the Loach --- maybe ICM will give us a "pink team" with a new OH-6A to add to our Cobra...?

Thanks, for the review, Julien! Have been looking forward to a new AH-1G Cobra kit for a looooong time now. Will be waiting to purchase the late model, with the Vulcan 20mm and ammo panniers on the sides above the skids. I do wonder how the multi-piece canopy will go together and hold up under the pressure of applying masking...? Wish they would have included a single piece canopy as an alternate --- likely we'll see one of the aftermarket companies produce one... A minor quibble --- the kit looks great! Thanks again for the in-box review, Julien... With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Thanks, Neil! I will have to check that out!!! I've built --- but not painted the Star Wars Legion Escape Pod, and the detail is quite good. Will have ta check into those Rebel turrets. Thanks amigo! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Of course, Bandai, followed by Fine Molds, win the prize for the highest-level of detail, and Bandai especially for kit engineering and fit... And yet, there is one category where Round 2 will likely beat them both: whatever plastic Round 2 molds their kits it, it is highly unlikely that the kit plastic will be as sensitive to washes and thinners as both Bandai and Fine Molds kits notoriously are... The fair-to-middling Round 2 SW kits will likely not have the propensity to crack and break up under washes, so that's one potential plus point for R2. I, too, think that price will be an important factor and affordable pricing for these kits will be critical for inticing anyone who has already built Fine Molds and Bandai kits, to buy any of the Round 2 Star Wars kits. Same goes for pulling beginning or young modelers into the hobby with these kits --- they have to be affordable for the target market(s). My hope is that the re-pops are just an initial offering to help finance releases of new kits, like a Sandcrawler, 1/48 Y-Wing, a Blockade Runner, even a 1/24 Luke's Landspeeder, et al, would be great to see... Heck, despite having a few in the stash, I'd buy a Snowspeeder repop or two, but ONLY if they included good sculpts of pilot and gunner figures! Dreaming, but wouldn't it be great to see a Rebel laser turret in scale with the Snowspeeder as well? Time will tell... With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Wow! A blast from the past: Enterprise Incidents magazine!! Had most of them and it was a great publication with lots of cool articles and pictures (mostly black and white)!! Have lost them over the years, but Neil, I had that same issue which showed the image of the Revell harvester kit and man, was I excited about its release at the time. The big, bug-like spice harvester of my favorite designs from the Lynch Dune film (did not like the Atreides 'thopter). It was truly a bummer when the kit was never released... 600-plus Euros is a lot of spice, and too rich for my blood --- perhaps one day, someone will release a smaller, more affordable version of the vehicle. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Neil. Would love to see pictures of the big harvester kit built up if anybody purchases it. Curious to see what the designs for the harvester and other vehicles will look like in the forthcoming DV "Dune"... With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Cool news out of Wonderfest a couple of weeks ago --- Round 2 Models just announced a 1/48 Hawk kit, which I guess they had on display... Have always loved this "sinister Eagle" design and look forward to this release, which hopefully will not be as big as a coffee table, like the 22" Eagle appears to be --- yes, "space" is the final frontier for so many of us... With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Thanks for this, 81-er!!! Have been a massive fan of Martin Bower's work since growing up on Alien and Space 1999, Outland, and more!!! Was lucky enough to see the restored Nostromo miniature (an understatement, it was huge!) in the Prop Store (was it Prop Shop) a couple of years ago, and it was a magnificent site to behold... The Nostromo and the Outland Refinery are amongst my most favorite of his miniatures, up there with the Millennium Falcon and the STTMP re-fit Enterprise. This was a treat --- thanks again! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.

Great work on a classic old kit!! Have built and enjoyed the Tamiya SAS jeep multiple times over my modeling life! Always a fun build... I know that the older generation of Tamiya figures are often maligned, but I have always loved the sculpts of the beards, uniforms, and head gear of these figures. Lots of character... Thanks for posting and keep up the awesome work!! Can't wait ta see 'er painted and on a cool base. You are also inspiring me to hunt through the stash to see if I still have one floating around...of course, I've got umpteen dozen other unfinished builds to keep at before I start something "new" so I'd better behave myself and show some restraint. Thanks again! With Regards and Aloha, Johnny B.