Chimpion

You can find out before opening the box (better still, before buying) by searching for the kit on www.scalemates.com. Sometimes the plastic is marked with the original tool manufacturer, e.g. the 1:24 Revell Bentley Blower has a Heller copyright notice in the plastic. Don't rule out a manufacturer because of one bad kit, especially if it's a very old tooling. Most manufacturers sell good and bad kits, and they don't warn you on the box which one you're getting! You can always search for reviews or builds here or on Youtube or another forum to get an idea what the kit is kike to build before you buy.

Beautifully built Escort - nice to see one in quite a plain scheme for a change. The paint finish is really impressive. The only fault I can find is the registration. A suffix T reg. would fit, but the T-prefix is far too recent.

Most road-going cars don't carry spares anymore. Back in the early days of track racing circuits were loooooong and punctures common. I'm surprised they still had to carry spares in the late 60s though. Lovely model by the way. The colour scheme really suits it.

That is quite simply phenomenal! Amazing paint finish all-round, chrome trim spot-on. Well done!

Absolutely stunning build. What made you choose the Stuttgart plates? Surely this is the equivalent of a Liverpool football shirt in Manchester...

Who is going to want to be no.2 to LeClerc? If Ferrari are confident enough in LeClerc they may have to choose between an experienced also-ran who can help develop the car and will play second fiddle (think Barrichello to Schumacher, Raikkonen to Vettel - today that might be Hulkenburg or Bottas), or another young driver keen to develop (Giovinazzi is the obvious candidate in thus category). I don't think Sainz or Ricciardo will fit, given LeClerc's status and talent. Lewis won't want to leave for a worse car. Maybe Verstappen could be enticed by the money.

One other point only tangentially mentioned here is that if the rights owner is a large company known to enforce their rights, it doesn't help much if you have a legitimate defence - they will be able to bankrupt you before the ruling. In many cases you will have little choice but to pay for the licence or drop the product. Best to sort it out at the start with their licensing department before any threats of litigation appear - at least then you know the costs up-front and can build them into the business case.

I got in touch with them in October 2018, and I think they've changed ownership since then. I got a response from contact@hellerjoustra.com, but I suspect that's no longer a live address. It does seem any links on the website to customer service have disappeared.

Welcome back. I learnt quite quickly that enamel (and acrylic) paints are much easier to brush paint when thinned. Out of the pot most of them are way too thick. Also there are good and bad kits out there. This and other sites should help you to sort the wheat from the chaff.

I can understand companies wanting to protect their brand image, but one reason successful 20+ year olds aspire to owning a Porsche or Ferrari is surely because they were exposed to them when younger - whether through kits, die cast, slot cars, computer games, top trumps or whatever. Surely a realistic and well produced model of a supercar is free advertising for the manufacturer. It really should be a symbiotic relationship with no need for licensing or advertising fees in either direction. Same goes for sponsors decals - they pay a fortune to get on a racing car - why on earth would they then want to restrict the free extra advertising a kit would give them?

Maybe a chemist can give a technical reason, but I guess ethanol would attract very high duty and need a licence to sell. Also having fermented and distilled ethanol, it would seem to lend itself to a much more enjoyable application than as a solvent!

Ethyl alcohol is the same as ethanol - it's the form of alcohol found in alcoholic drinks. It smells like strong alcoholic drinks do.

Reminds me of when Austria took delivery of its controversial Eurofighter order. A national radio station that makes spoof calls phoned a random farmer claiming to be from the defence ministry and needing to requisition his barn as they didn't have enough hangars. The call might have gone very differently if he'd been an aircraft modeller....

That engine is simply stunning. And no doubt a lot quieter than those that blast around here every May (I live just 10km from the Wörthersee).

I'd add a fourth. Will anyone ever notice? I've just realized I've very methodically misread the instructions and created right-hand drive running gear to match my left-hand drive interior on the Italeri Land Rover fire truck. When finished it'll sit in my cabinet and just possibly be seen by one or two people. If anyone notices the mistake I'll be amazed. Conclusion: move on and make sure I'm more careful next time (might be hard, as I spent ages studying and checking and still got it wrong!)

Investors aren't the issue in a case like this. The typical chain of events is 1. Rumours of an imminent demise circulate. 2. Customers stop ordering because of worries their orders won't be fulfilled and they won't get a refund. 3. The fall in sales volume triggers a cash flow drop triggering a breach of bank loan conditions. 4. Banks demand repayment of the loan 5. Suppliers refuse to deliver on credit. 4 and 5 can occur in either order or simultaneously. A new investor would look at the potential business if customers regain confidence, which a new investment should achieve by breaking the chain of events at step 2. I don't know whether this is playing out at WNW but I think it's a reasonable concern to raise, so we shouldn't be posting idle speculation. On the other hand, the true FACTS should be distributed to enable potential customers to make reasoned purchasing decisions aware of any risks that are present. A real problem.in such situations is that the real facts are usually only revealed after it's too late to react.

It might not be up to him. IF WnW folds, the mechanism might be important. If it were to go into some kind of administration, the administrators will be bound to repay any creditors with the proceeds of the assets of the company if they can't find a way for the company to be rescued. I have no idea what NZ law looks like, but I imagine there will be a similar kind of obligation imposed.

Revell did a Cresta. Never seen one offered anywhere. https://www.google.co.uk/url?q=https://www.scalemates.com/kits/revell-great-britain-h-904-vauxhall-cresta--180202&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwin-dWls-DoAhUB7KYKHYePCRQQFjAGegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw3NtO2r0KIg_1MjbH-PWl5f

Revell did a 1/24 BMW Dixi which was essentially an Austin 7 built under licence.

I'm half way through one - no problems so far in the build. Mine came missing a seat, but Heller sent me a free replacement. It's nicely moulded with no flash.

Really nice! I particularly like the effort you've made on weathering the underside - it looks incredibly realistic.

My wife gave me a dress-making pin with a large spherical head - it's perfect for the job and easy to remove and insert.

A lovely selection of models you don't see that often. The Bugatti in particular is very impressive, as is the painting on the owl.

It seems to be exactly that - check out You Tube videos of Revell's stand at recent shows.

Great idea and wonderfully executed. One thing puzzles me though - how are they going to rescue the cat when they don't appear to have a ladder?