whiskey Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 Hey all, I'm a major airplane modeller, however recently I have been dipping my fingers into cars, more specifically race cars. I'm an avid SCCA, IMSA, Le Man's, Trans-Am series racing fan and grew up all around that environment. Anyway with that in mind I've already managed to snag a Hasegawa 1988 24 Hour of Daytona winner Jaguar XJR-9 and a Revell 1994 Jack Baldwin Camaro from the Trans Am series, and the new Revell Ford GT Racing Le Man's kit. I have plans on getting more of the Hasegawa/Tamiya 80's, 90's, 2000's era kits of the classic IMSA and Le Mans series plus I'm trying to bag the Revell collection of Mustang GTO's and Corvette C7R. Here's my questions though: Has racing kits pretty much been limited to whatever car is popular at the time? Or perhaps a better way of asking is, can I find a 1/24-25 scale model kit of ANY race car I am looking for? Maybe an example being the 2000s era Dodge Viper GTS-R? I'm asking because I don't know a lot about scale auto modelling and I already get the feeling that it's somewhat limited in scope of subjects to choose from. Thanks fellas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicarage Vee Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 You are more likely to find a subject that you are looking for in 1/43 scale from that era (if they are still available). In 1/25 - 1/20 the trends seems to be for current popular/prominent cars, almost any Ferrari and anything with a Japanese connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan R Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, Vicarage Vee said: In 1/25 - 1/20 the trends seems to be for current popular/prominent cars, almost any Ferrari and anything with a Japanese connection. That is the sad truth at the moment. I can understand the Japanese manufacturers covering mostly Japanese stuff, as they have to serve their home market primarily. However, Revell, and Airfix could do 1/24th (1/25th) scale racers with a UK/US/Europe flavour from the 60's, 70's and onwards I'm sure. I bet there is a market out there. Unfortunately, they do seem to be a bit risk-averse, hence all the Spitfires/Me-109 et al re-pops. There are only so many 2nd world war fighters that I want to put on my shelf. Come on guys, give us some more cars/buses/trucks to make. Rant over, Alan. Edited April 21, 2019 by Alan R 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Brown Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 I was in the same boat as you when I started building race cars about a year ago. I knew where to find all of the airplane stuff, but nothing about cars. A Japanese company called Nunu has started releasing fairly current GT3 cars. They have several 1/24 versions of the BMW M6 GT3 and have announced a 1/24 Porsche 911 GT3R and RSR, Audi A8 GT3, and BMW M8 GT3, all from the 2016-2018 seasons. I'm still hoping they'll release GT3 versions of the Lamborghini Gallardo and Huracan and NSX, too. Fujimi has a few good subjects, too. Most of the aftermarket decals will be for Japanese or European series cars, but Racing Decals 43 has some IMSA decals for the M6 and Ford GTs. Indycals also has a lot of IMSA decals for various cars. Just like with tanks and airplanes, Scalemates is a good source to see if there has ever been a kit of a particular car type. Spot Models (from Spain), BNA Model World (Australia), and Hiroboy (UK) are good sources to see what's available right now or coming soon. All three are good companies to trade with. There are transkits ("conversions" to us airplane guys 😁) for various cars, too. Sadly, they're not cheap. Another possibility that I've been a little too intimidated to try yet is to convert a slot car body to a static model. They seem to have an endless variety of slot car bodies. For instance, take a look at Slotfabrik's selection. Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 Profil24 have a habit of releasing interesting subjects of recent cars in larger scales: they were first off the blocks with the Ford GT kit and also do last year's Le Mans 'heritage' 911s in 1/24. They did a 1/24 XJR-5 a while back and IIRC did the god-awfully ugly Nissan GTR-LM too. Both come up on eBay now and then. Well worth a look. I recall there was a (US-based?) manufacturer doing IMSA stuff too: R&S Mk.III being one, though I can't recall the company name. Classic Racing also do/did IMSA stuff. Oh and MFH have done a recent series of 1/24 Ferrari 488 GTEs too. Their XJR-9 and XJR-12 series in 1/12 are also sublime. I have the Mazda 787B in 1/12 and it is incredible. What I am really hoping for is a Cadillac DPi-VR kit in ANY scale! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskey Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 Thanks for all the replies fellas. So useful. I really like how there's a build of smaller companies that are into filling the void of missing cars. But good Lord, the price tags I'm seeing in some these! 😲That's like a 1/48 Eduard all inclusive special edition kit or something! I can't get over that so far 😪 1/43? Really? Of all the scales to choose from, THAT'S the number that manufacturers picked? Just seems like such an odd one to me. I mean it's great that there's a larger selection but I'm more comfortable with the 1/24-25th scales and not really looking to venture out it. Kinda like 1/48 is my thing and won't budge lol. Well I guess I'll make do with whatever is available and hope that more will be produced in the future. Not trying to build a showstopper with any of these, just enough to look good on my shelf and pretend I'm the one behind the wheel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 1/43 resin or white metal kits come up a lot on eBay, and for reasonable prices too: I've recently filled a few gaps in my Starter and Provence Moulage collections with kits around £20 apiece and have begun collecting more esoteric stuff from the likes of BBR, Arena and Tron for similar money. Starter and PM don't generally do single-seaters but the former did make a lovely Teo Fabi/Mid-Ohio March-Porsche Indycar back circa 1986 and it was a lovely little kit. Meri and/or Tameo I think did a range of Indycars too. MFH kits are expensive but you get countless hours of enjoyment and in terms of enjoyment-per-pound (or dollar) and detail they have no equal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooper645 Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 @Sabrejet I guess you are one of the fellow bidders I am frequently seen off by. Good luck to everyone in the bidding war. @whiskey I am currently building a 1:24 IMSA BMW M1 procar, these are available new and often pop up on eBay. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskey Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 I'm going through some of this stuff, still processing it all, and good good the prices!!! Why in the heck is one car model running at $140???!!!! Then things like a decal set runs upward of $30-40 for just one car! And all of that's in the 24-25th scale too. I don't get it and I am sad to admit that there's no way I can afford stuff like that. The more unfortunate part of everything is it comes across as only 1/4 of the cars that have been raced throughout history are produced by model manufacturers in the common 1/24 and 1/25 scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo NZ Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 1/43 is a strange scale because it was originally used for trains (O gauge) which in the UK is 1/43.5. Dinky made model cars to suit the railways, starting in the 1930s, and lots of other die cast manufacturers followed suit. Marklin determined the size for O gauge trains in the early 1900s, making it “smaller than 1 gauge”. Go figure! More useless info, HO is “half O” or 1/87..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 If you look around, take your time, and spend some time on eBay, you can build up a pretty good selection without paying huge prices, especially if you’re prepared to do a bit of work to detail some “classic” kits. Look for Heller, Union/Wave, IMC Monogram and Protar kits as well as Hasegawa and Fujimi. You can get a pretty broad selection of 60s/70s sports prototypes and Le Mans contenders, and Hasegawa/Tamiya do a fair range of 80s/90s cars, admittedly Japan biased. Accurate Miniatures did a Corvette Grand Sport and McLaren M8, and Simil’R a (previous generation) Ford GT. I’ll have a rummage through the stash and post up a list of what I’ve tracked down so far... best, M. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coors54 Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 I can sympathise with the OP about the prices in the world of automobile modelling, coming from aircraft modelling myself it has been a shock. I can only assume that sales volumes of kits and accessories for cars are considerably lower than model aircraft, also wanting what's current makes a subject hot sales wise for a much shorter time limiting profitability. A bit like the real thing value plummets as a model goes out of currency only to increase when it becomes a classic! on the other hand I'm taking much longer to complete a model to my satisfaction so it's value ratio of cost to time is much better than aircraft, it's ratio of frustration to cost is bigger too as I master new techniques! Good luck with your quest for suitable subjects, it's a whole new world out there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 OK... this is the racing/rally section of the built cupboards or stash... AC/Shelby Cobra S/C (Hasegawa/Fine Molds) Cobra Daytona Coupe (R&MM) Austin/Morris Mini Cooper (Revell) BMW 328 Racing (Heller) M1 Procar (Revell, Esci) M6 GT3 (Platz/NuNu) Bentley Blower (Heller) Brabham BT33 (Heller) Bugatti 35B (Monogram) Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport (Accurate Miniatures) Corvette C.7R Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (Hasegawa) 250 SWB (Gunze, Protar, avoid Esci/Testors) 250 GTO (Gunze, Fujimi, Italeri, Revell, Protar) 250LM (Academy) 330P4 (Fujimi) 512S 1970 (Protar) Ford GT40 (Fujimi) Mk IV (IMC/Union) Escort Mk1 RS1600 (Belkits) GTLM (2005) (Simil’R) GT (2017) Jaguar XK120 (Revell) C-Type (K&R Replicas) D-Type (Lindberg, use bodywork to convert XKSS) XKSS (Revell) E-type (Racing) (Gunze/Airfix, Heller) XJ-13 (K&R Replicas) XJ-S HE TWR (Hasegawa) Lancia Delta Integrale (Hasegawa) Delta S4 (Beemax) 037 (Hasegawa, Esci) Stratos (Hasegawa) Lola T70 (Union/IMC) Lotus 49B (Heller) McLaren M8B (Accurate Miniatures) M7A (F1) (Heller) Mercedes 300 SLR (Revell) Mercedes-Sauber C9 Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Tamiya) Porsche 904 (Monogram) 908 (heller) 911 Carrera RS Rally (Fujimi) 917K (Heller, Fujimi) 956 (Tamiya) 962 (Hasegawa) GT-1 Evo (Revell) Renault R8 Gordini Toyota GT-One best, M. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Brown Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 I had a serious case of sticker shock over decal prices, too. I assumed the prices were due to the time required to design them to fit properly, lots of colors, and low volume. I’ve been able to keep my expenses down by watching eBay and buying from the forums. There are a lot of vendors from Japan and Hong Kong that sell on eBay and Amazon who have free shipping and surprisingly good prices. Ben 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskey Posted April 26, 2019 Author Share Posted April 26, 2019 (edited) Sorry for dragging this on but still have questions. Can 1/24 scale slot car bodies be fitted onto a regular model chassis for display? I'm really interested in this bad boy: It's by ScaleAuto which apparently produces it as a body kit and it runs under $50. And it's the only racing Viper in any large scale that's reasonably affordable. Edited April 26, 2019 by whiskey 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Brown Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 I asked this question on another forum and got several positive responses. I’d still like to see a how to before I spring for that Gallardo GT3 slot car body I have my eye on. It’s a little intimidating, probably only because I don’t have the confidence in my car building abilities that I have in my airplane abilities. Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskey Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 Understandably agreed. I was able to come across a topic on another forum where a gentleman successfully (?) mated a Daytona Coupe slot car body to an older Cobra chassis. Still not to sure about the process and viability. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/115962-daytona-cobra-finished/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskey Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 Came across this website: Grand Prix Modellers Association http://gpma.org Excellent place for finding a lot of answers and models to oogle over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Brown Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 6 hours ago, whiskey said: Came across this website: Grand Prix Modellers Association http://gpma.org Excellent place for finding a lot of answers and models to oogle over. Wow! Great find! Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griffsrw Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 just come across this thread. some of the kits in 1/24th are now quite collectable and expensive for a toe in the water excercise. A much admired present day kit seems to be the beemax bmw m3 touring car. sells for around 34 quid. apparently goes together great and looks great too. tamiya mini is a nice kit too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicarage Vee Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 1 hour ago, griffsrw said: A much admired present day kit seems to be the beemax bmw m3 touring car. sells for around 34 quid. apparently goes together great and looks great too. Certainly better than the old Fujimi one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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