ACME

Review by Joe Fotschky

I want to start out by saying that this is my first Tamiya kit build. So if I happen to point out the obvious features of a Tamiya kit please understand that this is my first experience building one of their models. I typically build 60’s and 70’s muscle cars and those are usually Revell and AMT kits.

This kit can be built in one of three versions and I chose the US version, but you can choose the Japanese or European version for your build. 

Opening the box up and inspecting the contents made me realize that this was a different type of kit than I am used to building. The parts trees were molded in different colors which upon further inspection is a nice touch since the parts that were molded in black would either be painted black or grey. The kit contained a sheet of decals and two new firsts for me to have in a kit were metal transfers and window masking stickers.

The instruction manual is very well planned out and there were no issues following the assembly steps. It did help by going through the manual and cutting the parts of the versions you are not building off the trees and tossing them in your spare parts box. I am familiar with the Tamiya paint line and was happy to see a paint guide that corresponded to their paint colors in their instruction manual.

One thing that surprised me was that this kit did not come with an engine or transmission. I was not disappointed by this as the chassis and suspension is nicely detailed as it is made up of more than 30 parts.

The interior was nice to paint and assemble as the door panels, console, dashboard, and seats were made up of multiple pieces. I painted the interior black with German grey accents on the doors, console, and seats to help add a little color to break up the all black interior. There were many decals applied to the interior, many will probably never be seen once the model is completely assembled.

The body of the car that receives paint is made up of six pieces. This is where I needed to decide what body parts I wanted to or could glue together that would not cause assembly issues down the line. I chose to cement the front and rear facia as well as the two door sections to the body to eliminate any issues with glue accidentally meeting fresh paint. The hatch was left off so I would have access to place a Toyota badge from the back in later steps. The body had only one set of faint mold lines on the side of the body that were easy to remove. The car was painted with Tamiya lacquer metallic orange LP-44 that Bob Downie gifted me for this project.

Window painting and install went really well. The kit comes with pre-cut window masks so you can easily paint the black trim on the inside and outside of the window glass. The windows come with big tabs that fit in to recessed areas molded into the backside of the body and gives a good surface to glue the windows in.

I was amazed by the headlight assembly. One headlight is made up of five plastic parts and six decals, it’s a model all by itself. Just like the windows the lights had big tabs with recessed areas for them to be glued in with a positive fit.

Grills, vents, and other trim pieces were all separate pieces and not molded into the body. This allows you to paint them as single units and attach them to the model which make for a clean look.

I liked the body to chassis connection as no glue was used to mate them together. You simply slide the front section of the chassis into slots in the body and push the rear down where it is captured by a plastic spring tab that is molded into the body.

This model and its engineering left me feeling really positive throughout the entire build. This is the eighteenth model I have built since 2010 and it is one of the best if not the best I have built.

I am sure many of you have seen the various “Woodies” built by Robert Sienko at our meetings, various contests, in Scale Auto, or on Face Book. To say Robert has mastered using wood to create unique models is an understatement.

Robert Brough several samples of models he has used wood on to either create a more realistic pickup bed, add true wood panels to a Woodie, create scale surf boards and even create complete bodies for his builds.

He information not only the types of wood he uses but also where to find them, how to work with them from original shaping to finishing, staining, etc. .

Check back tomorrow for some pictures from his workshop,

Well, it’s a Tamiya kit so it’s likely to go together trouble free. Here is the spread of all the parts trees
in the box:

Here’s the engine installed into the frame. The main frame goes together quite easily as there’s two sides and a small middle piece. It also has a nice kickstand that attaches with a metal bracket that gets screwed into place. The engine color calls for polished aluminum, so I used the AlClad Polished Aluminum. The engine also assembles very nicely and pretty easily too. It was easy to insert into the frame too, it’s held in place with three screws.

Here’s the shock assembly, it was pretty easy to build and paint. I used the Al Clad Titanium Silver as opposed to the Tamiya color, although I have both. I think this assembly will be completely hidden when the model is completed.

The wheel is a little trickier, first I had to drill out all those little holes in the brake rotor. It goes together easy enough but there are little mating pins on the inside ends of the spokes to align with the hubs, I used CA on it. There is an inner brass tube for the axle, once it’s together you have to insert it into the tire. You have to be more careful than on the racing type bikes with the one piece wheels. You don’t want to push against the spoke while inserting the wheel into the tire. That’s a good way to break the spokes and then you’re in some real trouble. So as you can see I got the wheel into the tire correctly.

I have the belt and pulleys all painted up, I painted the pulleys with Al Clad Polished Aluminum. One detail that’s a little lacking is that they didn’t mold the teeth into the rear pulley on the inside where the
pulley is exposed. The front doesn’t matter as it will be hidden anyway. It turns out that when it’s all installed into the rear swing arm there is a lower guard in front of the rear pulley so you wouldn’t see the teeth anyway. I masked over the pulleys so I could brush paint the flat black onto the belt without messing up the pulley sides because the belt’s height is a little above the pulley’s and I wanted the paint to cover it.

The rear swing arm went together fairly easily. But it was a bit tricky getting together the left side with the belt/pulleys and lower belt guard together. Once that assembly was dry then the rest was pretty smooth.

So far this kit has been going together very well. Next is installing the rear swing arm into the frame.
That went pretty easy too.

Now here are the fenders and gas tank. The rear fender is three pieces and the gas tank is in two halves. The two side skirts on the rear fender I painted separately. I painted everything else in Tamiya’s champagne gold. Those Tamiya lacquers have nasty fumes, I had perfect weather to spray them outside. It also does not have a high gloss shine. So next I masked the gas tank. They give you a pre-printed masking tape and the instructions show you how to place them. I easily masked the front fender to paint the sides. After all that was dry the next day I painted Testors clear gloss coat over it. See the photos below.

Now the model is starting to look like a bike. The fork went together pretty easily. I did have to do some detail painting on the brake calipers and paint some black onto one of the chrome cross pieces. I installed more detail parts onto the frame and installed the fork onto the frame. When I glued the two halves of the mufflers together I didn’t like the seem line so I sanded it smooth and used Al Clad chrome on it. It came out pretty good. There is a bracket molded into it that gets painted black, easily done with a brush. The gas tank has a nice emblem on the side. It’s chromed and then detail painted, easy to do. I used black India ink for the recessed letters and the Star. and I used a champagne gold enamel I had to paint into the “wing”. The directions called for metallic gray but the box art had the champagne gold so I went with that. There are a number of rubber hoses to hook up for the brakes and clutch. I have some hooked up. Those are a little tricky to push onto those tiny plastic pins, I usually stick a sewing pin into the hose to stretch it a little bit.

The footrest assemblies went together pretty easily, some painting is required over the chrome parts. They align with square pins or round pins with a flat. The assemblies then attach to the frame, I glued
them on but they each get a screw to really secure them in place.

Now the bike is finished. I have installed the final details, the windscreen, the mirrors, the headlight assembly, etc. The seats and saddlebags were easy to assemble and I sprayed them semi gloss black and used Molotow Chrome on all the rivet heads. I used it on the handle bar and foot peg ends too. All the lenses were clear and I used the Tamiya clear orange and red to paint them. I found I had left off a few
small decals in places by the time I was nearly finished but they were all accessible to apply them. A really good kit to build, now onto the rider figure.

The model even has a working kickstand.

Here’s the kit. He can be built two ways, The first as you see him in the box art. The second is with him wearing a woolen beanie cap, holding his helmet and he also has sunglasses he can wear. I think I’ll build the second pose. You can see the two pictures on the instruction sheet.

I have not built a figure before so I don’t know how good I’ll be able to paint him but he’s going together real easily. The texture is well molded and he’s looking pretty good so far. First here’s just the legs:

The jacket assembles over the legs in three pieces. But first I painted the legs blue. It doesn’t matter what shade as jeans come in so many. Then I dry brushed some light blue and then white over it. Next I painted the leather jacket. The instructions call for semi gloss black as shown in the box art but I went for a brownish color that looks just like a jacket I have. The color is Testors Rubber which is really just a dark flat brown. So I painted the three pieces first. Then I did the arms the same color. There’s also the gloves and the hood. The hood and what you can see of the shirt are flat gray. The shirt is part of the leg assembly.

The next challenge is the head, especially the face. Here’s what I’ve done so far:

I painted the skin with Testors Skin Tone Warm Tint, the lips were painted with highly thinned red. At first it looked like lipstick, but then I lightly painted the Skin Tone over it and that made it look realistic.Here he is all finished. He seems to have a blank stare but it is what it is.

And both together:

Revell 1970 Plymouth AAR ‘Cuda Kit Number 85-4416

Kit number 85-4416

I may be a little biased – this is my favorite muscle car of all time. A family friend bought a Lemon Twist for his wife in late 1969 or early 1970 and at the age of 13 I fell in love with the car and as they say, “The rest is history”.

This is an updated re-release of the 2013 issue of Revell’s 1970 Plymouth Hemi “Cuda kit number 85-4268 with the correct parts to build an AAR. There are even some extra parts included in the box. There is an amazing number of decals in the kit including those for the battery caps and marking for the heater hoses. With additional research, time, and patience it can be built into the best AAR ‘Cuda possible.

This one is built “box stock” using no aftermarket parts using only various paints and Bare Metal Foil to enhance the details. I wanted a “Vitamin C” colored body with the period correct white and black interior.

Pro’s: Extremely accurate details with accurate AAR parts. The model went together very well, so well I look forward to building another.

Cons: The decals are slightly thick, needing patience to get them to lay down flat. With the addition of white strobe stripes the builder would have the option for additional body and interior color combinations.

Overall, I highly recommend this kit and if you love Mopar Muscle it is a must have.

Regards,

Harold Sullins

ACME

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Name:  Jim Shepherd

When did you start building models?  Around the age of 7 or 8

Why?  I always liked cars and like the idea of building miniature cars that I liked.  Also, the box art caught my attention and still does.

What was the first model car you built?  It was a 1963 corvette – that my uncle repainted while I was asleep.

What types of models do you build?  I like factory stock and restomods.

What brand(s) of models do you build the most?  Revell and AMT

What do you like most about model building?  I find it relaxing.

What part(s) of model building do you find the most challenging?  The sanding and polishing to get that brilliant shine!

Anyone special who provided you guidance/inspiration/support?  I would build models occasionally, but when I met the guys from the ACME Club I really started to build a lot of models.

If you could have one older kit reissued what would it be?  The one I am searching for is the MPC 1985 Pontiac Trans Am

What new model would you like to see issued?  I would like to see 4 door cars and wagons from the 1950’s & 1960’s.

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A great turn out for our post 4th of July meeting, about 35 members attended with 22 models on display. The 35 people attending included 3 new members:
1. Kevin Hetmanski enjoys building various truck models and will be opening a RC hobby shop in the near future. I’ll share more details as they become available.
2. Leigh Guarnier collects diecast and I am looking forward to seeing some of the items from his collection.
3. Tony Sciarrino builds mostly 1/43rd race cars and believe has some actual racing experience as well.
Welcome to ACME, we are glad you are part of our club.

Happy Birthday to the following folks celebrating birthday’s in July:
Pico Elgin, Jim Sheperd, Mike Hackey, Bob McAllan, Paul Wehner, John Gum, Eric Cole, and Leigh Guarnieri.

Bob Downie delivered the review of our joint build of Aoshima’s Lamborghini Huracan Performante. Bob did an excellent job of correcting the body flaws, laying down an awesome paint job, and fighting with several issues regarding the headlights, rear fascia, etc. My contribution included the chassis and engine, both of which were very easy and hassle free. Look for a full review on the website in sometime in July.

Four additional models were handed out for reviews at the October 2019 meeting.

Mike Crespi took additional pictures of many of the models on display during Show & Tell and will be adding these to an album on our website in the near future.

After the raffle Jim Sheperd did an incredible how to about adding working lights to models. He brought along a Camaro Indy pace car which has to be seen to be believed, I counted eight working LED’s in the light bar alone. Not sure how many total there are but it has to be close to 20. While there are multiple sources for LED products Jim likes Evan Designs based on there selection and in particular their customer service: Evan Designs