Rob's Nitto Jet-Raizer Biuld

Woodsy,

Here is yet another classic Mogura Drill Tank I managed to get off eBay recently.

It’s the Jet-Raizer Rock Drill Tank from Nitto. Originally issued in 1967, this is the 1983 reissue.

Nitto produced a trio of SF Mecha models in 1967, and this is one of them. All three models were designed by Shusei Nagaoka, a famed illustrator better known for his Rock LP Covers.

The Jet-Raizer is an ill-fitting and clunky thing, but that is often what you got with this “first wave” of Japan SF model kits. Still, I tried to paint it up as pretty as I could.

Due to the crummy fit of the armor side-plates, even the clockwork-powered treads don’t work! I feel sorry for any Japanese youth who tried to build an operating version of this lemon back in the day!

Rob C

USA

Rob's Alien Toyscapes

Woodsy,

Here are six “Alien Toyscapes,” gouache on paper, all based on space toy photographs by Ed Berg. 

Thanks to Ed for letting me use his photos as templates, this was a lot of fun.

Rob C

USA

Rob's “Transportation 1957” Art

Woodsy,

As February was too cold to work on models in the cellar, I did a few more quick gouache sketches based on a 1950s Japanese Picture Transfer book.

 Subjects should be self-explanatory; I'm calling the series "Transportation '57." 

I like how the original artist turned these iconic vehicles almost into abstract forms, and I tried to capture this simplicity in my 5" x 8" recreations.

Hope you like them.

Rob C

USA

Rob's Imai MSV Model Free to a Good Home!

Woodsy,

I've decided to let go of my IMAI model kit of the Captain Scarlet Maximum Security Vehicle. It's the 1997 reissue, new and in sealed bags. Catalog #B-2131. Non-motorized version. A beautiful kit, but not one I feel I could paint properly.

I am offering it free to a good home for anyone who wants to pay the postage. Assuming I will be sending somewhere other than the US, I will ship Priority Intl only, and will guesstimate the postage costs will run around $50-$60 USD.

I will mark the package as a gift, but cannot guarantee anything regarding customs or other fees on the recipient's end.

It's a handsome kit and out of production, and I'm sure somebody could do a bang-up job with it.

Rob C

USA

HO HO HO REPAIR SHOP BY ROB

Not sure if this is too far off-topic for the blog, but I wanted to share this latest model with you. It’s an HO scale repair shed from Pola of Western Germany, circa 1965, and I think it came out pretty nice. I even tried a little light weathering on it. A nostalgic kit from my childhood, redone!

Rob C

CT

USA

Rob's Monogram/Atlantis Orbital Rocket Redux!

Hi Woodsy!

Here is my latest model build, the brand-new Atlantis reissue of the 1959 Monogram Willy Ley Orbital Rocket. I had this one as a kid, and it was amazing to be able to build it again.

Monogram originally released two kits using basically the same molds, the Orbital Rocket (PS46), shown here, and a Passenger Rocket (PS47), with a slightly different Shuttlecraft. Both are excellent Sci-Fi designs from the glory days of NASA concept vehicles.

The Orbital Rocket kit came with two large fuel tanks, which I did not add, as they obscured the lower wings and (retracted) landing gear.

This terrific kit also came with four figures, which I declined to paint, as they are so tiny. Painting tiny figures is a young man's game!

Enjoy!

Rob C

USA

Have you Driven a Ford Lately? Asks Rob C.

Woodsy,

After some discussion with Paul Adams, and some good fortune on eBay, I decided to try a modeling challenge.

First, I purchased a 1910 Model T Ford model by Airfix, 1/32 scale, one of their earliest releases, from the late 1950s.

Next, I purchased a 1912 Model T Ford, also originally produced by Airfix, but released in the US by MPC in 1971, as one of their “Wild Drag” series, marketed as “Build Stock or Wild Drag!” These kits featured the original Airfix model, plus “custom” chromed parts to make a hot rod “Drag” version.

In building the MPC kit, I discovered what any unfortunate modeler from the time would have discovered, that the custom Drag parts really didn’t fit the original model well at all, and in fact had to be kind of slapped on any way you could do it.

Still, a comparison of the two models illustrates what a company can do with an existing mold to try and “jazz it up!” File under the “You can put lipstick on a pig…” section.

What do you think?

Rob C

USA