Model Forum / General / Models / September 2008

in the picture, it looked dull and old.

They got a lot right but also a lot wrong. Steve Zaloga said the best
thing to do is use the hull and some of the bits from the old Tamiya
one with parts from the new Academy kit (turrets mostly and some of
the interior) and either the original Tamiya suspension bits or better
still the AFV Club ones. The AFV Club tracks are fiddly but work
pretty well when you get them together, and they have two styles (flat
rubber shoe and three-bar cleat).

Cookie Sewell

i remember a few shows as a teen.
but the real killer was living in nurnbeurg 60-64. gues where i went every
xmas season? i would even hop the trolley after school. don't remember the
name of the square, but the church was the one with the figures that moved and
did stuff on the hour.
sometimes it would be really freakin' cold but we still toured around for
hours. for 50 pfenigs, about 12 1/2 cents, you could get a newspaper cone full
of the best french fries. had to bring your own catsup. the germans would
always chuckle and shake their heads....amis, they would say.
the model tents and the marklin tents were where i spent most time. trains
that never seem to get here.

Yep, Lancaster was their main factory location.  I know of about three
locations that had been plants.  One's downtown somewhere, the second is
about 8 blocks from here and is now a paper tag concern.  The last and
largest is about 2 miles from here and up until a few years ago the
'ghosts' of the company logo were still seen on the side of the
building.  Not sure who's in there now but the successive companies that
bought them used the building for awhile then moved manufacturing
overseas.  IIRC, Hasbro was the last one.
Never toured the plant but back in the '70s I delivered printing and
office supplies to the new plant.  All kinds of die-cast was chucked in
the dumpsters and I picked up a cap gun that lacked plastic grips and
used it as a paper weight in the truck.
The plastic packing line was near the truck docks so I could see the
women packing chrome-plated parts when delivering.

They certainly made the unusual but the plastics were simplistic.  Some
of the 'foreign' cars are still made and sold under Minicraft's name.  I
got one of the Rolls-Royces through Squadron and was surprised to see
they altered the window 'glass' moulding.  Otherwise the kit is the same
thing.

There's an opening hood (bonnet) but the engine is a drop in one-piece
moulding to fill the space.  Trunk (boot) opens and there's a spare to
fill it.  Not sure of the accuracy of the appearance of the trunk.

Undercart comprises wheels that push into vinyl tires and onto thick
metal axles.  These in turn slide into a chassis plate with simple
moulded-on detail.

Hubley also made a Renault Dauphine but I haven't seen that one re-released.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.