Scale Models

G'day Benchers!  Dave is back from his travels around the world and tonight we hear all about his (mis)adventures!

Don’t forget to checkout our new show sponsor Scale Modellers Supply and their great range of SMS Paints.

A Leap Year occurs every four years to help synchronize the calendar year with the solar year, or the length of time it takes the earth to complete its orbit around the sun. So, this makes it a pretty special day.

To celebrate Leap Year 2020, we've decided to throw our own special giveaway - not 1, not 2, but THREE cool JGTC cars from our collection! These three cars are demo display rides that we've used at events, so unfortunately they are not running (but can be made so with the addition of electronics and a few minor parts).

We're including the following cars:

1. 58394 Lexus Eclipse ADVAN SC430
Chassis: TA05IFS
Link: https://www.tamiyausa.com/shop/110-4wd-belt-drive-road-ta/rc-eclipse-advan-sc430/

2. 58619 Petronas Tom's RC F
Chassis: TT02
Link: https://www.tamiyausa.com/shop/110-4wd-shaft-drive-road-tt/rc-petronas-toms-rc-f/

3. 58625 Motul Autech GT-R
Chassis: TT02
Link: https://www.tamiyausa.com/shop/110-4wd-shaft-drive-road-tt/rc-motul-autech-gt-r/

All three cars are as is - beautiful renditions of Japanese Grand Touring Championship racers - ready for you to race or use as shelf queens!

To enter, all you have to do is sign up for our newsletter here - yup, simple and easy!!!! We will be closing the signups on Saturday, February 29th at midnight with the winner being picked on Monday, March 2nd. Please don't forget to read the Rules - they give you all the info about who's eligible!

Good luck

Oh ya - here's a few more pictures of these rad racers!

Here is a video review and photo gallery of the new Super Stand for Goodman Models Super Sanding Blocks.  (Anthony is a co-host and sponsor of this podcast).  These are created by Sean’s Custom Model Tools. Sean has created a great product that organizes your sanding blocks nicely. They are 3d printed from a hard […]

  Welcome to Episode 40 Sponsored by Goodman Models. Hosts Stuart Clark Anthony Goodman *************************************** LATEST NEWS Thanks to our latest Patreon supporter Kevin Kentner! We had a great live episode with David Goldfinch of On The Bench. Our thanks to IPMS Hamilton and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. We are extending the Super Sanding […]

Here are all the pictures from this year’s Moosaroo Cup. Anthony build the ’68 Ford GT-500 Shelby (1/25 AMT 1968) Ian built the AMX-104 R-JarJa (1/144 HGUC Bandai 2019) Neo-Zeon Prototype Commander-use Close Quarters Combat MS After some very tough judging, Ian’s build was awarded the winner.  

G'day Benchers!  Welcome to our latest episode of “On the bench”.  We have our usual listener mailbag along with whats' new in the modelling world. In this episode we have Robert back to talk about the good the bad and the ugly of the worlds kit manufacturers.  

Don’t forget to checkout our new show sponsor Scale Modellers Supply and their great range of SMS Paints.

Welcome to the Scale Model Podcast. In this podcast, we aim to entertain, inform, and promote the hobby of scale model kit building with interviews, reviews, and news about the hobby. The Scale Model Podcast currently is recorded biweekly and is available where your favourite podcasts are found including iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher as […]

G'day Benchers!  Welcome to our latest episode of “On the bench”. In this episode we are going to try and get our heads around the AMPS method of model judging.  Wish us luck!

 

Don’t forget to checkout our new show sponsor Scale Modellers Supply and their great range of SMS Paints.

Welcome to the Scale Model Podcast. In this podcast, we aim to entertain, inform, and promote the hobby of scale model kit building with interviews, reviews, and news about the hobby. The Scale Model Podcast currently is recorded biweekly and is available where your favourite podcasts are found including iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher as […]

SprueFest 2020 is coming January 25, 2020!

What is SprueFest you ask? SprueFest is a model building contest put on by Brookhurst Hobbies, one of Southern California’s premiere model hobby shops.

Tamiya America will be sponsoring this event. We will be on hand displaying new model kit releases, accessories, tools, paints and finishing supplies. We will also be putting on demonstrations on some of our handy tools and accessories.

The event is from 9AM to 4PM and will include a large raffle, Best of Show Award, Sponsor Awards, Best Aircraft, Best Automotive and Best Armor.

This year's contest theme: Building the 60's!

There are 12 contest categories for this event:

AIRCRAFT
Best of Aircraft
Sponsor: Attack Decals

A1 - 1/72 Prop Aircraft
Sponsor: Mission Models

A2 - 1/72 Jet Aircraft
Sponsor: Mission Models

A3 - 1/48 Prop Aircraft
Sponsor: Tamiya

A4 - 1/48 Jet Aircraft
Sponsor: Tamiya

A5 - 1/32 Aircraft
Sponsor: Zoukei-Mura

A6 - Rotary Wing
Sponsor: Mission Models

A7 - Out of the Box (all scales and types)
Sponsor: Mission Models

Aircraft Split
Sponsor: Merit International

AUTOMOTIVE
Best of Automotive
Sponsor: Grex

C1 - Factory Stock
Sponsor : Tamiya

C2 - Custom
Sponsor: Grex

C3 - Competition - Open Wheel
Sponsor: Grex

C4 - Competition - Closed Wheel
Sponsor: Grex

C5 - Out of the Box (all scales and types)
Sponsor: Grex

Automotive Split
Sponsor: Merit International

DIORAMAS
D1 - Vignette (4 figures or less, 1 vehicle)
Sponsor: Socal Amps

D2 - Dioramas
Sponsor: Socal Amps

ARMOR
Best of Armor
Sponsor: Socal Amps

B1 - 1/72 Armor
Sponsor: Socal Amps

B2 - 1/48 Armor
Sponsor: Socal Amps

B3 - 1/35 Pre '46 • Allied
Sponsor: Socal Amps

B4 - 1/35 Pre '46 • Axis
Sponsor: Socal Amps

B5 - 1/35 Post WWII
Sponsor: Tamiya

B6 - 1/35 Wheeled • Semi-Tracked
Sponsor: Socal Amps

B7 - Out of the Box (all scales and types)
Sponsor: Socal Amps

Armor Split
Sponsor: Socal Amps

FIGURES
F1 - 54mm and Smaller
Sponsor: Socal Amps

F2 - 54mm and Larger
Sponsor: Merit International

SHIPS
S1 - 1/700 and Smaller
Sponsor: Tom's Modelworks

S2 - 1/350 and Larger
Sponsor: Tom's Modelworks

S3 - Submarines (all scales)
Sponsor: Tom's Modelworks

GAMING MINIATURES
G1 - Historic
Sponsor: Warlord Games

G2 - Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Sponsor: Games Workshop

G3 - 15mm Team Yankee (Battlefront)
Sponsor: Battlefront

G4 - 15mm Flames of War (Battlefront)
Sponsor: Battlefront

SCI-FI and FANTASY
X1 - Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Real Space Vehicles
Sponsor: Pegasus Hobbies

X2 - Fantasy and Sci-Fi Figures
Sponsor: Games Workshop

X3 - Mech
Sponsor: Socal Amps

X4 - Best Star Wars (Bandai only)
Sponsor: Bandai Namco Collectibles

GUNDAMS
(Official Bandai Product Only)
M1 - Best UC Large Scale
Sponsor: Bandai Namco Collectibles

M2 - Best UC Small Scale
Sponsor: Bandai Namco Collectibles

M3 - Best AU Large Scale
Sponsor: Bandai Namco Collectibles

M4 - Best AU Small Scale
Sponsor: Bandai Namco Collectibles

JUNIORS
J1 - Open to Ages 12 and Under
Sponsor: Tamiya

GROUP/CLUB
Z1 - Group Build or Collections
Sponsor: Merit International

MISCELLANEOUS
Y1 - Miscellaneous
Sponsor: Socal Amps

On top of that, SprueFest2020 will also be awarding Best Sponsor Awards:
- Best Tamiya Automotive
- Best Tamiya Military
- Best Hasegawa
- Best AFV Club
- Best Modern Armor

There will a TON of cool things to see, so make sure you get this on your calendar - we'll see you there!

For details about the contest please check out the Brookhurst website: SprueFest2020

The Volkswagon Type 2 bus is a fun little ride. It is based off the M06 chassis and uses long posts to mount the body. Because of this, the body tends to move around a bit when the bus is driving.

In this article, we show you how to replace the small stock foam bumper with a much larger one. This helps keep the body stable while you're crusing around with your VW Bus!

Things you'll need:
1. 58668 Tamiya Volkswagon Bus. Obviously.
2. 54819 Urethane Bumper XL
3. Hobby Knife with a new blade. Please be careful while using this - it can cut through fingers as easily as it does the foam.
3. Sharpie. Used to mark the holes in the new foam bumper.
4. Phillips-head screwdriver.

Ok, on to the install.

Step 1 The first step is to remove the body and compare bumpers. You can definitely see the size difference in the two foam pieces.

Step 2 Remove the 3 screws in the upper bumper mount.

Step 3 Flip your M06 over and remove the 2 screws on the bottom of the bumper mount.

Step 4 While not completely necessary, it does make it a little easier if you remove the screws on both of the lower shock mounts.

Step 5 Carefully pull the bulkhead apart and slip the small foam bumper out.

Step 6 Place the small foam bumper on top of the large one as shown. Using your Sharpie, slip it through the holes to mark the lower bumper.

Step 7 Remove the small foam bumper and you'll be left with two marked holes!

Step 8 Using your hobby knife, carefully cut out the holes that you marked. When complete, carefully trace the contour of the small bumper into the large one, removing the foam material.

Step 9 Your bumpers should look similar to this.

Step 10 Install the large foam bumper in the same way you removed the small one. No need to re-install the screws yet; we'll get to that in a bit. This is just to test fit the bumper. You can see that it sticks out quite a bit; we're going to fix that right now.

Step 11 There are multiple ways to complete the next part, but one of the easiest we found was to press the body against the bumper (when it was mounted, like in Step 10).

Step 12 Once removed, the body left a slight indentation on the foam, giving us a nice, shaped curve. This was a good starting point for material removal.

BE CAREFUL!!! While you could just simply eyeball it, cutting to much off will result in a body that continues to wobble when you drive. Start by cutting off a small amount, test fit, then trim off more if needed. This will ensure that your foam bumper is only as small as it needs to be while still retaining enough foam to prevent body wobble.

Step 13 Here's a look at our first cut. We're not to worried about it being perfect just yet, we just want to make sure it's creates a nice, tight fit.

Step 14 After a couple test fits, we found this to be just about right. Screws were re-installed to give it one last final test fit.

Step 15 With the body back on, you can see our cut was pretty tight. We even massaged it a bit to leave room for the cosmetic front bumper mounts.

At this point, you're all done. That is, of course, if you're happy with the way things are. We took some extra time to clean up the front bumper with a Dremel, making it look factory fresh!

G'day Benchers!  Welcome to our latest episode of “On the bench” for. We have our usual listener mailbag along with whats new in the modelling world. In this episode we are going to be talking about adding bits to your kits, from saving bits of sprue to copper wires and plastic card.

 

Don’t forget to checkout our new show sponsor Scale Modellers Supply and their great range of SMS Paints.

 

Welcome to the Scale Model Podcast. In this podcast, we aim to entertain, inform, and promote the hobby of scale model kit building with interviews, reviews, and news about the hobby. The Scale Model Podcast currently is recorded biweekly and is available where your favourite podcasts are found including iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher as […]

G'day Benchers!  Welcome to our first episode of “On the bench” for 2020. We have our usual listener mailbag along with whats new in the modelling world. In this episode we are going to be looking forward to see what we what to achieve in 2020 as well as what new kits we would like to see!