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Wednesday, September 11. 2019

A Scene from Trading Places

The World Trade Center as seen in the movie Trading Places

Most of the time, when the World Trade Center was used in movies, it was simply part of the skyline - either incidental to the story taking place in New York City or as an easily identifiable landmark to set the scene. But the "Trade" part of the name was more than just a catchy moniker: 4WTC was home to five commodities exchanges and had one of the largest trading floors in the world.

This became the setting for the final act of Trading Places, where Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy get their revenge on the tycoons who set them up in the beginning of the movie. As they cross the plaza and walk past the Ideogram sculpture, we get this rare street-level view of Tower 2 with its distinct facade and 3WTC visible in the background.
See more scenes ➡

Posted by Bill at 10:16 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Monday, September 2. 2019

When a Zombie Apocalyse Breaks Out on Halloween Night...

An example of the "didn't age brilliantly" I mention in the build of AMT's Ferrari 250 GT SWB, note the "beore" and "after" of the kit's wheel knockoffs:

Wheel detail showing original and modified parts from AMT Ferrari 250 GT SWB


Posted by Bill at 13:15 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Monday, August 19. 2019

All New Illustrated City Slicker Packaging

I briefly worried that this may be cheating a bit. My plan for 2019 is to build models of stuff from books, comics, and other static art pieces, and while box art technically counts as art, it also leaves an almost obscene amount of wiggle room. Like, anything that appears on the box could now be considered fair game.

But then I had two counterpoints: first, a photo of the A-Team van dropped onto a tilted background isn't quite the same thing as a piece commissioned specifically for box art, created by veteran AMT/MPC artist Don Greer (car) and Round 2's Senior Designer James Hood (background, composition). Second, I set the rules for this theme; I get to interpret them however I want. The matter now settled, I went ahead with my plan for the City Slicker '69 Charger.

Posted by Bill at 22:27 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, August 9. 2019

The Engine is a Bit Old, but the Body is Still Good

In the early 2000s, Fujimi released several kits as licensed tie-ins with special resin figures of characters from the series. Among those was the manga Over Rev!, and this repop of their MR2 kit. It took some doing to track this down, but in the end I'm glad I did. There's something kind of nice about having the complete set...even if said set is "two kits."

Posted by Bill at 08:19 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, August 2. 2019

Two Creatures Who Shared a Love for Motorcycles Naturally Spoke the Same Language

So there I was, working on the tiny stuff for the It's Walky! truck, and my mind went wandering in search of more project ideas. Since it was already thinking small, it wasn't too surprising that it came back with a miniature from one of my favorite series from when I was a kid: The Mouse and the Motorcycle.

Posted by Bill at 18:08 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, June 28. 2019

Black 1986 Dodge Ram 50. Parking Level 4C. Keys?

Sometimes I have to chuckle at what cars have made it to kit form and which ones are still waiting. There are no boat tail Rivieras available despite their popularity in movies and TV, full-sized pickups stopped being produced sometime in the late 1990s, and there have been something like two Aston Martins kitted ever. But want a model of Chrysler's quirky rebadging of the Mitsubishi Forte? No problem!

Posted by Bill at 12:52 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, June 14. 2019

Well, now here's a scene you wouldn't find in 'For Better or for Worse'

Pears Before Swine has remained one of my favorite newspaper strips for years. Stephan Pastis has kept up a stip that has at times been dark, funny, wrong, right, stubborn, sweet, stupid, and insightful...in other words, relatable to all of us.

Posted by Bill at 10:47 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Monday, May 27. 2019

Memorial Day 2019



Posted by Bill at 15:45 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, May 24. 2019

How Did You Get Here with Only a Car?

As I was wrapping up the last few projects, I realized that the Lamborghini from Murcielago would be my 400th project on this site. Part of me wanted to make a bigger deal out of it - a big round number for such a quick and obscure project and all - but then I considered two counterpoints. First, I've never made a point to post important projects on round numbers (#200 was Mudflap, FFS). Second, that number doesn't include most custom toy projects or eBay sales, and does include a couple of items that I don't own any more. So...happy random number day!

Posted by Bill at 14:49 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, May 10. 2019

Everyone in Town is Looking at My Celsior and Fawning Over It

I'm not as well-versed with Shakotan Boogie as I am with most of the other cars I build, since there has yet to be a translation of the series. I can still enjoy the art, though, and thanks to online synopses I can follow along with the broad strokes...including where on the timeline to put Hajime's Toyota Celsior.

Posted by Bill at 23:00 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, April 26. 2019

Ah, A Manly Sound

So, funny thing about State of Fear...when it came out, it was soundly roasted by the scientific community for the myriad problems with the science it contained. Not only did this response seem to forget that Crichton was also responsible for a story about dinosaurs coming back to life via impossible science, it also proved the point of the story insofar as we're often quick to react but slow to think.

Anyway, here's a Ferrari.

Posted by Bill at 16:37 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, April 12. 2019

Suspect Headed to East Alley...Uh, Pursued

In the late 1990s/early 2000s, the Viper was a frequent tenant in Batman's garage. Early cars were more or less stock, but it didn't take long for an artist to put some fins and a mask on one. The first of those was Roger Robinson's Batmobile as seen in Gotham Knights.

Posted by Bill at 20:09 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, March 29. 2019

I Need a New Car

In my review of the Batman: The Animated Series Batmobile, I mentioned how the cartoon tended towards a larger design...

Batman: The Animated Series Batmobile as seen in the episode The Mechanic

Posted by Bill at 06:25 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, March 22. 2019

Are You--A Vampire?

Due to life being...well, life...sometimes plans don't pan out the way we hope. Circumstances have dictated that a few projects be moved up my priority list, including another comic book Batmobile.

Posted by Bill at 14:22 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, March 8. 2019

Sarge Said to Meet Him at His Jeep

I've mentioned elsewhere that comics have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember: newspaper strips, manga, webcomics, I've read them all at one point or another. But the Sunday funnies were the first of these, and one of the old standards was Beetle Bailey. Mort Walker passed away last year, and as an acknowledgement of his work I wanted to build a tribute.

Posted by Bill at 19:58 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)
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