Jevries’ 1:12 R/C ’64 Impala

Starting with a Maisto 1:12 1964 Chevrolet Impala R/C car, Jevries has built an outstanding fully functioning model.

Jevries sent these photos and wrote:

Basically I started out with the original Maisto ride, swapped wheels with the wire wheels I created in resin and modified the electronics using a picture of the IC connections I found on the internet. By adding more channels/ functions I was able to makes this ride lift the front and rear, make it go sideways, three wheel and hop the front of the car hitting the back bumper. I also added extra LED lights. It was a big hit when I showed it at the Bangkok motor show in 2007.

Later on I swapped the modified electronics and used professional equipment for proportional control. I showed this ride at the Vegas lowrider show in 2007 and earlier this year in Japan and people loved it. I recently redid the paintjob and added a theme: The Lost Angel by Mr. Cartoon. Graphics are done by scaling pictures I found on the internet and printing them on clear Decal paper. Next step is a interior and one of the other Maisto ’64′s I will turn into a convertible with working top.

Dig the sparks when the rear bumper scrapes. See a video of the car in action:

See his website at http://www.jevries.com/

Here’s the Maisto R/C car that he started with.

1967 Mustang tooling model for 1:18

Although this looks like a black-and-white photo, it’s in color. Before a die-cast model is made, we hand make one from plastic resin that is 1-1/2 times larger than the finished car. This tooling model serves two purposes: 1) it lets the tooling people know that all of the parts will fit together the way it was planned, and 2) we submit it to the licensor (Ford, in this case) so they can be assured that it looks accurate before we make the steel tooling for the production models. It may look a little strange to see the chrome, windows and tires in primer color but the purpose of this model is show the shapes and the way that they fit together, not colors. Plain cylinders represent the wheels and tires — CAD drawings are sufficient for these so it isn’t cost-effective to make a model of them.

Here’s the pre-production sample. You can see a slim area where the paint didn’t cover below the bumper ahead of the front wheels. That was fixed on the production models that are just arriving in stores now. In addition to the Highland Green Metallic color shown, it’s also available in Candy Apple Red. The SKU is 31166.

Maisto On The Road, Next Stop: Mexico

No further description is necessary…

Whenever, and wherever, we can make a sale of die-cast to a collector of our products, we are going to make it happen. Thanks Juan for sending it in…

Talented Artists

I am pretty fortunate to work with as talented a staff of artists as I do. G-d knows I cannot draw, sketch, photoshop, or even use crayons to save my life. I drew a beach ball in chalk on a sidewalk when my daughter was small, she still asked “what’s that daddy?” So I appreciate people’s talents.

The other day, I walked back to the glass cage, and I saw several pieces of art that the guys had been working on in their spare time. They told me it was for a tribute to Michael Jackson happening in Pomona on the 8th of August, thru the end of the month. I loved the look of the art, so even though this is a Maisto blog, since they all work for Maisto, here goes…

first up, young Christian, code name dimex…

Dimex is a character, to be sure. You might enjoy seeing some more of him and his interests at the dimex blog at www.dimex1.com

Next up, Joe Rodriguez (Jose). he’s the quiet one of the group, but his art, like his work, is uniquely distinctive:

More of Joe can be found at www.jcuriarte.com

Of course, the list would not be complete without an entry from Castro – this one was so cool, with the glove actually being studded. it loses a little in jpeg form, but trust me, it was awesome

Castro is all over the web, probably easiest to find out more about him here: www.gangsterbilly.com

There is one more to show, but I have to be a little clandestine cuz the artist’s dad works here. He is a little afraid of the internet, big brother watching over you, etc, but his kid is turning out to be quite a musician and artist – here is V-B’s interpretation of MJ:

Nicely done to everyone. Now get back to work – Next!

Hot Rod HEROS

Back on March 24th on the Double D, we showed the New Look of Law Enforcement. A gold highway patrol ’08 Challenger, the red county fire ’08 Challenger, the black & white ’69 Charger RT and the RESCUE Hummer Hx Concept. Here’s the link, http://maisto.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/the-new-look-of-law-enforcement/
Here are a couple more being added to that line-up.
A new ’08 Dodge Challenger SRT8 and of course, the classic ’55 Buicks!
Don’t forget to do your part to contribute…take those pics and post!!!

’55 B-E-A-U-ick Century’s

Okay – It’s been a little slow on the blog…time to speed things up a little. Debuting on store shelves near you are these high-powered ’55 B-E-A-U-ick Century’s. You really need to see these in person! These are some great looking models. One is done in a modern style rich sun-kissed metallic orange, while the other is dressed up in a classic 2 tone metallic red and white.
So go to the store and check’em out!
If you have already snatched up 1 or 2 of these, take some pics and post’em.
We’d love to see them!