2018 NNL East

I went to my first NNL, in Wayne, New Jersey, this last weekend. It was about what I expected: lots of really well-built stuff in the display room, and a vendor's room full of people making deals. I got there shortly after opening time at 9:00 and the lineup was moving nicely. I made a beeline for the vendor's tables, and quickly spent what I cash had brought with me. As few of the vendors take plastic, limiting the cash on hand is one way to ensure you don't spend too much.



Then to the exhibit hall. One of the tables is shown here.



One of the themes was cars built in 1959; another was resin bodies made by Modelhaus, a casting company that is going out of business as the owners are retiring. Modelhaus made a lot of kits of '50s cars, so there was a fair bit of overlap. No news on whether someone is buying up the masters.



The drive-in was a big hit. Lots of work there! And lots of pastel on the 1959 display table.



There were probably a thousand entries; I took 250 pictures and the best are summarised next. The Maserati 450 S, from Profil 24, is in my stash and the quality of the workmanship in this example is superb. A tough act to follow.



The Testa Rossa, from Hasegawa, is not in my stash, but again this one shows absolutely superb craftsmanship. Unfortunately the 22" rims on the GTO next to it were not period correct and really didn't look good. Pirellis on Borranis, please!





The Accurate Miniatures M8B and a trio of Cobras are also in my stash. I like the comment that the M8B kit is a better kit than they give it credit for.





Moving on to the 1959 theme, this Buick Starmaster is an imaginary V16 Coupe based on the Buick Electra. I'll post a few pictures as the work is superb and the idea is well out of the ordinary.



Wonderful scratch-building here, which looks like it involved moving the cockpit backwards to make room for the pair of Chevy small blocks glued together, incidentally making it into a 2-seater.



Lots of details here, including the rear window which slides up into the roof -- sort of a reverse sunroof.



The Electra is one of those more understated big boats in spite of the eyebrows over the lights.



The '53 Vette is a replica of a full-size cutaway that GM used in auto shows at the time of its introduction. Again superb scratchbuilding of the wireframe door and fender outline, as well as wiring up of the dash and the engine.



Moving on to the trucks, there were a large number of very well-built resin cabs with scratch-built accessories and whatnot.



The Mack B62 resin body made by American Industrial Truck Models is a perennial favourite and this one was particularly nice.



This COE and streamliner are both resin bodies and the finish is lovely. I love the period rear fenders on the truck.



This |Autocar was consistent with the heavy haulage theme pursued by many builders. Lots of very well done detail, although I discovered you can buy all kinds of resin cast stuff, for example winches for $2.



Vegetables anyone?





Rat rod mania now includes more and more trucks, and this, er, thing powered by a Detroit Diesel V16 was well put together with pinned and jointed steering. I was inspired to buy a similar resin motor as well as some #00-90 screws and nuts, for future use.



The Falcon is more 'conventional', if I may use that word when talking about builds that are meant to be outlaws. There is also a whole sub-cult that works at weathering models to look old and rusty.



My Starliner cab-forward concept has finally been replicated!



This one is mine from a number of years ago:



This one's in the WTF category. The display included a poster depicting a '50's vision of driving on the moon. Guess which company produced the poster ... there was also a Jetson's runabout.



Finally in the category of massively excessive levels of detail, there was a NASCAR ride which, rightly, won best in show, and a Dodge A100 pickup which didn't, probably due to the judges being blinded by the conflicting colours. Gotta admire the skill in plumbing it all up, though.





PS added April 23: I had the pleasure of meeting Jean-Jacques Lillette, who brought six lovely '50s models all the way from France. The detail on the Cadillac phantom wagon is excellent and is representative of his work; look for him on You Tube.



The recommended hotel was full by the time I booked, and so while I can heartily recommend NNL East, I can't say as much for the Comfort Inn on US Route 46 in Fairfield, New Jersey. All in all a good time and I include a shot of my haul. See you there April 27, 2019! Bring cash!