Johan 63 Olds

Robert W Martel
Now I remember why, when I as a kid why we avoided the Jo-Han kits like the plague! When the Revell & AMT kits were $3 the Johan's were $1.29. They were just CHEAP kits. Unless it was of a car I really wanted, they did cars that the others didn't.
To start with it is super simple with very few parts, detail is ok, but things just aren't as good as the others.
I spent some time polishing the glass and got it looking pretty good, but when I went to put it in it fit so poorly and was so thick that it split the vent cowling under the windshield, Bummer! I spent hours sanding and polishing it (again) thin enough to fit! And the gaps in the lower corners are atrocious!
They all come with the same steering column mounted combination tach, shifter & blinker switch (chromed). This car had a t-handle floor shifter, but it was not included, even though there was a hole in the console for it. So I cut the shifter off the column and put it in the console.
The engine has no carb, the air cleaner sits on the distributor cap and if installed as designed the snorkel would point to the rear!, no radiator hoses, no outside mirrors, no antenna, pretty crummy looking whitewalls.
The basic detail isn't bad, it's just lacking the finer points, chassis is all molded as one piece as is the interior tub.
It really doesn't look bad, just lacks the finer details. When it's the only thing available for a certain car, there's not much choice but to grin and bear it and do the best you can with it.
I'm happy with it. I knew what to expect from the start.
It's another car that I had back in the days, and I'm just happy there was any kit for it at all. Now, the one I'd Really Like would be a 64 Olds Dymanic 88, but have yet to see any 64 Oldsmobiles, period.

Jay Dubya
Good job Bobstar

Robert W Martel
Thanks JW. It turned pretty decent, for a Jo-Han ! Good enough !!

Tom Ballhoff
Hey, looks nice and sexy your car!

Robert W Martel
Thanks Tom. If it was a better kit I probably would have put a bit more effort into it. And it was a car that I only had for a very short time and didn't really care much for. They were great looking cars though, back then ! Cheers

Tom Ballhoff
Hi Robert, I always see that the old rarities certainly have their charm and as such in this day and age of perfectionism can be built just like that, without much etched parts, etc.

Robert W Martel
Yup! gotta work with what ya got. I have quite a few OLD kits of cars that I had. There are PE for a few of them. Mainly I want just the scripts like for my Windsor project. I have found LeMans scripts for my 64 & 68 GTOs, and a few others I can use maybe, but it seems they only make for the real common ones!

Christian W
This is a very nice, old kit. I like to see this rare kits built. Very nice.

Robert W Martel
Thanks Christian, I only had this car for a short time, but since the kit was reasonable I thought, why not?

Christian W
Sure! If I'd get a model kit of each car I had, I'd buy it. But the most Honda aren't available 🙁

wilky
I recently purchased a kit of a car I owned but being Australian nobody makes kits for any of the other cars I've owned.

Robert W Martel
That's a bummer wilky! I know the Aussie cars were different, even the Fords weren't the same as the US versions.

wilky
Yeah, we're pretty much a forgotten country by kit manufacturers.
Obviously not the only one though.
When I was a kid there were virtually no kits of aircraft that Australia used either.
Airfix had made their version of the Boomerang but I wasn't old enough to had seen that on the shelf.
Currently there's a kit maker called The Parts Box that does Australian cars and I'm hoping to get some of their kits soon.
Especially their Mad Max Interceptor

Robert W Martel
That's a bummer wilky. Funny, Of all the places, Australia is the place I've always wanted to go.
Yea !!!! I STILL WANT an Interceptor!!! !!! !!!!!

wilky
thepartsbox.com/shop..-police-kerbside-pk/
Good exchange rate for you ATM

Robert W Martel
ooooh!!!!!Looks like a pretty nice kit but pretty pricey! $113 for a car kit! Plus sipping I'm sure would be another 20-30 bucks. OUCH!!!! Is that plastic or resin??? Well, It's gonna have to be lower down on the list for now. Looks like a pretty nice kit though. Plus decals are separate. You're looking at $150 car !!!!
Which movie would that one have been in???, was that "the last of the V8s!"? But no real engine either. EICH E WOW A !!! lol

wilky
First movie car.
Yeah, not cheap but then those Aoshima kits are 400AUD and they also don't have an engine.
It's because the blower was fake.
Bolted to a platform above the engine

wilky
The Parts Box kit to me isn't any different to a Johan kit.
There's a Johan '70 Oldsmobile kit for sale on eBay located in Australia right now 99.99 + 8.95 Aussie Dollars.
All the other Johan kits are located overseas and with shipping and tax are more expensive than that.
As you say they're not very good kits and I've never owned an American car so have absolutely no appeal to me.
I've actually owned an Interceptor, not the Black on Black Pursuit Special Interceptor but the yellow, red, white and blue four door Interceptor in the opening scene. Call sign March Hare.
I purchased a Ford XA Falcon and painted it myself back in the eighties because Mad Max is my favourite movie of all time.
As an Aussie being ripped off is just an everyday occurrence but there's things about being an Aussie that no other country has.
Where I live I can leave the keys in the ignition of my car and it's still there the next morning.
Since I paid over 600AUD for my Vintage Fighter Series P-40 a 150AUD isn't so bad but I understand with the prices of kits for you it's expensive