DBZ

AutoArt 350Z's in Lemans Sunset and Silver are available:$45 plus shipping.

Hotwheels 350's are available as well, looks like the only color available for now is a silver that is similar to Silverstone. This one I do not offer but if you are interested shops such as Hobby People carry it.

There is a another manufacturer of 1:18 scale models that is going to offer the 350Z in Silver and Blue. These will not be released until probably late April or Mid-May. The quality of the diecasting is excellent, however the interior and underside detailing is not as good as an AutoArt. The benefit for this model is that the price may be $30 or less. As soon as pricing and pictures are available, I will post again.

For those of you who have been waiting for Daytona Blue, your wait may be over soon.

soupnazi1

How does the interior quality compare to the Hotwheels?

Lightsped

The other 1/18 scale 350z builder is Maisto. Maisto will be doing 3 or 4 colors in this car. Lately Maisto cars have been quite good. Expect their 350z to be at least equal to HotWheels, maybe even slightly better.

DBZ

It is on par with Hotwheels and maisto interiors which is to say that it's ok, not great.

DBZ

The other manufacturer that I am speaking of is not Maisto but another company out of China, Road Signature.

Maisto and Burago, unfortunately, have miserable diecast molds. You can tell on all of their vehicles where the different portions of the diecast mold come together, because the gaps in these molds are molded into the metal. If you lay a Maisto next to an AutoArt, UT, Gate, or Kyosho model the differences are pretty profound.

rodH

iTrader: (2)

agreed, and even next to some hot wheels, the Maisto is inferior, I have a new 360 Modena (hot wheels) and mini cooper (maisto) the 360 is better quality.

but I do have a 911 Hotwheels from about 4 years back (when they just got back into 1:18 scale), and it is JUNK, it seriously needs bondo in the panels.

TCL

They did a good job on the Shelby Daytona Corba coupe considering the bargain price. DBZ, how close do you think they will be able to match the color of the Daytona Blue Z?

Attached is an Autoart Z that had a slight modification performed on it. I'm still interested in the Road Signature version.

Blue Batmobile

iTrader: (22)

That looks nice. Anymore pics? What kind of paint did you use?

Bat™

DBZ

I do not know how close the model blue will be to the real thing. They have not released samples yet. For the most part their paint jobs on other models seem very good, however until I get my hands on one, we won't know. Your modification is very nice. What type of paint is that and did you have to dissassemble the entire model to do that paint job?

snook789

I got my first diecast model yesterday, a AutoArt 350Z's in Lemans Sunset. I am Very impressed!

Can't wait till the Daytona Blue comes out

z-extreme

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DBZ - Where can I get one of these from. Do you sell directly?

TCL

That's the only photo I took. I mixed Testors True Blue Pearl and Silver until I got the right shade. My wife and daughter say it looks like an exact match with the real car in the garage.

DBZ, I only removed a few pieces like the logos and antenna. I masked the rest of the model (that was a long process).

I never would have done this if Exoticar hadn't shipped me the wrong color model to begin with (I ordered Le Mans and they shipped silver - they wouldn't respond to my emails about their return policy either). I will not do business with them in the future. I ordered the Le Mans from another retailer and converted the silver to Daytona Blue.

DBZ

Yes I can get you an AutoArt, we'll have to wait at least a month for the Daytona Blue 350. If you are interested PM me.

DBZ

Exoticar Sucks ****, literally. They are based out of MA, however have a store in Los Angeles, in Beverly Hills. I stopped by one day last winter to pick up a model which I could not get through my friend and the gals that work at the store are these euro-trash model wanna-bees. They have no idea in terms of the diecast cars they are selling and all of them are smoking one of those thin Capri cigs. inside the store! I asked one of them your typical question like:

Me: "So when are you going to get a Kyosho RX-7 in stock or do you have anymore of the AutoArt Murcielago?"

Typical response is:

Eurotrash girl (ETG): "I don't know" "AutoArt does not have a Lambo Murcielago available"

Me: "What about that Lambo in the display case, that's an AutoArt"

ETG: "That's not an AutoArt"

Me: "But, It is I know my diecast models, I'll show you"

ETG: "Don't touch that model!!!"

Me: "See, it says AutoArt underneath"

ETG: "I don't know, I've never seen them before"

Basically, the gal had no idea what the hell was going on and really did not care. These gals were either waiting to be "discovered" in Hollywood or maybe, exoticar employee by day and Heidi Fleiss gals by night!

I know for a while, none of the retailers could get the Orange 350Z and had a bunch of Silver ones. My suspicion is, is that Exoticar probably just shipped you a Silver one and figured that the amount of built-in resistance for returns they have in their company structure would force people to keep the wrong color order. Rather than lose a sale or tell you there is a delay and hence increase the chance that you may cancel your order.

The other interesting thing I noticed was, I used a credit card to pay for a model and the address for the store was in MA and not out of CA. I'm not too sure, but I wonder if they are skimming the sales tax they charge on the model they sell from the L.A. store by making it look like all the credit card sales are from MA? That would be an extra 8.25% of profit, eh whatever.

z430hp

Here are mine. I love the quality and detail of Autoart.

TCL

That was my suspicion as well and I told them that in my last correspondence. I've since found two other retailers that have better service and better prices. One in California and one in Michigan.

soupnazi1

I just did a search on google for "Road Signature" and found a site. When you look under "Yat Ming", you see the Road Signature brand. I guess they make Road Signature. I've seen this Yat Ming brand before on ebay. Anyone own a YatMing model?

http://www.ubhobbies.com/diecastcars/
Click here to see some their models.

http://www.diecast.org/diecast98/htm.../reviewpix.htm
I love the pic they use as a preview.