1/18 Die Cast KITT Coming In December

KITTfan · Post by **KITTfan** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:29 am

Got my KITT model today

It's really awesome!
I already made turnsignal "covers" from sticker kind of clear plastic that is used for covering books in libraries. It's too thin though, the "covers" doesn't show up very well. Maybe thicker plastic would work better.

-KITTfan-

Knight Industries 3000 · Post by **Knight Industries 3000** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 1:04 pm

HondaSiR wrote:
Knight Industries 3000 wrote:Could the fragility of the KITT toys be why they have yet to show up in retail stores?
No, I don't think so. The factory probably has problems with the huge demand that they can't keep up, resulting in a backlog. Another theory is that this is a limited run of 10,000 pieces, as Skav pointed out earlier. Not to mention that its almost Christmas, where fans may buy more than one to give as a gift to someone.

I doubt that. I don't know why KITT would be produced as a limited edition, when 1:18 cars from other franchises seem to be very freely available. And as much as we all enjoy Knight Rider, it isn't exactly a show with a huge mainstream following. ERTL knows how to make toys and models in sufficient, saleable quantities. There were probably some manufacturing gaffes that have slowed shipment of the ERTL KITTs to retail stores in time for the Christmas shopping season. That's my guess, anyway.

HondaSiR · Post by **HondaSiR** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 1:38 pm

The bigger question would probably be: How come the model is relatively easy to find and buy in ebay/online stores, whereas it is very difficult to find in department stores? The "limited run" was not officially announced by ERTL (not that I think so) but was likely leaked to retailers prior to manufacture so that they (the retailers/sellers) will spread the word to the public about the low manufacturing number. The fans will in turn panic and try to buy the model as soon as it gets released. Its a marketing gimmick. Or at least that's how I think of it somehow. Only ERTL knows how many models they have produced, and if they will produce in excess of that original number due to demand, only they can answer.

Lost Knight · Post by **Lost Knight** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 2:16 pm

I just got my K.A.R.R. in the mail today and is fortunately in mint condition. I'm actually on my way to the hobby shop right now to pick up a few different kinds of paint and brushes. Does anybody happen to have any good ideas on how to make the scanner appear more yellow, as it is amber colored? I want to put a transparent yellow lens over the plastic to see how the effect will come out and hopefully make the scanner look more yellow.

Oh, for what it's worth, the box KARR came in says Skynet, not Aoshima as was advertised in the auction. Not that it makes a difference to me though. Another subtle difference between this company and Ertl is that the battery compartment is colored black, not silver (as some of you may have already noticed).

KNIGHTBOY · Post by **KNIGHTBOY** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 3:08 pm

I was looking at the car again and another error just popped out at me: the cowl thing on the hood is way too centered. There should be a line straight down the middle, but the cowl overlaps it. It's such a basic part of KITT's design, I don't know how anybody could screw it up.

It's becoming more and more obvious that whoever built this wasn't a fan of the show in the least.

Lost Knight · Post by **Lost Knight** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:29 pm

You're right, KNIGHTBOY, the cowl induction is a bit too far over. HondaSiR mentioned earlier that he thought it was too wide but I thought nothing of it until now. Oh well.

For those interested in painting the rims, I discovered a convenient method. If you have a fine tip pen, preferably a Pilot Precise or a Uni-Ball Vision Exact or any pen with a skinny point, you can dip that in the paint and use it to "color" in those small spots; it works great. A little unorthodox I know, but its worked great for mine.

KNIGHTBOY · Post by **KNIGHTBOY** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:40 pm

Something I always use is this water-based antiquing paint that's used in gold leafing. You can be as messy as you want yet when you wipe the edges they're as clean and shiny as ever. They have them in tiny little bottles at Michaels.

PBH · Post by **PBH** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 8:39 pm

neps wrote:

Hey neps. I noticed that you mentioned the BTTF II DeLorean but the photo shows the BTTF I DeLorean. Have you gotten the Part III version yet?

So far, my collection includes 5 of the Sunstar 1:18 Scale DeLorean's (Regular, Gold Edition, BTTF I, BTTF II Version 1, BTTF II Version 2) & I also have all 4 of the 1:24 Welly versions. My BTTF III version should be arriving to me shortly.

PBH · Post by **PBH** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 8:48 pm

Maybe I missed something in this thread. Anyone else notice the diffence in the rims? Note that PIC 1 has "deeper" holes along the outer circumference of the rims. Is it just me, camera trick or was this just a mod?

PIC 1

PIC 2

HondaSiR · Post by **HondaSiR** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:07 pm

Lost Knight wrote:Does anybody happen to have any good ideas on how to make the scanner appear more yellow, as it is amber colored? I want to put a transparent yellow lens over the plastic to see how the effect will come out and hopefully make the scanner look more yellow.

Amber lights? Damn, I thought Aoshima/Skynet went for perfection, I would have thought they used pure yellow LEDs. Best solution would be to dismantle the assembly altogether and replace the existing LEDs with yellow ones. Other than that, putting a yellow cellophane over the lens would be worth a shot.

Lost Knight wrote:Another subtle difference between this company and Ertl is that the battery compartment is colored black, not silver (as some of you may have already noticed).

A nice touch by Aoshima, a real Trans Am (or KITT) would have a black gas tank, not silver.

KNIGHTBOY wrote:I was looking at the car again and another error just popped out at me: the cowl thing on the hood is way too centered. There should be a line straight down the middle, but the cowl overlaps it.

Yup, the cowl induction hood is not that accurate, it leans too far to the right side when it shouldn't.

PBH wrote:Maybe I missed something in this thread. Anyone else notice the diffence in the rims? Note that PIC 1 has "deeper" holes along the outer circumference of the rims. Is it just me, camera trick or was this just a mod?

I painted the outer square rings flat black in order to become more accurate to the show. It just didn't seem right when it came out of the box and I noticed it right away. Feel free to customize your KITT, it looks great when you finish painting it.

PBH · Post by **PBH** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:27 pm

Whatever you did, it makes such an awesome difference! Good job!!!

HondaSiR · Post by **HondaSiR** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:59 pm

Thanks! I also painted the front fender vents gloss black and added turn signal blackouts (courtesy of some black electrical tape). Check out the pics on page 37 and 38 of this thread.

Lost Knight · Post by **Lost Knight** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 1:28 am

HondaSiR wrote:Amber lights? Damn, I thought Aoshima/Skynet went for perfection, I would have thought they used pure yellow LEDs.

Unfortunately, that thing's as orange/amber as can be

. I think I'll stick with my yellow lens idea; I don't want to take anything apart and possibly break it although I have plenty of yellow LEDs around. They may be soldered for all I know.

Oh I said it arrived in mint condition earlier...well upon further inspection, the passenger side-view mirror potrudes a little bit. It looks as if it might have broken off in the factory (or by the seller) and superglued back on but not pressed in far enough. So the mirror hangs outward a little bit. Doesn't look that bad though and there's no way I'm breaking it off and fixing it so I'll just leave it as is.

Dave Knight · Post by **Dave Knight** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 5:38 am

well here are the FINAL KNIGHT plates that me and a friend of mine made for the 1/18 kitt when they are in the shrunk down 1/18 the black will not be seen its only to make the text like CALIFORNIA more visible. these plates will look a LOT more accurate than the light blue background, wrong font in the i in KNIGHT and hard to read california ones on the current car. and YES i also submitted a KARR one as well and will be recieving a similar final plate. as i said before thse plates are pre cut and printed on glossy self adhesive decal paper, just peel off the backing and stick em on. when i get my first one from my buddy and i have it on my car ill take a pic of it so you will all see how it looks. my friend says it looks just like the plate thats on the real car.
since it would be a waste of decal paper im asking for as many people who want one as possible so i can give a number of plates for my friend to print out. so feel free to pm me so i have an idea of how many to have him mail me. if you want to wait till i have the final one on my car thats fine, but i will be on vacation till jan 17th so you will all have to wait till then

PS remember the black is not visible when the plate is shrunken to 1/18, and he has the master so he can also do 1/25 scale for all you builders of the plastic KITT kits from AMT/ERTL/MPC etc.

Scoth · Post by **Scoth** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 4:16 am

Hey folks, got mine today and since I got two, one to keep in the box and one to play with, I just had to do what every kid who gets a new toy does: take it apart and see how it works

Took some pics along the way. Sadly, I'm not much of a photographer and the backdrop isn't ideal, but you can get the idea. Note that it's not very dialup-friendly, but if you're patient enough...

They're up at http://ncc1701.home.mindspring.com/kitt . Feel free to send me any suggestions or requests, it's pretty easy to get into and put back together. I'm also looking into the scanner at http://www.knightlight.co.uk/sp-ks5008.htm since it looks like it'd be a good size for this.

Scott

HondaSiR · Post by **HondaSiR** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 4:49 am

Hey Scoth...nice blown-up pics that you provided, very nice! It's good to get to know our model from a "disassembled" point of view. Your camera and technique at photography is good enough!

If I were to disassemble mine, I would definitely paint the trunk beige. That's the first thing that I will do. Otherwise I'll leave my model as it is. But thanks for posting the pics!

Lost Knight · Post by **Lost Knight** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 5:59 am

Hmmm this is giving me ideas to replace K.A.R.R.'s scanner with yellow diodes. I'm worried about taking it apart and taking the diodes out as well as replacing them. I wonder if it will screw up the "trail" sequence in which they light?

Knight9766 · Post by **Knight9766** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 6:57 am

Some pics of my 1/18 KITT.

http://sg.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/emingf ... /my_photos

Skav · Post by **Skav** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 7:03 am

i just got my 2nd kitt delivered.....strangely, this one came with a black base instead of the silver......i wonder why this was?

it isn't an aoshima car as it has the orange foglight without writing on the tires.

HondaSiR · Post by **HondaSiR** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 7:08 am

A black base?!? That certainly is strange. Hang on to it, perhaps its an error in production which may fetch a high sum one day. Or it may just be the second batch production run. I wouldn't mind it, I think it looks cool when KITT is displayed on it. Please provide some pics.

Skav · Post by **Skav** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 7:28 am

i unscrewed it and is now on display but i'll happily rest the car on the base to get some pix if you wish.

now, if only it had the silver light as a production error instead of the orange...now, i am pushing my luck.

on a more serious note though, is it just me or has there been various production probs with this particular model?

HondaSiR · Post by **HondaSiR** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 8:06 am

Hmmm, the only production problems encountered so far by some members are the loose/misalligned sideview mirrors...missing gas/brake/clutch pedals...and the infamous winch. There could be more coming.

Skav · Post by **Skav** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 9:33 am

yeah but i should imagine that's more than enough probs than what you would get on other models, right?

HondaSiR · Post by **HondaSiR** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 10:37 am

Yup, I agree. Those are pretty alarming instances of errors. They must have rushed the production somehow to make the delivery by Christmas time. Can't really blame them, we were so impatient already as it was. On the other 1:18 models that I have bought, I never experienced those kinds of defects. I hope I never will.

DanielB · Post by **DanielB** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 11:01 am

When I get my roadcars I look for all sorts of faults - scratches, decals applied straight, wing mirrors straight, lights pushed in correctly etc.

This car is no different - you can't get every example 100% correct. The grappling hook I'd say is flawed, but the other faults aren't uncommon. And in ERTLs defence, they sent me a special delivery via airmail to get me the set of pedals replaced - so it was a one off incident that they went out of their way to correct.

1/18 Die Cast KITT Coming In December

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