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1/25 AMT 1973 Chevy Custom Van - Dirty Donny VANTASY


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2 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Didn't the first issue or two have an opening hood and side windows w/ inserts for the solid sides (the Open Road version had windows). 

Yes, the Police, Rescue, Open Road, and Strip 'N' Surf issues still had the side panel inserts, but all had smooth roofs.

2 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

 I think the Kandy-Van, Nirvana, Xtasy, Sun Chaser, Foxy Box and Kiss van came later than the Open Road, Police, Rescue and other early versions...those customs are in the AMT catalog in '79, and I built the Kandy-Van as a kid in 78 or 79...

That sounds correct. I went through the '74-'78 AMT catalogs I have and added the release month and year to the above list, and the Police van wasn't a 'new' release in '74, so it must've been a '73 release.

I doesn't make sense to me that the roof would be smooth from the start, then Ertl added the roof ribs in '83 for the A-Team version, then, when Round2 released the 'Vantasy' kit in 2012 they smoothed the roof back out.

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1 minute ago, Casey said:

Yes, the Police, Rescue, Open Road, and Strip 'N' Surf issues still had the side panel inserts, but all had smooth roofs.

That sounds correct. I went through the '74-'78 AMT catalogs I have and added the release month and year to the above list, and the Police van wasn't a 'new' release in '74, so it must've been a '73 release.

I doesn't make sense to me that the roof would be smooth from the start, then Ertl added the roof ribs in '83 for the A-Team version, then, when Round2 released the 'Vantasy' kit in 2012 they smoothed the roof back out.

Makes me wonder if the GMC A-Team body was a separate tool... 

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23 minutes ago, Atmobil said:

Sure sounds like a plausible explanation. Anyone here got both the AMT van and other versions to comapre with?

I have the old Kandy Van, a couple A-Team vans, the Dirty Donny Vantasy issue, and the Fire Rescue reissue.  But of course, they are not all in the same place... 

Edited by Rob Hall
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3 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Makes me wonder if the GMC A-Team body was a separate tool... 

Not sure at this point to be honest, but for comparison, the '02 RC2 AMT/Ertl reissue's body shell, on which you can clearly make out that '76(?)+ bobdyside rib which stops at the rear edge of the passenger door, and the Vantasy reissue, totally missing that same rib (another Joe H image):

IMG_4215.jpg

 

 

 

It might just be an illusion or hard to tell from these two pics, but the lowest trim piece, which runs between the wheel arches, appears to be more prominent on the A-Team body shell, too.

*edit* Just found this shot Joe H. posted a link to earlier in this topic, and it sure looks like the roof section is a separate mold section/inset on both bodies, at least judging by the slight misalignment (I think) I see:

IMG_4219.jpg

Edited by Casey
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On 1/21/2012 at 1:20 AM, Bluzboy66 said:

The A-Team was a GMC van, so it had the GMC grill. The first release of the A-Team van had NO chrome-plated parts, whereas the newer release did have chrome-plated parts. The A-Team van also had a raised rib along both sides of the body, which is (thankfully) gone on this new, back-dated re-release. Round2 has added 'Chevy Van' to the front fenders in this new release, as well. The A-Team van had ribs on the roof, whereas the new release is smooth, like the 70's AMT kit.

Might be a good time to bump this reply.

Here are the unplated parts from the '83 issue of the A-Team van, for reference:

ateamcustomparts.jpg

 

And the same parts, now plated, from the '02 RC2 reissue:

96f5ce95-4227-4793-a7fc-5be5644c1946.jpg

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Interesting all the little variations...on the 1:1, that rib on the lower-mid body side was added around 76-77, and it seems like they extended it onto the front doors around 1985-6... one thing AMT never updated was the dashboard, IIRC the A-Team van kit (which was in 1:1 around an 83-84?) still has the '72 Chevy dash...

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1 minute ago, Atmobil said:

Notice that it has the same Chevy grille as other versions.

Yes, there were chrome parts among the 'old' parts (valve covers, etc.) which would still be needed to build the van, so additional parts were added, giving the builder two grilles-- the original '71-'3(?) style grille, and the GMC version with the bumper and air dam all molded as one.

4 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

Interesting all the little variations...on the 1:1, that rib on the lower-mid body side was added around 76-77, and it seems like they extended it onto the front doors around 1985-6... one thing AMT never updated was the dashboard, IIRC the A-Team van kit (which was in 1:1 around an 83-84?) still has the '72 Chevy dash...

Yes, Brad touched upon that in this topic, too:

 

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