Earl Marischal Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Just ordered the new re-issue from Model Roundup. steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High octane Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I don't see that kit listed on their website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 IIRC, this was reissued 4-5 years ago..probably not in the current catalog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmvw guy Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I forgot all about that one! If I remember correctly that kit was first issued in about 1958. That would have been my first model car. I messed it up pretty bad at only 8 years old. I would sure like to try one now, thanks for posting that up Steve! I'm smileing right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 "The model you can actually STEER!" Q: why would you want to? jb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I forgot all about that one! If I remember correctly that kit was first issued in about 1958. That would have been my first model car. I messed it up pretty bad at only 8 years old. I would sure like to try one now, thanks for posting that up Steve! I'm smileing right now. First issued in 1956--built one when I was 11 yrs old, while listening to the '56 Indianapolis 500 on the radio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 The steering setup was there because this is actually a pretty early kit, and the manufacturers were still figuring out if kids wanted to build their model and then play with it, or just set it on the shelf. Later, there was a motorized version. Being able to set the steering would make the motorized model go in circles. As simple as this one is, it does actually look like the subject matter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmvw guy Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 (edited) First issued in 1956--built one when I was 11 yrs old, while listening to the '56 Indianapolis 500 on the radio. Thanks Art for the correction, I was hoping someone would pipe in on this one. The steering setup was there because this is actually a pretty early kit, and the manufacturers were still figuring out if kids wanted to build their model and then play with it, or just set it on the shelf. Later, there was a motorized version. Being able to set the steering would make the motorized model go in circles. As simple as this one is, it does actually look like the subject matter... Mark, Thanks for that clarification also and about the electric motor, did that come with the kit? It seems like there might have been a battery or two. Does anyone remember the size of the battery(s)? I remember failing miserably on the steering and gluing the front wheels on with a big glob of glue. Kind of frustrating for an eight year old. Edited January 29, 2015 by rmvw guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 The motorized version was issued separately. The box art was pretty much the same, but the box was bigger for the motorized kit. There was a motorization fad in the early Sixties; Monogram, and also Revell, issued motorized versions of a number of their kits. Ideal (ITC) motorized their car kits ('40 Mercury, '50 Ford, etc) but theirs were sold only that way and not as non-powered shelf models. I think Strombecker and Lindberg did a lot of motorized stuff at that time too. Revell also offered the motor and related parts (battery box, switch, etc) as a separate pack. I don't know offhand what size batteries were used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmvw guy Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 "There was a motorization fad in the early Sixties" Great info. Mark, Thanks again. This fad must have lasted a litter longer in Japan with all the Tamiya offerings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimaxion Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Perhaps Art will be able to answer this . Does anyone else remember the details about the Strombecker , Merit - Aurora , Monogram Indy Car were ? Specifically , were these the same Dies ? The Aurora Indy was a re-pop of the '53 & '54 Winners . Is the Monogram the same Kit with updates such as Battery / Motor then Working Steering ? ? I am speaking the Front Engine Roadster Type Indy Racer . IIRC , the Strombecker is a NOVI ? Help ? Thanx .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Strombecker, Aurora, Merit, etc. were all competing companies back then, so all of their kits were different. The Aurora Indy cars were first manufactured by a company called Best. Those are a bit smaller than 1/25 scale (at least the ones I've seen) and not terribly accurate. The Monogram Kurtis-Kraft is a pretty simple piece, but what is there looks pretty good, particularly considering its age... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Marischal Posted January 29, 2015 Author Share Posted January 29, 2015 I don't see that kit listed on their website. I'm on their mailing list and it was in that it was mentioned as a re-issued kit. Probably a bit early for it to be on the website? This one of the kits I've been really looking forward to building again now I 'returned' to the hobby. I will be building it dead stock, no extra detailing, just for fun. I might put it with the Modifieds in a museum style diorama. steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 (edited) The Merit "Indy cars" were in fact European formula cars, including a Talbot Lago, Maserati, Vanwall and Cooper, among others. Several of the Merit kits were reboxed as Smer (a Czech company) kits as well. Simple as it may be, the Monogram Kurtis can make a very attractive model with competent workmanship (this is not my model). It also makes a fine basis for building other Kurtis "roadsters", as they dominated Indy for years. Edited January 29, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Perhaps Art will be able to answer this . Does anyone else remember the details about the Strombecker , Merit - Aurora , Monogram Indy Car were ? Specifically , were these the same Dies ? The Aurora Indy was a re-pop of the '53 & '54 Winners . Is the Monogram the same Kit with updates such as Battery / Motor then Working Steering ? ? I am speaking the Front Engine Roadster Type Indy Racer . IIRC , the Strombecker is a NOVI ? Help ? Thanx .. Strombecker's Indianapolis Racer was, IIRC, pretty much a ficticious car--not meant as any particular race car. I still have a couple of the kits, left over from my 18 years of concentrating on 1/24-1/25 scale Indy cars (long story there for another time). Merit was a British model company, and did only Grand Prx/Formula cars, never doing an Indianapolis car per se', although their Alfa Romeo Grand Prix car could be worked up as an Indianapolis entry--at least one was entered at IMS. Their Maserati GP car is a postwar car, much smaller in size and engine displacement than the supercharged straight 8 8CLT that was driven at Indianapolis by the legendary Wilbur Shaw to Victory Lane in 1939-40. As mentioned before, the Aurora Famous Race Car Series began as a set of kits produced by a company called Best Plastics. For the most part they are rather undersized, a couple are just plain inaccurate. Of the ones that can be worked up respectably, the 1920 Monroe Spl (Gaston Chevrolet up) , the 1922 Murphy Spl (Jimmy Murphy bought the 1921 Duesenberg Indianapolis Car that he won the first post-WWI French Grand Prix with at Lemans in the summer of 1921, replaced the Duesenberg 183cid Straight Eight with a brand new Miller 183 straight 8, changed the radiator to one made by Miller. Both of these cars can be made fairly accurately, with some stretching and reshaping of the tails, as well as adding much more accurate wire wheels and tires. The same is also true of the Best/Aurora 1931 Bowes Seal Fast Spl--it needs considerable lengthening in the hood area for a true straight 8 car, and the cockpit needs to be widened out considerably, along with the tail lengthened. Hawk also produced a Grand Prix Car that could be worked up, accurized a bit into the 1947 Don Lee Mercedes Spl. It's a 1939 Mercedes W-163, a supercharged V12 car, but the display engine supplied in the kit is far too plain, and a good bit to large to fit in the body (it's a "pit side" model), again needing much more accurate wire wheels and postwar Firestone Champion racing tires. Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 The Merit "Indy cars" were in fact European formula cars, including a Talbot Lago, Maserati, Vanwall and Cooper, among others. Several of the Merit kits were reboxed as Smer (a Czech company) kits as well. Simple as it may be, the Monogram Kurtis can make a very attractive model with competent workmanship (this is not my model). It also makes a fine basis for building other Kurtis "roadsters", as they dominated Indy for years. Bill, you are quite correct--this kit as it stands is far more accurately done than it isn't. It is, however, a model of a specific KK 500C, which car exists today in it's 1955 race form. And yes, it can be used to work up any of the Kurtis Kraft 500-series chassis/body cars--from 500A (think Bill Vukovich's 1952-54 Fuel Injection Spl), all the way to a 500K (the first rear drive Novi--which qualified at Indianapolis 1957-59, then again in 1963--one was the high tailfin version driven by drag racer Art Malone that year, who did respectfully well in the race). In addition to the Novi Auto Airconditioning Spl from 1957--Tony Bettenhausen--I also reworked this kit into Sam Hanks' 1957 winner, the George Salih built laydown Offy "Belong Exhaust Spl., driven to victory that year by Sam Hanks). A great old kit! Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Marischal Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 Now on Model Round-Up's website under New Kits: http://www.modelroundup.com/product-p/mono-pc-12.htm steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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