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Has anyone built any Banthrico metal kits..?


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I see a lot of Banthrico metal kits in 1/24 - 1/25 scale listed on EBAY. To my eye they look like unpainted, sort of diecast metal style models.

I'm wondering if anyone collects and/or builds these kits, and if so, how are they??? I see that they all have the window areas filled in, and therefore would have to be Dremeled out to expose any interior, which in most cases would either have to be robbed from plastic kits or scratchbuilt. Since the bumpers & grilles are molded in, it looks like getting them to look chromed would be a real chore.

I only ask this because some of the kits are of 1950's cars that are not, or have never been, made in any plastic form...... kits or promos.

Thanks for any input on this.

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I had to Google up some images and there are some interesting subjects there. I also came on this in AMT's wiki page ...

AMT was the most successful company in the mid-1950s to mold accurate plastic models in 1:25 scale and sell them to auto manufacturer dealerships, but it was not the first promotional automobile model maker.

National Products of Chicago, Illinois, starting manufacturing pot metal promotional models in the 1930s. Among their models were the 1934 Studebaker, 1940 and 1941 Buick 4-door sedans, and a variety of other cars and trucks. National Products was purchased by Banthrico in 1949. Banthrico started making promotional banks of animals and buildings in the 1930s. After World War II, Banthrico continued with a focus on precision metal replica banks of cars, accurately painted, and mostly in 1:25 scale. According to promo aficionado Clarence Young (accessed 2010), these car models were used as 'paint chips' to display real car colors to prospective buyers. Through the early 1950s, Banthrico was the leader in metal promotional models.

Edited by Foxer
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Rich I believe the green one is a Banthrico. I don't think you'll find anyone who has built one since it's a promo. This one was pretty thick, almost like a candy making mold for making chocolate Chevys. Detail wise, it's pretty good, although all one piece. If you can live with blacked out windows, it should detail out to look decent on your shelf.

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Aren't the Banthrico items slush-cast as opposed to die-cast? (I don't collect early promos so I've never had one.) Slush-cast, whether resin or metal, gives you inconsistent thickness which would make cutting out the windows an exercise in frustration.

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