24 replies to this topic

[Casey]

I picked up the '06 AMT/Ertl reissue of the MPC Can Am (aka, the former MPC Howmet Mark II) kit today...




...and here's what's inside:












The clear red tail lights and clear headlight covers are not shown, but are included.

A few quick thoughts:

The deep 'n' deeper 15" American Racing T-70 wheels in this kit are beautiful, only lacking in center hub detail. I recall this being a popular wheel on a few Can Am series cars, and I think the lack of hub/dust covers is correct, but they do need the center bore drilled out:










I haven't looked the kit over very closely yet, but I see a lot of nice period road racing bits-- rear hub assembles, front spindles, half shafts, etc., so it should provide some nice period parts for kitbashers. There is a nice battery box included, too, which could be use on many other builds.

All of the pics can be found here: http://s916.photobuc...n Am/?start=all

[Jantrix]

What kind of engine is that?

[91blaze]

That's a pretty nice kit, I need to get myself one of these before they're all gone.

[Casey]

What kind of engine is that?

Continental Aviation & Engineering TS325-1 turboshaft engine:

http://website.lineone.net/~pete.stowe/pete_howmet.htm

[bbowser]

5 wheels and 4 tires?

[Casey]

5 wheels and 4 tires?

The fifth tire is a partially molded spare. I believe these cars needed to carry a spare when racing in the LeMans 24 hr. race.

[TooOld]

Really nice looking wheels and tires , plus lots of other goodies . Where can I get one of these ?

[Crazy Ed]

The fifth tire is a partially molded spare. I believe these cars needed to carry a spare when racing in the LeMans 24 hr. race.

Correct. The extra mag wheel, 1/2 tire (upper left corner of the unplated tree) and intake snorkel (middle far right unplated tree - leg cast looking pieces) are all left overs from the Coupe kit

[Jantrix]

Very interesting. Thanks for the info.

[regular guy]

casey

that's a very thorough job taking pictures of each parts tree.

it's like 'archiving' the kit.

i couldn't do that.

here's link on wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howmet_TX

have a nice day!

[The Junkman]

Does there appear to be any way this kit could be returned/converted to the original body configuration, closed top? That would be the only way I'd be interested.

[RancheroSteve]

Yes, I wish they'd done the coupe. Was the kit tooling changed?

[Casey]

I'm pretty sure the kit was originally released as the Howmet TX Mark I coupe in '69(?), like so:

 howmetMI.jpg   73.81K   14 downloads


Then modified into the Mark II spyder in 19??, like so:

 mpc-howmet.JPG   23.28K   13 downloads



I see (what I think are) many shared parts between the two versions in the '06 reissue, but there are some unique/different parts such as shorter exhaust outlets, too. The two body pieces in the reissued (spyder) kit are separately bagged (and I assume molded), so maybe the insert from the coupe version still exists?

[Danno]

Does there appear to be any way this kit could be returned/converted to the original body configuration, closed top? That would be the only way I'd be interested.

I haven't compared the bodies, but it seems to me the Chapparal 2D coupe (Monogram kit) cabin roof/top could easily be adapted to the Howmet spyder, could it not?

[Ace-Garageguy]

I haven't compared the bodies, but it seems to me the Chapparal 2D coupe (Monogram kit) cabin roof/top could easily be adapted to the Howmet spyder, could it not?

Great idea. And I think a Porsche 910 nose could make a good starting place for the front......

[espo]

Wheels. The center of the Americans in this kit look like the Americans of the day. What happened on the centers was that instead of the metal and later plastic dust caps that you see on street driven cars, they made thin metal flat covers that used the five screw downs. Always liked this style personaly, but the front hubs on most street cars will extend beyond the opening.

[horsepower]

I'd like to find a set of those tires for my Revell Cobra kit, they look like they'd be better than the ones Revell-ogram put in the kit.

[Bartster]

l found one of these a few years ago with a different box & name & could never remember the kit name. l would love to get afew sets of the rims. l have the spare left that's going in the rear mounted spare on a '48 Ford woodie. Lots of other cool spare parts for the parts box in this! Great street rod suspension, etc.

[Michigan Madman]

I'm stuffing one of those engines into a Revell 'Killer Bee' VW.

[Casey]

I'm stuffing one of those engines into a Revell 'Killer Bee' VW.

That looks to be more "out of" than "into".

I was surprised just how light (150 lbs) the real engine is, and how compact. This is really a neat model, and the sad thing is, I passed by it a dozen times at Model Empire and never gave it a second look.