AMT and MPC new releases for 2016

[Mark]

The boat was in the AMT Bonneville original release, and was reintroduced in the Model King reissue, but all the other reissues didn't include it, but it wasn't a '70  was it? I thought it was an earlier year.

The '70 Bonneville was an MPC kit originally; AMT was a competing company back then.  The only time the boat and the Bonneville were sold together was the Model King issue.

[horsepower]

But which Model A?  The MPC '29 Station wagon/roadster pickup has been done to death--hope they mis-ID'd the long wanted '28 Model A Ford Tudor!

my guess is that it will be the original roadster from the old Ala Kart double kit, the one that was

The '70 Bonneville was an MPC kit originally; AMT was a competing company back then.  The only time the boat and the Bonneville were sold together was the Model King issue.

Mark, I believe Tim Boyd did an article on 1/25th scale race boats and in the article it said that the original release of the Rayson Craft boat with the Ford interceptor engine was a double kit by AMT with the 1965 Grand Prix kit,that version also included the hydroplane sponsons that weren't in the modified reissues, of which the Model King boat was one of. 

Also the boat in the Model King kit isn't the same boat, the original release was a different hull if I remember correctly.

I don't know where my issue ran off to, but I'm almost positive about that.

Edited November 14, 2015 by horsepower

[pack rat]

The boat was in the AMT Bonneville original release, and was reintroduced in the Model King reissue, but all the other reissues didn't include it, but it wasn't a '70  was it? I thought it was an earlier year.

I think we're getting our boats mixed up here.

The original MPC '69 and '70 annual Bonneville hardtops (not the convertibles) included a canoe that mounted to a roof rack.

The boat included with the Model King reissue was never in an MPC box.  It was originally the AMT Rayson Craft (c1963), later released (slightly modified) as the Hull Raiser (c1967).  I can only recall two AMT kits that included the boat with a tow vehicle....the Quarter Masters (c1968) with the very-inaccurate '68 Firebird and the Aquarod (c1976) with the '70's Chevy van.     

 

Edited November 14, 2015 by pack rat

[mikemodeler]

Dang it, I have been meaning to get my last couple of 84 GMC pickups on eBay to cash in and now Round2 has ruined my chances at an early retirement!

 

Nothing on that list that I don't already have, guess I will be spending my lunch money at Revell and Moebius.

[Mark72JPS]

Between the Revell and Round 2 announcements I can see nothing that I will be buying.

[Sledsel]

So after doing a little research, I can see that both of those Pontiac kits, (AMT '65 Grand Prix and MPC '70 Bonneville), look like highly-potential future purchases.  One question tho; I have never really cared for most of the suspension components molded directly into the main chassis piece as it looks like both of these kits have.  Any suggestions for more-detailed 1/25 replacement chassis pieces, (and the kits they'd come from), that would be appropriate to go underneath either one of these big Ponchos?

Maybe the 67 Impala would be close. Not real familiar with GM's but that would be my first attempt 

[Sledsel]

The Bonnie for sure

[Brett Barrow]

They ought to tie-in the 67 Impala with Supernatural TV show (I know, its a 4-door).  Wanna know how many calls & emails I get for one of those?

[disabled modeler]

I REALLY hope they bring back the 70 Bonneville HT...the canoe would be a plus too.  Id get several if they did it in the original issue HT kit. 

[unclescott58]

The boat was in the AMT Bonneville original release, and was reintroduced in the Model King reissue, but all the other reissues didn't include it, but it wasn't a '70  was it? I thought it was an earlier year.

The boat was in the original AMT Bonneville kit? Interesting. Since MPC took over making full size Pontiac model kits in 1966. The last Bonneville AMT tooled up in the day was the '65. The '66 through '70 Bonneville kits were all tooled up by MPC. My original MPC Bonneville convertible never came with boat. I never saw that combo until the Model King release a few years back. I'd like to see this MPC Bonneville kit you refer to, that came with the AMT speedboat back in the day.

[Rob Hall]

The boat was in the original AMT Bonneville kit? Interesting. Since MPC took over making full size Pontiac model kits in 1966. The last Bonneville AMT tooled up in the day was the '65. The '66 through '70 Bonneville kits were all tooled up by MPC. My original MPC Bonneville convertible never came with boat. I never saw that combo until the Model King release a few years back. I'd like to see this MPC Bonneville kit you refer to, that came with the AMT speedboat back in the day.

Hmmm...I have all the AMT and MPC '60s Bonnevilles w/ their original boxes, none include a boat, though the MPC Bonneville ht has a canoe.   The Model King MPC '70 Bonneville convertible w/ the boat is the only place I've seen the boat with a Pontiac.

[Sledsel]

Wonder if the 70 Wildcat will be far behind?

[unclescott58]

Hmmm...I have all the AMT and MPC '60s Bonnevilles w/ their original boxes, none include a boat, though the MPC Bonneville ht has a canoe.   The Model King MPC '70 Bonneville convertible w/ the boat is the only place I've seen the boat with a Pontiac.

Yea, I know the '69 Bonneville hardtop came with a canoe. The convertible did not. Both the original '69 and '70 Bonneville convertibles, and the Model King reissue, came with parts to turn them into El Camino like pickup trucks. But, no AMT speedboat until the Model King release.

by the way, I assume since the '69 Bonneville hardtop had the canoe. The '70 did too? And if so. I wonder if Round 2 has those dies, and might someday be able to reissue the kit with the canoe? I loved those extra accessories MPC liked to add to their kits. The canoes, mini bikes, snow tires and skis, etc. They always made their kits a little more interesting to me.

[Rob Hall]

Yea, I know the '69 Bonneville hardtop came with a canoe. The convertible did not. Both the original '69 and '70 Bonneville convertibles, and the Model King reissue, came with parts to turn them into El Camino like pickup trucks. But, no AMT speedboat until the Model King release.

by the way, I assume since the '69 Bonneville hardtop had the canoe. The '70 did too? And if so. I wonder if Round 2 has those dies, and might someday be able to reissue the kit with the canoe? I loved those extra accessories MPC liked to add to their kits. The canoes, mini bikes, snow tires and skis, etc. They always made their kits a little more interesting to me.

I don't have my '70 ht box handy to check it, but i presume it had the canoe. I got mine as a builtup w/ no extras.   

[tim boyd]

  

You couldn't give me a Revell Hemi-Hydro kit as the hull and trailer scales out to 'bout 1/20th scale. Revell can afford to re-issue that kit probably because they have a ton of them in stock. Check out some of the contest coverage in the model magazines and count how many Hemi-Hydros you see. Also do the same with some of the contest/shows in your area as well.

...As I've touched on a number of times in the past, the preponderance of evidence is that the Hemi Hydro is 1/25th scale, not 1/20th as suggested above.  Check out my review of the latest Hemi Hydro issue for visual proof:  http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/first-look-at-all-n/whats-new-revell-ho/whats-new-revell-ho/

The caption with this image from my review reads "The last topic I want to address here is the rumor by some respected modelers that this Revell kit is actually 1/20th instead of 1/25th scale. Intuitively this seems a disconnect, as the original 1963 kit was designed and merchandised as a companion to Revell's just introduced 1956 Ford F100 pickup kit.

And in fact, the kit DOES scale to 1/25th. Here is the original AMT Rayson Craft Trophy Series kit on the left, and another of my Hemi Hydro builds on the right. The back of the hulls are placed directly against the vertical backstop of the metal structure. At the front, you can see that the AMT hull is only 1/8 inch (or a 1/1 scale 4 inches) shorter than the Hemi Hydro.

The Revell hull is very wide, but as you can see with the AMT Rayson Craft, early 1960's drag and ski boat hulls WERE wide by design. Here the Revell hull is probably oversized, but not by as much as most people think.

Here's another image from my online review: 

...and the caption that goes with it:  Now let's compare the Hemi Hydro on the right to the AMT Hull Raiser (with its Kindsvater Hull) first issued in 1968. The AMT kit is actually LONGER than the Hemi Hydro - by 1/8th inch (or again, a 4 inch difference in 1/1 scale).

Bottom line?  #1 - when you check the magazine images of early 1960's ski boats, some of the hulls are really, really wide, so even though the Hemi Hydro appears too wide for 1/25th scale to our circa 2015 eyes, there is ample evidence it was scale correct at the time it was tooled  #2 - the overall length of the Hemi Hydro scales exactly between the AMT Rayson Craft and AMT Hull Raiser (Kindsvater) boat hulls.  

So from my perspective, at least, it's time to put to rest the discussion about the Hemi Hydro having been tooled in a scale larger than 1/25th.   Best Regards...TIM

 

[tim boyd]

I think we're getting our boats mixed up here.

The original MPC '69 and '70 annual Bonneville hardtops (not the convertibles) included a canoe that mounted to a roof rack.

The boat included with the Model King reissue was never in an MPC box.  It was originally the AMT Rayson Craft (c1963), later released (slightly modified) as the Hull Raiser (c1967).  I can only recall two AMT kits that included the boat with a tow vehicle....the Quarter Masters (c1968) with the very-inaccurate '68 Firebird and the Aquarod (c1976) with the '70's Chevy van.     

 

Mike's info here is exactly correct.  The only addition is that the Hull Raiser was more than a slight modification - it had an all-new hull design, which I have concluded replicated the mid-1960's "Kindsvater" product rather than the wider and less streamlined c. 1963 Rayson Craft hull.  

The original Rayson Craft kit has a 390FE Interceptor engine (which was a big winner in early 1960's drag boat racing), including a 6-2 barrel setup, this was revised in the Hull Raiser kit to a SOHC 427 with a single tri-carb option (both kits included a GMC Blower option).

The drag version sponsons were dropped in the later issue, and there were some other detail changes as well (most notably, the way cool bench seating and matching V-drive cover were dropped in the Hull Raiser redo).  

Bottom line, if the subject appeals to you, you definitely need to track down both versions of the tool.  For more info, see... http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/tim-boyds-124th--12/boyd-model-boats/boyd-boats-/  which has photos of all these kits in build form and info on the kits as well.  Here are some excepts from that album:   

c. 1963 AMT Trophy Series Rayson Craft built in the Ski Boat version: 

c. 1963 AMT Trophy Series Rayson Craft built in the drag boat version: 

c. 1968 AMT "Hull Raiser" [Kindsvater] built in a mildlykitbashed form (Pontiac engine swap; different buckets) and finished to replicate the box art of the "Quarter Masters" kit referenced above (note the Revell '68 Firebird uses as a stand-in for the non-correct '68 Firebird in that AMT Combo kit) :

:

c. 1968 AMT Hull Raiser [Kindsvater] built box stock in the drag version (note the "wood" decking which is actually drybrushed enamels using the Tim Powers method as described  in his late 1990's article in the other model car mag):

Let me know if you have any other questions.   Cheers...TIM   

Edited November 14, 2015 by tim boyd

[High octane]

Tim, back in the 90's I gave up cars for 'bout 7-8 years and I followed Unlimited Hydroplanes and drag boat races for those years. I've been to many races and took many photos as well. I also worked with two guys who owned/drove 132 & 265 mph boats.As far as the Hemi-Hydro being compatible with the AMT boat kits, sorry but I'm not buyin' it.

[Rob Hall]

To get the thread back on track, there are no boat kits announced for AMT or MPC for next year..

['70 Grande]

I wonder if Round-2 will be pushing to get 1 or both of those big Poncho reissues into the retail stores before the newly-tooled Moebius '61 Pontiac Ventura lands on the store shelves!

[tim boyd]

Tim, back in the 90's I gave up cars for 'bout 7-8 years and I followed Unlimited Hydroplanes and drag boat races for those years. I've been to many races and took many photos as well. I also worked with two guys who owned/drove 132 & 265 mph boats.As far as the Hemi-Hydro being compatible with the AMT boat kits, sorry but I'm not buyin' it.

Nick...thanks for the response.  

My view is that photos and measurements do not lie.  So I'm sticking to my position,as you are to yours.

So in this case, we are agreeing that we disagree.  Which is OK by me.  Best...TIM 

[tim boyd]

I had a nice visit with John G of Round 2 today.  

He OK'ed me passing along that the new Surf Woody kit will have extensive photography of the original car, an entirely new tooled set of drag slicks representing the 1/1 scale original, and matching "dual whitewall" pad printing on both the front tires and rear slicks.  There will even be decaled representations of the murals on the inside of the Woody cab that were apparently on the original car.  

He also said that the '29A roadster reissue will use the "Mod Rod" version box art (this was the c.1969/70 reissue just before the '73 "Street Rod Series" version).    The missing pieces of the original AlaKart will not be retooled, but all the gates will be opened which will provide a number of "bonus" parts.  The kit will also include the antique racing options for the stock roadster version, which will provide a very convincing "Race of the Gentlemen" type model.  These plans are tentative, of course, and subject to change.  

Finally John mentioned in broad terms some future projects they are investigating.  Suffice it to say, these guys are very, very creative,  Looks like the next couple of years will see no letup in Round 2's business model and as a result, we as builders appear to have much to look forward to.  

Cheers....TIM     

[BubbaBrown]

I know it would be under Lindberg, but it sure would be nice to get the Lawman Plymouth we were promised 2 or 3 years ago. Or were we just plain lied to ?

[Robberbaron]

I wonder if Round-2 will be pushing to get 1 or both of those big Poncho reissues into the retail stores before the newly-tooled Moebius '61 Pontiac Ventura lands on the store shelves!

Hmmm, didn't think about it, but you might be on to something there.  Kind of unusual for them to be announcing 2 full size Pontiac reissues at the same time.  Neither one is direct competition to the Moebius products in my opinion, but I could believe that it is a factor.

[louie]

Tim, I just wanted to say thank you for keeping us updated with Round 2. I can't wait for all of these models to be released. I am very, very happy with what is coming. Again Thank you.     Jeff 

[Casey]

I know it would be under Lindberg, but it sure would be nice to get the Lawman Plymouth we were promised 2 or 3 years ago. Or were we just plain lied to ?

Lied to by...Round2, who didn't even own the rights to Lindberg anything in 2009?

Check out the topic dedicatd to the Lindebrg Lawman kit here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/51736-lindbergs-64-plymouth-lawman/?page=4

...and send Round2 an e-mail and ask them about the kit's status. They're always more then happy to provide information when possible: info@round2models.com