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Indy turbine


Brudda

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Yes it's hard to find, but if you do want it you can mail it to me .........LOL  I hope Round 2 finds the mold for I really would like one.

LOL indeed. A friend of mine has been wanting one of those for years. But he doesn't want to get a loan to buy one.

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Nope, those things are everywhere and super cheap. I will do you a favor, send it to me and I will give you $10 for it. And only because I am a nice guy! LOL! 

Image result for used cars salesman

But seriously, you owe that friend some lunch! 

Daddyfink, you beat me to it but I'll give $15 and pay the shipping. It's so sad when people unload their worthless stuff onto unsuspecting hobbyists. :rolleyes:

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Great find!  I've been looking for years for an unmolested kit in my price range (cheap :P).  I've picked up a couple of glue bombs to refurbish instead.  I saw the real thing on the track in 1967 during time trials.  It was so eerie, all you could hear were the tires on the pavement (which are surprisingly loud BTW).

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The friend is not really into modeling. He actually gave me 2 kits and this is the other one

IMG_1634.JPG

Two treasures (3?). There are a few problems with the both the Mark IV and the trailer. But, I like them both. I never had a chance to own or built the Indy Turbine, but I've always wanted to. Have fun. I envy you. 

Scott

 

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Your MK IV GT40 is a great score too. It's unfortunate that it was butchered into a terrible kit car.

Butchered how? I'm assume you talking about the Hardcastle and McComick version of the kit. Did they ruin that kit in any other way, other than the body? I wonder if the dies for the Mark IV (or the J car for that matter) are still around, and we could see the kit(s) come back? 

Scott

 

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The Hardcastle and McComick car was a permanent change to the mold. In typical MPC fashion the kit started life as the J Car, was changed to the MK IV and then to the Coyote. In addition to the body numerous changes to the chassis and interior parts and glass where made to accommodate the bodywork. Unless the powers that be at Round 2 are willing to spend the coin for a retool, I don't think we'll see the MK IV out any time soon.

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Back to the original topic here:  I was working as the plastic model kits buyer for a very large hobby shop here in Lafayette IN, when the "Silent Sam" STP Turbine kit came out.  Two issues with this kit at that time:  1) It was in what I call a "Bastard" scale, that being 1/20 scale--none of MPC's 1/20 scale attempts back then really kicked the cash registers into overdrive--most kids (the bulk of the market back then) walked right past 1/20th!), and 2) This kit is incredibly complicated, even for its day--and we had constant complaints about the hollow PVC tires being mis-shapen--and that was an issue with MPC and their hollow tires a lot back then (and MPC wasn't very polite when a modeler called them on it --I know that from personal experience!).

A sidebar issue was in just how to paint the model accurately!  Beginning with Bobby Unser's 1964 4WD STP Novi, the ever-flamboyant Andy Granitelli insisted on "Day-Glo Red" for the body color.  Now, to paint dayglo colors and get them bright--first you paint the body panels white, then day-glo red (back then, about the only dayglo red was Krylon lacquer, which was very "hot", and would wrinkle any paint a younger builder might use, not to mention crazing the plastic!), followed by a couple of coats of gloss coear (the real STP cars were painted in this 3-step method back then, with the noses, and frequently the entire car repainted--some panels, particularly the nose cones, being stripped and repainte NIGHTLY due to both chipping from track debris and sun-fading).

A very good gauge of how popular (or unpopular) any model car kit is, is if it ever made it to multiple production runs--and this one did not, apparently, as wholesalers were still trying to unload their stocks of this one into the early 1970's!

IF it had been done in 1/25 scale, I suspect that there would have been multiple production runs in 1968 (when it was released) and more than likely, a few reissues over the years.

Art

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Art, I'm sure your comments above are right on, for when the kit was new. But, how about today? The scale is still not my favorite. But, the subject is interesting enough that I would ad one to collection today. But, when this kit was first out I didn't have as much interest in as I have now. My tastes have changed. My budget has changed. I've grown up, a little. And that maybe true for the rest of the market today too. Do I think the Indy Turbine would be a big hit today? I doubt it. But, I do think there are a few of us who would go for one now. 

Scott

 

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I agree with Scott, I'm no scale snob and base my purchases on subject matter. Would I like a 1/25 version to go with my wedge turbine, sure but I would love to have a reissue of the 1/20 version since I can't bring myself to dig into my MIB kit.

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Art, I'm sure your comments above are right on, for when the kit was new. But, how about today? The scale is still not my favorite. But, the subject is interesting enough that I would ad one to collection today. But, when this kit was first out I didn't have as much interest in as I have now. My tastes have changed. My budget has changed. I've grown up, a little. And that maybe true for the rest of the market today too. Do I think the Indy Turbine would be a big hit today? I doubt it. But, I do think there are a few of us who would go for one now. 

Scott

 

The question might be:  "How obscure would this subject be today?  Sure, there are hundreds of us out here who would jump on a reissue, but it takes several thousand buyers of any reissued model kit to lay out the coin, if such a reissue is to be at all profitable.   Along with that, if the tooling is still viable (that is, no inserts missing, no noticeable rust damage, all that sort of thing).  That would be the two biggest question marks, were I the one having to make such a decision.

Art

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I thought Tamiya didn't start with their 1/20 F-1 kits until the mid 70's. So perhaps the Turbine is the first for this scale. It's the earliest 1/20 open wheel kit in my collection at least. The only other larger that 1/25 scale open wheel kits I have are some early Bandai, Nichimo and other odd makes but they're all bigger scale than 1/20th.

Edited by Phirewriter
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