Big-Scale T/A Pace Car - OOB

[Faust]

Normally, I can be found gushing over the latest loser car or automotive oddball that comes into my collection. However, even I have an appreciation for cool cars; it’s just that there aren’t that many I’d like to model. That, mind you, does NOT apply to Trans Ams. Being a fiercely proud T/A owner, I love Poncho’s fire-breathing ‘Bird in most of its guises. Of course, it’s no surprise that my favourite is the black sheep of the family; the 1980-81 Turbo Trans Am!

Now, it’s not because that’s the kind of car I own (well, okay, it IS, at least partially) but also because the Turbo T/A was supposed to herald a new era of performance, but instead was a short-lived, now-largely-forgotten experiment. It was Poncho’s last strike at the demons of efficiency that soon engulfed the enthusiast motoring scene.  It failed, but it had potentinal.

While most people don’t even remember it today, the Turbo T/A was a huge deal, and there were a tonne of kits, toys, etc. of the car. It was futuristic and classic all at once, and it was cool enough to be a pace car twice – once in each year it was alive! Thus, it seems fitting to remind people of this forgotten road warrior with a look at a somewhat forgotten kit: the Monogram 1/20 Turbo Trans Am!

Check it out at the link below, and get ready to relive the end of an era!

https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/monogram-120-1981-turbo-trans-am-pace-car-oob/
 

[Dragline]

I realize you have a soft spot for this thing but to me it's a big turd. But it is typical Monogram. The tinted windshield puts it over the top for me.

[Faust]

It's not that bad. Not once you know what your'e up against. I mean, it's not a new Revell Germany, and it's no MPC, but it's no worse that other Monograms of that era. 

Sadly, that tinting thing seems to have been a big deal, and I agree too many kits used it. 

Still, until Round 2 reissues the Trophy T/A with red bird decals like on my car (MASSIVE HINT!!! ANYONE?), this one will have to do me for big-scale Turbo T/As. 

Making decals for it is going to suck, though.

[randyc]

Seems like the large scale kits I've seen are simply bigger versions of the 1/24.   Warts and bottle melt and all.  The detail isn't improved, just made larger to see the compromises.  

[Faust]

That is largely true, at least for the Monograms and MPCs I've seen.

I've got a bunch of Lindberg 1/20 kits from the mid-90s, and they seem to be pretty nice, with good detail, but certainly no more complexity of build than a 1/24 or 1/25. Even the large scale Japanese cars are pretty much just pantographed up.

That's not quite true of that Toyota Sport van, though, and certianly not true of the Heller 1/20 Renault 16. (There's one I should set loose on the internet world...)

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Eh, it looks like pretty straight down-scale pantograph of their 1/8 '80 Turbo Trans Am, which is why I'd suspect you're getting the impression of an '80 (and perhaps why Monogram wasn't any too specific about the model year on the box cover).

And again, I'll break company with some of the other assessments here.  One thing I did not suffer well even as a pre-teen modeler was the slop I was beginning to see from MPC around things like drip moldings, tire design, parts texturing and whatnot.  To be fair, MPC's 1/20 Corvette of the time was based on tooling much older than Monogram's, which focused on one version. 

Monogram's may have been simplified, but they did a MUCH better and sharper job than their contemporaries sitting on a shelf looking looking like the 1:1.

[randyc]

One of the few kits I just completely gave up on as junk was the Lindberg 1/20 Ford Explorer.  I thought the Nissan and Toyota trucks were okay, the Stealth too.  Except the blocky sidewalls on the tires.  

[Faust]

I've got the Stealth, the '94 (?) Z-28SS, the Z-10 pickup, a Police Grand Cherokee and a Jimmy. They all look decent enough. I've passed on the Explorer, myself. I've got a much nicer AMT in 1/24.