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MPC Dodge 'Country' Charger Open Box Review


hpiguy
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This is MPC's release of the 'Country' Charger in 1:25th scale.
It's basically a direct re-pop of the long running General Lee kit, all the General Lee parts are included and you'll get an optional set of Torq-Thrust wheels and new flag decals with various names and numbers in the same font as the General Lee car. 
This is molded in all black.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVSucSDHmbA 


 

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I'm wondering, with Round 2's love for licensed subjects, why they did not simply issue these kits as either "Death Proof" or "Drive Angry" Chargers? You can actually build either car pretty faithfully right from the current kit contents (hood and grille inserts nothwithstanding). Those are two movie boxes I would probably pay for!!! They could also do something pretty close to the Ghost Rider car featured in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., if they used most of the custom parts from their "Fast and Furious" release several years back. 

FREE MARKETING IDEAS, Round 2!!! I mean, practically all of the parts are there! 3 new releases from this old tool!!

I might just have to make me up some fake boxes!!! ?

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Round 2 should have picked up an original MPC 1969 Charger annual kit and scanned the body to make a new tool.  It could have been sold with the original 1969 annual artwork.  The original 1969 Charger body was really nice.

It's somewhat the same body as the original '69 Annual. The scoops in the doors, the cowl vents, the emblems, front fender edges and the rear window have been revised back and forth quite a bit since 1969, so these areas are not too good anymore, but the basic body still has a good shape. Yeah- maybe starting all over would be best?  

The problem is: people like me have been buying this kit, warts and all, pretty consistently over it's run. It's a sentimental favorite of mine, since I first started building as a kid in the '70's. I built TONS of these, converting many of them to stock '68's, Daytonas, race cars, & street machines (fat tires, traction bars, loud paint, the works) back when they were the only game in town.

I think they'll always have some buyers, so there is no real incentive for Round 2 to do any heavy revision to the body. We're lucky as it is that RC2 revised the back window back when they did the Fast & Furious car. I just wish they would find the Charger 500 hood (aka- the real stock one they included in the first issue of the Charger 500 kit, circa 1987), and the original '69 Grille inserts (not the '72's we've been getting all this time). 

 

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The revised rear window that RC2 did definitely made the kit better but it's shape and size isn't accurate.  When the MPC '69 Charger body is compared to a '69 1:1 Charger or to the Revell '69 Charger it's apparent the rear window is too small, not angled correctly and the shape is too squared off.  Also the molding is too wide.

Laste year I built an MPC '69 Charger and I was disappointed with the rear window when I opened the box.  I removed the molding, re-shaped the window and changed the angle slightly so it's a bit more steep.  I also re-shaped the rear pillars.  They were too rounded on the sides.

I attached some pictures showing what I did.  The 1st picture is a comparison of the MPC '69 Charger's rear window(right side) to a Revell '69 Charger's rear window(left side).  The MPC window is noticeably smaller and the shape is off.  The 2nd and 3rd pictures show the re-shaping I did.  

The last picture is an original MPC '69 Charger annual body.  This picture is one Marc(mpcmotorsports) sent me a while ago.  The rear window is correctly shaped.  

It's too bad that someone at RC2 didn't look at reference pictures of actual Chargers when they 'revised' the rear window.

I'm currently building an MPC 1/25 Snap General Lee kit and the rear window is similar to how the MPC (glue kit) looks now.  It's better but still not accurate. 

IMG_5848 Small.jpg

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Edited by crowe-t
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  • 5 years later...

Here's a couple of pics of the original box art from the 1968 MPC annual Charger I cleaned up the other day. No idea why I find this old worn out kit so fascinating, and a personal favourite of mine. Maybe because it's 'survived' such a beating over the years? The current Country Charger, and the recent Daytona tin box release is so bad I half think Round2 knock them out just to troll the guys who say "Please, stop... it's already dead" 😆. I doubt R2 will restore the moulds including all the custom parts that came with the original, probably impossible to repair and more economical to make new moulds. We also have the far superior Revell version now, but there's no denying how good the lines are on the original MPC annuals, and how cool are those custom parts?!👌

 

 

 

Box Art Charger 2.jpg

Box Art Charger 3.jpg

Box Art Charger 5.jpg

Edited by doorsovdoon
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