Johan prices $$$$

[Mark]

Most pre-1964 Jo-Han interiors are on the shallow side.  If you are bother trying to remove the convertible top well detail for use in a hardtop, may as well start fresh and get the depth and transmission tunnel right too. 

For most Mopars, the Lindberg '64 Dodge bench seat interior would be a good starting point.  The seats can be sanded smooth and rescribed with correct detail, same with the side panels.  The side panels can be installed straight up and down, eliminating the mold draft that is extremely pronounced in the Jo-Han interiors.

[#1 model citizen]

1 hour ago, SfanGoch said:

Unless you feel like performing surgery to make them correct for a hardtop; besides yourself, who's going to know or care, right?

That’s kinda what I think but judging by this thread it would seem a lot of people know…😏 Guess I wasted my money buying those dashboards. 😒

[#1 model citizen]

24 minutes ago, Mark said:

Most pre-1964 Jo-Han interiors are on the shallow side.  If you are bother trying to remove the convertible top well detail for use in a hardtop, may as well start fresh and get the depth and transmission tunnel right too. 

For most Mopars, the Lindberg '64 Dodge bench seat interior would be a good starting point.  The seats can be sanded smooth and rescribed with correct detail, same with the side panels.  The side panels can be installed straight up and down, eliminating the mold draft that is extremely pronounced in the Jo-Han interiors.

Although the convertible side panels used in the early Jo-Han & AMT annuals has always bugged me, I am more concerned with correct details. Using the ‘64 Dodge interior would be a good starting point, along with a more detailed chassis if I wanted a really correct model. I have other projects I would be more willing to invest the time, so for now I’m just thinking shelf model. Ironically because of the shallow tub it would make more sense to correct the convertible as the interior is a visual focal point. As it is I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to building any of them not to mention the ‘62 Chryslers & ‘60 DeSotos I have in this series. 😕

[SfanGoch]

Don't feel that way. If you waited to find the the "correct" corresponding interior tubs just to be rivet counting accurate, you'll never get anything done. The correct interiors aren't going to magically appear on ebay.And, if they did pop up, they'll cost more than what you, or any reasonable person, would be willing to spend. Sure, you can do as Mark says and utilize the interior from Lindberg '64 Mopars. Ido that only because I got lucky that Model Car Mountain had a c_rapload of the interior/suspension/chassis trees on sale for under five bucks. That was over four years ago and I've never seen those parts available that cheap by anyone anywhere since then. I'm not a cheapskate modeler by any definition; however, I'm not going to buy a kit which for 15 bucks just to get a couple of parts and the rest will be nothing more than junk and unnecessary clutter in my home. I don't hoard junk.

Just build them with what you have and enjoy what you create. Nobody's opinion here matters.

[#1 model citizen]

7 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

Don't feel that way. If you waited to find the the "correct" corresponding interior tubs just to be rivet counting accurate, you'll never get anything done. The correct interiors aren't going to magically appear on ebay.And, if they did pop up, they'll cost more than what you, or any reasonable person, would be willing to spend. Sure, you can do as Mark says and utilize the interior from Lindberg '64 Mopars. Ido that only because I got lucky that Model Car Mountain had a c_rapload of the interior/suspension/chassis trees on sale for under five bucks. That was over four years ago and I've never seen those parts available that cheap by anyone anywhere since then. I'm not a cheapskate modeler by any definition; however, I'm not going to buy a kit which for 15 bucks just to get a couple of parts and the rest will be nothing more than junk and unnecessary clutter in my home. I don't hoard junk.

Just build them with what you have and enjoy what you create. Nobody's opinion here matters.

Well I was typing some what tongue in cheek when I posted that. I’m actually quite pleased to have the correct dashboards even if the rest isn’t correct. There does seem to be a lot of people who know of this situation however. 😏 I’m a Virgil Exner fan so it’s the exterior that’s the real draw for me. 
I do build what I want with what I have and with what skills I have keeping in mind I’ll never have the time to build them all. The bucket list is long and I am slow so I’ll sweat the details on those. I don’t build to please my critics however I do show the ones that turn out well or even ok and constructive criticism is always welcomed. 

[ZTony8]

A couple of years ago I obtained one of the USA Oldies issue '60 Plymouth wagons from a fellow model club member. The chassis in the kit doesn't mate up anywhere near correctly with the interior bucket bottom. It's definitely a Mopar  chassis, it's molded in the same color as the rest of the kit parts which indicates to me that it was originally in that box. Anybody else have this issue with an example of this kit? What was your solution?

Edited September 6, 2021 by ZTony8

[ZTony8]

Several years back I managed to obtain about 8 unbuilt Jo-Han kits when a fellow modeler ended up in assisted living and his family sold off his kits. None of them the super rare or desirable ones but for the price I paid it was good deal.

[Tom Geiger]

59 minutes ago, ZTony8 said:

A couple of years ago I obtained one of the USA Oldies issue '60 Plymouth wagons from a fellow model club member. The chassis in the kit doesn't mate up anywhere near correctly with the interior bucket bottom. It's definitely a Mopar  chassis, it's molded in the same color as the rest of the kit parts which indicates to me that it was originally in that box. Anybody else have this issue with an example of this kit? What was your solution?

The wagon was never a kit back in the day, just a promo. I believe it first was a kit later on. My chassis is nothing more than a flat plate.  The 1960 was the first year of the unibody so you could try the 64 Lindberg chassis under it.. don’t know how the wheelbase lines up.

The interiors were shallow and had flat sides due to the limitations of injection molding in the era. Remember too that Johan had smaller tools that the bigger companies do they might have had an older molding machine with more limitations than their rivals. 

[ZTony8]

1 minute ago, Tom Geiger said:

The wagon was never a kit back in the day, just a promo. I believe it first was a kit later on. My chassis is nothing more than a flat plate.  The 1960 was the first year of the unibody so you could try the 64 Lindberg chassis under it.. don’t know how the wheelbase lines up.

The interiors were shallow and had flat sides due to the limitations of injection molding in the era. Remember too that Johan had smaller tools that the bigger companies do they might have had an older molding machine with more limitations than their rivals. 

As I recall, my chassis, too, is basically flat on the bottom with the details molded in( I'm at work, kit's at home). It's the ridges and bumps on top of the plate toward its rear that interfere with the interior bottom. Makes me wonder how these kits from the USA series got built back in the 80s.

[Bucky]

35 minutes ago, ZTony8 said:

As I recall, my chassis, too, is basically flat on the bottom with the details molded in( I'm at work, kit's at home). It's the ridges and bumps on top of the plate toward its rear that interfere with the interior bottom. Makes me wonder how these kits from the USA series got built back in the 80s.

Back in the 80's, and earlier, TESTORS orange tube glue made for a handy gap filler! Hahaha

[StevenGuthmiller]

13 minutes ago, Bucky said:

Back in the 80's, and earlier, TESTORS orange tube glue made for a handy gap filler! Hahaha

There were a lot of "gaps" to fill on the Johan '60 Plymouth wagon!

There aren't even any front inner fender wells!!

Have fun filling those!

 

This kit was no doubt a modified promo.......and not modified very well!

But, we're modelers.

If we really want a '60 Plymouth wagon on your shelf, we'll figure out a way to deal with these issues, right?

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[SfanGoch]

1 hour ago, Tom Geiger said:

Remember too that Johan had smaller tools that the bigger companies do they might have had an older molding machine with more limitations than their rivals. 

From what I remember reading about this very topic HERE, Johan used injection molding equipment which was incompatible with what was used by the other kit manufacturers. This is probably why when Johan was folding, the molds which were still extant weren't purchased by the likes of Revellogram, AMT, etc. The extra money required to buy an injection molding machine which could only be used for the limited number of Johan tools available wasn't worth the trouble.

[Oldcarfan27]

Brought this back up because it's a fascinating read.

My Johan story goes like this. I used to buy them on a regular basis from the only hobby shop in my area that carried the full line. This was about the mid 80s. I remember the USA Oldies were priced, across the board, at $5 exactly. For that time, five bucks was a good deal for any model kits and Johan had some unique muscle cars in the lineup. 1:1 muscle cars were hot in the mid 80s, so I grabbed all I could afford. 

I distinctly remember buying the 70 Olds 442, 69 AMX, 69 Roadrunner and the 70 Rebel Machine first. All for 5 bucks apiece! Then I got the Ambulance and Hearse and Plymouth Police car. Prices for the first two were $5.50, but still worth it. Followed up with the Sox and Martin Cuda, 60 Desoto, 64 Cadillac, 76 Eldorado snap and 68 Chrysler 300. Things were looking good. I remember getting the Boss Man 68 Cadillac convertible, 34 Mercedes roadster and the Turbine car, 64 Dodge S/S, 63 Plymouth Fury and then I got picky. I never bought the 60 police wagon, 60 Plymouth ht or the 62 Darts as I thought they were just too ugly to own. Nor did I acquire the funny car kits, because they weren't my cup of caffeine juice.

If I could go back, I'd have bought cases of everything they had, no exceptions. Every subject Johan did was so unique and nobody else even dared to do the same kits. I know, they were a struggling small time company, with the same limited inventory they've had since the 60s, but at least they still had it and they looked good - even for 1980s standards!

Edited October 2, 2022 by Oldcarfan27

[wrenchr]

1 hour ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Brought this back up because it's a fascinating read.

My Johan story goes like this. I used to buy them on a regular basis from the only hobby shop in my area that carried the full line. This was about the mid 80s. I remember the USA Oldies were priced, across the board, at $5 exactly. For that time, five bucks was a good deal for any model kits and Johan had some unique muscle cars in the lineup. 1:1 muscle cars were hot in the mid 80s, so I grabbed all I could afford. 

I distinctly remember buying the 70 Olds 442, 69 AMX, 69 Roadrunner and the 70 Rebel Machine first. All for 5 bucks apiece! Then I got the Ambulance and Hearse and Plymouth Police car. Prices for the first two were $5.50, but still worth it. Followed up with the Sox and Martin Cuda, 60 Desoto, 64 Cadillac, 76 Eldorado snap and 68 Chrysler 300. Things were looking good. I remember getting the Boss Man 68 Cadillac convertible, 34 Mercedes roadster and the Turbine car, 64 Dodge S/S, 63 Plymouth Fury and then I got picky. I never bought the 60 police wagon, 60 Plymouth ht or the 62 Darts as I thought they were just too ugly to own. Nor did I acquire the funny car kits, because they weren't my cup of caffeine juice.

If I could go back, I'd have bought cases of everything they had, no exceptions. Every subject Johan did was so unique and nobody else even dared to do the same kits. I know, they were a struggling small time company, with the same limited inventory they've had since the 60s, but at least they still had it and they looked good - even for 1980s standards!

Agree 1000%, I remember the old Hobby Heaven sales ads in SAE back then. My Dad would also take me to a booth in a fleamarket where a vender sold model kits and bought me the 60 desoto. That was around 1990 or so. Great memories.