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Some kits you know will never be available again . . .


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7 hours ago, Bucky said:

I built the AstroVette as a kid. It would be nice to see it, again.

Was the tooling messed up for that one?

Yup, butchered big time 

Image result for amt scorpion

Unless you meant this one. I bet it's still around somewhere.

Image result for AstroVette kit

Edited by Can-Con
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2 hours ago, Can-Con said:

Yup, butchered big time 

Image result for amt scorpion

Unless you meant this one. I bet it's still around somewhere.

Image result for AstroVette kit

D'OH!!! I meant Astro I. I went back and fixed my post! LOL

I did build both kits back in the day, however.

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2 hours ago, Greg Myers said:

What happened to these ? where did they end up ?

I don't think anyone knows... Airfix released the 250GTO and E-Type convertible in the 90s, but they were just boxes of Japanese-manufactured parts, so the tooling never came to the UK. It's a great range of kits, both of cars and motorbikes, but at the moment it's lost...

best,

M.

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12 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

I can tell from this photo that you have far too many '66 Skylarks Chris.

No, I have far too few as in zero, or 1 if you count the Modified Stocker (or should that be -1?) I do have two Craftsman Nova wagons; one built and one builder that will get a six-banger from an original kit. No '60 pickup either (last one on eBay went for $152 and change). 

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6 hours ago, Scott Colmer said:

And don't forget the much discussed Uncertain T

UT-vi.jpg

Don't worry, Steve Scott has been taking preorders for the reissue of this for YEARS, and he's totally going to fulfill those orders any decade now ?

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22 hours ago, Bucky said:

If the '68 Coronet and '72 Road Runner have not been modified beyond repair, that would be great! I'd certainly love to see them on the shelves!

Both of those toolings were modified ad seq. into other years : 1969-1970 Coronet / Super Bee ; 1971-1974 Charger ; 1973-1976 Road Runner (including the 'phantom' 1976 Road Runner version) .

The tooling for the 1972 Road Runner's customising parts *may* still exist ; however , the remainder of the 1971-1972 body was allegedly frigged up some years ago ( it was last issued in its 1971 livery --albeit , with contemporary "upgrades" ---in 1987 before going out-of-production in c.1990 ) . It , in es. , lives on in the various iterations of the 1973-1974 'GTX' , Road Runner , the $10,000 tin version , and the Daisy Duke's Road Runner .

BTW : There was no such an animal as a Super Bee convertible , in any year . Maybe Dodge was planning to produce one , but cancelled it last minute . Road Runner convertible ? Absolutely ! 1969-1970 .

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40 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

Both of those toolings were modified ad seq. into other years : 1969-1970 Coronet / Super Bee ; 1971-1974 Charger ; 1973-1976 Road Runner (including the 'phantom' 1976 Road Runner version) .

The tooling for the 1972 Road Runner's customising parts *may* still exist ; however , the remainder of the 1971-1972 body was allegedly frigged up some years ago ( it was last issued in its 1971 livery --albeit , with contemporary "upgrades" ---in 1987 before going out-of-production in c.1990 ) . It , in es. , lives on in the various iterations of the 1973-1974 'GTX' , Road Runner , the $10,000 tin version , and the Daisy Duke's Road Runner .

BTW : There was no such an animal as a Super Bee convertible , in any year . Maybe Dodge was planning to produce one , but cancelled it last minute . Road Runner convertible ? Absolutely ! 1969-1970 .

True about the Super Bee drop top. The box art on the kit lists and R/T version, and R/T ragtops were available in '68.

Vintage-Original-MPC-1968-Dodge-Coronet-

I don't remember if this kit can be built as an R/T, or not,  it's been 50 years since I've seen one of these kits! LOL

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I seem to have developed a real fondness for original AMT '63-'67 Corvettes. I've now accumulated somewhere around 30, at least one of each body style and each box, in all conditions from barely-rebuildable glue bombs to mint unbuilt. I've only actually restored about 3 so far (two '63s and a '67), but I have at least four more on the bench as we speak. 

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1 hour ago, 1972coronet said:
17 minutes ago, Bucky said:

Vintage-Original-MPC-1968-Dodge-Coronet-

I don't remember if this kit can be built as an R/T, or not,  it's been 50 years since I've seen one of these kits! LOL

BTW : There was no such an animal as a Super Bee convertible , in any year . Maybe Dodge was planning to produce one , but cancelled it last minute . Road Runner convertible ? Absolutely ! 1969-1970 .

There was ONE '68 Super Bee ragtop; a show car modified by the Alexander Brothers.  It was obviously the inspiration for the MPC box art.

The kit was trimmed as an R/T and contained basically the same parts as the hardtop, with the addition of a set of lakes pipes similar to the A-brothers car and an extra decal sheet with the Super Bee stripe.  

  

4196944-68Bee_f.jpg

Edited by pack rat
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2 hours ago, Bucky said:

I don't remember if this kit can be built as an R/T, or not,  it's been 50 years since I've seen one of these kits! LOL

It is an R/T.

Not sure why it says "Super Bee" on the box, but the kit is 100% R/T.

The Super Bee used the 440 grille with DODGE lettering and a slightly different rear panel, also with a Dodge script and Super Bee emblems all around.

The MPC kit has the R/T grille, tail panel, and R/T badges on the front quarter panels as well as the interior door panels.

No indication of Super Bee anywhere.

 

 

Steve

 

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13 hours ago, pack rat said:

There was ONE '68 Super Bee ragtop; a show car modified by the Alexander Brothers.  It was obviously the inspiration for the MPC box art.

The kit was trimmed as an R/T and contained basically the same parts as the hardtop, with the addition of a set of lakes pipes similar to the A-brothers car and an extra decal sheet with the Super Bee stripe.  

  

4196944-68Bee_f.jpg

I never knew about the show car ; I've only seen 'fake' "Super Bee" convertibles ( e.g. , based-upon a Coronet 440 or 500 ) .

I wonder if : (A) This car still exists ; (B) What its V.I.N is , and ; (C) If it was a 'pilot' model --- the gold-line tyres seem to allude to it being a very early build . 

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18 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

I never knew about the show car ; I've only seen 'fake' "Super Bee" convertibles ( e.g. , based-upon a Coronet 440 or 500 ) .

I wonder if : (A) This car still exists ; (B) What its V.I.N is , and ; (C) If it was a 'pilot' model --- the gold-line tyres seem to allude to it being a very early build . 

According to an old issue of Collectible Automobile, it was originally a Coronet 500 that the factory hired the A-brothers to modify for the '68 Detroit Auto show to promote the Super Bee.  

There's no explanation in the article for choosing a ragtop though (?).

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15 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Indeed. In fact, I now think of ALL JoHan kits as "classics." 

It wouldn't be hard to reproduce old Johan kits.  Remember that Polar Lights started out by reverse engineering old Aurora figure models.  Just a matter of having a fresh kit, and 3d scanning the trees.  CAD cut aluminum tooling and you could indeed to runs of old Johan kits.

A manufacturer would need the standard automobile company licensing, but Johan is long gone, and nobody would be there to defend any expired rights.

The flip side of it is that although Johan had very accurate bodies etc, their kits would indeed be too "old school technology" for today's market.  Shallow interiors with molded in seats, inaccurate engine compartments and low detail, low parts count chassis. Yes, those of us into the nostalgia aspect would eat them up, but they'd be a tough go in the larger market as casual modelers, 90% of the kit market, would be looking for detailing and parts counts of contemporary kits, and wouldn't understand what they were looking at.  Kinda like they got gypped into buying a Palmer kit!   That was the reaction to the reissue of the 1959 Imperial. Which is why it would be more appropriate to have a new full detail kit of important subjects like the AMX.   Maybe in the future 3d technology would be so easy and affordable that we could make our own quick copies of a friend's kit,  as simple as making a xerox copy.  Never say never!

Edited by Tom Geiger
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