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Jo-Han 1970 Road Runner from GTX Promo: Should I?


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An ethical question, if you will indulge me. In more recent years, I have come to regard the Jo-Han 1970 Road Runner as a holy grail kit, while I have watched prices climb completely out of reach. The old Monogram 1/24 kit never did much for me with its wonky proportions, and the SMH Resins kit I got recently is a disaster. I just scored a very abused 70 GTX promo on that auction site, and I am contemplating a Road Runner conversion, using pretty much just the body and front bumper (the rear bumper is broken). 

I do have a Jo-Han Road Runner grille and Air Grabber in the parts box, as well as several Superbirds, built and unbuilt, as well as the aforementioned SMH Resin kit to pull the rest of the parts from. The plan is to put it on the Monogram 69 Charger Pro Series chassis bits.  

The quandry is, of course that, once I cut out and fit a Superbird tail panel, sand off the scripts and the wheel opening moldings, it's no longer a GTX. On the other hand, this is one rough character....

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7 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

I was looking at getting the SMH body, what exactly is wrong with it?

One of the front wheel openings is completely malformed at the corner because of a large air pocket, there are lots and lots of pinholes and air bubble inclusions all over. The molds appear to be shot as the grille had spots where the teeth were all blobbed together. The grille had a big chip out of the corner and it came with two front bumpers and no rear, and those were equally in need of repairs due to the same issues

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I'd rebuild it as a GTX just because I don't have one of those either, but as others have said, it has little if any collector value so if you want a RR, make it a RR. 

BTW, for those who don't know, there's an inexpensive diecast '70 GTX available (Maisto, I think?), and it's 1/25, not 1/24. It displays well with other 1/25 models, and is not bad looking at all. It's not perfect, but it also costs a LOT less than a JoHan '70 GTX or RR. 

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15 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I'd rebuild it as a GTX just because I don't have one of those either, but as others have said, it has little if any collector value so if you want a RR, make it a RR. 

BTW, for those who don't know, there's an inexpensive diecast '70 GTX available (Maisto, I think?), and it's 1/25, not 1/24. It displays well with other 1/25 models, and is not bad looking at all. It's not perfect, but it also costs a LOT less than a JoHan '70 GTX or RR. 

On 9/10/2019 at 4:30 PM, Slick Shifter said:

A GTX is far cooler than a Road Runner, but, it's your baby. Do what you wan

I am starting to come around to that thinking guys. Now to find a GTX grille. Does anyone cast it? I believe it was 2 pieces, a surround and an insert for the mesh

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On 9/11/2019 at 7:55 AM, Snake45 said:

I'd rebuild it as a GTX just because I don't have one of those either, but as others have said, it has little if any collector value so if you want a RR, make it a RR. 

BTW, for those who don't know, there's an inexpensive diecast '70 GTX available (Maisto, I think?), and it's 1/25, not 1/24. It displays well with other 1/25 models, and is not bad looking at all. It's not perfect, but it also costs a LOT less than a JoHan '70 GTX or RR. 

Hmmm. I am eyeballing that grille in the Maitso diecast..... I have seen it online for as cheap as 16 or 17 bucks. Might be worth it for the grille alone. Might yield other parts as well. The rest of the car is kind of questionable, proportionally speaking

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1 hour ago, garagepunk66 said:

Hmmm. I am eyeballing that grille in the Maitso diecast..... I have seen it online for as cheap as 16 or 17 bucks. Might be worth it for the grille alone. Might yield other parts as well. The rest of the car is kind of questionable, proportionally speaking

It's like a shrunken Monogram. 

I'll see if I can find mine, and see if the grill is wide enough for a JoHan body. I've discovered lately that quite a few diecasts are a bit narrow for their scale. 

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