72 Chevy Wedge Racer's Wedge release announced.

[GMP440]

Saw this on the Steven's International site.

 

MPC PLASTIC MODEL KITS MPC-885 1/25 1972 Chevy Racer's Wedge $35.95 TBA

[Dale Gribble]

I’m curious..... 

[Can-Con]

Ya don't suppose they actually found the remains of the MPC '72 Chevy pickup? 

[GMP440]

 

 I beleive that Round 2 is just going to use the current 72 Chevy pickup kit and Wedge kit for the  Racer Wedge kit since both are already available .  Does that sound right?

[alexis]

For those who may not remember back to 1972, here are some pics and directions of the kit. The directions are very poor. No mention of the extra wheels/ axle out back and no mention in the directions of the stock parts that were called out on the boxtop. Some Nifty Extra parts though.

NOTE!! I have no idea what Boxart Round2 will choose.

https://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/mpc-instructions/automotive-cars--pi/chevrolet/1971-1980/mpc-71-chevrolet-ra/

 

[Tom Geiger]

Seems around Two is hitting it out of the park! This, Nova Wagon and Falcon race team! Life is good!

[GMP440]

9 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

Seems around Two is hitting it out of the park! This, Nova Wagon and Falcon race team! Life is good!

I agree.  When these kits come out , we all need to buy them and support Round 2 .  When Round 2 sees this they will be more inclined to dig deep into their vaults and do more releases that have not been out in decades.

[Tom Geiger]

Talking with John G at R2 awhile back he said there are a lot more they'd like to if it wasn’t for resources.. both money and manpower!  Time to vote with your wallets boys!

[Can-Con]

2 hours ago, GMP440 said:

I agree.  When these kits come out , we all need to buy them and support Round 2 .  When Round 2 sees this they will be more inclined to dig deep into their vaults and do more releases that have not been out in decades.

IF it's the MPC pickup, I'm in for one.

IF it's the recent AMT pickup tooling with the awful grille/bumper, I'll pass. They didn't even get the headlights round on that grille.

[Dave Van]

3 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Seems around Two is hitting it out of the park! This, Nova Wagon and Falcon race team! Life is good!

While Revell is doing some stuff.....R2 has a REAL opportunity to take command of the US market. With R2 listening to the US hobbyist and more flexibility   than a company HQ in Europe. We just need to keep buying....

[GMP440]

14 hours ago, Dave Van said:

While Revell is doing some stuff.....R2 has a REAL opportunity to take command of the US market. With R2 listening to the US hobbyist and more flexibility   than a company HQ in Europe. We just need to keep buying....

You hit the nail on the head.  As long as we support Round 2 , Round 2 will support us by digging into their vaults and release kits that we have been requesting for years.

Edited July 4, 2020 by GMP440

[Luc Janssens]

11 hours ago, Dave Van said:

While Revell is doing some stuff.....R2 has a REAL opportunity to take command of the US market. With R2 listening to the US hobbyist and more flexibility   than a company HQ in Europe. We just need to keep buying....

About time too, to me it looked like their ship was at drift, (certainly with sub-standard releases such as the Yenko Camaro) so very happy with the heading they're taking.

IMHO they should strengthen the ties with Italeri, making it a two way street, with this I mean, not only re-boxing select Italeri kits for the North American market, but also let Italeri handle the distribution of Round-2 kits in Europe (so they can have their shipments direct from the production site) 

The R-M thing is truly one sad story.

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by Luc Janssens

[Dave Van]

31 minutes ago, Luc Janssens said:

About time too, to me it looked like their ship was at drift, (certainly with sub-standard releases such as the Yenko Camaro) so very happy with the heading they're taking.

IMHO they should strengthen the ties with Italeri, making it a two way street, with this I mean, not only re-boxing select Italeri kits for the North American market, but also let Italeri handle the distribution of Round-2 kits in Europe (so they can have their shipments direct from the production site) 

The R-M thing is truly one sad story.

 

All true!

[Luc Janssens]

2 hours ago, Dave Van said:

All true!

When entering a partnership with Italeri one could even co-design kits, like for instance, when designing a certain gen pickup/SUV for the N/A market, and 1/35th version could be co-designed thus spreading the development costs on two totally different product lines...

 

[Mark]

20 hours ago, alexis said:

For those who may not remember back to 1972, here are some pics and directions of the kit. The directions are very poor. No mention of the extra wheels/ axle out back and no mention in the directions of the stock parts that were called out on the boxtop. Some Nifty Extra parts though.

NOTE!! I have no idea what Boxart Round2 will choose.

 

 

The loading ramps do NOT fit side by side in that center section, as illustrated.

[Casey]

Really not the best kit of a ramp truck, especially the "tandem" rear axle, which is glued directly to the frame rails, and right over the molded in spare tire. 🤦‍♀️

[Rob Hall]

10 minutes ago, Casey said:

Really not the best kit of a ramp truck, especially the "tandem" rear axle, which is glued directly to the frame rails, and right over the molded in spare tire. 🤦‍♀️

 

That's one of the kits where it's better never to look under it.. no suspension on the rearmost axle, lots of molded in parts, etc.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Rob Hall

[alexis]

Gonna take some work to ensure that all 4 rear wheels track correctly. Thanks for showing the bottom, Casey. The directions at the link do not show any of the axle details. It is truly a product of it's era. More a 'representation" than a replica.

[Rob Hall]

I was looking around pics of a 1:1 that was similar, but only seem to find ones with 1 rear axle and with less slopey ramps.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Rob Hall

[Mark]

The second rear axle is there mainly to stabilize the assembled truck with a car on the back.  Someone on eBay was selling cast side panels with only the forward wheel opening...probably didn't realize the truck was going to do a permanent wheelstand once he put a car on it.

MPC probably got the idea for the hauler from an article in a car magazine.  A guy named Artie Wheeler (now deceased I believe, he used to display models at NNL East) built curbside ramp trucks out of pickup kits.  He just cut the chassis and stretched it with a couple of swizzle sticks, and made the ramp bodies out of cigarette cartons.  He worked in a restaurant at the time, he'd get cartons from the guy who loaded the vending machines.  The article appeared in one of the East Coast car magazines in the late Sixties.

[larman]

I will get this, but the double axle is too goofy. I will have to figure out a single axle, dual tire set up for it. 

[Dale Gribble]

1 hour ago, Casey said:

Really not the best kit of a ramp truck, especially the "tandem" rear axle, which is glued directly to the frame rails, and right over the molded in spare tire. 🤦‍♀️

And I still don’t see anything that will keep me from buying a half case

[Tom Geiger]

1 hour ago, Mark said:

MPC probably got the idea for the hauler from an article in a car magazine.  A guy named Artie Wheeler (now deceased I believe, he used to display models at NNL East) built curbside ramp trucks out of pickup kits.  He just cut the chassis and stretched it with a couple of swizzle sticks, and made the ramp bodies out of cigarette cartons.  He worked in a restaurant at the time, he'd get cartons from the guy who loaded the vending machines.  The article appeared in one of the East Coast car magazines in the late Sixties.

Yes Artie passed away a few years ago. He was a long time member of TSSMCC and a friend of John Slivoski. He didn’t make many meetings, but he was a scoutmaster in New York and would bring his troop to NNL East. 

[Casey]

10 minutes ago, Dale Gribble said:

And I still don’t see anything that will keep me from buying a half case

How bad is your vision behind those mirror shades, Dale!?? 😜

This is another one of those kits which was never great from the start, what with the promo style everything-molded-together suspension, frame, and unibody-ish design. Best to paint everything underneath flat black and never lift it up off the tires once completed. I still think scratchbuilding a ramp bed is the better option, but I understand the appeal of something close enough right out of the box for some.

I do like the odds of seeing the Open Road slide-in camper semi-soon, too, now that this kit is forthcoming.

[Dale Gribble]

44 minutes ago, Casey said:

How bad is your vision behind those mirror shades, Dale!?? 😜

This is another one of those kits which was never great from the start, what with the promo style everything-molded-together suspension, frame, and unibody-ish design. Best to paint everything underneath flat black and never lift it up off the tires once completed. I still think scratchbuilding a ramp bed is the better option, but I understand the appeal of something close enough right out of the box for some.

I do like the odds of seeing the Open Road slide-in camper semi-soon, too, now that this kit is forthcoming.

I welcome nostalgia kits . I love the simplicity , and the subject matter that was available when these were new. They are great kits to hand to a kid to get them in the hobby , with lower parts count and many building variations .