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Round2 "Phoned-It-In"


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Close to completing the 1963 Nova Wagon , and I lost one of those fiddly front wheel mounts to the rabbit hole . I'm trying my Celtic best to not yell like a maniac ; I'd like to believe that I'm more mature than resulting to insane verbal rants these days...

I must ask : Why in the devil did AMT-come-Round2 just phone-it-in on those fiddly front wheel mounts ?!?!? What a garbage design ! I wish that Round2 would've gone all-the-way and just "wire axle" [ et al. ] the front as well . Fiddly poodle poop like this harkens back to the days of Revell's 2,000 piece door hinges ! I test-fitted the stupid thing before I committed to glue , then for whatever my-luck-reason , the remaining one refused to seat in its place !

Now my arthritic fingers have to scratch a freakin' front axle "spindle" for that stupid wheel pin , and hope to J that I don't lose that piece of Faberge garbage during the process .

Anyone else have this problem ? 

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My guess is it was a compromise for the upcoming "engine included" version, though even then, they could have gotten away with the good old oil pan notch to clear a wire axle in that case, since the kit is full blown retrorific and all. On the one I built I ended up snapping off a pin. I glued the block into place and drilled out a hole where the pin used to be and used a piece of brass rod to pin the wheel into place.

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7 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

Anyone else have this problem ? 

Yes, and thanks for the great rant! 😂 It sounds like some of mine.  When I moved into a house with a concrete-floored basement for the workshop, I smirked that I would never again lose a part to the Carpet Monster.  And I haven't.  Now parts hit the concrete floor and bounce into another space/time dimension, never to be seen again.

If you don't want to scratch-build, you might find the part on eBay.  I found a complete chassis from the new Nova wagon kit, including the engine plate and your buddies, the 2 little wheel mounts.  I have a resin '63 Nova wagon body/interior with the hood molded shut, so I just needed the chassis parts.

Edited by Mike999
goof
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7 hours ago, Chuck Most said:

My guess is it was a compromise for the upcoming "engine included" version, though even then, they could have gotten away with the good old oil pan notch to clear a wire axle in that case, since the kit is full blown retrorific and all. On the one I built I ended up snapping off a pin. I glued the block into place and drilled out a hole where the pin used to be and used a piece of brass rod to pin the wheel into place.

The pan notch wouldn't work in this case, The six cylinder engine sits deep enough in the chassis to require a hole through the engine block which I'm pretty sure was eliminated for the upcoming issue. 

Still no need to totally scratch build a wheel mounting pin, if you take a trip to your local hardware store or home-center you'll find there's a finishing nail size that's the perfect substitute for making stub axles or pins, just trim them to length. You might even already have some if your the household handyman like me.  Of course since I switched to an air-nailer a few years back I can't find that box of nails now that I wanted to demonstrate it. 

-Steve 

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Just wondering....did you test-fit one or more of the wheel mounts?

When I got my first look at the kit I'll admit I was wondering how those pins would work; thinking I might have to glue the wheels in position, set it on a flat surface while the glue dried so the wheels weren't all wonky etc etc.  We've all been there.

I was actually impressed with the way they worked....perfect fit to the wheel back and the chassis opening; apply a touch of glue, snap it together,  then set it down on the bench with all 4 wheels straight and square. 

Maybe not the preferred wheel mounting method for some, but there's no way I would call it fiddly.

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9 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

 I'm trying my Celtic best to not yell like a maniac ; I'd like to believe that I'm more mature than resulting to insane verbal rants these days...

Anyone else have this problem ? 

Yes, I cuss at my models when they decide that they just don’t want to cooperate! I feel no obligation to act mature. FYI...K&S sells a pack of assorted brass rod. Great for making pins etc. and they are a lot easier to cut and file than nails.

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4 hours ago, Plowboy said:

How is it Round2's fault that you lost an axle pin? 

It's just easier to blame someone else ( haha ) . 

It wasn't the pin , but rather the 'block' for the wheel-mounting pin . 

I finally found the son-of-a-motherless-goat last night , and swiftly dropped it into the kit's box .

I call the assembly 'fiddly' because of arthritis ; can't grasp those tiny pieces like I used to . 

 

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2 hours ago, Mark said:

I don't know about you, but I'll take an engine block WITHOUT a huge hole in it, over one with a hole.  Every day of the week, and twice on Sundays.

I'm no fan of the axle-through-block setup , either . However , given that this kit is promo-style ( Craftsman Jr. )  , a 'wire' axle would've been a nice option for the front wheels in addition to the 'block-and-pin' arrangement .  

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1 hour ago, pack rat said:

Just wondering....did you test-fit one or more of the wheel mounts?

When I got my first look at the kit I'll admit I was wondering how those pins would work; thinking I might have to glue the wheels in position, set it on a flat surface while the glue dried so the wheels weren't all wonky etc etc.  We've all been there.

I was actually impressed with the way they worked....perfect fit to the wheel back and the chassis opening; apply a touch of glue, snap it together,  then set it down on the bench with all 4 wheels straight and square. 

Maybe not the preferred wheel mounting method for some, but there's no way I would call it fiddly.

I did test-fit the 'blocks' to their seat on the chassis , which included a test-fit of the pins , too . 

In retrospect , I should have affixed the block-and-pin mounts before I painted and detailed the chassis plate . 

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In spite of the issues I've encountered with the "phoned-in" design of the front wheels' mounting design and execution , this kit has otherwise been a lot of fun to paint and assemble . I'll just marque the problem I've encountered as , Nothing's perfect .

The pending ( any test shots ? ) full-detail version will be a welcomed addition .

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1 hour ago, 1972coronet said:

In spite of the issues I've encountered with the "phoned-in" design of the front wheels' mounting design and execution , this kit has otherwise been a lot of fun to paint and assemble . I'll just marque the problem I've encountered as , Nothing's perfect .

The pending ( any test shots ? ) full-detail version will be a welcomed addition .

I had lots of fun with this one too. 

Glad you found the part.

Test shots are out there (as per standard practice the test shots contain parts for both versions).  I can't post pics, but if you like the original annual issue of the wagon you'll like the full detail version (axle pins excepted). 

I hear you re the arthritis too...we're all getting up there.

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This is not just a problem for the AMT kit, I don't like the later Revell metal wheel attachment pins either, the front suspensions on these later kits are designed very simplified and bulky (like 3 parts total) just for this pin system to work because if it was like before the metal pins it wouldn't be enough material and it would break when you try to push the pins in.
I like the snap on system they used before this metal pin system better where the front suspensions was nicer crispier castings with more parts (5-8 parts ) and looked more true to the real cars, and as I don't like my models to roll because they are static models and not toys I usually file up the hole in the wheel back so the wheel fit snuggly without any pressure and glue them in place.

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