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History of AMT & MPC's Action Line Pickup Kits


Fabrux

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I always thought their was an arrangement or mole moving designs from AMT to MPC. AMT/MPC same truck 1967-1968. In 1969 the AMT was new tool with a big block motor instead of 327 small block. plus the hoods don't fit too well swapped. In 1971 AMT flipped over to GMC. That Sierra Grande became shortbed stepside T409 after MPC did longbed stepside .

Stock release of any of these kits would be nice.

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I have several of these and can add confusion

Some have 350 in the badge, some 400/8

Also a couple I have  have different side marker lights

2 Square ones in the spot versus the to narrow rectangular stacked 

on most

I have no idea which are AMT or MPC as they were built & box lot buys over the years

got a Great deal about 66-7 years ago from an evilbay seller

Big box-lot for $30.oo plus shipping--No other bidders!!!!

got no less than 4 complete out o\f the box and many more cab, interior, etc

And 2 Cooter's in the bunch too!!!

1 built near complete, 1 parts but restorable

Just need decals!!!

 

WHAT did they do with that tooling to cause the to re-tool the GMC shortbox stepside into the 

last re-issued 72 Fleetside????????

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  • 4 weeks later...

Edsel-Dan the difference in side marker lights is standard no thrills trucks got the square marker lights the deluxe or heavy option truck would get the stacked marker lights.

The various engine options that were available from a straight 6 to a big block V8 during the 67" thru 72" model year.

Did you know that this reissue kit is not a 72" it in fact a 67" or 68" ?

20170628_190332.thumb.jpg.f78c40f9efa7cdThis pic shows the cab with the smaller back window available in 67" and first half of 68".

20170628_190643.thumb.jpg.f328dd6f810d1c

Edited by DaddysToy
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Thanks a lot for the tips there. I have seen that film before, infact I downloaded it from the website that you can see on it and have played it in ultraslowmotion in my vlc player to look for references on how the USFS pickups where equipped in the mid 60s.

 

Here is some pictures of the chassis for the 64, is this very different for 67-72?

IMG_1172.jpg

IMG_1169.jpg

On this one I used the differential for the frontaxle from Tamiyas Jaguar mkII, as it was what I had at the time that looked most like what was on the 1:1 cars I used as referance. The springs comes from unknown kitsuspensions from the scrapbox and the centediff was scartchbuilt with a part from a Italeri truck kit (I think) and some putty.

Could you use the AMT new 1/25th scale 1972 Blazer Kit for parts to build the 66 Revell C10 into a 4x4? I would like to build a 66 GMC 4x4 out of the Revell 66 C10 Fleetside short bed kit. Thoughts on how to do this?

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To be honest, about the only usable parts for an accurate '60-'66 4x4 from the AMT '72 Blazer would be the axles and the rear springs, perhaps the steering box as well. Even then, there are better axles out there, as the axles in the Blazer kit are somewhat undersized. The recently released Deserter GMC has much better axles.

There were major suspension changes made on the 4x4s from the '66 and earlier compared to the '67 and later, primarily in the front suspension. The earlier trucks used a normal arched spring, which lead to a rather high ride height (required to allow for transfer case clearance). The later trucks used a reverse arched spring, which lowered the ride height considerably. This was also possible due to the adoption of the NP205 (some Blazers used a Spicer transfer case, which the AMT kit has) which did not require the extra clearance.

The AMT Blazer also has some issues with the chassis, it's too narrow compared to the 1:1. Modifying the original frame would be better.

You're pretty much on your own for the transfer case, transmission, and engine, though there are ways around some of it. The transfer case can be replicated with some alteration to an AMT USA 1 transfer case. The transmission gets a little trickier, the only kit version of it I'm aware of is in the MPC '68-'72 Chevrolet trucks. You'll most likely have to scratch build the engine, as there are no kit sources or resin sources I know of for the GMC V6.

 

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  • 8 months later...
On February 25, 2013 at 5:35 PM, Longbox55 said:

The spare wheel is 5 lug also. The 6 lug wheels would be the correct ones for that application, the 5 lug are for 2wd.

Sorry to correct you, but my '69 2WD is 6 lug.  I just got different wheels, which have larger center holes for 4WD, which I did not care to worry about.

I appreciate this topic very much!   After I got my pickup, started looking for a kit, and was taken aback how scarce and expensive these kits are!  Now it's eBay hunting and bidding, or waiting for a new release, which would happen after blowing a load on an original, right?

IMG_7025_Fotor.jpg

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20 hours ago, Casey said:

Round2 recently teased that they "found" the mold for the MPC version, so I would expect we'll see some version of it within the next 24 months or so.

Hmmmm, I wonder if that means we will get the long bed step side kit?

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  • 8 months later...
On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 7:25 PM, DaddysToy said:

 

Did you know that this reissue kit is not a 72" it in fact a 67" or 68" 

 

Good point, the GMC kit lacks the correct grill to be a '72. GMC added  thin strip of trim around the grill in ;68, then thicker trim was added in '69 thru '72. Also there is a definite rake backwards on the fender trim, not vertical like the '67 grill.  IMO, the GMC grill on a '67 Chevy pickup would be the most correct GMC pickup. A '67 GMC.

IMG_5780.JPG

 

IMG_5782.JPG

IMG_5781.JPG

Edited by leafsprings
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21 minutes ago, alexis said:

Two Words. Cooter's Towtruck..  Maybe we can at least get the kit back if not the Duke's tie in.

I would bet on it coming back within the 18 months. Round2 showed off pics of that very mold on Instagram earlier this year:

Round2mold1Cooter.jpg.745a6d4e5939725573bdf4877cb90c32.jpg

 

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  • 2 months later...
On 1/25/2013 at 10:41 AM, kataranga said:

It seems AMT and MPC shared the tooling for the Chevrolet pickups, using the chassis plate from AMT's Ford and Chevrolet annuals from 61-63.

 

On 5/31/2017 at 9:07 AM, Bob Ellis said:

I always thought their was an arrangement or mole moving designs from AMT to MPC.

My understanding is when George Toteff left AMT to start MPC, AMT received the right of first refusal on new MPC kits. One of the Corvette annuals and the 1928 Ford Model A Tudor were released first by AMT, then later by MPC, so the '68-'72 Chevy C-series kit would seem to fall in line with that.

I don't think the chassis plate was shared with either the earlier Ford nor Chevy kits, however. Comparing the AMT '63 Chevrolet pickup's chassis plate piece...:

DSC_0001.JPG

 

...to the AMT '67 Chevrolet pickup kit's chassis plate piece...:

07d6a0b4-d2c9-4a72-91f1-c93c6e8c2c1a.jpg

 

...the '67 has a new transmission crossmember, the right side exhaust has been deleted, there are notches for where the bed and cab gap would be, and the bed floor extensions rearward of the bed's wheel wells are shaped differently, too. I think it was an all new piece designed by MPC, and unrelated to any earlier AMT-designed kit parts.

Edited by Casey
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  • 3 weeks later...
On 1/30/2019 at 8:28 PM, Casey said:

My understanding is when George Toteff left AMT to start MPC, AMT received the right of first refusal on new MPC kits. One of the Corvette annuals and the 1928 Ford Model A Tudor were released first by AMT, then later by MPC, so the '68-'72 Chevy C-series kit would seem to fall in line with that.

 

There have been detailed discussions elsewhere on the MCM forum on this subject....but to summarize....there were just a few kits that were developed under the original AMT/MPC agreement.  In each case, the kits were designed and manufactured by MPC, but first sold, for one time only under the AMT label.  The list includes the aforementioned '28A Tudor, the 1965 Dodge Coronet 500, the "Wild Dream/King T" Trophy Series Double kit, and the Car Craft Dream Rod.  There may have been one or two others that escape my memory at the moment.  But there was no sharing of Corvette annual kits.

The '67 et al C10 kits and the '67 et al Barracudas were an entirely different story.  These kits and tools were originally engineered and manufactured by AMT (with the '67 'cuda being derived from the '65/'66 'cuda tool), then these tools migrated to MPC at a later point for some reason.  They were not part of the original AMT/MPC/George Toteff arrangement. 

One other point.  In talking with industry experts back in the day as part of the research for my recent book, I was told that the AMT/MPC teams were not the mortal enemies we all presumed they were.  There was more behind the scenes cooperation and communication than we might have expected.  Which seems a bit odd to me, as MPC pretty much cleaned AMT's clock in the late 1960's and this was one of several factors that put AMT in financial distress as the 1970;s decade approached....Best....TIM 

        

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I realize this thread is about the "action line" , but , why the cold shoulder to the new '73 Chevy pickups, known as "square doors" in the enthusiast circles. These were among the best selling vehicles in 70's, car or truck. IMO, this easily would have translated to best selling model kits. Yes, No?  DId AMT management  fall asleep? They gave us the Pinto and Gremelin and Pacers. IMO, poor decisions is why the auto industry and model industry practically collapsed in 1980.

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1 hour ago, leafsprings said:

I realize this thread is about the "action line" , but , why the cold shoulder to the new '73 Chevy pickups, known as "square doors" in the enthusiast circles. These were among the best selling vehicles in 70's, car or truck. IMO, this easily would have translated to best selling model kits. Yes, No?  DId AMT management  fall asleep? They gave us the Pinto and Gremelin and Pacers. IMO, poor decisions is why the auto industry and model industry practically collapsed in 1980.

No cold shoulder:

 

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3 hours ago, SSNJim said:

No cold shoulder:

 

I will rephrase it, AMT gave us nothing, the cold shoulder.  Back in the 70's after the introduction of the  '75 Ford pickup I was excpecting AMT to give us a full size '73 or '74 or '75 or '76 etc. Chevy  longbed fleetside pickup, as they did in the action line series. Most of the MPC and Revell offerings were jokes, no where near the caliber of the period AMT Ford pickup. 

 

Edited by leafsprings
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5 hours ago, leafsprings said:

I realize this thread is about the "action line"

Hopefully it stays that way.

On 2/17/2019 at 6:35 AM, tim boyd said:

The '67 et al C10 kits and the '67 et al Barracudas were an entirely different story.  These kits and tools were originally engineered and manufactured by AMT (with the '67 'cuda being derived from the '65/'66 'cuda tool), then these tools migrated to MPC at a later point for some reason.  They were not part of the original AMT/MPC/George Toteff arrangement.

Thanks for the clarification, Tim.

Hopefully the images of this kit's mold posted on Instagram last year by Round2 was a hint of things to come.

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