1972coronet Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Comparing this reissue's chassis against the original 1972 Duster Annual chassis ; when were the moulded-in Torsion Bars "deleted" , and why ? I had an original 1976 Dart Sport Annual some years ago ; however , I can't recall if the T-Bars were still in-place by that "last hurrah" of the A-bodies ... Conversely , the 1983 Modified-Reissue (moulded-in-red) "Dodge Duster" street machine was reviewed in SAE in 1984 , and its reviewer mentioned (to closely-paraphrase) : "No Torsion Bars whatsoever [...] just air ! ..." Maybe the coveted Pro Stock run of the Butch Leal Duster and its companion Sox & Martin kits deleted the T-Bars ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 I was just think about this. I remember the Dart Hang Tens new on the show floor back in the day. I really like the looks of them. I believe came only with the 225 six or 318 V8. Never with the 360. I do know they were offered both in '74 and '75. So Keith Marks makes Dart Hang Ten decals? Does he include decals for the interior striping too? Whether he does or not I may have order a set. I had little interest in this kit until I read your posting. I mainly like the early Dusters and Demons better. And have an original '75 Dart Sport promo. But knowing I can build a Hang Ten version puts a new light on this kit! Now do I keep the 360 from the kit? Even though this is incorrect. Or do I find a slant six for under the hood? I wonder what it would take to put in the slant six from Lindberg's '64 Dodge kit in? And how it would look in there? Has anybody tried this? And how did it turn out? I'm thinking I may have to do this. Uncle Scott Yes the interior striping is included Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Very cool! I'm going to do it. And since the Hang 10 was available with the 360, I'm going to stay with that engine. Uncle Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopeyguy Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 ""For 1975 there was a similar interior option for the Duster . Actually , it may be the exact interior trim / colour combo as the Hang 10 ... Custom, was its name , IIRC ."" I had 3 of these back in the 80's and 90's. The Orange carpet, parts of dash and back tray were blindingly bright. One was a 360, another 318 and I think my brother still has the 6cyl one ? A very unique option with the fold down rear seat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Ordered my Hang 10 decals from Keith Marks yesterday. Wasn't interested in this kit, until I saw the info on the Hang 10 decals. Thanks to Dave and the others. I'm now looking forward to building one of these. Even if we can not really surf anywhere here in Miinnesnowta. I've always liked the Hang 10 Dart. Scott Aho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Yesterday, I got the kit itself to start my Hang 10 Dart. A couple of comments are needed. First, the body and chassis has a bit of flash. Second, I was surprised to see that there were enough parts in the kit to build two complete figures. One driving. One standing. From reading the side of box, I though I could only build one or the other. Normally I could care less about these figures in model car kits. But, right away I like the looks of this guy. He looks correct for a guy who would be driving a new '75 Dart Sport. The clothes, the hair, the shoes all look right. I'm so impressed with this figure, I do plan on for sure using the seated figure in this build. I like that his lower torso and legs seated fit against the firewall perfectly. I have to use him. What to do with the standing figure? From the waist up, he is exactly the same as the seated figure. Reminds me of the Wrigley's Double Mint gum commercials from the same time period. You know the ones with different Double Mint Twins? Most had cute twin girls. But, I believe there were one or two commercials with male twins in them? So I need build them exactly the same. The second one standing, basically looking in. A pretty nice kit overall. Other than the figures, it's exactly what I expect from a MPC kit from this time period. I kind of wish it came with a correct time period set of female Double Mint twins. But, the guys are OK. Maybe I set the standing character fondly looking at the MPC Pacer. Rather than with his brother, looking at the Dodge. Scott Aho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscool Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 You can always build them as the Hager twins from Hee Haw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdWatcher Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 I want those decals too! Hope Keith has more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBcritter Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Make it a diorama with the one guy daydreaming about himself driving the Dart, with him standing there and the "other" him in the Dart mounted in a thought balloon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdWatcher Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Make it a diorama with the one guy daydreaming about himself driving the Dart, with him standing there and the "other" him in the Dart mounted in a thought balloon! I like the way you think Chris! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscool Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I just opened this kit after receiving it from Hobbylinc.com last night. A couple of big let downs are the chrome plating is really bad compared to the last few round2 kits that I have purchased. Looks like it's got sand in it in many areas and is wrinkled in other areas. Another thing is the shape of the front wheel openings - the trailing edges are cut back so far that part of the chassis shows in the opening. I don't remember this on the original kit. They give us the new mold Polyglas tires (four in the smaller size) but without the pad printed logos! Why? They are producing thousands of the pad printed ones anyway. This is just cheapness in my opinion. The original MPC tires are what I was expecting. Everything else is pretty much as I remember from the original and to be honest is why I got out of modelling during the late 70s. Rant over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie8575 Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Has anyone built one of these and posted it? I'm curious to see how they look together. Charlie Larkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 I just opened this kit after receiving it from Hobbylinc.com last night. A couple of big let downs are the chrome plating is really bad compared to the last few round2 kits that I have purchased. Looks like it's got sand in it in many areas and is wrinkled in other areas. The chrome plating on mine was very good, with no issues of note. The rear tail panel, which IIRC was aluminum on the real car, is absolutely beautiful, and likely the best part of the kit. The bumpers and grille look good, too, despite the molded in(!) headlights. The driveshaft is molded to the floorpan/chassis piece, so that look horrible, and the chassis is of the perfectly-straight-on-both-sides variety, meaning it drops right inside the body shell, but leaves a gap all the way around, save for one or two areas. The interior tub isn't too bad, despite being a little shallow and having molded in door door panels and a floor console. Another thing is the shape of the front wheel openings - the trailing edges are cut back so far that part of the chassis shows in the opening. I don't remember this on the original kit. Everything else is pretty much as I remember from the original and to be honest is why I got out of modelling during the late 70s. Not sure why the trailing edges of the front wheel arches are like that (Mark?), but those areas stick out like a sore thumb and will need to be corrected. I can't say I'd recommend using this body and the associated body parts-- bumpers, grille, header panel, etc.-- for anything more than a donor to use with a more accurate '67-'76 Mopar A-body, though. If you've looked over the AMT '75-6 AMC Gremlin kits, this one should look very familiar, with it's generic looking performance parts (Thrush Outsider sidepipes excluded), and engine assembly that looks kinda like the real thing, but lack the details which most '90s and up kits include, and the chassis has molded on riser pegs to support the metal axles. The "340" bodyside stripes are a bit puzzling, too, as mentioned earlier in this topic, since the 340 was long gone by '75. On the positive side, the body shape looks much more accurate than AMT's '71 Duster 340, especially around the rear quarter windows, as well as the general roof shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscool Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 (edited) I don't want anyone to think that I didn't know what I was getting when I bought this kit. I built many an MPC kit during the 70s and at the time thought most of them were superior to AMT kits of the period. It was just a period of time when car kits were going down the toilet. Hey, it WAS the 70s! I have always thought of the 70s as the "anything goes and don't take it seriously" decade. My beef is that i was expecting round2 to do a little more tweaking on it like they have some of the other old kits. Edited May 14, 2014 by oldscool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscool Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Well, I learned something new about A body Mopars while doing some Googling. It seems that Dusters and Dart / Demons have always had different shaped front wheel openings. Duster Dart Looks like the kit has modified Duster openings that were opened just a little too much. You can see the exposed chassis area that I had mentioned in an earlier post. It's hard to tell in the crappy pic but the raised lip around the opening doesn't follow all the way to the bottom rear. It's like someone just cut the piece out with a knife. Also the front wheel isn't centered in the opening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Well, I learned something new about A body Mopars while doing some Googling. It seems that Dusters and Dart / Demons have always had different shaped front wheel openings. Duster Dart Looks like the kit has modified Duster openings that were opened just a little too much. You can see the exposed chassis area that I had mentioned in an earlier post. It's hard to tell in the crappy pic but the raised lip around the opening doesn't follow all the way to the bottom rear. It's like someone just cut the piece out with a knife. Also the front wheel isn't centered in the opening. Because the Dart Sport kit is based on what started out as the MPC '71 Duster, the front wheel openings are in fact reshaped from the Duster, with that slashaway rear line that exposes the lower part of the underbody. It's that way on the Dart promotional model too. I'm not sure if there was a '75 Duster promotional model; if there was, it would have been run first. The '75 Duster annual kit would have been next (it was among the first MPC '75 annual releases) then the tool was permanently changed to produce the Dart. Again, promo models first, then kits. In between the '71 and '72 Duster kits and promos, the mid-year '71 Dodge Demon kit was produced. Truth be known, it's not that good a kit. The hood is too flat (the underside tooling is straight from the Duster, center bulge and all) and the front wheel openings are pure unadulterated Plymouth Duster. The 1:1 Demon was a quickie cob job, a Duster with a Dart front clip (and a taillight panel designed for the 340 Duster). The wheel openings on the Dodge front fenders differ from those on the Plymouth-designed quarter panels in both shape and detail. The Plymouth Scamp is equally unbalanced; it has Plymouth Valiant/Duster front fenders on a Dodge Dart hardtop body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1972coronet Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 The 1:1 Demon was a quickie cob job, a Duster with a Dart front clip (and a taillight panel designed for the 340 Duster). You beat me to the punch here ! Indeed , the Demon's tail lamps / panel was supposed to be for the 1971 Duster 340 model specifically . Their shape was supposed to compliment the 1971 340 (and 'Twister') grille ; not sure if the regular , non-340 Duster was designated to receive the same tail lamps ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robberbaron Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 The chrome plating on mine was very good, with no issues of note. The rear tail panel, which IIRC was aluminum on the real car, is absolutely beautiful, and likely the best part of the kit. The bumpers and grille look good, too, despite the molded in(!) headlights. I picked one of these up at Hobby Lobby last week, and was also struck by how crisp the engraving is on both the plated tail panel and the grille/headlight assembly. Fortunately, the chrome on mine is fine as well. The only place it looks a little wonky is on the Hemi valve covers, but it looks like those might actually have some engraved texture beneath the plating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenrat Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 I got one of these last weekend and immediately tried it out against an AMT '71 Duster. There is chassis showing at the back of the front wheelarches and I thought I was going to have to shorten the chassis but having read this thread it seems that maybe length is not the problem. If you use the Duster chassis with the Dart body you will need to remove the inner front fenders from either the Duster body or the Dart chassis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 (edited) On 12/18/2013 at 10:33 PM, 1972coronet said: The only 1/25 scale differences between a 1975 and 1976 Dart would be the ambre-coloured parking lamps / turn signals in the grille. Should make this an easy reissue, then: MPC-925 1/25 1976 Dodge Dart Sport Gotta be this box art, right? Edited November 4, 2019 by Casey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stavanzer Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 Well, those Honeycomb Rims and that rather dated hood scoop are in the kit right now, so I'd say that is a safe bet for the box art. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vietnam Vet67 Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 Had a new 1974 Dodge Dart Sport back in the day..............loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 I had one of those too (I think it was a 1973) as a beater car in the '80s. Mine was metallic blue with white interior. Slant-6. I also had another beater: similar vintage Plymouth Gold Duster. It was cream with a genuine-snakeskin vinyl top, brown interior, and also a slant-6. Drove both to the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddyfink Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 15 hours ago, Casey said: Should make this an easy reissue, then: MPC-925 1/25 1976 Dodge Dart Sport Gotta be this box art, right? Oh wow! I remember getting this one as a kid! Would love to see it back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 (edited) 22 hours ago, alexis said: Well, those Honeycomb Rims and that rather dated hood scoop are in the kit right now, so I'd say that is a safe bet for the box art. The Pontiac style honeycomb wheels included with the '75 Dodge Dart Sport kit are neither of good quality, nor the same as the honeycomb wheels originally included in the MPC Trans AM annual kit(s). I suspect they are the same as found in the MPC '76 Monza 2+2 kit: I purchased the '75 Dart Sport kit when it was reissued, specifically for the honeycomb wheels, and was very disappointed. Edited November 5, 2019 by Casey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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