Luc Janssens

Is this a screen shot from "Back to the future"?

They actually were, but after they bought Lindberg it seems to me, the efforts were toned down significantly..which is a shame, cuz they have great stuff that could morph into even better kits, I try to be hopeful, cuz they have good people on board, that's why I started this thread...

It seems so Ace Indeed they don't have to, you're right about that, and it's their business plan, just like that of a 2nd hand car dealer My point is also that there are other ex Mpc/amt models which can be re-released by Round-2 but of which the tooling is so far gone, that recycling is the better option, but they don't and thus, no other manufacturer is willing to invest in all new tooling for replicating these fine subject matter, like for instance a '70 GTO.

Well you said it yourself, there are many alternatives, and how much hard to find tooling dollars, will have to be spent to make the kit decent again, to me that kinda investment, is no investment and thus stupid, I'm not saying you are, far from, I value your opinion and input. Luc

They can do that with the snapper too, spending money on an old tired tool like this one IMHO would be stupid, it's BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH like this that hinders other manufactures, from tooling up new kits, from already existing but worn out tooling in Round-2's tooling file. kits like the '67 GTO and the '70 up to '72 GTO.

there was a '78 Firebird 2'n 1 too, warbird it was called IIRC, the rear tires of that one and the Camaro ended up in the Ford F-250/350 pickup

Indeed, I knew that, but somehow forgot....must be getting old

The original Monogram '70 GTX, had a Street Machine sibling, molded in blue, the Superbird was a sibling from the GTX tool too. The '70 Pontiac Trans AM, hmm...good one Casey....another one for Bob Johnson, if someone here has contact info?

I remember when the 2'n 1 Revell (ex Monogram) '69 Coronet came out(2001), Dean Milano stating, that it was the first time, that the street machine parts were included, which were tooled when the kit was designed back in the '80s . So to me it's doubtful that the same MO wasn't applied when designing the Satellite, now those street machine parts inserts could have been scarified when the kit got retooled into a GTX and released in a Revell wrapper in '95. Monogram Kit Revell re-box with the street machine Parts Photo's courtesy of Scalemates https://www.scalemates.com/

neat topic, reminds me of something, Monogram never released a second version of their '71 Plymouth Satellite tool (which was standard practice back then) was it tooled? Where's Bob Johnson when you need him

I'm not sure if I understand, but my idea is, that one develops and tools up this subject in 1/25th, 1/35th and 1/48th scale 1/25 for the automotive modelers 1/35 for the military modelers 1/48 for the aviation modelers The rationale being that this way the development costs can be spread, by tapping into 3 discriminating segments of the hobby market... Where is Brett Barrow....when you need him

Thank you my friend. Strange that this one hasn't been re-released, pickups seem hot in today's market, or so I'm being told.

My plastic pusher said Q1 for the 4x4. The '65-66 I'm thinking Q1 2019 at the earliest, since they only exist in non finalized 3D files.

Et tu, Brute? Anyway...Casey, it doesn't prevent you and other participants on this forum, from making suggestions to improve some of, past Amt/Mpc/Lindberg products, like the engine dress-up parts that were in kit x, which was a dog, but would be a major improvement when included in kit Y, also wheel and tire suggestions, decal suggestions, are welcome in this tread, just about anything to help the powers at Round-2 so they get more ROI and (more) interesting products for us plastic junkies. In a nut shell, there's so much knowledge here, let's put it to good use... Thanks Luc

This would be awesome Link to a post by Casey

1969 Dodge Polara CHP Cruiser 1) Select the type of customer you wish to reach: The enthusiast modeler, As with big rig builders, police car modelers are rarely blessed with new subjects, and the few released were either simplified designs and retools or marketed towards youth, sometimes including questionable and costly extras. Only one kit sticks out and then it's an old tool whose current existential status is unknown, namely the old Jo-Han Plymouth Fury, which was on the market for decades. I firmly believe that police car modelers will lay the green on the counter for a detailed cruiser because they almost always had to rely on aftermarket companies to make a convincing model. 2) Choice of subject matter: The 1969 Dodge Polara is widely known as one of the all-time favorite cruisers amongst officers who were active during the 60s-70s. It is also listed as the fastest cruiser of the time, even surpassing the 94-96 Caprice LT1s. The 1969 Polara equipped with a 440 4bbl was officially clocked at 147mph in tests. It was basically a 4 door muscle car, which sat on top of the food chain eating GTOs, Chargers, Challengers, 'Cudas, Chevelles, Camaros and Mustangs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Just the kit we need for keeping the tablecloths of America's contest tables free from tire burns! In fact, anyone who collects and/or builds muscle car kits must have at least one, just to keep his collection intact. 3) Design of the kit & tool: Finding a pristine example will not be a problem in this case, because Hemmings "Muscle Car Machines" Magazine recently did a restoration feature on one. Likewise for someone to measure and photograph it, because it's in Tom Montgomery's (Former Amt/Ertl kit designer) back yard! Body: Four-door body of course with fine and sharp engraving (Don't you love the window surrounds on a late 60s Jo-Han annual?) and without heavy molded-in features. For example, a dome light which can lead to a sink mark in the roof, which the modeler has to fill and sand. Small ridges and holes where to drill in the roof for roof mounted emergency lights will do. Because this car has seen service in many agencies, it would be handy to either offer the side moldings as separate metal transfer pieces (like Galaxie LTD's 1948 Chevrolets). This may not be feasible and could be a possible giveback when running into budget issues, but since it's a thin molding to begin with, it probably can be sanded off with relative ease when molded-in. The body closings will only consist of the hood dressed up with a separate lip* and hinges, in case the builder wants to show off the engine. The following items round up the body assembly: firewall, inner fenders (as with Amt '68 RR), radiator brace, side mirror(s)*, door handles*, front bumper* with separate grille* (to ease the detail painting) with clear headlamp lenses, rear bumper*, tail lamp-surrounds* with a perimeter flange to reinforce them and provide a gluing surface to mount them into the body and provide a stop for the rear bumper, and clear tail lamp-lenses of course (* indicates chrome part). Interior: The plain-Jane base level trim all around interior, would be a sort of snap-fit platform style, minimizing the risk of getting glue in unwanted places. Consisting of a floorboard with a two piece dash, steering wheel and column with molded-in selectors, separate pedals, two piece bench seat, separate rear seat with package tray (flashed over holes for mounting the two CHP flashers), separate door panels to allow for easy detailing. Police radio set-up for the transmission hump. It can be similar to the Jo-Han Plymouth set up, as that was very accurate. However, having separate pieces for the radio, siren control and switches would be great so that different set-ups can be configured by the builder. Two detailed microphones are needed; there was only one in the Jo-Han kit which was incorrect for the set-up. Chassis and drivetrain: Breakdown similar to AMT's 1957 Chrysler 300 or their 1960 Galaxie kit, 440 4bbl (what else!) with Torqueflite 727 Auto Trans. This police engine was rated at 375 HP. Kit should include two air cleaners, one stock and one low restriction. The low restriction is the police unit, and is similar in design to the one in the Lindberg 1964 Dodge 330 kit. It's actually referred to in the Dodge literature as an "unsilenced" air cleaner. Separate chassis, heavy duty rear end, dual exhaust, and front and rear sway bars round out the chassis. Wheels: two sets...one needs to be correct steel wheels with dog dish hub caps of correct vintage. I'd include a base series full hubcap as an option for those doing a standard sedan. Tires need to be a beefy vintage blackwall, Goodyear Polyglas or similar. The ones AMT has been using for years are actually pretty good. Accessories: Here's where it gets tricky. The Jo-Han Plymouth was actually a great kit for the roof lights alone. They were extremely accurate and looked the part. This kit should be done with that in mind, optional roof light set-up* for multiple agencies. Spotlights* for both sides are a must. Two styles of beacon lights, one like the Jo-Han, which is a Federal model 176H and one a flat top 4 beam (Federal 184, Dietz 211 or similar). The roof bar with twin beacons would be nice too. That's a Federal model 11, with optional chromed siren speaker in the center. I'd use the rounded speaker (like the speaker on the Adam-12 car) instead of the flat wide style in the Jo-Han kit. Since electronic sirens were just becoming popular, it would still need an old mechanical siren for under the hood as another option. To round it out, about six flashers of different sizes, 2 small, 2 medium, 2 larger, all single faced. These could be used for rear deck flashers, front grille flashers, optional light bar flashers, etc. Now the most important necessity for all of these lights: MOLD ALL OF THEM IN CLEAR PLASTIC. Not red, not blue, not a mix... CLEAR. This allows the builder to tint them accordingly to the agency that's being represented. The push bar would be a preformed pre-painted metal assembly, to keep it in scale and robust Agency decals: I'm sure licensing and permissions are in order here. But it shouldn't be too bad, considering Hawk/Lindberg is issuing about 6 different state agencies in their reissue of the 1996 Crown Victoria. A CHP version is a must, this would negate the need for roof lights, too, as they ran most of these with no roof lights and dual spotlights, the driver's side being red. The CHP would also have two flashers, one red and one amber, on the back package shelf, both on the left side, facing rear. However, the 1969 Polaras were used all over the country, and offering different versions or including different agencies in the one kit (like the Jo-Han Plymouth) would be great, one thing will be certain the deacsl will be done by Cartograph of Italy. About the tooling now, when planned and designed right, it canbe used for a plethora of C-body MoPar kits, from 1969 up to '77 as the chassis were virtually unchanged except for the yearly addition of annual emissions upgrades (or downgrades, if you will). Therefore the tooling lay-out isn't one big chunk of steel with removable inserts but a cluster of several and smaller tools A-Parts, Floorboard and chassis with suspension, axles & wheels. B-Parts, Engine and accesoiries. C Parts, Interior and body add-ons. D-Plated parts. E-Clear parts. Tires Taking this route, along the way one or more smaller tools in combination with others can be used in further siblings like for instance a '74 Monaco, one of the stars in the classic movie "the bluesbrothers", and seen in many many cop shows seen on TV like CHiPs, or a Gran' Monaco, remember Hill Street Blues? 4) Packaging and support Boxart: I really like the way Sean Svendsen handled the Model King box designs of the '70 Wildcat and Camaro Funny Cars. He really knows how to present a built model, so I would put him in charge of that, but I also like the art work of Jairus Watson and know he would do a good job of a CHP unit burning sideways (showing off the "Wolfs Head" graphics on the door) through a sharp curve on Mulholland drive, in hot pursuit of some bad boys, Hmm...maybe I have to flip a coin The size of the box would be like the "Accurate Miniatures" Corvette kits, to show off the artwork and the neatly displayed contents when removing the box top. Packaging of the parts: chrome, clear parts, tires, packed separately in poly bags, same for the white plastic parts, decals by Cartograph covered with a protective paper and bagged too. Instruction sheet: I like the approach AMT/ERTL took in the mid 1990s, which was very detailed and every part was clearly identified. Consumer support: On our company website I would post a whole range of photos taken when the engineers of product development were measuring up the cruiser, together with anecdotes, facts and fiction of the subject and the agency it served with. Also a photo composing as per instruction sheet sequence would be available on line together with tips on how to build a perfect model. 5) Budgetary constraints I would lose the metal transfers, and engrave the side molding into the cavity of the body sides, is a too simple solution for the cash problem, therefore I would get in touch with a die cast manufacturer (like Highway 61) to see if the project is of interest to them too, because the majority of model car collectors are not modelers, if they're interested the R&D costs would drop considerably, and could start a long term partnership 6) Post a photo of the subject https://assets.hemmings.com/story.../79942-500-0@2x.jpg... Courtesy of HMM For more photo's of this beautiful restored vehicle, please check out the Hemmings Muscle Machines article via link below. https://www.hemmings.com/.../1969-Dodge.../1451907.html Note: The book "Dodge, Plymouth & Chrysler POLICE CARS, 1956-1978" by Edwin Sanow and John Bellah, Motorbooks International was used for reference. Tom Sheehy & Luc Janssens

It looks like, I had a "blonde" moment

Still remember the heading on the Ertl Blueprinter magazine, when it was announced, "You asked for it"

I have the original Mpc annual kit of the '86, Red Light Bandit it said on the box IIRC, alway's liked that front end, but in those days molded-in headlamps were the norm, not so great in my book, and a pet peeve of mine Oh....for years I didn't know that that kit existed, and wrote letters to Monogram to up-date their kit, to no avail.

That makes them even less useful, cuz from a few I saw they're not factory blueprints but sales literature drawings, you'd have to go to the OEM, to get the real deal, get permission and pass the cashier If I ever win the Jackpot, 2 friends and I will start a scanning biz, so we can sell those files to toy, model companies and even companies who are in the 1:1 resto biz.....ah it soo great to dream, wish me luck

Cool!

Drill both and then insert plastic rod painted body color, after the body has been painted.

There is some good looking scans, but also those who are off by a mile. I was looking for a late '60s Opel Rekord just like my dad had while I was growing up, he didn't have the coupe, but a Caravan (stationwagon) like an uncle once had (these Opel's were very popular) ... But anyway....he drew it as a 2dr. but the length of the door is far too short, it's more like a 4dr. with the RR door blanked out, also the shape of the taillites is off, and the '72 model he has is a joke...

Italeri is the better one, thought in 1/24th scale. Revell also had one in 1/25th, but with a dual rear axle.

You may buy the whole production run I'll save my money, maybe after the BMW 2002, Hasegawa comes with something like a VW Type 3.....