CapSat 6

X2! I think if we ever see an all new, full detail Mopar C-Body, the '70 300 would be the one to do. Variants could include: base 300/ convertible, and 300-H Convertible, of which I think one or two were built as pace cars of some kind. It's interesting that Auto World/ Round 2 did the '70-'71 Fury in 1/64 diecast. I hope it sells really well, and they follow up with a 300-H in 1/64. Maybe those 1/64's could prove a market could exist for a 1/25 kit. I would even take a curbside.

I had a V.I.N.C.E.N.T. kit way back in the day...from what I remember, it had some neat details- "hands", "telescoping hover balls" (I don't know what else to call them), rotating head. It should be a fun build. I re-watched "The Black Hole" recently...a LOT to unpack there...did my version of "MST3000" with a few of my friends via screenshots & text while watching. 😁

Dang. All that for one VERY green T Bird!

I wonder about this one too. The stock ‘72 Torino (through ‘76) did use a full frame. The ‘67-‘69 Fairlane and ‘70-‘71 Torino were unibody, and famously used the Galaxie front stub in NASCAR. I think around 1972 when the Torino hit, the rule in NASCAR was that each model / body style had to use the same chassis format as that particular model/body (but not necessarily stock components)- so - coil springs and full frame for the ‘72 Tornio. I think the Jo Han kit chassis is correct for a ‘72 Tornio/ Mercury. I think the rules were more loose as far as the actual components, or at least that is what I read, so it was possible that a given team could have opted for a Dana instead of a Ford 9” rear, for instance, or even a Chrysler transmission instead of a Ford, if that is what the builder preferred. That could explain the Dana in the kit. Whichever car Jo Han looked at might have run a Dana. I think right in ‘72, the rules were in flux a bit, but eventually, everybody settled on using the same components for their cars, due to cost, known reliability, and availability (I think Richard Petty once described it as the whole aftermarket going “Chevy Chevy Chevy”, as far as engine parts, which hobbled the Chrysler teams, as good aftermarket engine parts were more expensive and harder to get- although not being able to get good new engine blocks from Chrysler, and the lack of a new body style with decent aero eventually put the final nails into the coffin of their racing efforts). I think the same body/ same chassis rule went away some time around 1976- when they went to the “standard” chassis they used through the late ‘70’s and ‘80’s. I always thought that the chassis in the Jo Han ‘72 Torino, Dana aside, was correct for that car (but not for earlier Ford intermediates)- that the Jo Han chassis represented more or less a FoMoCo ‘72-‘76 chassis.

I think some of the old, original Jo-Han '62''64 Dodges and Plymouths came with up-tops, as well as some of their mid-60's C Body Convertible kits. I'm not sure exactly which ones- I don't really pay close attention to convertible kits, or the earlier stuff. To my knowledge, no '68-'70 B Body kit has ever come with an up-top. I don't think any of those old Jo Han kit pieces could be adapted to the later cars. Here's an old thread that describes the differences...

3D Scale Parts on eBay… https://ebay.us/m/Nwv2ny

This one is driving me a little nuts now…when I had the yellow one, I remember that the front clip seemed to be specific to a Z-28…and that if the builder didn’t use the separate side skirts, then they mismatched. Same with the white stock Revell Z-28 I had. I was intrigued by the idea of building it without the Z-28 body stuff…I was somewhat of the opinion that the base Camaros and Berlinettas were a bit sleeker than the Z-28’s. I could have sworn I saw a stock 1/25 Berlinetta of some kind back in the day, but admittedly, I didn’t pay too much attention to Revell kits of that era, and I was a teen then, so my memory could be failing me here. I keep thinking I saw one in one of those auto transport sets (which were thin on the ground, and pricy for the time), but Google isn’t being helpful there. But IF this is to be a Berlinetta, either they will have to tool up a new nose if it doesn’t exist, or it was there all along, either unreleased, or as a rare variant. The box art seems to strongly hint at no body side cladding and lower fascia trim. The pics of the build are a little less clear about that. Either way, this is sort of a “deep cut”. The prior two street machine releases (the ones I know about) were both Z-28’s.

I think the Camaro is one of these. I did also have the white and gold stock Z-28. It is a very nice kit, with separate body cladding. None of these had the Berlinetta nose. I do seem to remember a stock Berlinetta kit in 1/25 though. Could it have come with Revell’s transporter trailer set? I seem to remember that kit came with a Firebird SE and a Berlinetta.

Round 2 absolutely has been on a roll with their box art. It’s no exaggeration to say that right now, Round 2 is perhaps doing the best box art and decals to come out of any model manufacturer ever. No joke- we might be seeing the “Golden Age Of Car Model Box Art” here. The boxes make me want some of their kits even if I didn’t want them before, and I still want some of the boxes, even if I still don’t want the kits. Regarding the Monza, I’d rather have the MPC kit back. I think the body looks SOOOO much better in the MPC kits, although - yeah- the chassis is super basic. The engine is still VERY nice in the MPC kit though. The speed parts in that one (especially the multi- piece custom headers) are really, really nice. They are probably some of the best SBC headers I have ever seen. As they have Siamese port spacing for the middle cylinders, they could probably be adapted to Mopar small blocks, too. I would take as many sets of those headers (and I think they also appear in most late 70’s / early 80’s MPC Corvettes, too) as I could reasonably acquire. I still might try to get an AMT kit, for the chassis bits to use with my old MPC copy, as suggested above.

Smells like updoc to me...

Doing a new '65 Barracuda this way was a canny move by Round 2. Need a mostly stock '66? Bash it with the '65. Want a '65 HUG? Bash it with the '65. Want a detailed Valiant build, using that built Craftsman kit you picked up 20 years ago (😁)? Bash it with the '65... The chassis alone is a HUGE improvement over any of the originals. No more cutting, cramming and carving AMT '71 Duster or MPC '76 Dart Sport chassis for early A Bodies!

Man...be careful what you wish for! That last MPC Pro Street Camaro was sort of really a hot mess. The bumpers, flares, spoilers and and front cap did not fit on the body very well at all (and by that I mean: "really badly". I remember this very well from the last one I owned, started to build, and traded off later). I'm sure that's a result of those parts being adapted to the '74-'76, which before, had been the '70-'73. The chassis was really meh, and very gappy. It had an OK big block / automatic trans (!) which was left over from it's origins as an annual 1970-1/2 Camaro SS. To me, it's really one of the lesser MPC leftovers- not by subject matter, just by overall quality. Just my opinion, I think the MPC '69 Charger is just about more buildable, and that is saying something. I know the subject matter is exciting, and there were some neat racing parts in that kit (but really nothing you can't get out of an MPC NASCAR car kit), but are you sure you want that one back??? That being said- this would be a great subject for Round 2 to clone. Seeing what they have done with their MPC '68 Coronet, '68 and '65 GTO's, and upcoming '65 Barracuda, this subject would really, really benefit from that treatment, AND multiple versions ('74-'76, + mid-'70's Firebirds!!!) could be baked right into the design. There is a LOT of potential (subject matter AND sales potential) in doing a retro tool for this one. Sure, it could also be worth popping a few out of the original tool...as long as it doesn't cost too much. If Round 2 spends too much time or money on this one though, it would have been much better spent on a Retroclone. Just my unsolicited $0.02. I'm sure many people won't agree, but to me, that is one kit that I want to build and don't want to build all at the same time...when they hit, I'll probably end up passing.

This is a puzzler. Do you want to restore it as it was offered by MPC? Or for a stock ‘65 Coronet 500? The kit came with a cross ram race Hemi. You can find more or less the same engine in most releases of the MPC ‘66-‘67 Charger. It’s exactly the same tooling like Mark says above. The Coronet 500 in 1:1 was never available with the Hemi. The top option would have been the 426 Street Wedge. You could use any kit 440, with an air cleaner from either the MPC ‘68 Coronet, Moebius ‘65 Dodge or Plymouth with wedge engines, or Lindberg ‘64 Dodges / Plymouths with the wedge engine. If you want something that would look like something MPC would have put in as a stock engine that would be accurate to a ‘65 Coronet, then maybe the 440 engine from the MPC ‘68 Coronet could be adapted. You would have to work on the transmission, as the ‘68 has a trans that’s split between the driveshaft and the case. If you look at the ‘68 Coronet kit parts, you’ll see exactly what I mean.

I think the Jo Han Furies did come with Hemis. Before the Hemi was banned from NASCAR briefly in ‘65, the Fury was looked at to be raced with a Hemi if it were ever to come back. Also, Chrysler looked at offering the Street Hemi in C Bodies. I think I read somewhere that prototype parts such as exhaust manifolds were tooled up for C Body Hemi installations. As this might have been in the works for Chrysler, it might have been decided to put the Hemi in the kits and offer racing options for that engine. I think either the ‘65 or ‘66 Fury actually had a Petty NASCAR building option, too. A few C Bodies might have been raced in NASCAR, but the top teams all stayed with the B Body after the ban was lifted, initially using a Hemi destroked to 404 cubic inches. The rules might have stated 426 cubes for Hemis for full size cars, and 404 c.i. for intermediates, but eventually, this fell by the wayside. if you want something that would look like a 383 that would better fit the 1:1 car, and look like something that would have come with the kit, maybe try to find the 440 from the Jo Han ‘68 Fury Police Car, or the Jo Han ‘68 Chrysler 300. Those would look the part and probably fit right up. They were great looking engines back when they were tooled up, and they still look pretty good compared to what’s available now. The Chrysler engine comes with an air cleaner with “TNT” detailing on the pie plate area, the Police engine comes with a plain / unengraved pie plate. You could always go with the 383/440 from the Revell Dart. That seems to be the best looking 383-440 in scale. The 440 in the Revell ‘68-‘69 Charger is also a really nice one. Any “440” in scale could be dressed as a 383, or a 400, or a 413/426 Street Wedge. They all looked the same externally except for some details. Earlier engines had different details such as air cleaners. The right air cleaner could be found in the Moebius or Lindberg Dodges and Plymouths. The Moebius engines are pretty good as well, with the Lindberg engines a bit weaker/ squarer/ less detailed looking. The air cleaners in the Moebius and Lindberg kits don’t really look too good to me- Jo Han nailed the ‘65-‘68 big block air cleaner and nobody else really came close. Somebody really needs to cast copies of the air cleaner from the Jo Han ‘68 Fury Police car and offer them for sale.

It would be nice to see Round 2 do a Landy ‘68. They should tool up nice new Cragars on a small shot of their own (perhaps copied from the old MPC units we used to see in their ‘71-‘76 Road Runner annuals, but NOT like the new ones in that ‘71 Demon kit) to throw in the box. For that matter, Round 2 could tool up a new hood, one piece rear valance and grille inserts for their ‘69 Charger, to at least bring that one up to “acceptable”, and do a Landy release. I’m sure with the Cragars, decals and new parts per above, they could wring new sales out of that old chestnut. Now speaking of diecast- and I don’t want to turn this into a hijack- along with the new ‘68 Coronet R/T (which will apparently have convertibles coming in 1/64 within a few months, according to the preorders on some sites), they have also just released a really, really nice ‘70 Fury. This gives me hope that they are at least considering a 1/25 kit.

Don’t take this as a knock. It’s not to be meant as a knock of any kind… I sought out a lot of old annuals for a long time. I got tons of Mopar annuals in my time…but I never had a ‘72 Duster. I still have an MPC ‘71 that I found in the late 80’s and built up. It’s still in my case. I’m not terribly happy with it, but it’s ok enough to stay built. The ‘72 is so similar to the ‘71, I guess I felt like I never needed one. I AM really happy to see Round 2 do all of these retro releases. All of them, even if I’m not an end user, even if a particular subject doesn’t really trip my trigger. I’m really glad to see that there is a company out there making things for “us”. I’ll probably buy one of these out of curiosity. It would be just fine for me to have one of these join the rest of my “stock”. I’m still holding out hope for a ‘72 Demon, though…

That is correct. This new kit seems to share engineering with the ‘71 Demon. I have to figure that the ‘72 Duster was baked in with the original design of the ‘71 Demon. Perhaps we will see other variants- Pro Stocks, maybe a ‘73-‘76 Duster? Otherwise, doing the ‘72 doesn’t make too much sense to me, as the ‘71 Duster is so similar. What I would really like to see out of this tool is a Mr. Norm’s Supercharged ‘72 Demon.

That’s a very good point. The ride height looks about stock. Looking at that one shot of the chassis plate, you might be able to razor saw the front axle off, trim it down a bit, and reattach, thereby lowering the front. That would perhaps give you a custom rake. Still a PITA though…

There are some interesting design choices here, to be sure. I like the idea of the removeable roof section...that's the only way you will really be able to see any interior details, and that's what these vas are really all about. The Revell Custom Chevy Van from the 70's had this, and I have started an old MPC Dodge that I'm going to build as a custom that I have done the same thing to. It looks like the conscious choice was made to put the tooling dollars into the exterior and interior details, at the expense of the engine. Was this a good choice? I'm sure we will litigate that right here. The way I see it, we didn't necessarily need a new tool for this subject, as Round 2 has the old AMT Chevy Van, and Revell themselves has the old Monogram shorty. Those kits both have engine detail for those that must have it. I'm partial to Dodges, and while the MPC kit does come with engine detail, that engine is meh, and there is no opening hood. I have gotten used to that. My guess it that Revell looked at modifying the shorty, and the old Custom Van - and this was the the easier, cheaper, and ultimately best choice. They at least did the right configuration for the subject, instead of faking it with the wrong body style/model/year kit, like we have seen with other movie and TV subjects. The show fans will have something to buy, casual builders will have a good experience with a modern tool, and I'm sure they have baked in variants for down the road that will have further sales appeal. I would be there for custom wheels and Kiss or Star Wars graphics. My only real knock is the look of that grille...but it's not exactly a deal killer for me, the whole built sample looks pretty decent overall in the pics.

Wow- Stranger Things is giving us a lot of new tooling! Now I have to email the producers and convince them to give the ‘78 Magnum a starring role

Any 2015- up Challenger??? Chances are hurt a bit with Round 2’s Challenger being a curbside. Still- I wonder why no 2015-up Challengers have ever been done as a regular model kit. These cars proved to be very popular in 1:1 (much more so than the classic first gen- there, I said it!) and there are a TON of model/hood/wheel/trim variations that could be done. Maybe now that Stellantis has permanently stopped production, we will finally get some more Challenger kits? 🤔

Neat that the GTO is coming back. I see these around the streets once in a great while. My understanding is that the 2004 was a fully stock kit. The first releases had prepainted bodies in stock colors. The 2005 was the “drift car” (with a rear wing), but I’m not sure much else was added, except for the bold graphics preprinted on the body. I think the 2005 even came with stock wheels. I have one somewhere- I’m sure I got it somewhat economically at a local model show when they were relatively new. I was able to promptly devalue it by removing the factory paint with a soak in 90% alcohol, and then back in the box it went. I will get back to that one someday. I think it would have made more sense to put out the 2005, as I think the 2004 has been reissued at least once before, and also, it might be more enticing for younger builders (what with the wing and all). Also- the 2004/ 2005 had some model year differences: primarily, the 2004 had a flat hood and a 350 horse engine (which was plenty stout for 2004), but the 2005 got a ram air hood and 400 horses, since sales of the 2004 weren’t exactly hot, so GM added some spice to the dish in order to juice sales. The 2005 was improved both visually and mechanically to address complaints that the car was a little “boring” in its initial form. I remember that although I was excited to see them come, and I dabbled with the idea of buying one back then, they kind of stuck me as looking a little like a puffed up Grand Am that first year. Maybe Round 2 will throw the ram air hood and wing into the box? Also, they should call those parts out on the box, although the details of the release are probably already set.

It does look like there was a Barris connection there. He was evidently capable of restraint He was probably just following orders for a mildly restyled ‘67 for the new car season: https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/george-barris-presents-the-ford-custom-cruisers/ It looks like the Barris car built for the new car show circuit was a coupe/ wagon concept. Ford seemed to be fixated on this type of thing for several years. The coupe/ wagon thing really was cool 😎!!! IF this were to be cloned, Round 2 could try to bake in some of the traits of the show car, although it probably wouldn’t be practical to accurately recreate all of the modifications to the roof and hatch, but perhaps they could include a hatch piece for “advanced modelers”, engrave cut lines in the inside of the rear of the body and call the Barris connection out on the box (with the proper licensing, if it’s not too costly). A quick internet search did bring up a tasty modern custom, too. Again, I think this one resides squarely in the middle, but IF Round 2 has some of this tool to work with (perhaps they have the ‘67 body somewhere) then I think the chances increase. An all new clone might make it less attractive; it seems like this one is getting a bit of a mixed response from the crowd.

Ok…can of worms time! I’ll try to be as objective as possible. I’d say this one is somewhere in the middle of the list. That gives us a very, very wide space. It’s sort of like answering with: we could have any kit become available- it’s a “somebody who has never been in my kitchen” answer 😁 But seriously- I do see people comment about this subject once in awhile. It does come up. I wouldn’t say there is universal clamor for this subject, but many people think it would be nice to have it. I usually see more buzz about the ‘70 Cyclone or ‘71 Road Runner than something like this one. As far as Ford products go: would the ‘67 Galaxie rank higher than a ‘70-‘71 Cyclone? Probably not. Would it rank above a ‘69 Cyclone Spoiler? Maybe? Maybe not. Higher than a ‘68 or ‘69 Torino formal sedan? Maybe, maybe not. What about full size Mercuries? They stopped right around 1964, I think. Many people would like to see a Hawaii 5-0 special, or ANY full size Mercury. I knew a guy who had a ‘68 Mercury Monterey Convertible. That was a really neat car, a rare bird. They have almost no following. The very few that survive made it by pure dumb luck. Casting wider: would the ‘67 Galaxie rank higher than a ‘69 Impala? Or ‘71 Impala? I think full size Chevies usually have more demand for them than full size Fords. We have a lot of those and have gotten a lot of those kits within the past 25 years. There are a few gaps, but man- full size Chevies are covered pretty well. They seem to get customized a lot in 1:1, and the Lowrider crowd like them, too. Would the ‘67 Galaxie rank higher than a ‘69 Pontiac Grand Prix? Dunno. Maybe? Maybe not. I have my own preference here, but everybody will feel a little differently. Lastly: what about full size Mopars? ‘67 Galaxie vs. ‘66 Plymouth, for instance? Maybe the Galaxie by a nose. I’m a Mopar guy, and the ‘65-‘66 C Bodies leave me a little cold, although people seem to be nuts about them. What about vs. a ‘70 Chrysler 300 Hurst? Well…the 300 might have the nod there. I might see an all new (as in: ‘69-‘72 C Body) full size Chrysler having some real market impact (or maybe not. There could be a “Mopar Mirage” effect going on there)… These are just my guesses. The ‘67 Galaxie would be aimed squarely at us- I’m not sure that would be a mass-market thing. Sure, they might get a few sales at Wal Mart or the LHS, but really, this would be for US, and we don’t all really agree on this kind of thing 100%. Does the ‘67 Galaxie have a racing history? I think Ford shifted right to intermediates before the ‘67’s, but there there could have been a few campaigned in NASCAR. I want to say Wendell Scott rebodied an old Holman Moody castoff as a ‘67 at some point. I’m pretty sure the original AMT kit had a NASCAR option, but when the ‘67 kit was being developed, it was probably Conventional Wisdom that they would be campaigned in NASCAR, until they weren’t. Drag history? Not really. Customs? Low riders? I don’t think I have ever seen one of these in person at any kind of small or medium cruise. I would imagine they’re only really seen now at larger Ford shows (not that they don’t deserve love- they are neat cars, they just don’t seem to have a real hold on the 1:1 hobby crowd). I’m just not sure this subject has as much of that universal appeal that many other subjects of the time have. So…yeah…I’d say this one is squarely in the middle. There are probably a bunch of subjects that are similar that would probably get the greenlight before this one…it’s a nice enough car, but I think the more significant full size Fords have more or less been covered. It’s a shame the tooling didn’t survive (I think it didn’t survive). If Round 2 does have the most of the tooling for this one though, it would definitely be worth investing a little in it and firing it up. It could be worth tooling up a few small things to get it back on the market. Would I buy one? Not really. I would probably buy all of the cars I mentioned above first. If I had to pick a Galaxie, mine would probably be a ‘64 (which I can get).

I have to think that the Cyclone is at or near the top of Round 2's list of tools to clone. Every time the NASCAR version comes up, many cries of "we need the stock version back" (wholly justified, IMHO) are heard. Sign me up for one!