CapSat 6

Hi Michael, Not sure if you are aware...Harts parts (https://hartspartsresin.com/) sells some conversion bits to make a '69 into a '68. They sell the '68 grille & header panel, tail panel, and some other things. So far, your Barracuda is looking great! If you're interested in ordering, I have found that they ship pretty quickly, and their parts quality is very good. I have ordered things from him several times over the past few years.

I think there was a resin Black Beauty available a long time ago. IIRC, it was rare even when in production. Perhaps it was Monsters in Motion, or I think somebody named Al Martino who made it? I seem to remember somebody (maybe Mr. Martino) doing a big scale version as well. The AMT '64-'66 Imperial last was issued either as the Western Pickup or as the car from the old show "The Hero". It's possible that Round 2 has that tool. If they did, and I was in charge at Round 2, I would look at revising the body & other parts to Green Hornet (show) spec, and I would also give a look at doing the car from the movie they did some time back. Those subjects are right up Round 2's alley. Also, Polar Lights had the license for the Black Beauty some time ago, releasing a 1/32 scale kit and slot car. I think the Black Beauty in any form, rather than a stock Imperial, would give a better return on any revisions they would have to make.

In the end, the way the cars used in the series were equipped was governed partially by need, and partially by what was easy, inexpensive, and/or available. Most of the General Lees in the series had pretty much standard engines (318's for jump cars, since they were less nose-heavy, and sometimes 383's and 440's for stunts where they needed more power). For specific stunts, they would add headers and better intakes as needed. I'd guess that the car they used for Daisy's Plymouth had whatever it was born with. I'd imagine the car they used in the series probably had a 2 or 4 barrel engine of some kind. Since it was a standard Satellite, it was likely a 318, but they did make quite a few 383 2 and 4 barrel Satellites, too. I'm not sure they even did much by way of stunts with Daisy's car (except for jumping it off a cliff! ). When I plan and build movie and TV replicas, I like to equip them as I would imagine the car as a character was equipped, if it was never actually stated in the show or movie. For instance: when I built my General Lee, it got a sort of NASCAR-inspired Street Hemi. That's what I imagine the car as a character would have had in the '70's. None of the cars used on the show were Hemis as far as anybody knew, but to me, that engine fits the legend! I would imagine Daisy's car as a character was probably a big block, maybe slightly modified but nothing crazy, so if I were building Daisy's '71, it would probably get a blue 383 4-BBL engine. Still, it's plausible that Cooter and her cousins might have swapped a 440+6 engine into her car...

If by "hood with no scoop", you mean the Fast and Furious / Satellite hood...then yes, the 440 6BBL engine was available in the 1971 Road Runner and GTX without the Air Grabber Hood. The F&F/ Satellite hood was actually the "Performance Style Hood" that was standard on the Road Runner and GTX. The standard Performance Hood and 440+6 engine were not available with the other Satellite models in 1971. In 1:1, the air cleaner would have differed a bit between Air Grabber and non-Air Grabber 440+6 engines. It would have likely used the same lid or very similar looking lids, but the base would probably be different, accounting for sealing to the Air Grabber mechanism. In scale, I would say that they both would look the same. If I cared about differentiating the air cleaner for this purpose, I would either try to cut the lower lip surrounding the base of the air cleaner down a bit, or maybe I would use a spare air cleaner without the separate base from the Revell/Monogram '69 Dodge Coronet Super Bee 440 Six Pack kit. I probably wouldn't bother, though. I'm just not 100% sure whether or not the 440+6 intake/carb/air cleaner combo will fit under the F&F / Satellite hood. I'd mock it up first.

I was able to check into this a little bit. Looks like for a Hill Street Blues build, one would want to start out with an AMT/MPC Dodge Monaco. Seems like they used a lot of those on the series. Or maybe you could use a '70 Galaxie for a "prequel" build...

Well...I don't want to get too technical on this one, but I think in around 1970, NYPD still had the green, white and black color scheme on their cars. I think the "Hill St. Blues" look came in the mid-'70's, when by then, most if not all of the '70 Galaxies the NYPD used were probably long out of service. By then, I think the NYPD used the Plymouth Gran Fury & Chevy Caprice for their squads. Of course, there will likely be others on this board who know a WHOLE lot more about NYPD squads than I. Personally, I think the old white/green/black scheme would make a very interesting build, and there should be a lot of reference pics on the internet for one of those, but sticking to initial question, if I were to replace the tires and wheels in this kit, I would probably stay with the kit tires & hubcaps, and replace the wheels with the ones from the CHP Dodge Monaco (newest release only), or the MPC '78 Dodge Pickup. Actually, almost any skinnier generic steel wheel would probably do. I have even narrowed the wide ones in the other Dodge Monaco releases with decent results. I haven't checked the newest releases of this Ford, but I think it would come with either the old MPC or AMT Goodyear Polysteels, or maybe their new Polyglas GT's (but as blackwalls), which would be good for an early '70's period police build.

Another more current source in 1/24 might be the Revell (formerly Monogram) 70’s GMC and Chevy pickups, but you would still have to come up with car street tires.

If you’re looking for those wheels for a 1/24 build, Japanese manufacturer Arii used to offer them as a set with some nice fat 1/24 rubber BF Goodrich TA’s. They’re not so easy to find, but they do pop up on the auction site from time to time.

That's probably a good yardstick...as in: "what would you trade for it?"...

It depends on what you want a particular piece for. If you're truly a collector, then you want the original parts, box, decals, etc. in unbuilt condition. That's where it will really cost you. If you're a builder on the other hand, per Snake's and Mark's comments above, you really can often make built, newer and/or more widely available kits work very well sometimes. Some subjects seem to jump right when they dry up (and that seems to be happening more often with more subjects, as newer runs tend to be more limited as far as production numbers), and others are truly "investment" grade bets- where you will likely never see a retool or reissue of a particular subject (most Jo Han kits, for instance). What cracks me up lately is that even a lot of the old "swap meet dogs" - 80's cars, custom vans, etc.- seem to be getting up there, too, although I think in some cases, it's eBay sellers who are pricing them very optimistically. The Dukes kits prices entertain me. The General Lee was perhaps the most produced kit of all time. There is no shortage of these kits AT ALL. You can actually build a better General Lee out of the Revell '69 Charger kit and some choice aftermarket pieces. Most releases of the MPC/AMT kit are nearly worthless as builders. You could just as easily clone Daisy's Plymouth from a non-Daisy's release of the same kit, for much cheaper. I think some of the General Lees sell sort of high, and the asks are strong these days, but I think many of them still sell for reasonable money. I think you can still find reasonable deals out there for a lot of kits, especially at model swap meets. It does seem like the truly "grail-y" stuff remains "grail-y" though.

The Revell '71 GTX's were molded in white (including the F&F car), although the first release from around 1994 was molded in yellow. The F&F car is more or less the same as the '71 GTX releases, except that the Air Grabber hood in the '71 GTX has been replaced with the standard twin scoop hood, and the 4 barrel intake manifold, carb and air cleaner from the old "'71 Satellite" release have been added back in, with new F&F parts (new wheels and tires, brakes, dropped suspension pieces). The only thing I see different from the 71 GTX release is that the Air Grabber hood is not included, but the 6 Barrel intake, Air Grabber under-hood mechanism, stock tires and wheels, etc. are still included. The F&F car I have was molded in a white plastic that seems a little rubbery to me.

Full disclosure: I have owned multiple '71 Satellites. I love the way they look (although some people hate their looks). I used to be unenthusiastic about the '73-'74 cars, but they have really grown on me. I would take a '73-'74 Road Runner of any kind in a hot minute! I very nearly bought a '73 in the 90's, the reason I passed at the time is that it was a manual steering car (and stripped, too- it was a Rallye Red 318 car with a black bench seat interior). In hindsight, I should have bought it. When I had mine (and my best friend still has a '71 Satellite Sebring), we would refer to them simply as our "Plymouths". The '71 they used on the series was likely a Satellite that was dolled up a little. The standard hood was never used on Road Runners or GTX's (except as an Air Grabber- the AG hood was basically the standard Satellite hood with a fiberglass bubble added to it with the flapper door and a cutout in the middle). So to me, it would be "Daisy's Plymouth". But that's just me...

One other difference is that the 340 engine was optional in 1973 (the 318 engine was standard in the Road Runner in 1973 and 1974), but that was replaced by the 360 engine in 1974, as the 340 was discontinued. There might have been numerous other details and options (including available colors) that differed between 1973 and 1974 Road Runners, but for the most part, sheet metal, body adornment (except for those rear bumper guards) and basic configuration were the same in those two years. Personally, I see Daisy's car as a '73-'74. I will eventually build one like that (a '74 in yellow with black stripes, Magnum 500 wheels, maybe a 400 engine?). The '71's they used in the series were cool, but look a little weird to me, as they weren't really stock. It would make sense that the character had something more or less off-the-shelf, but sporty.

I sent some resin bumpers out to Dale @ LMKC. Like Kurt said, he had me put resin parts on a separate tree than plastic parts. His literature said that he uses a different process for resin parts. The bumpers I sent to him turned out pretty nice. One thing I would recommend would be to clean the resin wheels very well with Westley's Bleach White whitewall tire cleaner first, to remove any mold release.

Hmmm...an El Nomado. I like that!

I think some of the 1:1 dashes were fabricated panels with woodgrain decal (much like the vinyl on the sides of a Country Squire wagon) on them... These kits, including the Dukes Chargers, all had this woodgrain pattern on the dash. I don't think they were ever made of real wood. I think in this era, they used a stock upper dash pad and maybe the frame, and added a sheet metal panel to the front. If it were me, I would sand that down when building. The references I have show most of these dashes were finished more plainly.

I think it was Car and Driver Magazine who used the line in one of their articles about the Buick Grand National: "Darth Vader, your car has arrived". Well- here's the Grand National's Granddaddy. Very Nice!!!

My bad...and I have often wondered why AMT never updated their '66 Skylark to a '67. Getting either a '66, a '67, or both would be nice!

I think we should expect more or less the chassis and suspension that was under the early Olds kits (which were really Mopar-style components, and seem to have been inspired by the old MPC pieces), with the floorpan re-sized to fit the Charger body. That would be OK by me. I agree that the body will make or break this kit. Fingers crossed!!!

AMEN!!!

To me, this one really seems to have the "vintage kit" feel, rather than the "vintage kit that has been through the mill" feel. I think I'm gonna need one. If this is a success in Round 2's view, then hopefully it will lead to a stock '67 Buick Skylark, '68 Coronet, etc...

I agree 100% - you can't determine much until you see the actual built product. I have not been able to find images of any built samples anywhere. What's being said is that Salvino's has taken their time to make the body for this kit look right. They have mentioned the old MPC kit bodies, but it's also been said that the MPC bodies were mostly street stock bodies (true). The new bodies will be done to represent the way the race cars looked (as in: modified wheel openings and slightly flared fenders, which the MPC bodies didn't have). The CAD drawings look very good, but the proof would be in the plastic, so to speak. Rick Salvino joined the webcast at one point and one of the things he spoke about was how they wanted to be sure the roll cage fit the body, and that they wanted to ensure quality for the kit all around, so that sounded hopeful. It does sound to me like they are learning lessons from their earlier projects and applying that knowledge to what they are doing now. They showed some of the sprues on one of their webcasts recently. It does appear that these kits will at a minimum come with both plated and unplated bumpers, and multiple options for grille inserts, perhaps even hood options (power bulge and flat hoods). I think they are going to come with options for Hemi and Wedge heads as well. I am REALLY hoping that they get the bodies right on these kits. If they do, then it sounds like they will really have a winner on their hands!

Some screenshots I made during one of the Salvino’s meetings some time back. These probably do not represent the final product, as they tweak these almost to production. Personally, I think these kits are looking pretty impressive. These show a ‘73-‘74 style car, but they have shown that they have designed a ‘71 style body and different hoods and grille inserts for the kit.

Also- these cars got a sweet canopy 1/2 vinyl top treatment in mid-‘71. I have seen at least 1 ‘71 GTX with a painted 1/2 top, which was REALLY cool!

1) rear bumper, valence & taillights. The ‘72 units are entirely different. 2) ‘72 Road Runner grille. The ‘72 Road Runner grille is unique. The ‘71 Satellites, Road Runners, GTX’s and ‘72 Satellites used the same grille, but with different center ornaments. Also, paint treatments for the standard grille differed by model. The Satellites generally got a bright silver painted grille, while the ‘71 Road Runners, Sebring Pluses and GTX’s got a darker black and argent treatment. 3) side marker units (and quarter panels/ fenders). The ‘71‘s are integrated into the fender, with a large rectangular receiver cutout stamped out of the fender. The ‘72’s are the smaller, rectangular “generic” units, which bolt onto the fender into a smaller round hole in each fender/ quarter panel. 4) header panel emblem: the ‘71 cars used a small Plymouth vertical emblem that went into the round stamped depression in the header panel. There was a decal that circled the depression on all models in ‘71. The ‘72 header panel was the same sheet metal, but a new circular emblem fit completely inside the depression for ‘72. You could swap these from ‘71’s/ ‘72’s, they fit the same way. 5) Rocker mouldings: each model had special rocker mouldings. The GTX in ‘71 had unique ribbed moudlings. The other models either used large flat ones (like the Satellite Sebring Plus) or thinner ones (Road Runner). I’m not 100% sure about the ‘72’s, but they probably differ from the ‘71’s. 6) Belt mouldings: ‘72 Sebring and Sebring Plus models got belt mouldings that wrapped over the wheel houses, and went all the way from the front to rear edges of the car. The Plus model also got an argent paint treatment below the belt moulding. ‘71's could get a smaller belt moulding (body side moulding) set that did not reach the wheel houses, it was more of a rub strip for the door and area just behind the door on the forward portion of the quarter panel. The '71 moulding was available on the non- Road Runner and GTX models, according to the literature on Hamtramck Historical. 7) emblems & stripes: vary by model and year.