CapSat 6

Thanks, Steve! It's definitely not something I do all the time, but I do have to admit that opening that puppy was a real gas!

I usually avoid older sealed kits (especially ANYTHING Jo Han!). I just like the idea of seeing what I'm buying. Also, as I do "collect" a few models, I don't see the attraction to a sealed kit that you can never view. At least with old Hot Wheels and action figures, for instance, you can see the item through the blister pack. True Confession Time: I once (about 10 years ago) bought a sealed kit like this off of the 'bay. It was a 1973 MPC annual kit, that's all I will say. It came up as a "buy it now" for a fairly low price- low enough where I felt I could roll the dice. Let's say about 2-3x the cost of a new kit. The shrink wrap looked right in the pictures, and the box looked excellent. I bought it. I received it. In no time, I opened it. It was exactly what you would expect- a perfect, sealed kit. I don't even think it had any tire burns anywhere (by 1972, the 'white" parts came in their own bag in MPC kits, so as long as that stayed closed, all that were vulnerable to tire burns was the glass pieces & the decals). The chrome usually did not get tire burns as I think the plating protected the plastic underneath. It was super nice. It was quite an experience opening that shrink wrap. No regrets here!!! If it were an MPC 1968 Coronet R/T Hardtop, perhaps my actions would have been a little more sinful. There is now one less sealed one in the world thanks to me, but this one probably still remains as nice as it was when I opened it. At least now, the contents can be perused. Call it a public service. Still- it was too nice to build, so I sold it off again about a year later, for a good deal more than what I paid for it.

I think Clearly Scale was working on a whole Hellcat package, however, it seems that their business might be on hiatus right now. It would be nice if we saw some newer (2015-2020) Challengers as kits. This subject might fit the "multiple variant" model very well, as we could see R/T's, Scat Packs, Hellcats, Demons & Widebodies all from the same basic tool. If Revell were still truly "in the game" right now, this would be where they would revisit their 2008 SRT 8 tool and have at it...

Just wait: maybe they’ll do a ‘69 General Lee...and you’ll be that much closer to stock. This one looks pretty nice, but a little toylike in areas, big exposed Phillips screws in places, too...

NOSTALGIA!!! I built one of these when I was about 9. I thought the huge decals, side pipes, and T Tops were super cool at the time! It was a muscle car before I knew what muscle cars were (along with the contemporary “Killer ‘Cuda ‘69 Barracuda, etc.). It spoke to me as a really cool car, something besides the endless Vettes, 70’s Bandit Firebirds (which were still cool), custom pickups and vans, and lame-mobiles like Mustang II’s, Dodge Sports, and the like that made up the “Annual” releases back then. I dd acquire an orange-on-the-box ‘69 to recreate it, but thought better of it, perhaps. I’m gonna cut T-Tops into and side-pipe a ‘Cuda body instead.

Agreed- other casters seem to be filling in with rare parts production here and there. Harts Parts comes to mind- I have seen more replacement hoods and bumpers on their site. Also- there's a caster on eBay ("Kittypurrs?") who seems to be doing more by way of replacement hoods, bumpers & taillights & other replacement parts for Mopars lately. Still - it was nice to have a one-stop shop where you could get nicely chromed bumpers for old cars. The Modelhaus really did fully enable the part of the hobby that restored old built kits, as otherwise, it will be nearly impossible to hunt down some of the parts that they offered. This is where the Old Kit Breakers on eBay are stepping in and, while offering some bumpers & such for $20 a piece (!!!), they're the only game in town for some subjects. Another unkind cut to all of this was that Chrome Tech went out soon after. It seems that Chrome Tech got the bulk of their business from the Modelhaus, so, once MH went out, Chrome Tech hung it all up, too. I used to occasionally send orders to Chrome Tech, as they would take parts in any condition, and charge depending on how much prep they had to do (untouched, stripped, or stripped/ mounted). I preferred to strip and clean them up myself, and leave the mounting to them. I'm not sure there is another model chroming operation out there who will take un-mounted parts right now, & I still have some stuff I want chromed.

Let's muddy the waters some more: Looking at some old built ups I was able to get some time ago, the MPC Hemi Under Glass kits used 1968 and 1969 annual bodies, with hoods molded in. The chassis for these, as far as I can tell, eventually moved (with a few detail changes: mostly in the transfer case, headers, and wheels/slicks) over to the MPC L.A. Dart (and later, "Hemi Hunter") Dart Swinger wheelstander kits. It does appear that the chassis in the MPC H.U.G.'s was designed using the 1:1 H.U.G. as a template. It has a Mopar K Frame, and a simple roll cage. The only real downside is that this chassis doesn't mount very well either in the Barracuda or Dart bodies, and for the '66 body, you might have to do some trimming. The L.A. Dart and Hemi Hunter have been reissued several times recently, so if you can find one of these, you could either combine that chassis and powertrain with a newer MPC '69 Barracuda body and build a "69" H.U.G., or perhaps use that chassis for a '66 body which might get you something more accurate than the AMT chassis. To my eyes, both the MPC and AMT kits appear to use generic Gen I Hemis, rather than the Gen II's that the H.U.G.'s used, so I would replace the engine, too. Fortunately, in the 1/25 world, good Hemis practically grow on trees. I agree that research is key...also, over the years, the H.U.G. changed greatly, being run by Bob Riggle until pretty recently. I got to see both cars (the '66 and the '68) run at different times in the '90's. Very cool to see in person!!!

Seriously, though: what about a reissue of a '70's custom van with Coke packaging & decals, with two building options: one for a stock-ish period delivery van, and the other for a Coke themed wild custom van? The AMT Ford or Chevy, or the MPC Dodge would be great candidates. The box art for such a kit could be killer. We haven't seen the MPC Ford van in some time (basically since the early 80's), that would be a really nice one to have back. This would be a great excuse to get it back. Some of the custom parts in some of those (Sunrunner, Sorcerer, Juke Box?) were fantastic. I'm thinking they had the option to flip that tool back and forth from 2wd to 4wd configuration; the 2wd would work better for this purpose. I seem to remember these kits having stock dog dish hubcaps in them, they would work well for the delivery van option. Didn't they do a Ford Ranger pickup with Coke graphics in the 90's? Even that one was pretty cool. Oh wait- I see that in the thread. Yeah, pretty cool!

Curiosity - we still want to see it (and can admire the workmanship), even if we don't want to buy one.

I don't think those seats exist in scale. The Revell/ Monogram 1/24 Hemi Cuda seats were the "leather" pattern, same for the original MPC annual seats. The Jo Han Pro Stock 'Cuda came with racing buckets only. I'm not 100% sure about the Testors Diecast kit or the 1/24 cars from the "Mints", but I think they also had the "leather" seats. That being said, I always wanted to try to make them from existing kit seats- the patterns look very simple, mostly "flat" fabric panels. Revell could do worse than to come up with a spinoff of their new '70 Hemi Cuda tool, revised to a '71 'Cuda with the standard interior. While they are at it, they could fix that body, too!

He does Broadway stuff too...he seems pretty grounded, so he's got that going for him...

I have to step in and correct this. Rivet counting for the stars LOL! Tom, you are 2/3 right...he is from American Idol, and he was in the first season. That's Justin Guarini, originally from Doylestown, PA. He's been doing a bunch of those ads. I have heard him in interviews (on the Preston & Steve morning show, 93.3 WMMR Philly). Humble guy, doesn't take himself too seriously. He seems to appreciate that he has a regular gig and he has a sense of humor about it, too!

Thanks for the answer. That’s so weird in so many ways. I think the 4 tires are racier looking than the spare...that spare one looks kind of “Trucky”. Beautiful build of a beautiful car, in any case!

Exactly. It's nice to be getting any of these subjects at all! I have found that keeping my eyes open for them, and having some patience when these come up seems to work out.

Thanks, Bill! I try... Thanks, Steve! I’ve always been a little wordy. I do Ok... I don’t have a dog in this hunt, either- but I’m seeing more and more just like this one. It is what it is...

That is beautiful. I do have a question, Clifford: it looks like the right front tire is different than the others. Is that supposed to be the spare? Don't tell me you already had a flat???

John, this is going to be awesome!!!

Let's agree to disagree? On one hand, I feel that whatever it takes to bring something to market, if a nice given item comes to market, then it helps everybody. On the other hand, if somebody is uncomfortable with a particular buying format, then they have the right to say so- call it feedback to the seller/ creator. I don't think anybody was necessarily trashing Paul about this, but "thanks but no thanks" was definitely heard. I think we might be moving to a new reality as far as availability of resin bodies and kits. I think that total market is shrinking, and traditional advertising (magazines) is disappearing. Setting up a website, and fixed pricing add greatly to the expense, and resin casting bodies & kits is very labor intensive and pricy to begin with. I, like many, wondered about what would happen to the Modelhaus as they wound things down. We all had really hoped that somebody would keep it going. I think they built up a great business in the circumstances of their time, but, it would have taken somebody who was able to go into that enterprise with truly massive amounts of expertise, business acumen, commitment, time on their hands, and money to just buy the whole thing turnkey and keep it going. I just don't think anybody in the entire world who fit all of those criteria exists. I think these are the challenges facing anybody who gets into this kind of production right now. There is another Creator out there right now, who has ambitious plans to start producing kits of similar subjects. He posts on this board. The subjects and masters he has created so far are very impressive, and the list of what he wants to do is even more so. I think the challenges he faces are: 1) balancing his full time job with what he commits to his new side gig, 2) balancing the time he puts into creating the products he wants to offer vs. either casing them himself or getting somebody else to do it, and 3) raising capital to develop the products he wants to. The solution he found is the auction route for his initial products, much like this. My read on this is that nobody is getting rich on offering resin kits. You could say that offering them at a fixed price might be a friendlier way of doing it, but then again, if you want to raise capital to reinvest, you can't leave money on the table. Most new technologies usually follow this, where fixed prices are relatively high at introduction, then, as demand increases, production increases, and eventually, prices come down. What I found with the other Creator's items was that the first few sold for prices that were way too rich for my blood, but, eventually others were offered and I eventually got what I wanted for a price I could justify. My hope is that they're offered long enough for the prices to actually come down a bit - that would be the only point of fairness that I personally would hope for with this sales model. As long as production is not permanently limited to keep prices astronomical, then I would consider the auction sales model fair (but that's just my opinion). Notice what some Modelhaus kits and parts are selling for now that they have closed down. Same with AAM, and certain other former casters. Sort of the reverse situation of the "startup auction sales" model. The reality is that no matter what we do, everything available in our little hobby is going to be subject to "supply and demand". If that's what it takes to bring really great new product to market, then I can live with that to an extent. BTW Paul- that T-Bird is a real beauty. I can appreciate what you put into that one, although personally, that car is not my cup of tea. If you make a nice 1978 Dodge Magnum GT you will have my full attention!

Here we go... There's a theory about Petty Blue- that there is an "early" version (approx. 1960-1969) and a later version which was used after that. I'm not sure of the exact changeover, but I think it's true. I think that 90's Testor's Petty Blue might have been a decent match for "early" Petty Blue, which was a bit lighter, more gray and less green/ less brilliant than the later shade. The '84 Grand Prix would definitely have used the later shade. I think Tamiya TS-23 in spray is a decent match for late Petty Blue. Maybe you can get a can of that and respray that Grand Prix of yours. Now for Petty Red- that's the tough one. The story with that paint is that it changed often, was unstable (it faded quickly, so they would have to reapply constantly) AND it never photographed the same way twice. I can't make a good recommendation for the Petty Red, except for: experiment. Find something that seems to fit your memory, or your preference. Even if you match it with a sample, you might still not be happy with it. Personally, I'm not happy with the "nuclear florescent orange" option that some people use. In my mind, I see that color as a bright red, based on all of the pictures I've seen of those cars over the years. People that have seen them at races seem to vividly recall that they were "nuclear fluorescent orange", so that's what they would tend towards. I won't be trying a Petty Red-and-Blue for awhile, but eventually, I plan on building a circa-1975 1/16 Petty Car. I did a body up for a '73 Petty Car many years ago, and used Tru Match for both the blue and the red. The blue was perfect, but the fluorescent red bothered me. I ended up coating the red with a mix of brushed-on Testor's reds. I was getting closer to what I wanted, I can't remember the mix I used, but eventually I got discouraged with it and sold it off.

In the end, it's your car, so you can paint it however you prefer of course. To some extent, we all have an ideal in our minds, and might like one color over another- one might look more "correct" in our minds. You would think that paints would be standardized, but no- paint formulas became part of the auto design process, so each manufacturer would come up with their own colors. Manufacturers did borrow colors from each other very occasionally, but, for instance, compare Ford Grabber Blue, AMC Big Bad Blue, Chrysler Basin Street Blue, and Petty Blue. Some might say (and have said) that they are the same, and others might not even care, but in reality, these colors are definitely not the same, they all differ from each other. If you try to touch up a Basin Street Blue car with Grabber Blue, you will quickly run into trouble, as the Grabber Blue is a little darker and less green than Basin Street Blue. The fact is that Hugger Orange and Poppy Red do have different codes when you look them up. That would tell me that they are different formulas. To my eyes, they definitely look different. Poppy Red almost seems to have a very slightly pink-ish, salmon-y color because of the blue in it. It's like when you see those paint sample cards at Home Depot or Sherwin Williams. Start putting them next to each other under a bright light, and then that's when you'll see that those colors are slightly different, even if you line up 5 or 6 different oranges. There are even differences in the white paints that manufacturers use, but for some odd reason, I'm not as fussy about white. In the end, these are models, so it would be up to you as to how far you want to go to match a particular paint, but if you want to make a substitution, you should probably know going in that in paints, there is very rarely "the same", but you might still be able to get close. What drove me nuts for years (in the 80's) was that you couldn't get close to Petty Blue at all. It was either Testors Sky Blue or Testors French Blue in hobby enamels, neither of which were even in the ballpark for Petty Blue. Auto Touch up in anything near that color was nonexistent, and getting paint mixed seemed to be out of the question then. I had an auto paint jobber that I could literally walk to from my house back then, and, asking him if he could mix small batches for painting models, he would look at me like I had antlers! Then, Tru Match came out and aside from that paint being really hot, all of as sudden, you could build Petty cars!

Agree- they show two distinctly different codes, and they look different, too. That tells me that if a car were being restored, if the painter used one for the other, the owner would be a little (a LOT) perturbed. To my formerly-professionally trained eye, Hugger Orange has more yellow in it - it’s not a match to me. Also- tough to describe, but Hugger Orange, while a dark orange, is sharper than Poppy Red, which seems to have a hit of blue in it, the blue might make it look a little “softer” or “dirtier”. Eventually, I will be building a 1/16 Daytona in K & K form, and when I do, I’ll be using Poppy Red. I have tried Chevy Engine Red before (on a 1/16 General Lee that I was going to build as a ‘68 K & K Car), and it looks a lot like Poppy Red in hue, but the shade is a bit darker because I used gray primer under it. To me, Chevy Engine Red is an acceptable match. If I were budget conscious, I would go with Chevy Engine Red from a parts store, using white auto primer under it. You would probably end up spending the same on one big can of primer, one big can of paint, and one big can of clear that you would for 2 cans of each (remember - 1/16, to be painted inside and out: body, chassis, Cage) in hobby enamel. Lastly, I personally do not like Testors cans- I will only use them as a last resort. Almost anything else, whether it be auto touch up paints or Tamiya, etc. are easier to use and give better results in my book.

Very cool! OK- maybe some time soon, an NNL sub-sub-sub theme can be: "Forbidden Fruit: Cars That Never Came To The U.S."!

The K&K Team definitely used Ford Poppy Red for their cars. It was a dark orange, or slightly dirty orangy-red. It was not bright red or orange. Old photos are all over the place the way they register the color of these cars, so they won't help much. The body as molded, and the build on the box is a straight red, neither really look like the K&K hue. If I were building this, I would either: - go to www.paintscratch.com, order a can of paint of Ford Poppy Red, if you search by car, it should come up as a Mustang color from the mid-60's. They sell cans for about $24.99 per, but it's a big can (consider this as a 1/16 car is bigger, and, you will have to paint it inside and out), and their stuff matches extremely well. - or get the right stuff from Model Car World (I think they sell it in spray cans). This might end up being more expensive than paintscratch, as you'll need more than one can to finish this kit. -if you want to try something cheaper, try to find Chevy Engine red. This seems to be the closest to Ford Poppy Red you can get without getting Ford Poppy Red. Avoid the high temp stuff, it will probably be too thick. You can probably get this at Advance Auto/ Pep Boys/ any local parts store. -You might actually luck out and find Ford Poppy Red "touch up" at a parts store, but remember that those formulas (Duplicolor, etc.) are often mixed to match multiple hues (they "shoot the middle" between several different colors), so "touch up" may or may not really match Ford Poppy Red too well. I think your best choice is www.paintscratch.com, unless you are adventurous and want to try the Chevy Engine Red. At worst, go to an auto parts store, get the Chevy Engine Red, and try it out on a test body first. For $7 a can, it might be worth it to try it out. Use white auto primer under it (if you use gray, it might make it too "dirty"), and sand the primer out with very fine paper first before you shoot the paint. You'll probably ruin the body if you try to shoot any of that stuff on it without primer. I know a little about paint hues- I used to mix dye formulas for a textile mill. I can't unsee what I have seen now!

I know- it's not a bad kit (it's basically an unbuilt promo), I just think it's entertaining that it's what was left at nearly every HL we have checked, in different parts of the country. It seems that even the profiteers stay away from it. The tires & wheels are probably worth $7.49 to somebody...

Here’s what I hope to build: