CapSat 6

Everybody literally sees things differently. I used to work as a color technician at a dyehouse. That job was a real education. Some people see colors very differently than others. Color blindness, or course, is a thing. We had a guy who would work overnights, and “correct” formulas by adding yellow pretty regularly. That meant that the day guy, our boss, would often have to correct those corrections- by stripping (bleaching) that cotton completely, then rerunning the original formula. Yellow happened to be very tough to strip. Joe was well known to EVERYBODY ELSE that he had a thing for adding yellow. I was always told that in that business, you either had eyes that could see color properly enough to do it, or you didn’t. Joe just about lost his mind when one night we had locked up the yellow before his shift. My point is: some people see shapes differently, too. And other things. None of the senses are entirely consistent among humans. It’s simply a fact, and there is nothing wrong with that, unless you have a job at Revell trying to sculpt model masters. I wouldn’t let poor Night Guy Joe mix colors for me if my life depended on it. There are things I’m probably politely kept from, too. My wife tells me that I’m “hard of smellin’“ all the time. I did read on another board recently that a new, small company (not Revell) has been designing a new car kit, and while an unpaid outside expert was communicating with some of the design staff, it was revealed that a body line was being included in the tool that the president of the company is insisting is there on the real car, while the designer and the expert believe (rightly, it seems) that it is not there. So, that kind of thing seems to happen, too. In any case, it should be no reason for somebody to not enjoy the hobby. We all build and enjoy. Our comments about body shapes, etc. are not meant to ruin things for everybody, but I think we still have the right to point something out if we see it. And more than one of us sees these things. So - I won’t try to convince anybody that there is anything wrong with a given body, as long as nobody tries to convince me that there isn’t. I still will point out what I see however. I agree to disagree. Neither of us are wrong, but I can see that this could be becoming a buzzkill, so I apologize. I just simply see something here that does not meet my own personal standards. I happily built Monogram’s ‘71 Hemi Cuda and ‘70 T/A many times, they have their problems, too. It’s just at this point, I’m a little frustrated that some (but by no means all) new kits of subjects that I am really wild about, with modern design resources being used, for the kind of money they cost these days, are missing the mark so much for me in a very basic manner.

Cool. Looks like something out a video game or animated show...like "Driver", or "Interstate '76", or something...and yes, that's a big-block Chevy in there. Adds to the mystery!

Sorry for bringing that up (maybe)...I just feel pretty strongly about this one! Agree 100% - if you like it, build it! I will not judge anybody on that. I'll judge the product, the design, but NOT what anybody wants to do with it. I WILL however share my opinions. I do look forward to using the parts from these to enhance a Jo Han bodied build. The interior & separate body bits are gorgeous. I have a Revell Hemi Cuda interior and chassis under a Jo Han body now. I was using a Revell AAR hood with it, and was going to use an AMT '71 Duster 340 engine with it. I'm a little judgy on that Duster 340 engine too, since I think it's shrunken in some odd places and misshaped. I have spent a LOT of time with 1:1 LA engines, and I feel almost the same way about that Duster 340 engine as I do about the Revell '70 Cuda body, but, it's literally the best we have right now. I'm holding hope out that this new Revell 340 will be better.

I'm not going to knock anybody for their opinions, but, just a warning: I will most likely hold onto my own. To some extent, I agree with everybody! I'm glad we're seeing new product. I really do appreciate what the kit manufacturers do. I'm more from the school of "it should be an accurate scale replica", as in- "it should look like what it's supposed to be". The most important thing to me is capturing the look of the item being replicated. If the body looks right, then generally, I am happy. Cue ominous music. Still- if provided with something we can work it, but might have a few flaws, fine, I have no problem correcting a few flaws. Here's the thing with the Dana: sure, easy enough for me to replace. It's forgivable to me, but then again, if Revell had their eye on multiple versions of this car, then I too can see why this might be considered something they should have logically addressed, if they think to offer other versions in the future (340 4 barrel, 440 Six Pack, 70 Trans Am racer, or???). Most performance Mopars came with 8-3/4 rears. The Dana was mechanical overkill, reserved mostly for Hemis with 4-speeds. Would I replace the Dana when I go to build mine? If I were to do an out-of-the-box build, maybe not. Again, I don't flip 'em over too much. Will I replace the Dana when I go to build mine? Yes. Definitely. The reason being: if (admittedly, my building pace is glacial) I ever get one of these built, it will have a Jo Han body. See my third paragraph. Myself, I can't stand the body on this one. I will be going to a LOT of effort to rebody it, so replacing the Dana will be minor in comparison to what else I will be doing. Here's my own personal problem with this kit: TO ME, the body looks swollen, or bloated. Sort of like a bad counterfeit of a 'Cuda. I owned a real one for a long time. My car was by no means perfect, and it sat in the garage a LOT, but in that time, I got to see what one looked like. Even the back window of the Revell kit bothers me. Compare it to a Jo Han or MPC body, and to me, I can't unsee it. That's the real sin in all of this. BODY. SHAPES. MATTER. TO. ME. TO ME, this make the kit a collection of fantastic detail parts married to an awful body. It's not terrible, I have seen worse bodies (a few '69 Camaros come to mind, and of course: Hi Palmer!), but, it's nearly that bad. To me. Would I knock anybody else for building it box stock, or taking a different approach from mine? NO! As far as I'm concerned, it's not my time, money or effort going into it. I seem to remember this being a free country, so I'll go by that. A good friend of mine who posts on another board has built a few of the Revell Hemi Cudas, and they look really nice. I would take them off his hands in a minute. For that matter, I would love to have Tim Boyd's black one on my shelf. Any good build should be commended, and I would encourage anybody to enjoy the hobby as they see fit. Since I have the means (old Jo Han bodies in stock), that's just the approach I will take. It might be different if I were just starting out in the hobby. In that case, I might be more bent about it. I would care about the Dana even less if they got the body right on this one. Nobody needs to agree with me, and since nobody was asking, that's how I feel.

I’m like that with Brand F and G rearends, but since I know what a Dana looks like- I can’t unsee it.

Thank you for that- that made me laugh, which I have really kind of needed the last few days!

I can kind of live with the Dana, for a few reasons: 1) I have realized recently that I don't flip my models over all too much. 2) other sources for the 8-3/4 would be: the Revell '68-'69 Dodge Dart, AMT '71 Duster or '71 Charger, Revell 1/25 '70 Challenger R/T-T/A. 3) if I really had to scrounge for an 8-3/4, I would not be averse to using one from the Monogram 1/24 Challenger T/A. 4) it could be worse, the Revell 1/25 Challenger "T/A" used a 440 Six Pack! At least it looks like we're getting a nice 340 6-BBL with this kit. I'm really hoping they throw in an optional 4-BBL (bringing them closer to a "Trans-Am" equipped car, Minilites would be nice, too), can anybody confirm whether they do or not??? Somebody should cast up 8-3/4 rears for these AAR's, and also for the AMT '70 Challenger R/T kit. Several casters do nice 727 Torqueflites (probably based on the ones from the Revell '68 Dart or AMT '71 Charger), which are always useful to me, as I don't like to build everything with a 4 speed.

WAY COOL, and GREAT work!!! Captain Satellite approves!

Nice build! Just don't start telling everybody at the model shows that you mis-matched the nose on purpose to make it look like an original car...that was a happy accident, we're on to you!!!

Really nice job on that one, Keith! I like the orange paint & body color bumpers! My call would be to leave the hood scoop unattached...

Nice save! I like the retro stripes and the way the tail panel is body color (it was usually black between the taillights). It looks like something you'd see at a cruise or for sale on Facebook Marketplace!

I made a great trade with my80malibu...thanks Gabriel!!!

Neat! The only things that don’t seem to fit the design are the wheels and tires. I would change those. I might need one of these!

There should be no problems with these - titanium is very strong and light.

I fixed that for you...

Man- wouldn't THAT be nice to have back!!! I wonder if there is a tooling insert that could be used on their fastback body to recreate this? Other than the '69 Cobra Fastback we saw back in the '90's, what might be left of this one???

Some updates: 1) there is a caster on eBay who offers the dually fenders. I have seen these listings several times. 2) Hart's Parts does grilles, hoods and tailgates for '72-'73, '74-'76, and '79-'80 trucks. They are reasonably priced, and I can vouch for their quality and service, as I have ordered from them before.

No idea! But I just had a few thoughts: 1) It's possible that Round 2 could offer multiple building options for a CHP car in the same box, with absolutely minimal changes to the contents (mostly decals and assembly options): regular patrol car (I'm not sure what to call this except for "car with standard lightbar assembly"), slick top, & training car (these looked more or less the same as the slick top: with no light bar, but instead of door shield graphics, they had large black numbers on the doors). With the right packaging, that would make a super-cool collectible! 2) if they do one with the lightbar, then I think the lightbar in the current Goon Car tool would be incorrect. It looks to me like the lightbar from the old "Force 440" kit would be more accurate for a CHP car (and it was much better detailed), so I'd be very happy if they could find and swap in this part of the Monaco tool for this reissue. 3) Round 2 just did a nice set of steel wheels for the 1978 Dodge Pickup kit. Since the wheels in the Goon Car are stupid-wide, it would be nice if they threw these wheels in with the new CHP car too, along with the MPC Goodyear Polysteel tires. It seems that Round 2 will occasionally create a new wheel tool that would lend itself to being included in more than one kit to add value, so this would be a no brainer. If there is a huge flaw with this kit, it's the stupid-wide wheels and tires. Extra points for doing a new steering wheel, since the "Tuff" wheel in the kit was probably never used in a Cop Car.

My understanding is that the Matador body tool is actually shared with the Bobby Allison "Stock" (Race) Car kit. They had to wipe the stock details from the body to bring the race car back some years ago (or perhaps that was the last state in which the body tool was in from the '70's). The race car and stock kits shared their basic body, chassis, & engine. The kits differed in the wheel/ tire, interior, exhaust, engine and engine room pieces they provided with each kit. IF Round 2 wanted to, they could restore the stock details, but then it would hamper their ability to reissue the race car, which they have put out at least 3 times since the '90's. I do remember picking one of the later issues of the race car up, and a stock grille was included in the chrome shot (along with the race grille, which was an unplated piece on another sprue). The first reissue of the race car did not come with the stock grille, it looks like the gates were opened up some time after that first reissue from the early '90's. I guess if I ran Round 2, I would run the race car again once or twice with Retro box art under a "one (or two) run (runs) of fun" deal, then I would have the stock stuff restored to the body, IF the tools for the stock interior, stock wheels, custom parts and engine room could be found. In my opinion, it's almost always easier for a modeler to make a stock body into a race body, than the reverse, and most of the time, a given model manufacturer's race body might differ from how it appeared in real life, which might necessitate further mods, so I'd rather see the stock body details on this one. The stock/ custom Matador kit would make a great companion piece to the Gremlin & Pacer kits we have seen lately.

I think this is one reason that they tooled them up- if it's anything like the situation with their 5 spoke mags (included in their '69 Barracuda, '68 El Camino, others), the new wheel tooling was done as a "value adder", to breathe new life into some of their often-issued Mopar kits. I would not be surprised if we see this combo appear it their Monaco kit (where it would be most welcome), perhaps even as optional wheels in their '74 Road Runner, and other suitable future Mopar releases.

The Force 440 used the 2 door body. After that release, the body and interior were revised to what we have now, the 4 door. This also entailed heavy revision to the quarter panels, rearward section of the roof, and rear bumper/ trunk area. It's doubtful that they would be able to ever bring that two door body back, but I could envision them reissuing the 4 door as a "Force 440" (with new box graphics, and decals much like the originals) for nostalgia purposes. That would be a hot looking cruiser! It would be nice if at the least, they found the lightbar set up that the Force 440 used- it is MUCH better than the one we've been getting with the Monaco since the early 80's...the rest of the police parts are more or less the same as what we've been getting with the 4 door all these years.

Monogram had a nice series of better-detailed 1/32 kits in the 80's: a '69 Charger, Nova, '70 Firebird, an '82-ish Camaro, and a Ford EXP (those are the ones I remember, maybe there were more?). There were two variants of each: stock and street machine. I know the Charger's Street Machine version came with a blower and pro stock hood scoop (and REALLY nice Cragars)! They had chrome parts, basic but good looking engines, nice rubber tires and a nice overall level of detail. Lastly, they were glue construction. I know many of us want to see those old 1/32 drag kits, but with their bodies in two halves (?!?) and no chrome, while they would have some nostalgia value, I'm not sure they would really be a good building experience for newer modelers. Still, I could see where these would be right up Atlantis's alley. They'd probably sell a ton of them. Wouldn't the later kits (with their chrome parts, relatively modern but simple tool design, and greater detail) offer a better building experience all around? While we're at it, MPC had some nice 1/32 kits back then: a Dodge Van, Chevy Pickup, Dodge Monaco Police car (remember that one???), and a Buick Stock Car. They were snap together kits, but had some nice details, too. Now that Round 2 has the Lindberg tooling bank, we need them to put out that old 1/32 Chrysler Cordoba. That one actually looks pretty good compared to some of their other 1/32 efforts. You would have thought that Lindberg reissued just about everything about 20 years ago, but that's one I can think of that we have never again seen...

Dave - great to hear from you! I might have an extra set of these somewhere...I will check overnight and see what I have. These are the same hubcaps that are available in the later Dodge Van kits (roughly 1979-1982), the latest reissue ("Bad Company") should have them, too.

I REALLY hope not! It would be a great opportunity for an accurate Mopar small block in 1/25 scale. Judging by all of the other details in their Hemi Cuda Kit, it should be a nice engine, but then again, Revell had a 440 Six Pack pose as a 340 Six Pack as the optional engine in their 1/25 Challenger R/T - T/A kit!!!

Oh- just a few more notes about my '79 LRE idea... 1) These MPC Dodge Pickup kits always came with Chrysler Big Blocks. We'll politely ignore that, and take a '79 LRE with the big block, as the '78 has always been offered. It would be fantastic however if Round 2 decided to tool up a Mopar Small Block with Auto Trans to replace the underscale ones in their Dart Sport, Volare and Dodge van kits, and the Big Block in their LRE's. Even if it were on the simple side, and just an extra spure of parts they could slip into select Mopar kits, as long as it was accurate looking and nicely proportioned, it would be most welcome. It could even make a nice parts pack! 2) The '79 LRE's had catalytic converters. Do we really need these added to the kit for a '79 LRE?