CapSat 6

Call me picky, but I REALLY would have liked to have seen the '57 Nomad instead of the '55. I would have bought a '57, I did not buy a '55. I'm still trying to scare up a reasonable '57 Nomad. A REALLY sweet 1/16 kit to have reissued would be the MPC '63 Corvette, preferably with all of the optional racing and custom parts. I'm waiting for that one to eventually come (it hasn't been announced, and don't take this as a rumor!!! It's not on the horizon as far as I know). I know we're getting off track here, but for one, I think the Vette would have been more of a must have for most modelers, and b- it's a much more detailed kit than the '55, even if the doors don't open. Instead, we got the '55 Nomad, the 64-1/2 Mustang (yuck. Did you ever see that front window???), and two Firebirds, when one Firebird would have probably done nicely.

Didn't they rerelease the Phaeton once in the 90's? These were really nice kits. Even with the 80's styling cues, I think they're great builds. It might be just a bit easier to update the Coupe with some parts swapping. The recent AMT 64-1/2 Mustang could lend you a Ford engine for these kits...but then you'd be left with a Small Block Chevy powered Mustang! :(

That's the stuff. Testors reboxed the Fujimi stuff- it's identical. Great price, too. Have fun building it all!!!

I don't think you could go wrong with the Fujimi Garage and Tools sets. Please keep in mind that they sell a garage on it's own and a separate tool set. The garage is on the small side, but it's modular, so you can combine it with one or more other garage kits in order to make a bigger garage. The tools set is comprehensive. It comes with: a car lift, many wrenches and screwdrivers, a few tool boxes, battery charger, a desk and chair, a workbench, a roll away jack, jack stands, crates, welding tools, and may other things. The downside is that you have to build and paint everything, but the upside is: you really get a ton of stuff for the price. I also personally think it's all very well detailed and proportioned, much less toylike than some of the preassembled things that are available. If you look online, you can find these sets pretty reasonably priced. There are a ton of pictures available online of these sets, showing you what they came with. Also, Fujimi has come out with newer smaller sets that come with more things (more tool boxes, a parts washer, etc.). The newer sets are perhaps a lesser value, but they're still excellent quality and come with some interesting things. My only real gripe with these sets is that they're molded in a medium gray plastic, I would much prefer that they were molded in white.

That is looking great! I have one of these- I might have to fast track it now!!!

One other thing I'd like to point out: they have a few Revell Wheels Of Fire/ sorta snap kits: a Porsche Boxter and a PT Cruiser. I'm almost almost always looking for inexpensive easy kits for me to build with my kids. If you're inclined to do the same (even for grandchildren, nieces/ nephews, etc.), then $8 a kit is a really good deal for keeping the little ones engaged in the hobby. If the manufacturers are blowing them out anyway, you might as well take the opportunity to try to grow the hobby a little.

I went to the Ollie's in Bristol, PA last night and they had a pretty good selection of these. They only had two Slingsters left, looks like somebody there really likes that kit. I did pick up a Surfite- for 3 surfboards and Ed Roth figure alone, it was worth the purchase. Tonight I went to the Ollie's in Hatboro, PA- they had mostly the same assortment, except that they also had Sox GTX's, Mustang 5.0's, Stone Woods Cook Willys (the old one), '48 Fords and Ram VTS's. I did pick up one Mustang 5.0, as I have a casual interest in this kit, so a casual price is just right. I could have bought a bunch of those GTX's just for the Hemis and 8-3/4's that come with them, but I probably already have enough. When I brought it up to the counter to pay, the Lady working there said: "you guys must be calling each other up about all of these! Two guys came in and bought two of the cop cars each!". I said: "nope- internet! One guy bought about $400 worth in another store". She was nice, and I got a kick out of the conversation. Here's a tip: check ALL of the toy aisles, and end caps. Both stores had their models split about 50/50 between two different aisles. Now I just need to find one of those Rabbits...

Sorry, did not mean to hijack the thread. If the Monaco Wagon gets made, if it was good quality and looks right, I'd buy one- and also, maybe I'd try to make a deal on a bad body with a good roof that I would try to make a '71 out of. I think once word got out, you would find that it would be a pretty good seller.

If it were done well, I would buy one. I suspect that if word got out to many of the other Mopar Modelers, it would be a decent seller. I'm going to make a few suggestions (I know, unsolicited!): 1) if you offer this kit, you should also offer those hubcaps as pictured. They used to come in the mid-'70's MPC Dodge Van kits. I think most of these wagons were seen with full wheelcovers rather than the dog dish hubcaps that would come with the Monaco donor kit. 2) While this subject has my interest, I would be more interested in the earlier Dodge wagons (pictured as below). The earlier cars have more of a relation to the Muscle era cars, and also, a legitimate Super Stock champion race car (Dave Boertman's '71 wagon) can be built from the earlier car. Also, if the '71 style front end is being developed, you could also eventually offer a '71 Coronet 4-door sedan, which also would have some commercial interest, especially from police car builders. You might have no interest to make this project more complicated, but while I would probably buy one '77 wagon, I'd probably buy two '71 wagons, as well as at least one '71 sedan. I have the beginning of this project in a box, using the Monaco body with a '74 Charger front clip to start. It's probably a bit beyond my skills, I might get it done sometime in the next 20 years...?

I read somewhere long ago that the engineers at Chrysler specified 15" wheels for all Hemi cars at some point. I'm fuzzy about the '66 and '67 cars, but at least for '68 and '69, it was 15" wheels only. In '69, what's now called the recall wheel (styled aluminum wheel, as included in Round 2's '69 Barracuda kit) was to be the styled 15" wheel option for Hemi cars, but as soon as those wheels were recalled, they were replaced with steel wheels with either plain hubcaps, or in some cases, dressier full wheelcovers at dealerships across the country. There are a few old factory photos with Charger 500's with Polara/ Monaco full wheelcovers out there that I think backs this up. In 1970, the styled steel wheel (otherwise known as the Rallye wheel) was introduced, and were available in either 14" or 15" varieties, so the 15" styled wheel problem was solved, but I think either in 1970 (but definitely by 1971), the 15" wheel requirement was dropped. I think Rallyes might have been a better choice, and maybe would have looked more prototypical, for the '70 Charger kit, but Rallyes can be found elsewhere. My favorites actually come from the old JoHan Superbird (although these probably scale out to 14"...). In any case, styled wheels were almost a moot point. Many performance car buyers of the era replaced factory wheels, styled or otherwise, with aftermarket wheels as soon as they could. Many of these cars were delivered with steel wheels because it was thought that the factory wheels would be ditched as soon as possible.

As much as I love old MPC annuals, the '69 Charger would be a mixed bag at best. That body has been through the mill. They should fix the door scoops, the front fender ends near where the grille mounts, the back window is a tunnel back again, but it's not nearly as good as the originals were, the rear valence is a mess (they should just carve it out of the body and make a new separate piece), and the kit has had the wrong hood (a '70/ Daytona hood, judging by the scoops) since after the first run of the Charger 500 kits from the '80's. They also should try to add back the original grille inserts (they have been using the '72 units since the original run of the General Lee). Once they get the body back into better shape, then I could see them making the effort to try to give it the retro treatment. I think the wire axle chassis is the very least of that kit's problems. I'm not sure that simply restoring a few long lost parts and putting them in a retro box is going to enable many people who know that kit to pony up for new ones at today's prices, not even me. All that being said, I still love that tool. I must own about 20 of them now, and must have owned 35 or so (in various versions) lifetime. I grew up building a bunch of those General Lees...

Oh- and you might need a set of these. KevinL (Missing Link Resin) sells these...

I went through some of the posts in the Road Runner Nest Web Board- it appears that the '71's had a body color moulding and the '72-'74's had stainless mouldings.

I own a 1971 Satellite Sebring Plus with an original black canopy top. It has a black vinyl moulding to match the top. It's damaged, so I probably won't be reusing it. I found a used stainless steel moulding at a swap meet that will fit exactly where the body colored moulding goes. I have seen them both ways. I have seen some 1971's with either of them, but all 1972-74's I have seen use only the stainless moulding. The best I can guess is that they started out using the color matched moulding and switched over to the stainless moulding sometime during the 1971 model year. Personally, I like the look of the stainless better- it looks more finished. Also, the color keyed moulding of mine disintegrated at the ends, maybe they saw a durability problem and that's why they made the switch? I never really researched this properly. There is a web board called the Road Runner Nest that has a LOT of info on these cars, specifically he '71-'74 cars. Do a search for that web board and I'm sure it will have some useful info for you.

I had a great trade with Paul Gardner- gardnerpag44!

I heard somewhere that JoHan was setting up to do a stock kit of the '71 Cuda, though it never happened. Judging by how they did on the Sox & Martin Pro Stock (very nice body, nearly- state of the art kit for 1971, nice engine & details), I think it would have been a great kit. I started gathering parts to try to do a "mostly JoHan" stock build, using the tires & wheels from their Superbird, and some other bits, but the parts are simply giving me enough to build a Hemi Gran Coupe (which, although a neat idea, did not exist in 1:1). Oh well- this idea is just not going to work!

Ohhhh...Jason. Going down the rabbit hole, aren't we? ? If if you want a NICE '71 Cuda in 1/25, then I would agree with most of what's been said in the thread. Consider that if a resin body were offered, at a minimum, it would be about $25, probably more. If you can find an old built MPC '71, that would probably be the easiest way. Peesonally, I think the JoHan '71 body is even a little better shape-wise than the MPC, with some caveats: 1) The MPC body has the fender gills. You can probably use the photo etch set from Model Car Garage to add them to the JoHan body, but they might be sized for the 1/24 kit, so that might not work well. 2) The MPC body has side marker indicators, the JoHan body does not. The MPC's aren't all that great, though. Ironically enough, I think either the Revell '70 or Monogram '71 body capture these the best. 3) The MPC body has the right dual exhaust rear valence, the JoHan body does not. 4) The MPC body comes with a stock hood, the JoHan body doesn't. 5) The tail panel on the MPC body is much better than the JoHan body's. 6) The grille insert for the MPC is incorrect- use the JoHan grille insert instead- if you need one, I might have an extra. I think finding an old MPC body will leave you with less problems to solve, and in the end cost you less time, possibly less money. It will still look pretty good, at least a good deal better than the Monogram 1/24 kit, and definitely better shape-wise than the Revell '70. You would still have to come up with a stock interior somehow, unless you used the MPC interior. The MPC interior seems to represent the leather interior from that year. I know of no source for a base '71 Cuda interior (the Monogram kit also appears to have the leather interior). Re: the billboards, I think Firebird Graphics does them in 1/25, Fred Cady's set turns up on eBay once in awhile. If you were to use either body on the Revell chassis and interior, you'll have to do some trimming. I'm trying this out myself (using the JoHan body to convert to a '70). It's a super tight fit. If you really want a '71 Cuda in 1/25 scale right now, it's gonna cost you no matter what.

Really nice work- I think you really captured the look of the car from the earlier films. Not long after this kit came out, I went to Disney World and saw that they were selling these kits there. Now, they're a little hard to come by. I wish I bought a few when I was there. Years after that Disney visit, I had Triplet girls, then another girl two years later. We got the Herbie films on DVD and it turned out that they loved watching them. I must have heard "Herbie Rides Again" from the back of my minivan about 40 times. They're Herbie fans as a result, so whenever we see a vintage Beetle, they say "Herbie!!!". I have had to scare up a few of these kits for them. They have built a few models with me, but I'm saving these for when they get a little older, since they're a little more complex.

Try Harts Parts resins, they have a conversion kit listed: http://www.hartspartsresin.com/resin-parts-list/conversions

Art store white gouache works really well, too...I did tires with this stuff starting about 20 years ago, and it's held up well, nice and dry.

I put my last order in around mid-July. I ordered one of their '64 Dodge Pickups. I had seen that kit at the NNL East a few years ago, and have wanted one ever since. Once I get that, I'm sure Moebius will announce one ?. I also ordered some odds & ends to finish up some old cars I have. Since then, I found a built '65 Valiant Craftsman kit for a screaming deal- it's missing the rear bumper and one taillight. I sure wish I could have ordered those pieces before they announced their closing, but I'll make it work out somehow. I'm kind of reluctant to buy incomplete old builts now, because I know the stuff to complete them is simply not available now. I have seen prices on parts on eBay go much higher lately, I wonder if prices for incomplete builts will be coming down as well?

Paul, what scale are you doing this in? If it's 1/16, I would be very interested in one myself.

I like where this is going...taking an excellent Jo Han body and filling it with the best stuff you can find!!!

Corrct, Robert. If they were something I could work with, I would definitely buy two Polaras. Would you consider doing a '70 instead? That would be my preference, because that was the car I came home from the hospital in, and was my Dad's driver for about 6 years. If not, then I would try to convert one from a '71. For the chassis, I would consider modifying one of the excellent B-Body chassis that are available, or at worst, a 1/24 Monogram B Body chassis of some sort. The engine bay would have to be reworked somewhat as C Body engine rooms were a bit unique. Lots of advanced modelers seem to be pretty interested in Mopar C Bodies of any kind.