CapSat 6

Here's my stash, waiting at the ready for when the girls want to build...

Here are a few that my daughters built, with a little help from me. The great things about these new snappers, over the snappers I grew up with during the '70's are: - you don't have to glue anything due to bad design. The windows and wheels attach securely. - they stay together after a little bit of play.

Pretty much craft stores like Michael's, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby. I have seen a scant few at Toys R Us- snap Hunmer, the new Camaro & Challenger, a few other things.

The Bison should be fine to start with...I remember building one of those Monogram 1/32 Trucks (it might have been the Bison, but I can't remember which) back when I was about 11 and I remember it being a pretty easy one to get together design-wise. The trick would be to be able to complete something with him. Once that happens, then hopefully, the idea will take hold that he can do it, and he'll want to achieve more. From there, if I were you, I would get some of the current Revell snaps. They're all well thought out modern tools that should not be difficult to build, with a wide range of subjects. If at some point he wants to graduate to cars with engines, then I would recommend the Revell '90's Dodge Vipers. Why? Because these tools were originally designed to be snap kits. They practically snap together. This would only be the first generation Viper kits. This would be after he gets a few of the Revell Snap Togehter kits under his belt. The trick to all of this is to find kits that don't present assembly problems. I have built quite a few of the revell snaps with my girls (8 year old triplets and a 6 year old). Like many kids these days, they like their electronics, so their attention spans are a little limited, but they do like doing things with their hands, and building cars like me. I always have to keep some of these kits around because they do twist my arms to build once in awhile.

Here are mine, to heck with commercial viability: 1) Bluesmobile 2) Aston Martin V-8 3) Jensen Interceptor 4) 80's Dodge pickup and Ramcharger 5) a new tool vintage Mopar station wagon. I would take almost any one they do, as long as it's reasonably stock (no Alter-Nomad style thing here). My preference would be either a '69-'70 Chrysler Wagon, or a 1971 Dodge Coronet (can you say: "Rod Shop Dodge"?). Sorry, but I just think the Fuselage Mopar wagons were much nicer looking than their predecessors. All we Mopar people have in plastic right now is the Jo Han '60 Plymouth, they are just getting too scarce. The Chevy & Ford guys at least have one or two options here... 6) 1978-79 Dodge Magnum. First, I'll have to go back in time, influence some big Hollywood production to use this car as their hero car, and then...oh never mind...

Here's how I see it: 1) If Ed Sexton says it's going to be from a new tool, then I think he knows what he's talking about. Personally, I'm hoping that it's at least derived from the '68-'69 tool, as that one was pretty good, and coming from an "all new" tool could allow the opportunity for mistakes. Also, if the parts from the "old" tool interchange with this new tool, then use the hood from the '69 Daytona for a stock build- that hood should be the same as the stock '70 hood, as on the 1:1 cars, it was a production pull-forward. Hood problem solved! 2) if it is derived from the diecast, then all is not lost- the Revell Charger diecasts were pretty good in my estimation. I think they did share some design with the glue '68 and '69's, and while some diecast kits Revell did in the past were slab-sided, the Chargers were not- they simply made the body castings REALLY thick in the areas where the curvature occurred. Built up, they look fine. 3) Judging by the box art and built model they have had on display, I think this one is not derived from the diecast. My reasoning? Look at the seats and the grille. The DC kit had a racing seat, the built sample appears to have stock '70 seats. The DC has a grille which nicely represents the stock grille with the headlight doors open- the box art build shows a stock grille with headlight doors down. I doubt they would make these changes to the Diecast tool; I think this one is being designed as a F'nF car first, with a stock version to come after based on what I see here. 4) I'm sure Revell is watching Jada Toys sell TONS of their Toretto Chargers and figuring that they can get some of that action. You can't blame them for wanting to sell kits and make money- that's what gets us our '57 Fords, after all. I'm hoping that they decide to take a look at their '70 Cuda, tool up some AAR pieces, and offer Letty's Cuda, too...

This is all looking really, really good Dave!

Here's the interior (shot from the side doors) of one for sale that was less than mint. Vintage interior here!

This one was for sale, in pretty decent shape:

Since we're in the mood...here are some pics I was able to get at Chryslers @ Carlisle. A few custom vans are showing up there every year lately. This beauty seems to be a recently restored one...no murals, but check the interior:

I read the title of your post and thought to myself: "oh no he didn't...". Then I opened the post, and thought "oh yes he did!!!". Loved the review. The subject reminds me of those radically-customized vans you used to see in the old "World of Wheels" show magazines. There were some custom vans made back in the day that weren't too far off from this one. I always had a soft spot for MPC kits...as I was born in the '70's, and MPC in the late '70's always seemed to be on the leading edge of automotive tastes for the time...Muscle Cars were almost mythical by 1979 (you'd usually see "real" Muscle Cars parked on the street or in a yard in Philly where I grew up...rarely driven even by then). More often, you would see new Trans Ams, El Caminos, and...custom vans. "Mushroom Man"'s new model Econoline was one of them, with porthole windows and wooden bumpers (with -you guessed it- " Mushroom Man" burnt into them). Not all that controversial, when you consider we had a real live head shop in our neighborhood as well. Also, there was Daryl, the Philadelphia Fireman, who had a mostly stock '79 Dodge Van, with airbrushed murals down both entire sides of the van, of cartoon firemen fighting a fire in an Old West town, one with a damsel in distress over his shoulder. That Van ran around Roxborough for about 15 years, and I never once thought of shooting a picture of it, although I kick myself now thinking about that. Good times!!!

Revell has also been known to do some Landy kits recently, a 2nd variant (after stock Super Bee) being Mike Landy's Coronet would be nice.

I could see Revell using the 1/10 master for their '69 Super Bee (if they still have it), scale it down to 1/25th, convert the body and interior details to '68 Super Bee configuration, mix in some of the chassis and engine details from their '68 and '69 Charger kits...and there you go! I think the overall proportions & details of their '69 Super Bee are pretty decent...much better chance of this happening than Round 2 finding the old MPC '68 Coronet body tool (as nice as that would be).

OK...take a deep breath! Here's what you need to do... 1) Turn the body upside down, rest it on it's roof on the table. 2) Take the chassis & interior assembly, and insert it rear first into the back portion of the body. 3) From here, you'll have to stretch the body sides around the areas where it won't fit (rear wheelhouses, firewall, etc. The body will flex to some extent. Do it carefully. 4) You'll then have to work the front of the chassis into place it will hang up around where the radiator is. You'll just have to work slowly and carefully...these are not designed to drop on, the body kind of encapsulates the chassis. It will hang up in various places (interior, engine, radiator, rear wheelhouses). This process might take you 30-45 minutes. These Revell kits are kind of tight in these areas (which of course gives you a more accurate build in the end). If you can master one of these kits at this stage, you can probably handle almost any other car kit you try. Good luck!

They sure look like the same mags as in the '67 Charger to me. I like these much better than the ones that came in the original '69 Cuda annual kit, so in my eyes, this was a good move rather than spending the money to reconstitute the old ones.

Oh- and to be clear, this is coffee grounds before they have been used- pre-used coffee grounds...

I HATE it when I get something from EBay like that...I have used coffee or charcoal pretty successfully. Put the offenders in a box (with the kit opened up & spread out) with a couple of cupfulls of fresh coffee or charcoal. Don't use the coffee to drink afterwards, as it absorbs the smell. The items end up smelling like coffee, but that's not nearly as bad as cigarette ash!

Re: the chassis: the '67 through '69 annuals had single exhaust (slant-6 for the stock building option, remember?), the drag and street machines thru the '70's and early '80's had no exhausts molded in (at least- the Killer Cuda and Avenger Cudas I had showed no exhausts, I would imagine this began with the Miss Mighty Mopar or Great Street Machine, whichever came first), and from the late '80's to present- it had dual exhausts to match the 383. Keith Marks used to do the Cuda 440 graphics. I haven't looked at his site in quite some time, but I got a set from him some time ago. Here is a pic of my Avenger. It has the '68 style marker lights for both front and rear. I did come across a swap meet body that was molded in white that had marker lenses just for the rear. The plot thickens... One pic also shows the Hemi from the Avenger (very similar to the one in the original '69), and the 383 from more recent issues.

Yes, the original annual '69 came with both a slant 6 engine and a Hemi engine. If you have seen the hemi engine from the Fireball 500 car, the hemi that came in the original '69 is similar. Neither of these engines were any great loss - the big block that comes with it now is at least decent. It looks like they cloned the big block from MPC's '74 Road Runner and Monaco cop cars. After putting out the '69 annual, they modified the tool to put out the Miss Might Mopar and Great Street Machines 'Cudas. They ditched the slant 6 and the custom parts, offered the Hemi only, and changed the side marker lenses to '68 style on the rear quarters and blank on the front fenders. The grille & taillights remained '69. They later issued these as the Killer 'Cuda (with decals inspired by the cartoon 'Cudas used in Mopar's advertising from the late '60's) and The Avenger. The Avenger was the last time the Hemi was seen. in the mid '80's, ERTL redid the body to mostly stock '69 configuration (without fixing the backup lights on the rear valence- the last time they were seen was the '69 annual). That's also when they added the big block engine, which to me was a good move- that Hemi really wasn't any great shakes- at least the 383/440 looks more the part. I think with this reissue they added some value without spending too much money- it's nice to see the custom parts back, and the kit in white plastic. The new wheels look like the same ones from the recent '67 Charger issue, whereas the original custom wheels were kind of weird. The decals are pretty nice, better than the originals here, too. I'm going to pick one or two of these up.

http://www.mopar1.us/6971codes.html Or maybe Tortoise Grain? See code V4Y - if that's on your Fender Tag, that might explain it...

I think the vinyl top pattern was called "Gator Grain". It was not a common option. It looks like reproduction material is available from Legendary Interiors, but it's pretty expensive. I'm not sure how you would replicate that in scale- perhaps you could make a decal of the pattern somehow in a slightly darker green than the vinyl top. It looks like the "scales" are pretty glossy, devoid of texture. In going to MANY Mopar shows (including Carlisle for the past 20 years), I have only seen Gator Grain tops on a small handful of cars.

Great pics, thanks for sharing! I agree with you, those wheels aren't as "Mopar-y" as the ones in the '68 Fury cop car. I'm planning to do one of these conversions, but I think I'll just order the hood and paint the kit interior black and live with it. Thanks again! No Problem, Snake!!! I will say with Don's announced retirement date he may be so busy casting just to keep up, rather than doing new molds If the retirement date was not an issue, I honestly think some molds would be updated if he had a few more years to recoup the cost of new masters. But I am buying as much of his products as I have the funds to (probably more than!!!). I sure wish I had a valid reason for him to continue!! There was a small note enclosed with my order, stating that as molds wear out, they will be discontinuing some parts and kits. Makes sense, as they are winding it down. I have a few more orders I want to send myself!!!

The Modelhaus sell the interior on it's own- I think they also sell the Jo Han '69 GTX interior (which was what you got with the original '69 Road Runner).

Got my Modelhaus order today...see my pics of their Conversion kit to make a 440 6-BBL car from Jo Han's '69 Road Runner...it's in the Aftermarket section...

Got my Modelhaus order today. Many people here wonder what their parts are like. Here is their conversion for Jo Han's 1969 Plymouth Road Runner, to make it into a 440 6-BBL car. This is the kit without tires. Note the factory style interior, but that the sides have been cast separately (probably to facilitate pulls out of the mold). I can't speak 100% for the accuracy of these parts, but to me, they look good. I'm not crazy about the wheels- I think Jo Han's steel wheels (that came in their '68 Plymouth Police car and other kits) look more the part of Mopar steelies. If I had to guess, these look like they're based on something else, perhaps from an AMT kit? Like their '58 Chevy? These castings are really nice quality, it looks like it would not take too much at all to clean them up and use them.