CapSat 6

Regarding Mopar applications, I know this much: 1) 14" only- Mopar never offered 15" Magnums, but a popular swap is to 15" Magnums from Ford (same bolt pattern). 2) after a certain point, Mopar only offered the trim ring style. I think this was '69 and after, through most of the '70's (they were even occasionally seen on Volares and Aspens). 3) Mopar Magnums always got medium or large/ long length center caps with a white insert (unlike Ford for instance who sometimes offered short center caps with red inserts). There was a silver circle in the white center, but in scale this would not show up. Getting into what was stock for other manufacturers (AMC, Olds, Chevy, Ford and Mercury), I'm not nearly as knowledgeable. Also, they were an aftermarket wheel on their own (made by a company called Motor Wheel). I have seen a few other GM and Ford kit Magnums that look pretty good (the ones in the JoHan '70 Cutlass come to mind). You're right in that it would all depend on what you're building. There have got to be at least a dozen or more varieties of Magnums available in scale. The only ones I don't like are the ones in the Revell '67 GTX and the ones in the Jo Han '72 Torino.

Ok...pics. Sorry for the crappy picture quality, but maybe this will help? Left to right: 1)AMT '68 Road Runner/ '69 GTX/ '70 Super Bee, 2) Revell '68 and '69 Charger, 3) JoHan Road Runner, 4) JoHan AMX From what I see: 1 and 2 are definitely trim ring style. 3 seems more like the non-trim ring style (I see a crease where the face of the trim ring would normally be), and 4 looks a lot like 3, but looks more like the trim ring style to my eyes (even though it looks nearly identical to 3). I think if a sample of each were painted up, we'd be better able to see. I do know that the JoHan RR wheels seem more so like the non trim ring style when they're painted, but I don't have easy access to a painted one right now.

I had thought the Magnum 500's in the Johan '69 Road Runner were the non-trim ring style? I have several sets of these I would want to use for Revell '67 GTX's and the like (since the ones in the Revell '67 GTX seem to scale out way bigger than 14" in 1/25 scale). The trim ring style Magnums in the AMT '68 RR/'69 GTX / '70 Super Bee are also very nice. What was the crossover year for Mopars again? I had thought that the non-trim ring style were used for '67 and '68, then for '69 they went to the trim ring style? Which would then make it more odd that Johan's '69 comes with the non-trim ring style and AMT's '68 comes with the trim ring style wheels?

I think the ones in the Revell 1968 and 69 Dodge Chargers are very nice.

Oh- and Hugo/ 440 6BBL- I'm really digging the '72 build you're showing up there!

I just noticed that you said you purchased hidden headlights and a flat hood for this build. The flat hood would mean the car is not a Rallye, since they always came with a bulge hood (which was like the 71's, except that it did not have the louvres in it like the '71 kit's hood.). If that's the case, then you could probably reliably start on the '71 kit. Here's graphic that shows all of the models. Note that the Rallye models have the door indentations, and that the SE has a slightly different quarter window. If it's an SE, then I think modifying the quarter window as you need should not be that hard. Note that the SE for '72 got a unique quarter window treatment, different than the one on the more familiar '73 and '74 cars.

Derrick- the first thing you have to find out is: what submodel is the Charger? In '72, the top performance model was the Rallye- the R/T wasn't offered that year. If it's a Rallye, then the car should have special 1972-Rallye specific doors- each with 5 indentations in them. Any other '72 Charger model got plain doors. If it's a Rallye, then the best starting point would be MPC's old annual '72 Charger- that has the door indentations. These are not exactly cheap when you find them. The AMT '71 kit was tooled up almost 30 years later, so in some respects, the AMT kit is that much nicer (especially the chassis and engine). You could always kitbash the old MPC body with the AMT kit, but if the car you are building is not a Rallye, then you would probably be better off converting the AMT '71 into a '72 with Missing Link's excellent conversion parts. If you need the door indentations, I would even consider maybe carving them into the AMT body after filling in the '71 door gills (no easy task, but you might be able to do it carefully with a Dremel tool and the right bit). In any case, research the car as much as you can, and keep asking questions- we all love to chime in here!

I have bought the Time Machine Resin '71 Challenger Pace Car kit. Quality on that one is very nice, cast in white resin, & the casting and master work seems really good.

I like this new one. Put me down for a few! I have the hardtop and I'm wanting this one even more. I like the street toy vibe. With some parts swapping, it can be made into something more stock- but then again, who keeps them stock??? I'm especially looking forward to the drag radials. A buddy of mine has a 1:1 '65 Satellite hardtop. It was a clean old car when he bought it about 15 years ago. It was built with a gold body, gold interior (with buckets and console) and a cream painted top. He kept the stock 273 in it for quite some time, and added Cragars to the front and kept body color steelies (no caps) in the back. He added a Hemi hood scoop. He doesn't have the cash to build a 'correct' Hemi for it (moot anyway, as the only factory Hemis that year were sedans) so instead, he built what I call the doomsday engine ('cause it looked so Bad on the stand)- a 440 with a Max Wedge top end. He put that in, so the car is fun and has a great vintage vibe. My point is: my friend's car isn't 100% correct, but it gets a LOT of attention, and is a lot of fun. I think this is how many of your true "street toys" end up. I think this kit has been equipped just right. The buildup with the hubcaps could almost pass for an FBI car.

Hey Dave- this is looking really good. I take it you got the package of parts that I sent?

Non-acetone nail polish remover. Use tissues or paper towels. Go slowly & use just a little bit to start. It should bite into the white graphics first, but if you work too aggressively, you could cut into the red paint, especially around the edges. I used this stuff to wipe the graphics off of a 1/18 scale General Lee some time ago- no small feat. I also wiped the Pepsi graphics off of a First Gear Dodge A-100 Van. Go slowly to start and you'll get the technique. The Speedway pickup should be the perfect first time project for this.

Yup- not pad stamped, but the slicks are nice, at least. I have about 100 sets of the others, nice to get something different. The sinks don't seem nearly as bad as the last 80's body (in black) that I looked over. The new decals are pretty sweet. There was a fella I read about in Mopar Collector's Guide a few years back that did up his 1:1 '67 to mimic these decals. Turned out pretty nice from what I remember.

Sorry they're late. Here are some pics:

Here are some pics of what's in the box. Here are a few things I noticed: 1) I believe that the last several reissues did not include stock exhausts- just the rear axle molded with the exhausts blocked off. This new one has the stock exhaust pipes. 2) it looks like the Super Stock- style headers have been included as well. I think these were missing from the last few releases. IIRC, these were used as the stock, drag, and NASCAR exhaust headers in the original '66 and '67 annuals. 3) Mickey Thompson cheater slicks have been included, with 4 MPC polyglas GT's. The MT's were in the '70's issue that used this original box art, and the Polyglas tires are the type you typically saw in the mid-'70's MPC Impala kits, as well as all of the Dukes General Lee Chargers. These tires look right on a stock style build of this car. 4) All of the speed parts from the '74 issue, as well as the parts from the '80's issue are included. This is really a nice array of vintage speed parts that could be used on many other builds: blower, side pipes, headers with separate collectors and gaskets, traction bars, etc.

Thanks, Scott! By the way- two notes about this reissue: 1) it's more or less the same as the '80's Street Machine release, so it has '70's-'80's style modular wheels as well as a nice optional blower set up. They only added the American Racing wheels so that the contents would be the more or less the same as the '70's issue. 2) while it can't be built stock out of the box, all it would really take are: stock intake, carbs, and air cleaner, exhaust manifolds, exhaust pipes and wheels. Good period replacements can be found in any recent MPC '69 Charger (500 or Daytona), and better replacements could be pretty easily adapted from either AMT's '68 Road Runner / '69 GTX or Revell's '67 GTX/ Coronet/ Charger kits. If you want the hubcap style wheels, try Modelhaus has them, along with a '66 interior, if that's what you want. Back in the late '80's, I built one of the street machines stock, using the intake, exhaust & headers from the Charger 500, and the wheels from a Jo Han '69 Road Runner (which I think are the best representation of the '67-'68 style - without trim ring- Magnum 500 wheel ever done). I'll post some pics of that moldy oldy if I can dig it out. Personally, I really feel that the MPC kit has it all over the Revell kit by way of the body details. I think the Revell kit looks funny in the grille and it has a squashed appearence in the roof. The MPC looks perfect to my eye. I'm glad to see the MPC back. My ideal build would use MPC's body set up with Revell's chassis & engine, perhaps also using Revell's interior.

Here's a link to an older topic giving some details on the original '66 & '67 Chargers. The ones I have come across seem to back all of this up: the '66's came with the slot car interior and no clear hood, the '67's came with clear hood & injector stacks, and no slot car interior. Both years came with optional custom front & rear pans, optional custom grilles & taillights. Both years came with NASCAR parts as well.

Hey Craig, If you're interested in selling the figure, please message me. Thanks! -Bill S.

Looks like Time Machine does the flat hood (to fit the MPC) on it's own- maybe it could be adapted to the AMT '71? http://www.timemachineresin.bravehost.com/moparhoods.html

It sounds like you're building a specific 1:1 car. May I ask what model (base, 500, SE, Rallye) you're building? And does that car have hidden headlights or not? The AMT '71 might be the best solution. Missing Link Resins does a great set of '72 Charger bumpers & grilles that will fit the '71 Body. If you're doing a copy of a non-Rallye, the AMT '71 with Missing Link resin bumpers might be your best bet. If you're doing a Rallye model, then the original MPC might be the way to go, since that model has '72 only door scoops that aren't easily copied. I'm not 100% sure, but I might have an original MPC that could be restored if you need it, but these get pricey. If you're building a '72 that is NOT a Rallye, then I would recommend starting with an AMT '71. if you're by chance building an SE, then use the '71 and modify the rear windows to suit- that mod should not be that hard. Please respond to this note and I'll see what I can do to help.

Normally, when the Modelhaus catalog lists a certain wheel as "promo", they're a wheel with a receiver for a large-diameter axle cast into it- in other words, a direct copy of the promo piece. Most promo wheels I've seen (MPC and Jo Han '60's Mopars) have one piece wheels, with no separate backs, press-fitted into vinyl tires. When I have ordered promo wheels from them, they were truly promo replacements- if I wanted to use them on a kit build, I had to saw off the receivers in the backs of them.

Wow! I like the ones on the purple car. They look Old School- and while Old School stuff doesn't usually work on new Challengers, those seem to. Do you have more pics of the purple one?

That kit is probably better than most people know. I know at some point it was offered as a 3 in 1. The one I had is pictured below. That one was mostly stock only (I think the roll bar and extra taillights were the only build options). This kit featured separately- molded door handles, body emblems and windshield wipers, along with metal springs for the front suspension. The fuelie 327 was very nice, and everything else looked to my eyes to be correct, with a lot of engraved detail (although I am by no means a 'Vette expert). Round 2 really should open the gates on this one and resurrect it to it's former 3 in 1 glory, it would go really well with the NASCAR Chargers for which I am eternally grateful to them for bringing back.

Ok- so maybe I won't be necessarily be migrating to 1/16 builds solely because of changing eyesight. I do think that larger scales maybe allow for greater detail. This is not to say that larger scale kits are always more detailed, but it's possible to put more visible fine detail into such a build. If I were inclined to do a super- detailed contest build, a larger scale would be tempting. Some 1/16 kits seem to take advantage of the fact that more detail can be granted, while others definitely do not. In the following examples, I'm only going to cite kits that I have direct ownership or build experience- there might be better examples that I don't know about. High detail: Fujimi Ferraris or Porsche 959, MPC NASCAR Chargers, MPC '63 Corvette: these tend to have a greater detail level than their 1/24 or 1/25 counterparts. In the case of the Fujimi kits, they have opening doors, hoods and trunks that have scale- or mostly - scale looking hinges & openings- meaning that the opening features otherwise don't detract from the realism of each subject. The Fujimi's are really probably the nicest 1/16 kits out there. The only beef I have with them at all is that perhaps the wheels and tires look a little small. The Corvette has a nice detail level, even accounting for the fact that it was tooled up in the late '60's. The doors don't open, but really every other aspect of the kit breaks down as well as or better than even your nicer 1/25 kits. The MPC Charger is probably one of the most detailed NASCAR kits ever. I would probably count the numerous Revell '70's Funny Car and Top Fuel kits in this category as well. Moderate detail: MPC '79 Firebird, 427 Cobra, '83 Firebird, '84 Corvette - about as detailed or a little more detailed than your average 1/24 kit, but with so-so opening doors. These have some detailing potential for sure. I would put Revell's '33-'34 Fords here, too- they're about as nice as newly-tooled 1/24-1/25 kits, with that same excellent Revell scale fidelity. Fair detail: AMT '55-'57 Chevies, '64 Ford Mustang: these have about the same detail level as an older 1/25 tool. Think of the Chevies as being about the equivalent to AMT's old '58 Chevy tool. Really not bad kits, but when you blow them up to 1/16, the effect is that they then seem more toylike than if they were of the same detail but in 1/25. The Mustang has the added issue of that unfortunate windshield & vent window shape. My point is that you could add a lot of scratchbuilt details & extra wiring to any of these kits and end up with something really impressive. I think Fujimi and MPC especially looked at 1/16 as an opportunity to increase detail so that the builder was getting something of a better detail experience, while a lot of AMT's stuff was just done in 1/16 to compete in the market at that scale and price point. Myself, I've been to a few big contests recently and it's dawned on me that the large scale stuff really does distingush itself from all of the other common scale stuff- especially when the builder pours some extra effort into it. If I ever decide to get rid of my models, I would still be tempted to keep the big scale stuff as the only stuff I end up completing. I have a small fleet of NASCAR Chargers planned (some '71-'74's, and at least one each of: 500, Daytona, & '68 race cars), and whenever I get them done, I think they're going to be sweet.

That's what I'm talkin' bout, Brother!