Mark C.

I specifically didn’t mention any of these older subjects because the narrative has been that they only appeal to a dying demographic (mine) and that the only way to continue to bring young modellers into the hobby is to give them subject matter that they can relate to. Is a 17 year old really going to want to build a ’53 El Dorado? For that matter, would there even be an onslaught of gen X or boomers that would buy enough to make it profitable? That sounds more like a case for 3D printing than a major model company. Meanwhile, reissues and clones of old tools make more esoteric subject matter viable from a business perspective, and Round 2 have been bringing back subject matter that hasn’t been available for many decades. I really can’t see anything wrong with that.

When I'm thinking of the kits of "everyday" vehicles that were produced back in the day, the financing for many of them came from the 1:1 car manufacturers, where they would contract out to the model companies to produce promotional models for them to give away in dealerships. The model companies would have much of the tooling costs paid for through these contracts, and because of this could then produce models of cars that most people wouldn't have necessarily considered to be the best subjects for model kits (like Chevettes, etc), while still remaining profitable. I can't recall whether the Lindberg kits of the 1990s fall into that category, though. but I thought some of them were offered as promos if memory serves. As for modern days, it seems that promo models are few and far between, and now seem to be mostly diecasts when they do happen, so any new plastic kit subject tooling would have to be completely financed by the model company, which would mean that they would have to sell a lot more just to break even. The reissues and clone kits seem to be no-brainers in terms of being able to produce a kit with much less investment (and thus less-risky business case), so presumably production runs can be smaller while still remaining profitable. I'm thinking that companies that have a sizeable library of old tooling would be foolish to not use these to help keep the lights on. The thing I find strange about these discussions is that at times people seem almost put out that a company is producing something that they are not interested in. IMHO there's so much product out there that there is something for just about everybody... in fact more than any one person could possibly build unless the only thing they do is build model cars. Even then... So why not just be happy that companies are still making model cars that we can buy. There's lots of stuff that I have no interest in (like sci-fi, show rods, etc. I don't even really know what gundam is all about, so...), but others do so I'm glad that those people get what they want, meanwhile I'll buy what I want. As always, thanks for the discussion.

Why am I reminded of Bugs Bunny when I look at this?

Are there a lot of new American vehicles that people would be excited about to prompt massive model sales? Well, you have new pickups and the sports cars (Mustang and Corvettes that have already been covered). Pluck those out and you’re basically left with a bunch of ‘meh’ SUVs, since the US car companies have pretty much shunned cars. I do wonder how the new Bronco and Charger (which is no longer a new car) have been selling for Round 2 though. Meanwhile the Japanese and European model companies have been covering that product, so I am left wondering what are the expectations of those who are complaining about reissues? Just some pickups (which would be good sellers)?

Not seeing any flaws. However, I am seeing a beautiful stratchbuilt model of something that used to be relatively common but is now quite scarce. Very cool!!!

Unfortunately, this doesn’t show well for the quality of their engraving in general, reversed or not. Perhaps the best fix would be to foil copy using the AMT body for the lettering?

There’s also the 340 from the AMT ‘71 Duster (externally the same as the 273), and IIRC the AMT ‘41 Plymouth had a small block Mopar in it. Don’t recall the transmission attached though. IMHO, with some fiddling the standard 273 could be replicated fairly well, but the hipo Commando version had some dress-up parts like finned valve covers and unsilenced air cleaner. FWIW, I seem to recall that somebody was doing these in resin or 3D, but I’m not sure now… Then there’s also the slant six option from the Lindberg/AMT ‘64 Dodge and Plymouth. 😉

As long as the world trade situation is mired in power struggles involving groups who have no interest in playing nicely together, our hobby will continue to be mired in uncertainty. Meanwhile, it’s fun to talk about model cars. Of the years I mentioned, 1974 speaks the loudest to me. It would be fun to see a reimagined tool of the ‘74 Z-28. Will it happen? I haven’t the foggiest. Meanwhile, I’m saving my nickels for multiples of the ’60 Nomad, the ‘65 Barracuda, and the ‘72 Duster! It’s not like we have nothing to look forward to, but if I’m not allowed to talk about other subjects I’d like to see, the ‘discussion board’ might become a little… boring? 😁 I might suggest that anyone who wants to see the amazing people at Round 2 continue to turn out these model kit gems, plan to buy up as many of these as your hobby budget allows. Voting with your wallet is the best way to ensure that they keep working at making our modelling dreams come true. 🙂

I included it because the 2nd gen Firebird stuff would still be around so only the stuff to backdate it to a ‘74-6 would be needed. S’pose that should be a separate thread tho. Point taken. 😊

I agree with the idea that the best outcome for this kit would be cloned ‘74-‘77 Camaros and ‘74-‘76 Firebird Formula and T/A. There seems to be a lot of ‘78 up Camaros and Firebirds out there in plastic model land, but virtually (literally) nothing from the mid ‘70s. If I were king of Round 2 (lol), that would be fairly high on the list. YMMV 😊

It’s nice that there’s a 3D offering of this subject. Thanks for posting it. If I can offer some constructive criticism: the roofline looks a little flat in the renderings. Also it’s too bad that they didn’t design the bumpers and grille as separate pieces. Detailing would be much more difficult this way. That said, with limited choices, sometimes you have to take whatever you can get.

Yes, Canuck 3D does. https://www.canuck3d.ca/gm.php

Great news! These are my two most anticipated new releases coming, followed closely by the ’72 Duster. Thanks for posting that.

Thanks for the heads up. I’ll wait until they fix this before I get one. It’s an important detail to me, and I’m a patient guy. The subject matter isn’t high enough on my priorities list that I need one right now, anyhow (and with any luck, by then maybe a flat hood version will be out), nor would I be motivated enough to buy aftermarket parts to achieve what to my way of thinking should be available out of the box. I am happy for the release, and everyone who is excited to get one, though, and honestly little detail foibles like this are to be expected on a new release - really it’s Moebius that I feel bad for, as this will cost them irretrievable money that wasn’t really necessary had someone caught this before it was committed to tooling. Once I see some pro touring builds, though, I can see my motivations changing. I’ve already had thoughts of swapping out the body for a mod stocker ‘65 Fairlane with all the radiused wheel arches and stock car mods, fitting it with obviously added on lights to make it street legal, and going for the race car converted to street car look, but with modern wheel/tire combo, etc. A bit of a mash up of genres to achieve “the look”. We’ll see if that ever materializes… 😉

Probably why JR calls it the Chrysler Plymouth (or something like that) vs Road Runner, but then they also have to have Petty licensing, NASCAR licensing, etc…

By "cottage industry", I meant small producers of resin kits, etc. I have a few from different producers, and don't recall ever seeing any trademarks on them (not saying they don't exist, could be just that I have a crappy memory). I consider the mass producers of styrene kits as the mainstream industry, and yes, I tend to prefer their nicely packaged, generally well engineered, relatively inexpensive kits to ones from the aftermarket, but it's all about subject matter. Some subjects will never be produced by a mainstream manufacturer, so it's either the small producers or nothing. If the auto industries' legal departments ever decided to bring the hammer down on the small producers, then we would probably go back to the days of scratchbuilding them yourselves, or we would have to all become 3D kit designers (and not share or sell any of our files for fear of legal action).

Sounds like a great way to ensure that nobody ever gets to build any of these again. Is it typical for the cottage industry to pay licensing to the car companies? There have been a lot of low buck low volume “kit” producers (i.e. our many wonderful resin kit producers who have been putting a spark into our hobby for decades) who I can’t imagine being large enough to be able to afford a licensing deal with the automakers, not to mention just the legal fees involved, so what’s the deal there? Seems like it would kill off most of our aftermarket if that were the case.

I think essentially that is what Round 2 has been doing with their clone/reissues. For them, though it’s a mass production mass marketing venture that requires lots of investment and requires good sales to make it profitable. Plus, the market only has so much room to support new releases, so they have to pick subject matter carefully. That’s a big difference from a designer creating files to sell to a hobbyist (or cottage industry printer) to print a small volume of copies for minimal investment. That’s the limit of my understanding, but I think it characterizes the differences well enough.

Absolutely. Where I live, we have a business called Autoport, that is basically a logistics port to shuffle cars arriving from overseas, going overseas, or arriving from assembly plants in NA to be distributed to local dealers. As such any group of vehicles from any brand could be hauled by any random carrier. Therefore, as an example of what could be realistically portrayed in a model building project, pretty much anything goes as long as it is reasonably period correct.

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but there are 3D print versions available of the ‘71 Satellite and Road Runner, plus the ‘72 Road Runner. I don’t have any of them, but the renderings seem to have reasonable body proportions. There are missing details, the chassis is not good at all (double A arm front suspension instead of the correct torsion bar configuration, etc), but are an option anyhow. I like to have options, so it’s a positive for me. Here’s a link to the ‘72: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/plymouth-road-runner-1972

Now there’s a hijack I could sink my teeth into. If I were to dare to dream, I’d say bring it on!

Just want to say thanks to Steve G. and crew at R2 for all of these amazing announcements! The amount of discussion here is an indication of the excitement generated by these releases. This is very good for the hobby. My biggest problem is having the patience to wait for them! 👍🏻

Agreed on all counts. Really happy to see this coming out! I will be getting more than one of this version, and also expect that there will be pro stock versions coming in the future… so I will probably be getting multiples! lol

The Mach E is a great electric SUV, but put any badge on it that you want, it’s still not a Mustang. Sadly, though, in yet another case of the world not seeing things my way (yet again! What’s up with that?), the Mustang nameplate remaining solely on a 2 door coupe and convertible would likely result in the demise of the brand, eventually, as “SUV” and “car” move ever closer to becoming synonyms…

Even if it were to be announced as a surprise reissue next week, I will not post in this thread again! 😆 Next I’m gonna post about wanting the ‘65/‘66 MPC Polara/Monaco cloned for reissue. Surely the chassis tools (one of the best renditions of the C, eh Tim? 😉) must still be out there somewhere…. 😁 Let ‘er rip! My wallet is ready! (haha… have a sense of humour, guys!)