Chuck Kourouklis

Yup. Cain't wait to find out...

Well, I can tellya 22 parts, and that the main difference is in the transmission molded to the engine halves now. Should be able to shoot the engine steps, but that'll be quite a bit later today....

Well, Aoshima's already surpassed every Murcielago offered before theirs, and I'm bettin' the same here.

Look at the engineering on that thing. woooooooooww

Willingly accepted, Alan. Look, finding negative commentary tiresome and saying so in itself isn't wrong, it's just the personal broadsides and directives that all-too-typically result which cross the line. The people who engage in that regularly are a bit like the person who decides 73 mph is fast enough for everyone and squats in the passing lane - and as we all know, the only thing that person ever accomplishes is to make the drivers seeking proper use of lane 1 homicidally bent on thwarting him. And no, I'm sure Revell has molds ready to inject right now for whatever the stock version of this will be, and it's going to fall at the same retail point as any other new R/M tool. Revell/Monogram may have been a little ?? about subject/new tool choice from time to time, but they know their customer base, including just about how many parts and how many dollars they'll tolerate. The true pattern is there for anyone who wants to see it: there's less commentary from "people who always find something wrong" over kits that get it right to start with. And so far, we're not looking bad on this one - I'd judge it better than the 'Cuda for overall proportions anyway. Instruction sheet verification of the torque boxes:

NO Sir. That was neither necessary nor particularly called for. In "I'm not gonna settle and neither should you", you've contrived a narrative to justify telling other people what to do, and that narrative is wholly unsupported by anything preceding in this thread. In fact, there was no real angst in this thread until your last post. There's nobody here trying to impose his opinion on anyone else - except in your last post. I got a link explains exactly where I'm coming from, in case you haven't seen. It's alright, Alan, you're far from the first. What follows is not a mandate but a statement of fact - to be fair, for an audience wider than you... People WILL express whatever opinions, positive or negative, they have about this kit, and by the VERY DEFINITION OF THIS FORUM they will be TOPICAL in such expression. And many of them will betray questionable priorities in doing so, and their comments will stand or fall on their own merits, no ridicule necessary. And other than the moderators in these parts, anyone who tries to stifle that discussion will meet with the results they've ever before accomplished, and that they ever will accomplish, and that they EVER DESERVE to accomplish: THEY WON'T. GET. A N Y W H E R E. (and please, do imagine a full-tilt Jules Winfield on that last line) You all never have. And you never will. . . So LEE - looks like we only made it to page THREE this time before the handbags came out...

And that '66 was gorgeous too - probably my favorite of the "Mueller Era" turn-of-the-millennium AMT tools. Great set of tires only ever used on the factory stock version of that kit. Makes me wish they'd work up a fresh '67 Eldo just to give 'em another home. Always been of the opinion that there's little to match the original for boldness and beauty, but I'll take a boattail or three please. Yes, early bumpers por favor. They did that 1/64 '71 low-rider diecast once upon a time, after all....

It is just so, Bill. Can get an instruction sheet capture later to show you exactly where they go, if you like. Meantime, engine mount comparison: As you can see, the '68 engine mounts show a stagger relative to the '70, so a 440 from the earlier tooling might not be the straightest drop in. We're probably only talking light modifications to fit one, though.

That's just what they are. They install just ahead of the front leaf shackles onto the chassis plate. That and the fact the hemi engine parts are on one tree does appear to increase the ease with which another engine can be worked in later, if it isn't indeed the next version they have planned. I didn't forget so much as leave the '48 off, because it's a modified reissue of 18-year-old tooling rather than the second half of something new like the '29/'30. Still and all, the major modification is to the most expensive component of the kit, and it certainly goes to the point that Revell's release schedule this year is aggressive.

That's a good question, Sam, and maybe they don't - the block mounts were staggered on the '68-'69, but they look dead across one another on this '70. Might look into a comparison later...

On "mainstreamer" variations: based on the no-name Polyglas tires for the fronts, the unplated valve covers, and the fact that the transmission is now integrated with the engine halves instead of separate to accommodate an option, I'm guessing the likelihood is highest for a factory '70 Hemi R/T - BUT. The engine parts are all off on their own tree, aren't they? Seems the alternator on the chrome tree would be just fine for a wedge too. Muzzle-to-bone, I'd bet on Hemi R/T first, then maybe a new tree for a wedge down the road. But again, this is all just a w. a. g. reading tea leaves from the tooling, not based on any kind of "intel." Separate grilles covering headlight buckets behind would have been VERY cool, but in addition to the notorious fiscal conservatism Monogram brought to the table, Revell/Monogram's schedule has been pretty ambitious in 2016. Between the '83 Olds, the upcoming C7R and Bronco, the rest of the '29/'30 Ford they unleashed this year, and surprise surprise, this Charger, you could call it 4 1/2 new tools released this year for glue kits. 5 1/2 if you count the Ford GT snapper. With that aggressive a schedule, it's not easy to get too extravagant on any one tool, and the long-awaited Bronco looks set to be the one getting the most engineering "love" this year.

Kool, and thanks for reminders, gents - I've had my Landy kit in storage so long, don't think I've seen it in 10 years at least.

For that Special Edition '68, they mostly combined existing tooling into one box; do think the interior was updated for the Landy car, but don't recall if they went so far as a rear seat for that. So maybe work up a new back seat, add steel wheels and dog dishes for a little value added, and there's your Special Ed. Here's where my memory may fog a little: I believe the Landy car still had the '69 signal lights on it, but they were removed for the '68 SE. One little thing I think carried all the way through: R/M's basic body conversion was evidently a new mold insert for a smooth top, rather than the '69's vinyl texture. Why would I suppose this? Because there was, on the Landy car at least, this TINY section just at the rear base of the drip molding on both sides - 1mm square, maybe? - where the mold parted, that still carried the vinyl texture from the side sections of the mold.

Seeing that there's been only one grille in any of these Chargers up till now, I don't think an open headlight option is all that likely - but you never know. If there are any door scoop covers in the offing, I think it's a lot more likely that those will be separate rather than molded to another '70 body shell, since the body mold is usually the most expensive one to develop.

Well, one possible "tell" far as all that goes: the front tires are the Polyglas GTs that debuted on the 'Cuda - on the Rallyes. Been a few times the fronts on a drag version have been the four tires on the stock version from Revell tooling... (Think the rears are common to the Sox & Martin 'Cuda)

"You're welome"s all around, and killer shot, Jesse - that may just prod me to move a little sooner than later on this. James D's pretty much en pointe - it's very easy to imagine at least two other trees, one chrome with the rear bumper, stock wheels, and maybe an air cleaner housing this time to replace the second tree in this version, and one to replace the hood/header/roll bar tree with another that has the back seats, stock shocks, stock manifolds and intake, and a re-take of the rear fascia, hinges, and a full hood. Stock exhaust too, maybe? It might just be two trees' difference between this and a prospective stock version, plus the stock rubber and a good decal sheet. Wouldn't mind seeing those door scoop covers and the black hood "HEMI" stripes too. And yes - nearly anything besides the Magnum 5-spokes, please, and Rallyes next to last if you would.

I wouldn't have necessarily, but I'm delighted...

Revell's Preferred Partner LHS dealers should be getting 'em in NOW or very shortly - that's where I got mine, 'cause, uh... let's just say I don't quite have the rapport with Revell to get advanced samples. Should be a couple weeks at most even for the non RPP shops who are reasonably on top of things. And if you like the '68/'69, my guess is there ain't much you won't like about this one. That's for this Fast & Furious kit, now. No official announcement on the next version yet, even if this kit itself serves as a very loud unofficial announcement.

No Sir! That's another factor convincing me a factory stocker is a-brewin', 'cause otherwise, that console we're not using for this one don't make much sense.

Heh, that's means your '61 and my reviewing career are right about the same age... *busily shopping bifocals for the next killer MCG set...* No prob at all, Kelson!

From the author of the Coral Aura hisself! Why thankya, Sir!

Yup, this: Once again, my local RPP pusher apparently got a jump. and for thems of you what paid attention to the skill level and parts count announcements, allow me to confirm a suspicion you might have developed: This sucker has a lot more in common with the ProModeler '69/'68 variants than it does with the diecast. It's very slightly simplified in isolated spots, but it hews very closely otherwise to the previous masters and design. As it's been with the Rat Roaster, various '90s Monogram NASCAR kits, the running gear of R/M's '55 and '56/'57 Chevys, and confusingly retooled recent Mustang kits, it's very easy to mistake parts for carry-over from the '68/'69 - but except possibly for the tires and axle pins, EVERY PART IS NEW. Many of them may be so identical as to interchange with their '68/'69 counterparts, but virgin steel was cut for this one. Not used for this version are a console and its trim plate on the chrome tree. The rear bumper is the only stock piece on a separate chrome tree that includes the wheels and many of the race parts, including a nicely done injector scoop from a sliding mold - yes, there's an inevitable parting line, but it's pretty faint. The white F&F parts are grouped in a similar way. Not only that, but there are even more blatant clues a factory stock Hemi R/T draws nigh: A private brain trust with whom I first shared this and I are of the opinion that the grille may just be a tiny bit tall for scale - but that engraving is just stupid better than what the preview shots indicated, and the overall piece is comically ahead of what AMT tried to foist on us a few years back. And lookie, an "R/T" badge... And if Revell were going strictly after the Toretto car, I doubt they would have bothered to include the chrome lips around the wheel arches. Remember, this is NOT the '68/'69 shell. In addition to the obvious changes up front, there are subtle revisions to the backlight contours, the door scoops, and the fender arch shapes themselves. This kit is juuuust about to the '68/'69 what R/M's '62 Corvette is to their '58/'59. As in that scenario, the new tooling ditches poseable steering for Revell's current pin axle wheel mounting, and the engraving - still very sharp - isn't quite so razor-edged as the ProModeler antecedent. The interior and body do seem decently updated to '70 specs on a first sweep, but the true MoPar cognoscenti may find some nits I don't immediately see. Sliding molds provide great relief detail on the instrument panel pad in one piece now, and the reintegration of the transmission halves with the engine block, relative to the '68/'69, indicate the Hemi will be the only engine, at least initially. You won't have to de-chrome the valve covers either - but that strange bracket poking up from the back of the oil filter in the '70 'Cuda is also present here, and it makes me wonder if there isn't something I'm missing in all my Hemi reference. But what I'd observe overall is this: unless you've gotta have a street '70 sooner than later, or you want the previous tooling's poseable steering that badly, or you'd really rather a Wedge than a Hemi, I'd hold off on the kitbashing just yet. It seems VERY LIKELY a pretty cool factory-stocker is well on its way. Open for questions and added shots as I can get to 'em. Anybody can slap one together in a week, you're more than welcome, happily invited in fact, to post it here - but let me anticipate certain pot-shooters by making clear I've got other kits in the cue for publication and busy weekends besides, so the MAIN POINT of this thread is the in-box examination of the raw parts, and any snide broadsides about not building it quick enough for somebody's personal taste will MISS the point (as the authors of such generally do, and resolutely).

No, I think you know now, Bob. Wipers were the first thing to catch my eye. Passenger side rear corner of the hood is definitely less-than-curbside in fit.

Oh yeah, hysterical. Items 1 AND 2 at the blog in my signature, posted for over three years now.

Just not overly impressed with the styling or the fact that it's not a lot improved for visibility, and pretty bitter that it's gotten everything all bass-ackwards with the Mustang in having not only the power advantage but lower weight now. I'll probably get the snapper and a couple of the glue kits.