Carmak

Within the last few days Steve Magnante has released multiple new Model Car posts on YouTube. They are about the Resin JoHan Powell truck (two posts), a 70's AWB Cadillac build and a new Revell 71 Mustang AWB build. He also re-released an older post about Jo-Han 66 Cadillac Ambulances and Hearses. Very happy to see that Steve has recovered with enough dexterity to build models again!

There is at least one decision maker at Round2 that is an active member of this board. His name in this forum is "SteveG". You may also meet Steve at events the Round2 displays at. The best place to ask questions about possible future kits is in the "Car Kit News & Reviews" section of this forum. Before you ask about future kits take a look at the many posts where original vintage and new "clone" molds are discussed. Some things to keep in mind about the plastic model car BUSINESS and how it has changed since the golden area (late 50's to early 70's): * Plastic model cars were one of the most popular hobbies in the late 50's to mid 60's and they sold in fairly high volume * Model kits known as "annuals" (a model car made the year the car was new) were typically repurposed molds used to make dealer promo cars. The dealer promo car molds were paid for by the car companies. Therefore, the model kits companies were not having to fully pay for their molds. You 59 Buick is essentially an unassembled dealer promo car. These two factors meant that model kits were good business in this 60's. Today's kit volumes are a tiny fraction of the 60's and there are no car companies paying for molds of cars from 60 years ago, so the model kit business is much more challenging than it once was. Having said all that doom and gloom Round2 is actively making new molds of cool old cars. They recently announced a new mold of the 1960 Chevy station wagon. Part of the reason they did this is the very high demand in the collector world for the 1960 Chevy wagon kits that survive from the 60's. Over that last few years they have made new molds for other very desirable vintage kits such as 1960 Ford truck, 1963 Ford truck, 1964 Chevelle, 1968 Coronet and 1971 Dodge Demon. I am sure there are other cool things in process at Round2.

There are two versions of that kit you are building. You have the first version which is a 72 Chevelle. The second version was changed into a 70 Chevelle to more accurately represent the actual car. The second version body was then used in the Super Stocker series before being "restored" back into a mostly stock Chevelle that was just recently re-issued as the SSlasher. The pics below are the second version box lid (the red ribbon in the lower right corner is different) and the 70 Chevelle body in that kit.

I found this locally (Iowa City, IA area) a few weeks ago. This is pretty high on my "didn't expect to ever find" list.

Nice build Nathan! The hubcaps really make it stand out, well done.

I realize I am late to this thread but I would like to add to what Chris V has said about this kit and post some pictures. This kit was originally designed by Tom Daniel. Tom was one of Monogram's key car/truck kit designer for a large portion of the 60's and 70's and this kit was one of his more popular designs. Tom Daniel kits were not designed to have high detail or accuracy; they were designed to have a "LOOK" that could be achieved by a typical (kid) builder. The Badman is somewhat unique in that it is a modified re-issue of a 3 in 1 type 55 convertible kit issued in the early 60's. Most Tom Daniel kits were new tooling. Unfortunately Tom Daniel and Monogram (now Revell) parted ways and over the years some of the unique Badman details were removed/replaced. Steven Guthmiller is correct that almost every model builder of a certain age probably built a version of this kit. Below are pictures of the original Badman kit (with its red glass and scoop) and the original Monogram 55 Chevy modified to create the Badman.

For a common muscle car (68-72 GM A body) the difference in wheelbase between 1/24 and 1/25 is about 3/16".

Really like the hint of pearl on the seats. Nice!

I see the 66 Belvedere sedan will be available again soon but as I read the posts I had a thought: Elwood Engel took control of Mopar design in the early 60's. The all new 1965 C-bodies were pure Engel. The heavily refreshed 1966 B-bodies shared a lot to the design ques from the 1965 C-bodies. This is very clear in the roof design. The JoHan 68 Fury squad car roof has a similar shaped C pilar with a character line running parallel to the window opening like the 66-67 B-Body sedans do. The Fury C pilar does have a steeper angle and it looks a little thicker to my eye so it would NOT be a slam dunk roof swap.

Saw that car last year at the Detroit Autorama. Very well done custom! They even have faux late 60's magazine articles as part of the display.

I saw that car in that exact spot last year as well. Very well done conversion. IIRC the interior was done stock. Some stock wheels and it could pass for a faux prototype.

I have used it for years for very specific applications. I DUST it on interior pieces to achieve the pearl look of some 60's vinyl. I have also DUSTED it on flat black vinyl tops. The key here is to DUST it on! Practice on a test piece.

Been looking decades to find one of these. Found it locally and not on E-bay or Facebook. It's lightly started (engine and chassis). No tire burn or broken parts.

Just a heads up on the engine compartment pic. They probably used that same Mustang for the engine compartment shot as that engine compartment is from a Mustang or Fairlane/Torino, it's a unibody and has spring towers. The full size Fords were full frame cars with separate inner fenders. Cool project! Looking forward to your build!

I sure do hope this kit is on the short list at Round2 to be cloned. I restored this one in the late 80's (It needs a cleaning).

The molded in B pilar sure ruins the flow of the window opening on these kits. I know very small percentage of 1:1 Charger R/T's and Super Bees were actually built as sedans (like the pink example above) but the vast majority were true hard tops. At least they are easy to cut out

Another good option would be the chassis in the Round2 70 Coronet (stock version). The 70 Coronet kit uses a modified version of the body and interior tub from the original issue 70 Coronet combined with the modern tooling (90's) chassis from the Round2 68/69 Road Runner/GTX kits. As the original 70 Coronet used a chassis that was essentially the same as the 66 Charger chassis, I would presume that the chassis that fits the 70 Coronet would also fit the 66 Charger. Post some in-process pics of your 66

Depending on your definition of "best" even Tamiya has issued some less than "best" kits. In the 80's many curbside (no kit engine) Tamiya kits used chassis that were very toy like. These kits were designed to be adapted to electric motors so they could function as a toy. The bodies on these kits were outstanding and they assembled well but the chassis was simply a way to connect the wheels to the body.

This is a 60's vintage tire (the top one) that has leached plasticizer to the surface. It kinda looks like oil on water (the purple shimmer).

I have an early 60's AMT in an early 60's display case (the ones with the clear bottom that flares out on the sides). The tires have melted both the car's wheels and the display case base a little.

A suggestion to Round2, Hire Tim Boyd, Dave Darby or any number of people with some model kit knowledge to give the presenter notes about the kits they are describing. I think it is great getting new younger people into the hobby but give them some support. This Round2 video is tragic. So much great stuff on the table being described so poorly.

I spent about 15 years parting out 60's cars as a side gig in the 90's, 2000's. More than once I encountered burgundy cars with gold interiors. It really draws your eye to the interior and you don't have the issue many red on red cars have where the two reds just don't look good next to each other.

Doug, Where are the Camaro headers from?

Back in the 2000's I daily drove a very rusty 65 Star Cheif with a set of the Pontiac Deluxe A-body wheel covers. They had really good spring retainers and over 20,000+ miles I never lost one. The car is gone (parted to save a 65 GP) but I still have those wheel covers. I have a fuzzy memory that I saw a set of these wheel covers on a vintage car toy of Asian origin years ago at an antique shop. The toy was a "thingy" style race car and it was about 1/25 scale.

This is my oldest unbuilt 1/25 scale plastic model car kit. It is a 1955 AMT 3 car assembly kit (the Buick is missing). I also have 2 built cars from a 1954 AMT 3 car assembly kit. AMT first offered 3 car assembly kits in 53 and I think we have a member that has one. These are essentially un-assembled promos molded in Acetate plastic. in 1958 AMT introduced a series of 3-in-1 kits that were also essentially unassembled promos, sold individually with custom parts and molded in white Styrene plastic. The 1958 kits were really a sales hit and effectively started the golden age of model cars.