First Detailed Look and Kit Commentary - new Moebius '65 Plymouth Satellite

[Brett Barrow]

Yeah but everyone runs around the Moebius threads insisting that they're the new Tamiya, then they should mold their wheels the way the Japanese do by attaching the sprue mounts to a little riser of material on the back of the wheel and start using polycaps so you could swap wheels and tires quickly and easily between all of the "Big 3" U.S. brands.

What's so wrong with the tires in this kit that they need to be swapped out?

And Japanese wheels have thick, flat, non-prototypical inner rims because they use that system.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Brett Barrow

[martinfan5]

What's so wrong with the tires in this kit that they need to be swapped out?

And Japanese wheels have thick, flat, non-prototypical inner rims because they use that system.

I think he was talking about if the builder wanted to do a wheel/tire swap that it would be easier, not trying to speak for him in any way though.

[Luc Janssens]

What's so wrong with the tires in this kit that they need to be swapped out?

And Japanese wheels have thick, flat, non-prototypical inner rims because they use that system.

Think the "problem" is that Moebius is too new in the game of automotive kits, thus not enough variety in wheel/tire options.

In time this "problem" will vanish as more kits are released, maybe even "super sized" with all kinds of extra's as an incentive to buy re-releases sometime in the future.

Give them time, cuz for now they're cranking out some realy magnificent kits!

[Brett Barrow]

I just thought that with all the talk of swapping tires that he meant they needed to be swapped. If the wheels and tires look good and fit well as designed then there shouldn't be any need to swap them. I haven't gotten a good enough look at these to tell, I'll have to get it in my hands first.

The Revell 70 Cuda can use the AMT Parts Pack Goodyears as a direct swap, so I'm thinking maybe this system is going to be the industry standard going forward. I might be in the minority, but I like this type of wheel and tire system. I also don't have a very deep parts box, so I'm not that attached to the old style. Most of what I do have in solid tires is Revell anyway, and in most cases they are larger than the old AMT standard and would only fir Revell wheels anyway. I like that the new hollow tires (in most cases) are sized to the AMT standard.

[niteowl7710]

What's so wrong with the tires in this kit that they need to be swapped out?

And Japanese wheels have thick, flat, non-prototypical inner rims because they use that system.

Maybe I'd rather build it with a beefier set of wheels and tires like this...

Rather than the bone stock factory wheel covers and tires...

If EVERYONE just would use polycaps, perhaps the U.S. companies could get into making wheel AND tire sets (I know there are some with both in the drag tires Round2 has done), and open another revenue stream. I mean if you really sit down and look at the various ways wheels have been mounted over the past 50+ years the closest thing to a "standard" we ever got was those wire axles. It seems like every decade or so someone tries to reinvent the wheel (pardon the pun) cause before the Delta Queen paddles Revell had gone over to those 4 tiny "nails" that had the habit of evaporating whenever you happened to gaze upon them.

I'm also not speaking of Revell/Moebius/Round2 doing big goofy VIP wheels or Japanese branded tuner wheel sets like Aoshima/Fujimi, but you're telling me there's NO market in this country for an easily swappable sets of period muscle car wheels? I mean from personal experience some of the most successful vendors at the shows I go to are the ones that sell spare wheels and wheel/tire combos.

Lastly how much time do you spend per day looking at the inside edge of your model's tires sighing with contentment over the prototypical inner tire rim/bead? Yeah that's what I thought...

[Brett Barrow]

Maybe I'd rather build it with a beefier set of wheels and tires like this...

Rather than the bone stock factory wheel covers and tires...

If EVERYONE just would use polycaps, perhaps the U.S. companies could get into making wheel AND tire sets (I know there are some with both in the drag tires Round2 has done), and open another revenue stream. I mean if you really sit down and look at the various ways wheels have been mounted over the past 50+ years the closest thing to a "standard" we ever got was those wire axles. It seems like every decade or so someone tries to reinvent the wheel (pardon the pun) cause before the Delta Queen paddles Revell had gone over to those 4 tiny "nails" that had the habit of evaporating whenever you happened to gaze upon them.

I'm also not speaking of Revell/Moebius/Round2 doing big goofy VIP wheels or Japanese branded tuner wheel sets like Aoshima/Fujimi, but you're telling me there's NO market in this country for an easily swappable sets of period muscle car wheels? I mean from personal experience some of the most successful vendors at the shows I go to are the ones that sell spare wheels and wheel/tire combos.

Lastly how much time do you spend per day looking at the inside edge of your model's tires sighing with contentment over the prototypical inner tire rim/bead? Yeah that's what I thought...

(I thought you meant replacing just the tires on the stock wheel.) I agree, where they need the standardization is how the wheel mounts to the suspension. AMT has a really nice set of Torq-Thrusts in (certain issues) of their 62 Chevy, I'd love to see them use those as the basis for a Parts Pack (if they gave the rears a little deeper offset it'd be even better!) . I've even gone so far as to suggest it to them . I've got a set resized to fit the big & little Goodyears all ready to go on something. After seeing that Satellite that might be what I end up using them on!

And yeah, I spend 0.0 hours per day looking at the inner bead but there are some really well done inner wheel/brake backing plates in some of the 90's AMT/Ertl kits that really look sharp when paint detailed right. I'm working on the 70 Camaro and 66 Olds right now that have them

Edited June 6, 2015 by Brett Barrow

[Guest]

Notice: the following comments are my perceptions. Yours may vary. So, use your own eyes and make your your own judgements.

The roof has too much crown and it's killing the windshield header and opening. Look at the comparison photos. In photo 41, you can literally see the lip (that shouldn't be there since the molding is with the windshield) on the windshield header from the rear view. In photo 39, you can see that the header is almost straight across when it should be curved. It's not as bad for the back light. But, still noticeable.

The body below the belt line between the wheel openings is too flat. It should roll under substantially at the very bottom. It kills the wheel openings at a three quarter view. Notice how much wider the Moebius body is at the bottom compared to both comparison bodies. In photo 41, it looks like the body almost gets wider towards the bottom. That could be due to lense distortion. Maybe Tim could measure the three bodies at the bottom to see what the difference in width actually is.

The front wheel opening looks like it needs to be moved forward a couple of mms or more. It could be from the lack of the bumper being in place causing it to look that way. There's something about it that just doesn't look right.

This kit may look better once it's in paint and foil. But, sometimes paint and foil magnifies the problems instead of covering them up. We'll see. Maybe my perceptions will change once I see a few of them built.

[DaveM]

Nothing wrong with the tires in the kit, except the lack of branding. A couple of years later, redlines came in, and lots of muscle cars had them for a couple of years. If I am building a couple of copies of a kit, different tires are appreciated. Not that many owners swapped wheels on their cars, but virtually everybody replaced tires as they went along. AMT's redlines would look right at home on this kit. If an owner kept his car up well, it could have worn Polyglas GTs as its second or third set of tires and still looked new.

[Bob Ellis]

Tim , it is great you can post photos of a new kit and let everybody see what's in it. In the old days we had to buy, break it open, and see what's in the box.

[Chuck Most]

The smaller-sized AMT Goodyears from the parts pack fit the kit wheels just fine, though personally I'm not digging the look of the RWL tires with the stock wheel covers. That being said, if those fit, other AMT and MPC tires should fit, provided they aren't too wide (like the larger AMT Goodyears). If they're solid you can just file off the "paddles" from the wheels. On the flip side, the printed narrow whites, while lacking lettering, still look good, and could be used as a replacement on an AMT '60's compact or mid-size car.

[Mopeyguy]

Thanks for the excellent review of this Tim. Much appreciated. And thanks to those at Moebius reading this for producing this kit.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Huh. Maybe the fault lies with the terms I used, but what I was talking about was this:

How much time do you need to spend per day looking at the inside edge of your model's tires sighing with contentment over the prototypical inner tire rim/bead, to see that the rim on the left is far cleaner and less distractingly out-of-scale than the one on the right?

Yeah that's what I thought...

[Chuck Most]

^Yep... take a gander at the example on the right. Few things can kill the look of an otherwise nice model than those fat-lipped wheels that won't settle into the bead. That's one problem you won't have with the wheel design Moebius used on this one.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Ayuh, all I wuz sayin', 'cause I thought we were talking about tire changes too. Poly caps all around, far as I'm concerned, 'cause those one-piece wheels also relieve the rims of any tire-holding duty.

Though I think the closest we'll probably ever get with the domestics were the styrene caps in the AMT Escalade.

Edited June 7, 2015 by Chuck Kourouklis

[chopper430]

Mobius hit this one out of the park,now all they need to do is to do more 50"sGM cars.

[johnbuzzed]

(I thought you meant replacing just the tires on the stock wheel.) I agree, where they need the standardization is how the wheel mounts to the suspension. AMT has a really nice set of Torq-Thrusts in (certain issues) of their 62 Chevy, I'd love to see them use those as the basis for a Parts Pack (if they gave the rears a little deeper offset it'd be even better!) . I've even gone so far as to suggest it to them . I've got a set resized to fit the big & little Goodyears all ready to go on something. After seeing that Satellite that might be what I end up using them on!

And yeah, I spend 0.0 hours per day looking at the inner bead but there are some really well done inner wheel/brake backing plates in some of the 90's AMT/Ertl kits that really look sharp when paint detailed right. I'm working on the 70 Camaro and 66 Olds right now that have them

I'd like to see the same done with Revell's big and litttle Americans and tires from their Deuce kits. As far as this Satellite, I haven't checked out the review yet as I do most of my forum stuff at work, and Fotki stuff is blocked (time to use the phone), but I do have the kit on my gottaget list. They will look nice displayed with those Polar Lights Coronets of the same vintage.

[Chuck Most]

Here's how it looks with some MRC Cragars and AMT tires.

I also lifted the nose a bit by flipping the front spindles upside-down... going for an old-school street machine kind of look. My only big worry was the grille- the engraving is so fine I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get a good black wash, but I think I got a decent one. I'll see about getting a better quality pic tomorrow after work.

[Mike Chernecki]

What is the status on these?

[Tom Geiger]

 

I don't know the release date, but I received a copy of the box art yesterday.

 

[niteowl7710]

What is the status on these?

It was released in Japan on the 17th, so based on the pattern of the Fords, it should be any day now. 

[Mike Chernecki]

What is the status on these?

It was released in Japan on the 17th, so based on the pattern of the Fords, it should be any day now. 

Who has these in Japan? I checked HLJ and they show nothing.

[horsepower]

Our fickle nature is praising the abilities of Moebius to do what some think is the undo able for U.S. manufacturers to do, while over in the truck section they're being crucified for the two long awaited Ford pickup truck kits. Me, I'm just going to get a short bed one to build a street rod out of and if I like it I'll do a copy of the most useless and undriveable piece of junk any truck manuscript ever pawned off to the public, the  '71 -'72 Ford Ranger Camper Special XLT with the 360 boat anchor for power. 

My dad bought a new one in '72 and the motor broke a rod with less than 600 miles on it, and afterin it died on him for the umpteenth time crossing a four lane highway in traffic he traded it in on a new Chevrolet 4wd stepside that went 300,000 miles without any problems other than changing one set of plugs at 60k miles.

[martinfan5]

What is the status on these?

It was released in Japan on the 17th, so based on the pattern of the Fords, it should be any day now. 

Who has these in Japan? I checked HLJ and they show nothing.

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10330665

http://www.hlj.com/product/MOE1215/Aut

[Mike Chernecki]

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10330665

http://www.hlj.com/product/MOE1215/Aut

Thanks for the links. Odd, I checked HLJ and couldn't find it. Thought I could snag one early from Japan, no thanks.. too expensive.. I can wait.

[ZTony8]

Since I can't access Tim Boyd's review here at work to view any pics I'll ask this here-Are the parts made in the grainy type plastic like the '54 Hudson or are they the smooth type like the '55 and '56 Chryslers and the earlier Hudsons?