MPC '67 Vette “Night Stalker”--A "Gitter Done" Slump-Buster

[Snake45]

About a week ago, our friend Greg Myers posted this photo:

...which reminded me that I had a very similar project sitting on my Shelf of Doom.

I started this MPC Night Stalker more than 20 years ago—before the much superior Revell '67 Vette Coupe appeared, at any rate. I did considerable bodywork to bring it up to my standards, and got as far as painting and polishing the body out (Model Master British Green Metallic) before I lost interest in in for whatever reason (possibly the appearance of the Revell kit). I Snake-slapped together a rolling chassis based on a one-piece AMT '63 frame just to see what it would look like complete. When Greg posted that cool pic, I realized a had a pic of the stillborn project loaded up on Photobucket, at which point (and up until this week) it looked like this:

Had a couple days off this week so decided to dig up the sad old backbirth and kick it through the goalposts, just as a slump-buster. Added the bumpers and grille, cleaned off the tires, painted the lower portions of the rocker panels Black Chrome Trim, chromed the door handles and gas cap ring, and a couple other little things. It won't win any prizes but I got it JUST finished enough to put on the shelf and call it “done.” It kinda makes me want to build a GOOD one now on the Revell kit.

Here it is, teamed up with my Revell Snapper '63 roadster (which is not painted, just raw plastic polished and trimmed) just for comparison:

Thanks for looking, and comments welcome.

Edited July 18, 2015 by Snake45

[vintagercr]

Very nice!

[Guest]

Nice pair of Vettes!

[AC Norton]

i have always liked these old mpc vette kits, and the nice thing about your car is that it has that old school build appearance to it.....right color, wheels , and stance....good for you,,,,,,,the ace..............

[rmvw guy]

I'm a sucker for old Vetts, nice save.  I love the color and wheels.

[slusher]

Great looking Corvettes and never would have guessed the roadster was a snap.. Nice work...

[Ron Hamilton]

I like your build Snake. I've always liked those old MPC Corvettes. As a matter of fact, I have an unbuilt MPC "Streaker Vette", which was one of my favorite models when I was a teenager. I loved the stance, and the slot mags in the kit. Those Corvettes are among my favorite cars, and I have quite a few kits of them. 

[Snake45]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. (Why is it that my biggest POS builds always seem to draw the most and most favorable comments?)

The MPC Sting Ray is "historic," as it traces its lineage to MPC's very first kit, I believe, the '64 Vette Coupe, which was updated every year through '67.

The body was never quite as nice as AMT's IMHO, but the kit's strong point was its far superior multipiece chassis, where AMT was getting by with wire axles in a 1-piece pan chassis.

We've now seen (discounting the AM Grand Sports) four distinct families of '63-'67 Sting Rays in 1/25--AMT, MPC, Revell, and Revell Snapper. The MPC is IMHO the worst of them, and I wouldn't recommend it except as a pure nostalgia building experience (not that there's anything wrong with that, Lord knows). If you want to build a nice '67 Vette coupe, just start with the Revell kit and save yourself a lot of aggravation. But if you already have a paid-for old MPC in any of its many reissued forms in your stashpile, there's nothing wrong with having a little lighthearted retro-blast with it.

Edited July 18, 2015 by Snake45

[om617]

Nice Corvette,like the blue one too. 

[Danno]

Sweet!

[Dave Darby]

Nice looking build. I'd put the MPC kit abpve the AMT kits however. The only real issues being that MPC wiped the Corvette scripts and factory exhaust when the Streaker Vette was issued. Oh, and the lack of a big block. They also subbed in the 1964 interior and non sprung suspension. The improvement they did make over the annual kit is the correction of the fender louvers which were incorrectly vertical  (not sloped). This is a Streaker Vette issue I built as a teen during the 70s.

Edited June 13, 2017 by Dave Darby

[Lizz62]

Nice looking build. I'd put the MPC kit abpve the AMT kits however. The only real issues being that MPC wiped the Corvette scripts and factory exhaust when the Streaker Vette was issued. Oh, and the lack of a big block. They also subbed in the 1964 interior and non sprung suspension. The improvement they did make over the annual kit is the correction of the fender louvers which were incorrectly vertical  (not sloped). This is a Streaker Vette issue I built as a teen during the 70s.

that should be a kit !!!! That is awesome!!!! DANG! Wow! Again, wow!

[Snake45]

Nice looking build. I'd put the MPC kit abpve the AMT kits however.

 

 

The MPC detailed chassis is of course better than the one-piece AMT's, but I'm going to disagree as regards the body. Both kits are very, VERY similar in shape (the hoods are almost a perfect interchange), and both are inaccurate in the same way--they're just a little sharper, a little "sleeker," than the real car, though this doesn't really offend the eye and you have to study the matter in some detail to see it. But in detail and crispness of molding, the AMT body is much the better. The MPC molds are now so worn that the door lines are almost nonexistent. There is one way the MPC body is superior to the AMT, though--the A pillars (windshield frame). AMT correctly molded these for 1963, and then never went back and changed them for subsequent annual years. MPC's kit started as a '64 and thus has correct '64-'67 A-pillars. Actually I guess this isn't an issue at all if you're building an AMT '63 as a '63, but if you want to convert it to another year, or if you're working with an original AMT '64 through '67, it's an issue that needs to be dealt with.

Oh yeah, the annual MPC '66 is the only source for an accurate '65-'66 big block hood. And the MPC '66-'67 factory side exhaust is more accurate than AMT's (not that either part has survived into the reissue era, so that's kind of moot).

What? I'm a Sting Ray Nerd? Guilty as charged.

[gtx6970]

I'm not a Vette can in any way. But I've built one of  those streaker Vette kits many many years ago. Now  that it's reissued. I might have to try one again.  I've always thought the 63 to 67 versions were the best of the lot.

[Snake45]

I'm not a Vette can in any way. But I've built one of  those streaker Vette kits many many years ago. Now  that it's reissued. I might have to try one again.  I've always thought the 63 to 67 versions were the best of the lot.

I'd recommend either the AMT '63 or the Revell '67 Coupe over the reissued MPC '67 every day of the week. Actually, if you just want the '63-'67 shape on your shelf and don't care which year and aren't put off by curbside, the Revell '63 snappers--coupe and roadster--are fine, fine little kits. I've built two of each and would happily do another if the mood struck me--and who knows, it just might, if they reissue them in interesting colors (I have them in red, dark metallic blue, metallic red, and purple.)

[bbowser]

"(Why is it that my biggest POS builds always seem to draw the most and most favorable comments?) "

 

I know, right?  We see the flaws in our own builds that don't stick out to others.  Love your C2s, especially the color and wheels.

[Dave Darby]

Palmer 64 MPC 66 annual and AMT 64 annual survivors. Also have a pretty cool MPC 64 I'm trying to find my photo of...

[Snake45]

That MPC '66 is worthy of a full resto--either a survivor resto or a full rebuild. I'd survivor-resto the AMT '64 and put a blower motor coming through the hood hole. (I'm working on a similar project even as we speak). Too bad it doesn't have an intact '64 hood painted to match (or does it?). I just got a Palmer '66 myself last month, and am trying to come up with SOMETHING cool to do with it. Thinking maybe a Vette-"ish" kit car if I can find a suitable donor frame. (Mine has the windshield glass, but not the chrome frame.)

[Dave Darby]

I actually just let that 66 go on ebay a few weeks ago. (Didn't want to. Just needed the money.) It is a great survivor and that's how I was preserving it. Here's another cool survivor I have. This is the MPC 64 with its unique one issue only blower scoop. Rear wheels and slicks appear to be Revell. If you like old builds check out Scale Survivors on Facebook.