FordRodnKustom Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 I recently got this grail of mine in a trade. I know it's an old kit but I thought I'd share what's in the box in case anyone is interested in getting one.....they ain't cheap. My plan is to build either a "street freak" straight axle gasser style or a stock Grabber. Looks like this one is missing the wheel backs. No problem there and this resin Grabber hood that came with it more than makes up for them!
RancheroSteve Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 Thanks for the look back! Interesting, I see both Boss 429 and SOHC valve covers on the chrome tree.
gman Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 I have always liked those- 1:1 and in kit form. Good luck with your build.
thatz4u Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 great find, did it have the 6 cyl with it?
FordRodnKustom Posted September 20, 2015 Author Posted September 20, 2015 great find, did it have the 6 cyl with it?Thanks, no. Just what you see there.
High octane Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 Hmmm, I thought that I had seen one of those kits go for $35 at a club meeting 'bout 3 weeks ago. Nice kit too!
Craig Irwin Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 I have a built kit from the early 80's, and it has a different chassis under it. I built it box stock myself so the kit must have changed.
Snake45 Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 Since you already have the stock Grabber hood, I vote to go that way with it.
Sledsel Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 These were really nice kits.... yea, engine compartments and chassis lacked, but the looked right. Love all the engine detail.Steve, you can build it as an SOHC, but the block and heads are incorrect. Those are about the nicest SOHC covers out there too.AMT 67 Mustang donates a nice chassis to this kit
afx Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 Always liked this kit except for the headers. I think they hang way too low on the finished build.
Casey Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 Such a shame they forgot to add lug nut detail to the Fenton Gyro wheels.
Drake69 Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 I really... REALLY WISH someone would re-release this. Been on my want list for quite some time now.
rickcaps55 Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 I recently got this grail of mine in a trade. I know it's an old kit but I thought I'd share what's in the box in case anyone is interested in getting one.....they ain't cheap. My plan is to build either a "street freak" straight axle gasser style or a stock Grabber. Looks like this one is missing the wheel backs. No problem there and this resin Grabber hood that came with it more than makes up for them! Hi I have 2 of those kit's I picked up about 5 years ago at the spotlighthobby site this kit is a repop and is only drag. if you want to go stock you can get the JoHan resin 200 in-ling 6 from MCW Dave Doge I have delt with him for 15 years very nice guy and it's $10.00 you have the stock hood but you can get the complete stock interior and stock wheels from Missinglinkresin Kevin I have also dealt with him for a good 12 years also a great guy to deal with he makes the complete kit buy will sell the parts.
Robberbaron Posted September 22, 2015 Posted September 22, 2015 Such a shame they forgot to add lug nut detail to the Fenton Gyro wheels. Agreed - aside from the missing lug nuts, I still think these are the most attractive set of big & little slotted mags ever tooled. If I ever get ambitious enough, I'd like to add photoetch bolt heads to a set of these and then resin cast a whole pile of them for myself, because basically every car looks even better with a set of slotted mags! I really... REALLY WISH someone would re-release this. Been on my want list for quite some time now. Good chance the Mercury Comet variation of this tooling still exists. Johan was still producing it right up till the end, even as the "Pro Street" kits and the Testors reboxes with the extra metal wheels. About 90% of the kit is the same as this Maverick. Really wish I'd gotten more when I had the chance. At the time, they'd been producing them for so long, it was easy to take for granted that they would always be available. Looking over these pics reminds me of when I built the Comet version back in Jr. High. I recall being amazed at how much detail the engine assembly had. Full valve detail in the heads, the lifter bores in the block, even carb spacers. And....a big ass hole right through the engine for the axle to pass through? Classic Johan mixed bag of good & bad. One of these days I'll finish redoing that Comet. Already disassembled it years ago and stripped the paint off. Couldn't decide how I wanted to redo it.
fomocomav Posted September 23, 2015 Posted September 23, 2015 FordRodnKustom,This is not something that will be easy to make stock. I have a few of those kits, and they present a challenge. You need seats, front and back, a 302 or I6 200, exhaust, wheels, tires, a rear spoiler and a stock steering wheel. Juha Airio did an article in a modelling magazine about converting a Pro-Street Comet into a Comet GT. It is very helpful. I don't know if I can name the name, but it was in November 1996, and I think the magazine is defunct. Anyway, you can use an AMT 1969 Cougar for many of the parts. One thing that is not addressed, though, is that the Maverick/Comet had the small gas tank like on the Jo-Han kit, not the big one on the Cougar chassis. This is actually important, because the small, round muffler goes right next to it. The seats aren't bad at all, and those are what I would go with. The hubcaps can be had from Modelhaus or any source that has generic dog dish hubcaps. The wheels need to be 4 lug nuts if you are doing a 6 cylinder, or 5 if you are using a V8 (if you are using rims or exposed steel wheels). The grille is almost perfect for a 1971 Grabber. To be 100% correct, it needs Maverick script next to the drivers side sport lamp. Your body appears to be missing the fender scripts (which WAS there on the original issue). To fix this, you can go to Keith Marks. He has Maverick decals for you, including the Grabber stuff. The spoiler is on the MissingLink Maverick body, but nowhere else, and to make it more difficult, the spoiler extends to the side end-caps.
JJ Deuce Posted September 23, 2015 Posted September 23, 2015 I really... REALLY WISH someone would re-release this. Been on my want list for quite some time now.same here. I had one once, built it curbside because I used the SOHC in a Revell F-100. Always liked the stance of that little maverick with the big scoop and the big and little slotted mags. Did all the issues have the tires with Goodyear on one aid and Firestone on the other?
fomocomav Posted September 23, 2015 Posted September 23, 2015 same here. I had one once, built it curbside because I used the SOHC in a Revell F-100. Always liked the stance of that little maverick with the big scoop and the big and little slotted mags. Did all the issues have the tires with Goodyear on one aid and Firestone on the other?JJ Deuce, not every issue came with the Goodyear/Firestone tires. The original issue came with Racemaster slicks, and the original issue Stock Comet came with plastic slicks that have a very large Good Year logo on it (almost comical, but I don't know what they looked like in 1971). The fronts in the original were smaller because the first issue was a drag option instead of a Pro Street option. I also have the regular Jo-Han and the Seville Jo-Han issues of the Maverick, and they both have the tires pictured above, as does the Testors issue of the Comet. My AMT issue of the Maverick didn't come with the alternate tires when I got it, just the stock skinnies with narrow white walls. ALL the kits have the same skinnies as far as I can tell. I DID look over the resin MissingLink Grabber hood, and it is not right. If you look at the center section at the front, the angle is wrong where it slopes down to the front. Just my opinion. It is still usable, but having owned 5 Mavericks in my life, I notice this stuff.
fomocomav Posted September 23, 2015 Posted September 23, 2015 (edited) The picture of the 3 built kits shows, even at this angle, how low the headers hang on these Maverick/Comet kits. Since the interior was useless (only the dash and steering wheel are stock), the interior came from a Monogram Poison Pinto. Edited September 23, 2015 by fomocomav Extra picture inserted not related to the post.
FordRodnKustom Posted September 23, 2015 Author Posted September 23, 2015 Thanks fomocomav, very informative. I knew the interior wasn't stock but I never really considered all those other details. Also like that "Lively Set" Turbine car build.
fomocomav Posted September 23, 2015 Posted September 23, 2015 Thanks fomocomav, very informative. I knew the interior wasn't stock but I never really considered all those other details. Also like that "Lively Set" Turbine car build. Glad to help! The Lively Set Turbine has been improved since this picture. It has the driver name on the roof (which was information I didn't have when I built it). I should have removed the hood ornament, but I'm done with the build. I'm not going to pull a Lucas and keep "improving" it every few years!There are a couple of other hints I can offer on the Maverick/Comet: The engine compartment from the AMT 1969 Torino Cobras/Talladegas can be cut out to add the shock towers, and any Ford 289 motor can be altered by moving the water inlet location on top of the motor to make a 302 (with some work needed on the air cleaner as well). The engine compartment braces from the Cougar can be used for the Maverick, too. And while I'm on the Cougar, you cannot use the XR-7 interior, as the seats are too "fluffy" for a Maverick. And the consolette from the MPC Pinto Wagon Van is pretty close to one that was available in the Maverick early on.
Casey Posted September 23, 2015 Posted September 23, 2015 (edited) Agreed - aside from the missing lug nuts, I still think these are the most attractive set of big & little slotted mags ever tooled. If I ever get ambitious enough, I'd like to add photoetch bolt heads to a set of these and then resin cast a whole pile of them for myself, because basically every car looks even better with a set of slotted mags! The centerbore of the rear wheels should be opened up for a drag car, too, but for a street car, JO-HAN already took care of that detail. I'm 99% sure this is the car JO-HAN's kit was based upon: Hopefully Round2 or Moebius was able to acquire the Comet Pro Stock molds. Edited September 23, 2015 by Casey
Scott Colmer Posted September 24, 2015 Posted September 24, 2015 I would love to have that set up. I could recreate my Grabber Maverick from my youth - but finish it the way I wanted to. Mine had a read spoiler too.
disabled modeler Posted September 27, 2015 Posted September 27, 2015 That would be nice if they could re-issue it...been wanting to build a few family own replicas one was a Grabber with 302ci,auto
keyser Posted September 27, 2015 Posted September 27, 2015 (edited) That AMT Maverick boxing was part of the weird tool sharing AMT/JH did, I think it was the last one IIRC. The AMX in 68/69/70 was a JH tool, JH had Javelin, but AMT got the later Javelin to share too, and the racing version. The Olds Toronado was another I forget years, JH 66, MPC 67, AMT 70? Somebody here knows/remembers better than I but they were JH tools. Edited September 27, 2015 by keyser Forgot later Javelin same time as Maverick
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