New-Ray '70 Cuda 1/24

[Snake45]

Here's the New-Ray '70 Cuda I bought at Hobby Lobby last week (retail $19.99). It has an AAR-ish side stripe (without badge) and blackout hood treatment, but it's actually a Hemi with shaker. It's 1/24 and very close in shape and size to the Monogram '71 model. (It's MUCH better than EITHER of Revell's first two tries at the AAR.) Although it looks SubLime in the photos, color is closer to Sassy Grass Green and has a slight pearl/metallic look to it, which might be a topcoat. Paint quality on mine is pretty poor (and the hood black is glossy, not matte as it should be). Even worse is the fit of the driver's side door (not visible in the package), which I might end up grinding loose and just gluing solid, it's so bad. Grille area is pretty well done except for the too-small headlight lenses. Gonna see if I can replace them with something. The rear end is just flat featureless chrome--they didn't even try. I wonder if mine is missing an insert piece of some sort? I'll have to address THAT in some way. The Rallye wheels aren't too bad. 

I'll probably hit it with some standard Snake-Fu and put it on my shelf. But later on, I can see myself stripping the bad AAR paint job off it and repainting it as a regular Hemi car. (There's actually a Hemi-shaped lump of plastic under the hood.) Overall, although it's not perfect, I think I like it at least as much as my Johnny Lightning '70 Cuda. 

[Snake45]

As I mentioned, overall size and shape are very comparable to the old Monogram '71 kit. Here it is compared to a bare Monogram body and a finished build. 

 

[randyc]

wow.  The whole rear looks funky.  The blank panel and the downward slope.  Almost like a Charger?  Wheels look like they will detail out nicely.  Good luck with the rear though.

[Snake45]

11 hours ago, randyc said:

wow.  The whole rear looks funky.  The blank panel and the downward slope.  Almost like a Charger?  Wheels look like they will detail out nicely.  Good luck with the rear though.

Yeah. As I said, I wonder if I'm missing one or more pieces back there. Still pondering solutions. Worse comes to worst, I'll do a full-width taillight and call it a "custom." 

I now have the thing disassembled and have taken a good look at it. Except for that back end, I like the overall shape better than the Johnny Lightning 1/24 diecast. The grille is better, for sure. I think I've even figured out how to re-rig the door so it aligns and will open, though I'll have to fill and re-drill the hinge (a job for J-B Weld). I'll leave the AAR-ish paint on it for now, but I might eventually repaint it as a standard HemiCuda. 

Thanks for looking and commenting. 

Edited December 6, 2017 by Snake45

[Snake45]

Have now performed the first round of Snake-Fu on this semi-evil thing. 

 

More pics and complete description of the necessary surgery here: 

 

[stinkybritches]

The rear kind of looks like a mix of  '69 and '70.

[Gramps46]

Really surprised this Cuda made it out the door with the rear end the way it is.  Thanks too for the link to 2017 and the description of the door hinge fix with JB Weld.