1/25 AMT '71 Plymouth Duster 340

[Casey]

AMT's 1/25 scale '71 Plymouth Duster 340, coming in late 2018:

[mikemodeler]

Might have to pick one up, I remember a neighbor having one growing up, went for some rides and it was FAST!

 

[Hard_2_Handle_454]

They're not bad kits.  I have two myself.

[stavanzer]

I'd be more likely to buy one if it was a 2'n'1 kit. Even with the HL 40% Coupon, on One & Done version of the kit does nothing for me. Having no building options, takes much of the fun out the whole process for me.

[64Comet404]

It's a nice kit, with a beautifully moulded chassis and running gear but I can't see picking one up until Round 2 fixes the sweep of the rear side windows. It's a small point in the grand scheme of things, but that little issue throws off the looks of the car, IMHO.

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, 64Comet404 said:

It's a nice kit, with a beautifully moulded chassis and running gear but I can't see picking one up until Round 2 fixes the sweep of the rear side windows. It's a small point in the grand scheme of things, but that little issue throws off the looks of the car, IMHO.

They're never going to fix it. If you don't like it, you're going to have to suck it up and fix it yourself, or do without. 

I get where you're coming from. I'm constantly having to fix incorrect shapes or contours on kit bodies myself. That's what modelers do. 

[1972coronet]

I wonder if the tooling was compromised during the 1971 Demon 340 MPC Annual "promise" era of circa 2011 ?

There was some conjecture about how Round2 was attempting to do what ERTL did with the 1970 Super Bee in 1990  (1968-1969 Road Runner and GTX chassis , etc. , replacing the antiquated 1968 , ad seq. , MPC chassis platform ) , but with the 1998-issue AMT Duster 340 chassis , engine , platform , etc. , etc. ? I thought that some irreversible "butchery" put the kaibosh on any future releases of either the Duster or the Demon .

Who knows ? Maybe Round2 massaged the Duster's body in an attempt to "Demon-ise" it ?

[Can-Con]

1 hour ago, 1972coronet said:

I wonder if the tooling was compromised during the 1971 Demon 340 MPC Annual "promise" era of circa 2011 ?

There was some conjecture about how Round2 was attempting to do what ERTL did with the 1970 Super Bee in 1990  (1968-1969 Road Runner and GTX chassis , etc. , replacing the antiquated 1968 , ad seq. , MPC chassis platform ) , but with the 1998-issue AMT Duster 340 chassis , engine , platform , etc. , etc. ? I thought that some irreversible "butchery" put the kaibosh on any future releases of either the Duster or the Demon .

Who knows ? Maybe Round2 massaged the Duster's body in an attempt to "Demon-ise" it ?

I doubt they ever really had the Demon tooling to do anything with anyway. If they did a Demon the body and chrome shots would have to be recreated. 

I'm pretty sure the Demon was updated to the Duster for '72 to '75 and then updated to the Dart Sport partway through the '75 run for the '75 and '76 Dart kit, which was reissued a few years ago.

Edited August 18, 2018 by Can-Con

[niteowl7710]

2 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

I wonder if the tooling was compromised during the 1971 Demon 340 MPC Annual "promise" era of circa 2011 ?

There was some conjecture about how Round2 was attempting to do what ERTL did with the 1970 Super Bee in 1990  (1968-1969 Road Runner and GTX chassis , etc. , replacing the antiquated 1968 , ad seq. , MPC chassis platform ) , but with the 1998-issue AMT Duster 340 chassis , engine , platform , etc. , etc. ? I thought that some irreversible "butchery" put the kaibosh on any future releases of either the Duster or the Demon .

Who knows ? Maybe Round2 massaged the Duster's body in an attempt to "Demon-ise" it ?

I don't believe anything was done to the body of the Duster, or really anything else with that kit. The plan fell apart with the parts of the Demon being more work than practical to restore AND make compatible with the 90s era Duster chassis and running gear.

[tim boyd]

16 hours ago, 64Comet404 said:

It's a nice kit, with a beautifully moulded chassis and running gear but I can't see picking one up until Round 2 fixes the sweep of the rear side windows. It's a small point in the grand scheme of things, but that little issue throws off the looks of the car, IMHO.

I too think it is unlikely we'll see the window sweep fixed.  On the other hand, getting 80% of the way to the correct sweep is about a five-ten minute exercise with a file so this is not a job stopper in my view.  Plus the new box art is gorgeous!   Way to go, Tom, John, and Round 2!    

TIM 

[Justin Porter]

Lots of potential in having this kit back. The engine is likely the best Chrysler small block in plastic. The carburetor and hood options were especially well done. I can only hope that Round 2 figures out a way to get the super slick EFI setup from the Street Machine version into the box as well.

[Mr mopar]

Yes Glad it's back need a few more .

[Sport Suburban]

I'm glad to see it back as well! Nice kit with a very nice 340. I have already bought many for my projects. I have one to build as a 70, another was done as a stock 71. A third one was being converted into a 72. Plus two more for resin Demon's, (a 71 and a 72) plus I bought many more for the 340 that went into 72-74 MPC Challengers.

[Dave Darby]

18 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

I wonder if the tooling was compromised during the 1971 Demon 340 MPC Annual "promise" era of circa 2011 ?

There was some conjecture about how Round2 was attempting to do what ERTL did with the 1970 Super Bee in 1990  (1968-1969 Road Runner and GTX chassis , etc. , replacing the antiquated 1968 , ad seq. , MPC chassis platform ) , but with the 1998-issue AMT Duster 340 chassis , engine , platform , etc. , etc. ? I thought that some irreversible "butchery" put the kaibosh on any future releases of either the Duster or the Demon .

Who knows ? Maybe Round2 massaged the Duster's body in an attempt to "Demon-ise" it ?

That would have had zero affect on the windows.  Both Duster and Demon are identical in real life except for the front clip and the taillights. As for the original Demon tool, it went through several iterations including a few Duster annuals, a Sox & Martin pro stock, and lastly the Dart Sport. Now there is a body that could be combined with the 71 Duster stuff to make an accurate Duster. Just a little swap of front clip and taillight panel and plop it on the new tool Duster chassis.

Edited August 18, 2018 by Dave Darby

[Snake45]

I have one that came prepainted (or just molded?) in a bright green (Sassy Grass Green?) that I hope to Snake-slap together sometime soon, just to get the oversized box out of the pile. 

[pack rat]

20 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

I wonder if the tooling was compromised during the 1971 Demon 340 MPC Annual "promise" era of circa 2011 ?

There was some conjecture about how Round2 was attempting to do what ERTL did with the 1970 Super Bee in 1990  (1968-1969 Road Runner and GTX chassis , etc. , replacing the antiquated 1968 , ad seq. , MPC chassis platform ) , but with the 1998-issue AMT Duster 340 chassis , engine , platform , etc. , etc. ? I thought that some irreversible "butchery" put the kaibosh on any future releases of either the Duster or the Demon .

Who knows ? Maybe Round2 massaged the Duster's body in an attempt to "Demon-ise" it ?

The "1971 Demon 340 MPC Annual promise" is a misnomer based on speculation back when the announcment was made.   

The kit wasn't envisioned (or announced) as a reissue of the old MPC annual, nor did it involve any parts of it. 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by pack rat

[Luc Janssens]

Great box-art!

[Fabrux]

Okay, where can I get a '70 grille so I can make the Crop Duster? ?

[Snake45]

I have a couple copies of this kit but have never built one. I just spent some time looking at built examples here in Under Glass, and yes there's something definitely not right about the shape of the side windows, or the sheetmetal contours around them, or something, but I haven't compared it with "real" pics so can't tell exactly what the problem is. 

I'm gonna Snake-slap my prepainted green one together out of the box, and then maybe on down the road I'll take the time and effort to fix the body on a plain one. (Don't hold your breath waiting, anyone.) 

[gtx6970]

On 8/18/2018 at 8:50 PM, kataranga said:

Okay, where can I get a '70 grille so I can make the Crop Duster? ?

I bought several of them off ebay  its been a few years so I cant remember the sellers ID . Sorry

Dont hold me to it, but I think the sellers same was ed fluck - aka drag city casting

Edited August 20, 2018 by gtx6970

[CapSat 6]

Hart's Parts does the '70 Grille, bench seat, and Six Pack Hood for the AMT Duster.

[1972coronet]

While this kit has many fine points , it certainly isn't without its ... faults . Some of the faults were / are absolute throwbacks to the MPC-era ( yes , I'm aware this the AMT kit shares nothing with any of the MPC annuals ) , whereas others were ,let's call them "oversights"  :

- Moulded-on exterior door handles 

- Moulded-on , clunky-looking wiper arms 

- Roof is too rounded 

- 1970 decklid 

- No PCV valve nor Breather 

- Disc brake master cylinder with 4-wheel drums 

- Optional Six Barrel induction is a nice touch ; however , its application is incorrect : in 'real life' the a/c compressor and brackets would not clear the front carburetor ! 

- Wrong tyre size ( F70-15 ! Small detail , but inaccurate never-the-less ... and an easy fix ) 

-   Absolutely horrible windshield , backlite , and quarter glass ! Too thick and undersized .

- One must file the edge of the doortops / quarter glass -- underside the body -- in order to get the interior / chassis assembly to fit properly within the body.

In spite of all its faults , it can and does build up nicely ; I've built countless samples of the kit , including the so-called Street Machine version ( which , by the way , offers a non-a/c belt and pulley setup ! )

I'll likely grab another copy of three of this kit , if for nothing else for the sum of its "update & upgrade" parts for the old MPC Duster , Dart Sport , and A-Body Barracuda kits .

[slusher]

On August 17, 2018 at 2:19 PM, Casey said:

AMT's 1/25 scale '71 Plymouth Duster 340, coming in late 2018:

Beautiful box art! Thanks Casey for the preview....

[Mr mopar]

On ‎17‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 2:40 PM, 64Comet404 said:

It's a nice kit, with a beautifully moulded chassis and running gear but I can't see picking one up until Round 2 fixes the sweep of the rear side windows. It's a small point in the grand scheme of things, but that little issue throws off the looks of the car, IMHO.

Can you show me what part you are talking about that needs to be fixed . Please ?

[gtx6970]

side view of an original MPC 1971 Duster

 

To be honest, Ive never really paid close enough attention the modern version to really say its better , equal to or worst than an original. I have several original issue MPC versions ( 1971 and 72's ) but never compared them side by side .

Edited August 22, 2018 by gtx6970