What about promos?

[GaryR]

I don't collect them, but I am wondering where all the promo molds are?
We pretty much know about the AMT 60's annual kits, but what about the various promos that they and MPC did?
Sure, they aren't kits, but they are bodies, just with hoods molded shut.

I'm pretty sure the MPC funny car bodies were promo bodies, they even had wipers molded in if I recall right.

If these survive, could they be adapted to make kits, or sold as is?
Just wondering.

Edited February 8, 2019 by GaryR
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[Snake45]

1 hour ago, GaryR said:

I'm pretty sure the MPC funny car bodies were promo bodies, they even had wipers molded in if I recall right.

Some were, some weren't. The Beswick Judge '69 GTO seems to be a stock promo body. The '69 Camaro and '68 Cougar clearly aren't. 

[GaryR]

I'm sure you are correct Snake.

But my question is, what happened to all the tooling for promos. Sure some was updated, but obviously not all.

[Daddy Mack]

The promo molds and the kit molds are one and the same.

[GaryR]

How does that work? Interiors, chassis were different, promos were one piece everything.Glass, body, chassis.

What about the opening hoods and weren't there promos for cars that weren't annual kits? Not disputing, just wonder how that works.

[Daddy Mack]

The molds were designed with sections that were changed as needed to run promo bodies then kit bodies. If they wanted to run one-piece F/C bodies then the body mold was configured as it was to run promo bodies. The mold core would have been altered to remove the posts for the promo interior and the screws for F/C bodies. Just plug the holes in the core.

The same mold sections ran both promo and kit interiors and window units. When they were done running interiors and windows for promos they just sealed off the parts of the mold where the front tabs were and kept plastic from flowing there. Also, almost always, the same body mold ran convertibles and hardtops with a change of inserts.  

[GaryR]

OK

[StevenGuthmiller]

There were some where the promo and kit had some entirely different parts, but I’m sure that the main body molds were shared.

Some of the early Johan Mopars come to mind.

As an example, the Johan 1964 Dodge Polara kit had an entirely different interior than the promo.

There were instances where other parts were simplified for the promos such as molded in head light lenses, where the kit may have had separate clear lenses.

 

 

Steve

[Phirewriter]

The '64 Ford Galaxie come to mind as a promo being an entirely separate tool from the kit. We have the modified stocker and the craftsman style kits to show for that. 

Edited February 9, 2019 by Phirewriter

[Daddy Mack]

i can't speak to a comparison between the original Jo-Han promos and the original flat box kits but will totally agree that many of the Jo-Han reissues had wrong interiors robbed from other molds.

[StevenGuthmiller]

14 hours ago, Daddy Mack said:

i can't speak to a comparison between the original Jo-Han promos and the original flat box kits but will totally agree that many of the Jo-Han reissues had wrong interiors robbed from other molds.

That's true, but in circumstances like the Johan '64 Dodge Polara, the promo had the correct split bench interior for the standard Polara.

The kit came with a Polara 500 bucket seat interior.

As far as I know, this interior was not pilfered from any other kit.

 

Steve

[fury3]

Additionally, the Jo-Han Plymouth Fury's were correct as promos were done correctly....Fury III bodies with a bench seat interior. The kits however, retained the Fury III bodies but had a Sport Fury interior (bucket seats with console). It's a shame, as by this time Jo-Han had really cleaned up their bodies and interiors. They even included an "up-top" for the convertibles ) which also fits the MPC 65 Dodge Custom 880 Convertible/66 Polara 500. Fury 3

[disabled modeler]

As many of you already know I love promos just as much as the kits...in some cases the promos offer a version or vehicle you cant get in a kit as well.  In many cases kit or promo parts will interchange for the most part with each other.  In many cases I actually prefer a promo over the kit just depends on what its of or availability.   I love restoring both..its rewarding and helps me pass the time.