Bucky Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 What do you guys think about these kits? This is not mine. I borrowed this pic from WWW. I have a Newport convertible kit. I'm just wondering what the opinion is about these ancient kits.
64Comet404 Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 It was a worthwhile attempt to get some more sales from some existing moulds, but they never looked right when you painted the inside of the body as stated in the instructions. I tried it with the Imperial, and it didn’t work.
Bucky Posted July 17, 2019 Author Posted July 17, 2019 The metalflake on mine is not evenly distributed, so I would end up painting the outside, anyway!
SfanGoch Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 I like them just because they're Mopars. I have the Dodge Dart 440 4 DR and Plymouth Fury HT.
Karl LaFong Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 In theory, a cool idea - in practice, not so good. Since inside of the bodies have various bits & bobs (e.g. hood hinges, mounting posts, etc.) painting them from the inside doesn't yield a uniform base coat.
Mark Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 The Revell Mopars are inferior to the Jo-Han and AMT offerings in the fine details. Bodies are pretty decent, chassis terrible (Imperial has unibody detail and single exhaust), interiors not so hot either. But they're the only ones that might still exist.
Bucky Posted July 17, 2019 Author Posted July 17, 2019 I wonder if the metalflake changes the characteristics of the plastic? Would it be more brittle?
Daddyfink Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 Just take a look at the Katch The Kat kits from AMT, and you will get an idea of what you are heading into. A neat novelty, but, it looks a bit funky when done. 18 minutes ago, Bucky said: I wonder if the metalflake changes the characteristics of the plastic? Would it be more brittle? And yes, the plastic is a bit more brittle.
Mark Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 It's more brittle because it's basically clear styrene with the flakes, and a small amount of color, added. Clear styrene is almost always more brittle than colored styrene.
ChrisBcritter Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 40 minutes ago, Mark said: The Revell Mopars are inferior to the Jo-Han and AMT offerings in the fine details. Bodies are pretty decent, chassis terrible (Imperial has unibody detail and single exhaust), interiors not so hot either. But they're the only ones that might still exist. Unibody is wrong, but my 1/1 '62 Imperial had single exhaust (so did my '64). I got a '62 Newport convertible builtup not long ago; it's purple Metalflake . I still could use a set of wheelcovers, or at least one...
SfanGoch Posted July 18, 2019 Posted July 18, 2019 Johan chassis aren't anything to write home about, either. I use, and have about ten as replacements, Lindberg '64 Mopar chassis, interiors and suspension sets to stuff under the bodies. They also work under the Revell bodies with a bit of finessing. Stretched AMT '57 Chrysler 300 or '58 Belvedere chassis and floorpans can be used under the Imperial. The one pictured is the '58 Belvedere frame and floorpan extended to a scale 122", which will fit perfectly under a Hendrix Resin '57 or "58 Dodge HT.
Mark Posted July 18, 2019 Posted July 18, 2019 2 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said: Unibody is wrong, but my 1/1 '62 Imperial had single exhaust (so did my '64). Did either of them have a manual transmission like the Revell kit?
ChrisBcritter Posted July 18, 2019 Posted July 18, 2019 Nope (Note to self: Don't bother putting too much more work into the '62 Imperial kit's chassis ).
Ace-Garageguy Posted July 18, 2019 Posted July 18, 2019 I love the look of these old kits unassembled, but as buildable models for anything but kids, they leave a lot to be desired. I do seem to recall the body proportions were really pretty good though. I wouldn't turn down a few for nostalgia's sake, as I had several when I was young, but I recall being seriously disappointed with them even way back then.
SfanGoch Posted July 18, 2019 Posted July 18, 2019 The Fury and Dart bodies measure almost exactly to their Johan counterparts. Heck, the glass from the Johan kits fits perfectly in the Revell frames. I sprayed some dark grey Vallejo Model Color (easy to clean with rubbing alcohol or Windex ) on the Revell bodies and, visually, they compare quite well to either Johan body. The geared wheel backs I'm not crazy about. The interiors are shallow, like the Johans; but, a small amount of corrective surgery will fix that problem. If Atlantis does have the molds, I'd snag every one (Fury, Dart, Valiant V-200, Newport, Lancer and Imperial Crown) of those Mopars. Johans will never be reissued, SMH and Missing Link resin bodies notwithstanding; and, no manufacturer is going to tool up new ones.
Phirewriter Posted July 18, 2019 Posted July 18, 2019 Well the Lancer isn't coming back unless they reissue this...
paul alflen Posted July 18, 2019 Posted July 18, 2019 Rumor has it that Atlantis has 4 out the 5 molds of these cars. A former employee of Revell (whom we all know) was inventorying the molds for Atlantis, and confirmed this. Probably, just waiting on making new tire molds and liscensing?
SfanGoch Posted July 18, 2019 Posted July 18, 2019 There were six, not five, cars in the Custometal Show car series: H-1262 Dodge Dart 440 - the body was altered to produce the Revellion Funny Car H-1263 Dodge Lancer GT H-1264 Chrysler Newport Convertible H-1260 Valiant V-200 H-1265 - Imperial Crown H-1261 Plymouth Fury
Tom Geiger Posted July 18, 2019 Posted July 18, 2019 The metal flake bodies were a Jim Keeler invention. Jim was a modeler and a local contest winner. He got hired at 18 into Revell as a product manager, since he had insights into the teenage market since he was one. Jim is still around, attends the GSL and sometimes posts on the boards. As he told the story... A salesman came into Revell with the metallic flakes. Jim was looking at them and wondered if they had a use. He took some out to the factory and asked someone to put some into the clear glass shot machine and see what it looked like. And these kits were born! As said in the thread, they didn't work all that well and weren't that well received in the market place. Most of the kits got built without paint like the photos in this thread and didn't look good at all with glue showing etc.
SfanGoch Posted July 18, 2019 Posted July 18, 2019 METALFLAKE was a product of the Dobeckmum Company, a division of the Dow Chemical Company, introduced in 1959. Inside every Custommetal Show car kit box, a , a small piece of paper stating METALFLAKE was a Dow trademark, was inserted . The History of METALFLAKE.
cobraman Posted July 18, 2019 Posted July 18, 2019 Not a Revell but Monogram tried something like that with this Cobra kit . I don’t know if there was others .
Mark Posted July 18, 2019 Posted July 18, 2019 Atlantis could probably do okay with the five surviving stock-version cars, provided they don't have to spend too much to tool missing parts. Who knows what tire tooling they got, and if any of it still extant fits, or can be made to work with, these kits. There are at least two different size tires in these kits. Given that they have survived the Jo-Han and SMP/AMT early Sixties Mopars, now might be the best time for them to reappear. I wonder why Revell didn't throw them out there in the mid-Seventies, alongside the '57 Ranchero and '59 Skyliner.
Bucky Posted July 19, 2019 Author Posted July 19, 2019 2 hours ago, cobraman said: Not a Revell but Monogram tried something like that with this Cobra kit . I don’t know if there was others . Here are a couple; These have a metallic plastic, but not as pronounced as the flake in the old REVELL kits.
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