1969 Pontiac Firebird

[bogger44]

The infamously lackluster MPC Firebird.  As mediocre at best as this kit is, I wanted to finally add it to my completed list.  This was one of my Dad's kits that he had started back sometime in the early 1990's and never finished.  He had painted the body and added the stripes, as well as picking out the wheels/tires, but that was really about it.  I remember it sitting mocked together on a shelf for some time so it had collected a fair bit of dust and stuff.  So freshening up the paint was my first order of business.  I didn't go crazy on it, just a good cleaning and a light polish.  The 400 that comes with it was missing, so while I didn't have a spare Pontiac engine I did find what looked to be a Chevy 396-427 so I figured why not go with that, being not out of the realm of what may have happened to some of the real ones back in the day.  Not sure what kit the motor was from, it was molded in orange (maybe the MPC 69 Camaro convertible?).  It was just the bare block & heads so I had to scavenge for all the other parts to go with it.  Since there's really nothing going on at all under the hood of this kit I didn't do any of my normal wiring.    Not real happy with how low the headers (from the Revell 67 Chevelle PS) hang down but I can live with them.  Oh yeah, then there's that goofy half circle chin spoiler.  I didn't like the way it looked, so I carefully filed it down a bit to a more pleasing to the eye shape, and repainted the reshaped surface accordingly.  Along with adding BMF to the trim, that's about it noteworthy.  Even with this kit being as marginal as it is, I'm glad to have finally brought it to the bench and get it completed.  I really dig the late 70's-80's vibe it's got to it.  She's no where near my best work, but I am proud of it nonetheless.  Thanks for looking and any comments and questions.

Of note, you may notice it looks like the left front tire is getting some air...it is.  On my bench and shelf it's not real bad and hardly noticeable, but the art board I use as a base in my pictures has a warp to it and makes the gap is more pronounced unfortunately.  Forgot to mention as well, the exhaust tips are made from aluminum tubing.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2021 by bogger44

[shoopdog]

Awesome! Well worth your wait!

Edited March 15, 2021 by shoopdog

[larman]

I know this kit rightfully gets a bad rap, but man you did a super job on it. Love the 80's street machine vibe and that is a really nice paint job! 

[slusher]

Beautiful build Tony!

[Beamerman]

Great work and a nice story behind...i love these old bad mpc kits...it´s a trip back in time when paint and glue were bad and toxic and nights at the workbench were long....

Edited March 15, 2021 by Beamerman

[David G.]

Beautiful work on that!

David G.

[Classicgas]

Nice.

[ChrisR]

Very nice!

[Spottedlaurel]

That's excellent, your dad obviously gave you a good starting point as the finished result looks really good.

The chromed headlight surrounds look much better than the box art.

[NOBLNG]

That cleaned up REAL nice!?

[espo]

Looks great. I like the wider rear tires as they are in keeping with the era of this model, were they in the kit ? The stripes are also sort of era specific. 

[Dragonhawk1066]

Oh yeah! That turned out real nice! I like everything about it!

[Snake45]

That's probably about as well as that wretched backbirth of a kit can be built, so, Well done and model on! 

[Plowboy]

Despite the proportion issues, this is a nice looking Firebird Tony! It has the '80s all over it! It's really cool that both you and your father worked on it! There's very few (if any) builds like that around! So, that helps fade the issues IMO. Well done!

[Hi-Po]

Nicely done, I like it.

[ewetwo]

That looks Great!

 

[grodudulle77]

The stripes give your model an awesome look !! ??

[TransAmMike]

Great looking Firebird Tony?

[iSewen]

Very nice and clean ??

[bogger44]

Thanks guys.  It was fun to finish up a kit that my dad had started so long ago.  I have a MPC 70 GTO of his in about the same build state that I have to tackle one of these days.

10 hours ago, Beamerman said:

Great work and a nice story behind...i love these old bad mpc kits...it´s a trip back in time when paint and glue were bad and toxic and nights at the workbench were long....

Thanks, it is fun to slam one of these old hogs of kits together on occasion even if it's just of the nostalgia of it.

5 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

That's excellent, your dad obviously gave you a good starting point as the finished result looks really good.

The chromed headlight surrounds look much better than the box art.

Thanks Nigel.  Those bezels were done with a Molotow marker.

4 hours ago, espo said:

Looks great. I like the wider rear tires as they are in keeping with the era of this model, were they in the kit ? The stripes are also sort of era specific. 

Thanks David.  No those rear tires didn't come with the kit, I'm not sure where he had sourced them from.  I really like the looks of 'em though.  I believe the kit only came with the BFG's that are on the front. 

3 hours ago, Plowboy said:

Despite the proportion issues, this is a nice looking Firebird Tony! It has the '80s all over it! It's really cool that both you and your father worked on it! There's very few (if any) builds like that around! So, that helps fade the issues IMO. Well done!

Thanks Roger.  I think the stripes really kind of helps to distract your eye from those proportion issues.  I do like that old school vibe it has to it, I almost felt like I should've had my hair in a mullet while building it LOL!

[PappyD340]

Looks great, well done Tony!

[Hmann68]

Nicely done, and the car has a good vibe to it!! 

[Dann Tier]

Wow!...this has the right look all-way-round!!!!

[doorsovdoon]

It's got the right look for the era. You done a cracking job on this, I really like it. How bad this kit might be I'm tempted to pick one up if they can be made to look this good. I personally don't mind bad kits cos the results of a good job are very rewarding. Nice work, man, very nice!

[AMT68]

The paint polished up beautifully and the interior looks very crisp. I like the exhaust tips and just purchased some aluminum tubing the other day as I'd like to use this procedure on some future builds.