Dave Mikrut Posted December 27, 2008 Posted December 27, 2008 I was excited to see this model was going to be re-produced. When it was originally manufactured by MPC, it was a black kind of rubbery feeling plastic that just didn't seem to want to stay glued or painted. A big disappointment because I owned a 79 all black Monte Carlo and wanted to replicate it. To my satisfaction this model is molded in white and what seems to be the good old styrene we all have grown to love. It has that certain smell to it when you sand it yanno? I would like to take a moment to thank the model manufacturers that are making these new heavy duty model boxes with beautifully restored graphics. I know on some of the forums I subscribe to, there was a lot of complaints about the really flimsy boxes that models were coming in a few years ago. There has been a great improvement and this box is beautiful. Not only is the plastic an improvement, the chrome, the decals, the parts, all seem to be better quality. Now I know I am getting you all excited, but this kit is by no means the caliber of the recent Revell Nova, altho I can see myself pirating some of the parts from that kit. Back when MPC released this kit, they were also were producing Promotional or promos of the 78, 79 and 80 Montes. This kit is not much more than that. Nice features of the kit are the ability to remove portions of the roof to make it a T-top car. A half vinyl top roof that can be added and is not molded on. A nicely detailed interior. The down sides are neither sets of wheels are very convincing, the engine is very simple and so is the chassis. I have been building models since the early 1960's. I am not a complainer when it comes to a model not having perfect fitment. I have always been grateful for any model kit, be it a reproduced oldie I can now afford once again or a resin casting that needs work...I'm still happy to have at least something to work with and make it my way. Here's some fotos of this beautiful old kit. Oh and I forgot! It's got a cool little chopper and trailer too I'm gonna have fun building finally!
RodneyBad Posted December 27, 2008 Posted December 27, 2008 Excellent review. And Don't forget how nicely it was packaged. Chromed bagged Glass in it's own bag wrapped with foam. Tires in it's own bag. No tires melting into the glass. I do really Love the new stronger box. no worry of it falling apart..
The Creative Explorer Posted December 27, 2008 Posted December 27, 2008 Thanks for the review, I was hoping one would come with one as I've been interested in this one since it got announced. I guess I will be picking one up when I visit the US in april again.
Scott H. Posted December 27, 2008 Posted December 27, 2008 (edited) Having owned a couple of these kits over the years, including the RCHTA release that is sitting beside my work area now, there are a couple of things I must add to the kit review. The original kit review is spot on. What isn't mentioned on the box or in the kit is if you want removable T-Tops you will need to save the cut out roof section and modify it to represent the removable tops. This is NOT mentioned in the instructions anywhere, so be careful when cutting that roof! Here's my review of the Honda CB 750 SOHC chopper and trailer. Having a real Honda CB 750 to compare it to, I can honestly say the Honda engine is almost perfect for a chromed out chopper engine! The only major thing that it is lacking is a remote oil tank that ALL Honda SOHC CB 750s have. The front forks will need extreme care when working on them or they WILL BREAK!! Trust me on this, I have rebuilt almost all of the ones I have because of not being careful enough in trimming or when I was installing the front rim. I also do not glue the front of the frame section so I can carefully pry it apart just enough to slip in the front fork setup after molding the 2 frame / gas tank halves together and painting. The tires are also molded plastic and can be made to look decent, but if you can find one of the Maisto Harley Davidson motorcycles they make a good donor for the spoke rims and rubber tires if you wish to go that route. Depending on which one you get, the gas tank and handlebars from the HD donor kit can also be modified to fit on the chopper frame to change the look from a show only motorcycle to one that is actually ridden. Now on to the trailer. Be especially careful when assembling the suspension! The leaf springs like to snap loose if you have to flex them too much to get them to fit in the allocated spots on the main runner. There also needs to be a couple pieces of square plastic (not provided in the kit) added between each of the leaf spring mounting points to make it a more accurate trailer and strengthen it. I would also add pieces of square plastic down the center to represent a real trailer backbone to add to the realism. The trailer also does not have any lights provided in the kit, but those can be sourced from the parts box. I have used big rig round turn signals before and they worked well once I painted the sides and back of the turn signals black to represent the lollipop style of trailer light that has been available on the trailer market for years. The tires and rims are molded plastic on this part of the kit too. I hate to do this, but you're on your own to find a suitable replacement if you do not wish to use them as I have no idea on where to source a suitable replacement at this time. Other than the suggestions I have added here for building and detailing the Chopper and Trailer, I have to say that with a little time and care they both can be built into a nice addition to your collection. I hope this helps, -Scott H. Edited December 27, 2008 by Scott H. AKA Cpt. Bondo
tim boyd Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 Nice review of the Honda Chopper Scott. Good to get the seal of approval from someone who is familiar with the 1/1 scale version. Here's my buildup which was shown in an issue of Model Cars from a couple of years ago.... http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/boyd-sc...s-/dsc0729.html TIM BOYD ************* Here's my review of the Honda CB 750 SOHC chopper and trailer. Having a real Honda CB 750 to compare it to, I can honestly say the Honda engine is almost perfect for a chromed out chopper engine! The only major thing that it is lacking is a remote oil tank that ALL Honda SOHC CB 750s have. The front forks will need extreme care when working on them or they WILL BREAK!! Trust me on this, I have rebuilt almost all of the ones I have because of not being careful enough in trimming or when I was installing the front rim. I also do not glue the front of the frame section so I can carefully pry it apart just enough to slip in the front fork setup after molding the 2 frame / gas tank halves together and painting. The tires are also molded plastic and can be made to look decent, but if you can find one of the Maisto Harley Davidson motorcycles they make a good donor for the spoke rims and rubber tires if you wish to go that route. Depending on which one you get, the gas tank and handlebars from the HD donor kit can also be modified to fit on the chopper frame to change the look from a show only motorcycle to one that is actually ridden. Now on to the trailer. Be especially careful when assembling the suspension! The leaf springs like to snap loose if you have to flex them too much to get them to fit in the allocated spots on the main runner. There also needs to be a couple pieces of square plastic (not provided in the kit) added between each of the leaf spring mounting points to make it a more accurate trailer and strengthen it. I would also add pieces of square plastic down the center to represent a real trailer backbone to add to the realism. The trailer also does not have any lights provided in the kit, but those can be sourced from the parts box. I have used big rig round turn signals before and they worked well once I painted the sides and back of the turn signals black to represent the lollipop style of trailer light that has been available on the trailer market for years. The tires and rims are molded plastic on this part of the kit too. I hate to do this, but you're on your own to find a suitable replacement if you do not wish to use them as I have no idea on where to source a suitable replacement at this time. Other than the suggestions I have added here for building and detailing the Chopper and Trailer, I have to say that with a little time and care they both can be built into a nice addition to your collection. I hope this helps, -Scott H.
tim boyd Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 Here's a photo or two of the Honda Chopper from this kit.....TIM BOYD
Scott H. Posted December 31, 2008 Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) Tim, Thanks for the compliment. Hopefully between the review Dave did and the part I added to it, it'll help people decide if they want the kit. I'm hoping they do as the kit is one that can be built into a nice little Monte! I like the way your CB750 Chop turned out! Do you have any pics of the build process? I like seeing the odd and seldom seen models and let's face it there aren't too many 1/25th scale bikes out there! Steve, You have a better back than I do! I know how much those puppies weigh and I won't even consider muscling one of those motors around any more!!! If you're building a Chop or a Custom out of the motor, send me a PM and I'll send the URL of a couple of sites I belong to. Tons of info and good people on them like there is on here. -Scott Edited December 31, 2008 by Scott H. AKA Cpt. Bondo
tim boyd Posted December 31, 2008 Posted December 31, 2008 Scott, per your request...here are some under-construction photos.... TIM
Scott H. Posted January 1, 2009 Posted January 1, 2009 Thank you for posting the pics! Seeing a nice model like that going together helps the creative process! Thanks again, -Scott H.
59 Impala Posted January 1, 2009 Posted January 1, 2009 If I may add my feelings to this thread, I'd like to say that I hope this issue is better than the original. I have two of the originals, one built and the other is still in the box. The fit of the hood on the original is not very good (or maybe it's just my building ). I did not like the chassis at all. I did however cut out the rear axle and install one from another kit. I used the 454 from the 1970 Impala kit and added a small scoop on the hood. The huge decal on the side I cut down and removed the red line around the hole decal and used it. This body stile of the 78-80 Monti is not my favorite at all but I think that it turned out pretty good. I did like the way it looked after I made the mods to it. Here a couple of pics of how it turned out.
Ayatollah Posted January 4, 2009 Posted January 4, 2009 It should include a 1/25 scale mullet wig and a six pack of PBR LOL. I DONT have fond memories of those old "Golden Wheels" kits, but it doesn't look bad. Maybe seeing the hobby so close to the brink of chaos so many times tempers one's meories. 1/32 Scale car wheels may work on that trailer. The bike doesn't look bad!
Chuck Most Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 First things first- I bought this kit just for the Honda chopper and corresponding trailer. I could have cared less about the Monte itself. Be that as it may, there's more than enough to this kit to build a decent late '70's Monte Carlo. Much of the chassis detail is molded into the plate, and it suffers from the molded-in chrome headlamp syndrome that, sadly, was with us well into the '80's. The engine is easily the best part of the kit- it's quite similar in parts breakdown to the MPC El Camino annuals (and the later AMT '86 ElCo SS). In fact- I'd have to say the engine and the chopper by themselves are well worth the price of admission for this kit. (I paid just under $14 at my LHS for mine, by the way.) The Bad: Having built one from an earlier AMT buyer's choice reissue, I know the chopper can be a fiddly little pain in the arse to get to go together... although mine actually did survive the floor-shock test! It's best to test fit the choppers headers to the engine, then glue the two pipes on each side into a single unit. This will save you much frustration when trying to put on the four separate pipes later! The optional luggage rack would have been more useful if left in it's original, molten styrene state. The interior is a bucket, naturally, but the dash and steering wheel are nicely engraved, and there is minimal-but pretty much accurate, inner door panel detail. I'm also not in love with the '70's Monte Carlo. I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, but this thing is butt-ugly! And the kit really doesn't even do it justice... the kit isn't the best representation of this ugly machine! So what we have is an ugly kit of an ugly car... whew! Thank goodness this kit does have potential to come out looking less like and ugly model and more like the ugly 1:1 car! That being said- you CAN wring a nice model out of this kit. Anyone who doesn't believe me need only scan through this very forum in the "Under Glass" and "On the Workbench" threads. And I do like the fact that the roof is molded WITHOUT the T-tops in place... some cutting is required if you want the T-top version. I'm not a fan of T-tops, so this is good news for me, but if you want to build your Class Action this way- you've been forwarned. This kit would make a decent shelf model of just about any type of Monte (I think mine will end up as a typical Michigan dirt track bomber- that's how most of the Monte Carlos that did not rust out here met their ends). Beater, lowrider, weekend drag car, parts donor (I do like the look of the stock wheel covers, but what am I gonna use them on?)... even a tribute replica of Uncle Carl's old ride, T-tops and all. I can see it now... jacked up rear axle, five-slot mags with big and little Rally GT tires, a CB antenna, and a resin figure of Uncle Carl- bad hairplugs, gold chains, and huge moustache. (Shag flocked interior and trunklid mural optional.) Bonus: Besides the Chopper, you get an MPC sticker. Mine is on the toolbox where I keep my Xacto blades, sandpaper, and the like. DO NOT use it outside- it looks like a vinyl sticker, but it's really just glossy paper, so it isn't weather proof. So- let's hear what you have to say about this kit (car, chopper, and all), and- better still- how's about you SHOW us what you did with it. I'd like to see how far people have been able to take this one.
59 Impala Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 I agree with you Chuck on how ugly these cars are. I never liked the 78-80 Monte's. Here are a couple of pics of what I did with my 1980. These are not very good pics but they are all I have. It does have a 454 from a 1970 Impala in it. I cut that butt ugly side decal in half and trimmed off the red going around the silver. I also replaced the glass with blue accetate. I mixed the color for the paint and added the fin from a camaro. Traction bars from the parts box and the rear end is from a chevy truck. I cut out the one molded in the chassis.
Marc @ MPC Motorsports Posted June 24, 2009 Posted June 24, 2009 Nice, accurate review on this kit. Many builders poo-poo these old kits because of their molded in details, chrome lights, etc, but with some patience and judicious use of old fashioned detailing and parts swapping ANY vintage AMT or MPC kit can be made into something nice. I prefer these style of kits over the new, better detailed kits. So, any of you builders that don't like old kits and want to get rid of them, feel free to send them to me!!!
Chuck Most Posted June 25, 2009 Posted June 25, 2009 moonlite5hadow said: here's what i did with mine: cant say i ever enjoyed the kit... definitely not worth the time i put into it, if you want my honest opinion. Actually, THIS BUILD was one of the ones that proved to me you could make a silk purse from this sow's ear! I've heard much of the Trumpeter kit (which has the better looking two headlamp front end), one of those things is that you have to hack the bejeebus out of the firewall to get the chassis to fit in. I cannot confirm this, as I've never cracked the Trumpeter kit open (yet) much less built it.
tim boyd Posted June 26, 2009 Posted June 26, 2009 Here's what the Chopper looks like.... Box stock build with paint detailing only....TIM
Guest promodmerc Posted June 26, 2009 Posted June 26, 2009 That Monte would make a nice dirt track car.
Chuck Most Posted June 30, 2009 Posted June 30, 2009 tim boyd said: Here's what the Chopper looks like.... Box stock build with paint detailing only....TIM Uh... not mine!
1972coronet Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 I bought my copy of this kit from a local-but-is-a-chain hobby store , a few years back . I paid maybe $5.00 for it ! It was in the store's 'Red Tag' aisle . I started building it , but my attention was distracted when Round2 re-released the 1975 E-100 van . I painted mine with a silver metallic acrylic lacquer I got a work . The finish came out perfect ! I'm going to build it as a 'curb side' for a couple of reasons : 1.) I'm going to use some of the engine compartment items for other builds (the brake booster / master cylinder , etc.) 2.) The engine --while decent-- is lacking in some details . When's the last time you saw a Monte Carlo which didn't have power steering and air conditioning ??? I'm happy with my five dollar investment
Deathgoblin Posted May 15, 2013 Posted May 15, 2013 I used to own a 78 Monte Carlo and I loved that car. Looking at this kit, though, makes me kinda glad I put up with the quirks and built the Trumpeter kit.
Casey Posted March 28, 2023 Posted March 28, 2023 This reissue must have sold well...again. That included chopper, tho. ? ?
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