MPC 1969 Country Charger

[doorsovdoon]

I've a bit of an addiction to this old MPC Charger kit. It's my third one this year, or is it four? Lol, I can't remember! Anyway, first thing's first with this kit is to fix the horrendous fit issues. These all seem to come out of the moulds with different levels of crapness, no two are same but all are badly worn out and misshaped in the same areas. This particular one needed a whole headlight peak on the passenger fender, and some material needed to be added along the drivers fender as the top looked narrower than the other side. All sorts of weird goings on when it comes to the Country Charger, but, I enjoy building this one and the fixes are fun.

[1972coronet]

Going with the kit's Hemi, or some thing else? 

I've seen your 225-powered edition (positively posh!) -- how about a 440 Mag/ auto with air conditioning from the AMT1971 Charger? Just change the rocker arm covers to the 1969 & earlier types, and use the air cleaner from the Revell 1968 Dart GTS.

Ne'er-the-less, thistle be a fine Charger in your hands.

[Bob Ellis]

This kit is a decendant of the original 1968-1970 MPC Charger. I was always impressed by the exhaust tips of this kit (also the Coronets) and how nice they loof on the finished model

[doorsovdoon]

59 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

Going with the kit's Hemi, or some thing else? 

I've seen your 225-powered edition (positively posh!) -- how about a 440 Mag/ auto with air conditioning from the AMT1971 Charger? Just change the rocker arm covers to the 1969 & earlier types, and use the air cleaner from the Revell 1968 Dart GTS.

Ne'er-the-less, thistle be a fine Charger in your hands.

Funny you mention all those specs, it's very close to my build plan! No Hemi for this one, yes, I'll be using the 440. I have an auto box in my spares but not sure what car it's from. Air con would be nice but I'd have to pinch it from my '71 Charger, though I might still cos I plan on doing a base model of the '71. 

[doorsovdoon]

1 hour ago, Bob Ellis said:

This kit is a decendant of the original 1968-1970 MPC Charger. I was always impressed by the exhaust tips of this kit (also the Coronets) and how nice they loof on the finished model

Yeah, it's been butchered about pretty heavily since then. It's a shame really because the annual Charger looked perfect. Yes, some nice parts in this kit. The engines can be built up to look really nice if you have some spares laying around.

[doorsovdoon]

Bumpers and grill sorted, they fit like a glove now. Moving on to the chassis. I've started building up the inner fenders and firewall, and also did a bit of work on the dashboard to replicate the crash padding.

[PHolden74]

Those bumpers look good. Keep it up Gareth!

[slusher]

I agree great bumper fit.  Keep up the good work!

[Spottedlaurel]

You deserve an award for your devotion to this kit! Looking good so far.

I look at my DoH Charger occasionally ( an '00s issue I think) , then move onto something else....

[David G.]

You always do amazing work Gareth, I can't wait to see where you go with this one.

It would seem to me though that building this kit, with all its known problems, would be like repeatedly bonking oneself on the head. The only reason to do it is because it feels so good when you stop. 

David G.

[doorsovdoon]

3 hours ago, David G. said:

You always do amazing work Gareth, I can't wait to see where you go with this one.

It would seem to me though that building this kit, with all its known problems, would be like repeatedly bonking oneself on the head. The only reason to do it is because it feels so good when you stop. 

David G.

I have wondered what the forum might think seeing me build this kit so many times,

"What's wrong with him, is he mad?" ?

[doorsovdoon]

On 4/17/2022 at 1:08 PM, PHolden74 said:

Those bumpers look good. Keep it up Gareth!

Thanks Peter.

10 hours ago, slusher said:

I agree great bumper fit.  Keep up the good work!

Cheers mate.

9 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

You deserve an award for your devotion to this kit! Looking good so far.

I look at my DoH Charger occasionally ( an '00s issue I think) , then move onto something else....

Thanks. You don't have to go as far as I have with it, just fixing the front and rear bumpers will have it looking pretty decent. 

[doorsovdoon]

Got the front wheel arches and gutter trims rebuilt, also corrected the rear window by enlarging it and adding a new window trim. Scratch built the gearbox tunnel and some of the missing floor on the chassis and did a bit more work on the inner fenders. Hood is from the Revell '69 Charger but it's the custom option hood with the intake hole which needed filling in.

[espo]

Great looking fabrication work. You really should cast a few of these bodies after you have this one the way you want it. 

[FLHCAHZ]

Terrific!  

[Oldcarfan27]

Thanks for showing all the different modifications you made. It shows us what possibilities there are to improve this old kit.

I'm curious to see how you fix the grille/headlight covers on this, as 71 inserts are definitely incorrect for this car.

Can anybody verify if the annual kit had the correct inserts, or have they always been wrong?

[Can-Con]

19 minutes ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Thanks for showing all the different modifications you made. It shows us what possibilities there are to improve this old kit.

I'm curious to see how you fix the grille/headlight covers on this, as 71 inserts are definitely incorrect for this car.

Can anybody verify if the annual kit had the correct inserts, or have they always been wrong?

I'm not sure they ever did have correct grille inserts Patrick. I just checked my annual built-up and it has the same custom grille bars cast into the bunper/grille unit as all the reissues I've seen. I also checked the instruction sheet and it doesn't show any either.  Looking at the promos though, they have seprate inserts with verticle bars, not %100 correct either but better.

I cast a set of inserts from a Revell kit for mine but they're a bit small. About 1/16" too narrow on each side. 

 

Looking good Gareth. Makes me want to drag out my '69 annual and finish it up. ?

[slusher]

This kit for years has needed good window trim for years . I remember thinking that when I built the General Lee the first time in high school. I am enjoying your build and improvements..

[doorsovdoon]

 

17 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Thanks for showing all the different modifications you made. It shows us what possibilities there are to improve this old kit.

I'm curious to see how you fix the grille/headlight covers on this, as 71 inserts are definitely incorrect for this car.

Can anybody verify if the annual kit had the correct inserts, or have they always been wrong?

Apart from correcting the fit issues around the front grille/bumper there isn't really anything else I do with it. I sand down the inserts until they are super thin so they sit further back in the grille but that's about it. I've seen pictures of the original promo and the inserts look worse than these in my opinion. Both are inaccurate but the promo has just vertical lines whereas the '71 at least has some detail to them.

[doorsovdoon]

On 4/18/2022 at 8:17 PM, espo said:

Great looking fabrication work. You really should cast a few of these bodies after you have this one the way you want it. 

Thanks Dave. Yes I should do, being how much I like this kit. It would save me doing the mods all over again when I build another!

[doorsovdoon]

48 minutes ago, slusher said:

This kit for years has needed good window trim for years . I remember thinking that when I built the General Lee the first time in high school. I am enjoying your build and improvements..T

Yeah, correcting the rear window would improve how it looks, but the entire roof section around the C pillars are wrong also. They're too wide. I can see why Round2 won't touch the moulds, the more I look at it, the more inaccuracies I see, not to mention the repairs it needs. 

[doorsovdoon]

Made some firewall filler pieces for under the fenders and some trunk floor quarters. The chassis doesn't slide around anymore and sits exactly where it needs to be for the right wheelbase position.

[doorsovdoon]

Made some interior arm rests.

[espo]

Seems like so much of the inner structure needs to be done on this kit. Most of this is something we have become accustomed to seeing in kits.  

[Oldcarfan27]

1 hour ago, espo said:

Seems like so much of the inner structure needs to be done on this kit. Most of this is something we have become accustomed to seeing in kits.  

All the mods he's doing can also apply to other model kits. 

Glad he's doing a pictorial.