The Mummy Machine: WIP

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

This is the Mummy Machine by AMT-ERTL. And MPC at least according to the logo cast on the bottom of the body tub. I first encountered this kit back during its original release period around 1975. So yeah, this is another nostalgia build in which I try to recapture my youth. I don't believe that I ever completed building it as I can remember having the mummy mead and other various bits around for years afterward.

 

Believe it or not, this model kit is based on an actual show car created by Jack Kampney in the early Seventies.

 

The molds for this kit are truly showing their age with prominent ejector pin marks and other artifacts and flaws. Serious clean-up required.

 

That's all for now. As always, please feel free to post a comment and thanks for taking the time to stop and look.

David G.

[slusher]

I am going to watch you build it. I know you will make look ? great!  How many times has it been reissued to your knowledge?  I have never seen when buying models..

[bisc63]

Back in the late 90sor early 2000s. K-B Toys stores were blowing these out for $1.99 each, and about once a month, run them on a buy-2-get-one-free special. I got 2 or 3. Never knew this was based on a real build!

Edited July 23, 2022 by bisc63
added info

[David G.]

  On 7/23/2022 at 7:40 PM, slusher said:

I am going to watch you build it. I know you will make look ? great!  How many times has it been reissued to your knowledge?  I have never seen when buying models..

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Thanks for your vote of confidence Carl. I don't know how many times it's been reissued. I would guess around three or four times with the most recent being the 2002 issue which I'm currently building. It's been issued at least once as a glow-in-the-dark model. I've seen a couple of those built up that turned out surprisingly well.

  On 7/23/2022 at 9:12 PM, bisc63 said:

Back in the late 90sor early 2000s. K-B Toys stores were blowing these out for $1.99 each, and about once a month, run them on a buy-2-get-one-free special. I got 2 or 3. Never knew this was based on a real build!

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Have you built one yet? If so, I'd be interested in seeing how it turned out.

David G.

[bisc63]

  On 7/24/2022 at 12:32 PM, David G. said:

Have you built one yet? If so, I'd be interested in seeing how it turned out.

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I haven't! I scavenged some parts from one, mainly why I bought them, but I figure I'll build one of them down the road.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

With the clean up work done and some white primer in place, we're ready for some paint. In my research, I've seen this kit painted a number of colors. Even the box art shows up in several combinations of color. All of them look good for various reasons but the original show car was painted red, so that's what I'm using for mine.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to post a comment.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Here's the red, Tamiya TS-49 Bright Red. The main colors for this build will be red, gold, chrome and uh... mummy colored.

After I got a successful final coat of res, I was looking it over and thought that candy res over gold would have looked killer. Ah, well. ?‍♂️

 

 

Designed mainly to capture the feel of the original show car, this kit is obviously not too big on detail as evidenced here by the incomplete rear axle casting. Though it probably won't be readily visible on the finished model, I plan to address this shortcoming.

 

After cutting the styrene tube to a proper length, I split it lengthwise and glued it over the top of the axle.

 

This is a rather simple kit so it should be a pretty quick build, hopefully I didn't just jinx myself.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[FLHCAHZ]

That looks much better.  Looking for forward to following your build on this.  

[David G.]

  On 7/26/2022 at 11:52 AM, FLHCAHZ said:

That looks much better.  Looking for forward to following your build on this.  

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Thanks Chaz, I'm hoping to have more photos to post soon.

David G.

[slusher]

David any detail you add to the build would be noticeable and a big plus…

[David G.]

  On 7/28/2022 at 4:32 AM, slusher said:

David any detail you add to the build would be noticeable and a big plus…

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Thank you Carl, it's kind of you to say so.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I've been able to get a little more work done both in building and photo editing.

 

Another piece of styrene tube to build up the pumpkin.

 

I used more putty to even out the differential, cut some holes on the axle ends to accommodate the spring and added some styrene for the flange.

 

I shaped the flange and added... you guessed it, more putty!

 

The axle isn't the only thing that I'm working on but it's what I have ready as far as photos go.

This kit is simple almost to the point of being crude. It does have sufficient detail where it's needed but no more than that. I find myself working hard to resist the temptation to add more detail. I'm continually reminding myself that I want to retain the feel and intent of the original kit rather than replicate the original show car. Building the copy of the copy, if you will.

Thanks for your attention and your patience.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I thought I was going to have the axle finished in this session but it needed just a little more fill to smooth it out.  

In the meantime, I was making progress in different areas. 

I decided that I wanted a dark red for the inside of the mummy head.

 

Now that he has his head together, it's time for a test fit.

 

As always, thanks for taking a look and please feel free to post a comment or two.

David G.

[bisc63]

This is fun, and the extra detailing goes a long way toward creating a believable model. I like to add a few extra bits to my Tom Daniel and Dave Deal kits, too.

[slusher]

Nice idea on painting inside the mummy’s head red..

[David G.]

  On 7/30/2022 at 8:38 PM, bisc63 said:

This is fun, and the extra detailing goes a long way toward creating a believable model. I like to add a few extra bits to my Tom Daniel and Dave Deal kits, too.

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Thanks Rusty, I agree. Sometimes it's the little things that nobody "sees" that can make the biggest difference.

  On 7/31/2022 at 1:55 AM, slusher said:

Nice idea on painting inside the mummy’s head red..

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Thanks Carl. I'm thinking about adding a red LED in there too.

David G.

[mustang1989]

I remember these kits. Lookin' good so far Dave and looking forward to more......

[David G.]

  On 7/31/2022 at 11:48 AM, mustang1989 said:

I remember these kits. Lookin' good so far Dave and looking forward to more......

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Thank you Joe, I appreciate that.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I finally have the rear axle to a point where I can be content with it. Onward! 

 

The kit chrome had some flash, a few scratches and flaws as well as some bad attachment points so I stripped off the chrome to better address these issues.

 

Here are the top-engine parts all cleaned up and re-chromed with DupliColor chrome paint.

 

Here's the nearly completed engine painted the same red as the chassis. Because, why not? I still have a lot of filling and smoothing work to do on the air scoop. Or "Mummy Hat" as I have come to call it.

 

As always, thanks for stopping to take a look and comments, criticisms and questions are always welcome.

David G. 

[mustang1989]

That Duplicolor Chrome turned out pretty dang good. 

[bobthehobbyguy]

Shaping up nicely. Nice work getting the rear axle to look more presentable.

[slusher]

Duplicolor chrome looks real nice! Is it as hot as the regular paint?

[OldNYJim]

I like that Duplicolor chrome too - I use it a lot for a faux aluminum kinda look.  It doesn’t like washes much, for some reason, or candy colors - they both kinda bead up on the surface, but it’s good for what it’s good for!

Great work on this build so far!  Keep it coming!

[David G.]

  On 7/31/2022 at 12:44 PM, mustang1989 said:

That Duplicolor Chrome turned out pretty dang good. 

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Thanks Joe. It looks a little better than the chrome coating that came with the kit.

  On 7/31/2022 at 1:28 PM, bobthehobbyguy said:

Shaping up nicely. Nice work getting the rear axle to look more presentable.

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Thank you Bob.

  On 8/1/2022 at 1:39 AM, slusher said:

Duplicolor chrome looks real nice! Is it as hot as the regular paint?

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Thanks Carl. No it's not hot at all, it seems to be a different formula than the rest of the DupliColor line.

  On 8/1/2022 at 3:11 AM, CabDriver said:

I like that Duplicolor chrome too - I use it a lot for a faux aluminum kinda look.  It doesn’t like washes much, for some reason, or candy colors - they both kinda bead up on the surface, but it’s good for what it’s good for!

Great work on this build so far!  Keep it coming!

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Thank you Jim. I agree, it looks good enough for most purposes and seems to be a lot more durable than Alclad.

Thanks again,

David G.

[BIGTRUCK]

This is probably the first time I've seen someone build this kit, they have a bunch of different kits with heads,helmets,hard hats and crowns. I love show rod builds..