MPC '68 GTO and '81 Camaro ?

[stavanzer]

Still ready for this kit to be out, Steve.

Thanks, and Keep Up the Good Work!

[tim boyd]

In case any of you reading this thread missed it, there are pictures of the '68  GTO that is under development at this link....TB 

[mikos]

You know….I’m wondering if they could possibly restore the Arnie Beswick ‘69 GTO back to stock?  AFAIK, the Beswick ‘69 GTO is basically pristine body-wise except for the funny car interior and chassis.  They could use the newly cloned ‘68 GTO parts for the interior and chassis or just clone another copy for the ‘69.  That way, we get a stock Craftsman-Plus ‘68 GTO with limited engine detail and a simplified promo-style ‘69 GTO on the store shelves.  And, not to get too carried away here   They could also restore or clone the promo based ‘70 GTO stocker back to stock configuration as well.  That way, we get a ‘68, ‘69 and a ‘70 GTO out of the mix, not counting the old ‘72 GTO that’s been around in various reissues over the years.

Edited November 16, 2022 by mikos

[Motor City]

The seat and door panel patterns are different, but what you are suggesting is probably along the lines of what they will end up doing.  The chassis, glass, engine and a new interior tub could be shared.  Separate interior side panels and seats would differentiate each year in addition to the exterior differences.

[stavanzer]

Well, WE got the '68 GTO kit.

 

Next up, Hopefully the '81 Camaro.

[Rodent]

I watched HPI Guy's GTO build last night. I am sad that Round 2 didn't make the rear axle and exhaust a separate part. It appears that the promo was made that way, from the pics I have been able to find on the internet.

['70 Grande]

6 hours ago, Rodent said:

I watched HPI Guy's GTO build last night. I am sad that Round 2 didn't make the rear axle and exhaust a separate part. It appears that the promo was made that way, from the pics I have been able to find on the internet.

I thought the same thing Rodent and have received numerous suggestions that the readily available 1/25 AMT/Round-2 1969 Oldsmobile 442 kit would be the best choice for putting a more detailed chassis underneath this '68 Goat; I just haven't decided if I want to make the investment needed to accomplish that. 

[Rodent]

2 hours ago, '70 Grande said:

I thought the same thing Rodent and have received numerous suggestions that the readily available 1/25 AMT/Round-2 1969 Oldsmobile 442 kit would be the best choice for putting a more detailed chassis underneath this '68 Goat; I just haven't decided if I want to make the investment needed to accomplish that. 

I don't love the '68 A bodies enough to commit to that, I prefer the '69 and '70 versions of all of them. All I was saying is if they had cloned the promo chassis exactly it would have been much easier to make a nice curbside out of this kit. I hope the '65 doesn't suffer the same fate.

That said, I am not bashing and I hope that Round 2 digs many more of these old kits out of their mother's basement and makes them available again. I may not buy all of them, but someone will and that makes it all good.

[Ace-Garageguy]

48 minutes ago, Rodent said:

...That said, I am not bashing and I hope that Round 2 digs many more of these old kits out of their mother's basement and makes them available again. I may not buy all of them, but someone will and that makes it all good.

At this point, I'm beginning to understand that most of today's target market for kits don't give a holy darn about the dark and mysterious bits under the car that make it function, or for the majority, have no idea what any of them do anyway.

And it's OK with me, as long as what we're getting have well-proportioned bodies that capture the visual essence of the real cars.

"Serious" modelers have been dealing with blobular undercarriages for decades. Yeah, it'd be nice to have all the mechanical goodies represented, but it is what it is.

[mikemodeler]

8 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

At this point, I'm beginning to understand that most of today's target market for kits don't give a holy darn about the dark and mysterious bits under the car that make it function, or for the majority, have no idea what any of them do anyway.

And it's OK with me, as long as what we're getting have well-proportioned bodies that capture the visual essence of the real cars.

"Serious" modelers have been dealing with blobular undercarriages for decades. Yeah, it'd be nice to have all the mechanical goodies represented, but it is what it is.

Well, until I decide to display my models bottom side up, I would rather have a nicely proportioned body and fairly accurate interior that represents the vehicle than multi piece suspensions and detailed exhaust systems. I have never been one to detail an engine with wiring and hoses outside of what was in the box so curbside suits my tastes likely more than others.

[stavanzer]

10 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

At this point, I'm beginning to understand that most of today's target market for kits don't give a holy darn about the dark and mysterious bits under the car that make it function, or for the majority, have no idea what any of them do anyway.

And it's OK with me, as long as what we're getting have well-proportioned bodies that capture the visual essence of the real cars.

"Serious" modelers have been dealing with blobular undercarriages for decades. Yeah, it'd be nice to have all the mechanical goodies represented, but it is what it is.

Ace, I believe you have correctly stated the current thinking.

99% of these kits that Do get built will be done as curbsides. Yes, a few builders will sweat the engine and chassis, but most won't. Furthermore, most of the Engine/Chassis swap builds will get started but never finished, due to 1."A.M.S.", 2."look a Squirrel" and 3."runaway perfectionism", all maladies that seem to infect more advanced or skilled modelers.  Meanwhile, many 'Facebook Modelers' will happily complete this kit, un-aware of the Chassis/Engine" discussion going on in the forums online.

Just my 2cents, your mileage may vary, This is just guesswork. 

Edited March 3, 2023 by stavanzer

[kjohan]

Personally I find an important part of the pleasure of building is to figure out small personal additions to the engine bay . How did it look, what material to use , do I gave a useful part lying among the spares, how to arrange the build sequence of these additions etc etc

 

[stavanzer]

From the most recent On-Line Info, we may ( I say MAY) be betting the Turbo-Z version of the Camaro. However Internet Box Art reveals, are often done with 'placeholder' pics, so nothing confirmed yet.

[GarryR]

5 hours ago, stavanzer said:

From the most recent On-Line Info, we may ( I say MAY) be betting the Turbo-Z version of the Camaro. However Internet Box Art reveals, are often done with 'placeholder' pics, so nothing confirmed yet.

SteveG informed us the contents for the initial release would be only what was in the last MPC release, the “Pro-Street” version (not what one would consider pro-street, does not have a tubbed chassis). It uses a 1979 style hood.

It would be great, as far as I am concerned, if they have found the inserts for this version, and have decided to release it instead.

If not, I hope they at least do not use the pro-street title on the box art.

[Snake45]

Got an email last night that my '68 GTOs had been shipped. Should have them by the end of the week. 

[Luc Janssens]

On 3/3/2023 at 5:20 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

At this point, I'm beginning to understand that most of today's target market for kits don't give a holy darn about the dark and mysterious bits under the car that make it function, or for the majority, have no idea what any of them do anyway.

And it's OK with me, as long as what we're getting have well-proportioned bodies that capture the visual essence of the real cars.

"Serious" modelers have been dealing with blobular undercarriages for decades. Yeah, it'd be nice to have all the mechanical goodies represented, but it is what it is.

Nah...it's a very very clever attempt by the Kats of Round-2 to clean up the secondary market, you know those many kits one keeps seeing over and over at hobby venues and online marketplaces, like for instance the '65 GTO ragtop, they all will give up their underpinnings and other useful bits  

Brilliant, if I say so myself LOL

? ??????????

 

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by Luc Janssens

[stavanzer]

Any bets that the Camaro might surface this weekend?

It would be nice to hear some news about it, or see a prototype model.

[mikemodeler]

On 4/21/2023 at 1:53 PM, stavanzer said:

Any bets that the Camaro might surface this weekend?

It would be nice to hear some news about it, or see a prototype model.

Still showing as TBA on the Stevens International website and that means it is either days, weeks or months away from being in stock and ready to ship.

[SteveG]

On 4/21/2023 at 9:53 AM, stavanzer said:

Any bets that the Camaro might surface this weekend?

It would be nice to hear some news about it, or see a prototype model.

There's been unexpected delay at the factory that has this tool in getting approved test shots to us.  We would still like to run the '81 Camaro kit this year but I'm not holding my breath waiting of it.   If it's not resolved, we may end up moving the tooling which will delay it into next year.  

-Steve

[stavanzer]

Any more news on the Camaro kit?