Any chance we could see these in 2024-2025 it be nice to see the 71 road runner and 68-69 impala

[Motor City]

I built this before I ever heard of Bare Metal Foil.  The wheels were out of MPC's 1976 Corvette convertible kit (yes, I know there was never a '76 Corvette convertible, but MPC produced a kit anyway).  The standard wheel covers just didn't seem right for such a sporty model.  I used a photo in the brochure that showed this color combination.  Years later I found out that some of the pleating in the upholstery was supposed to be a darker red for a two-tone effect.  Oh, well.

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Motor City

[Robberbaron]

On 12/27/2023 at 12:05 PM, disconovaman said:

The 68 is probably the toughest ask because the molds did become the 69... and the 69 did become the 70. I believe with the success of Round II we could see a project evolve, if they had the original mold specs. Any chance we could see these ...Wish granted 😆 Holy Grail kit.

While MPC kept reusing the chassis/drivetrain for each new annual through '76, the '68 body tooling wouldn't have been modified.  All exterior sheet metal was changed on the '69 full size Chevies.  I'm sure the MPC '69 body was updated to the '70 as you stated, since sheet metal was mostly the same between those years.

I always wondered if the '68 body tooling survived, but I think we would have seen it by this point if it had.  Guessing since MPC didn't use it for a funny car (like the '69 GTO) or butcher it into a custom, they decided to scrap it.

I agree that the '68 and '69 Impala annuals BOTH need to be recreated!  I'd even be happy with curbsides, but with the popularity of the 1:1 versions, I think full detail would be warranted.  They could definitely share the chassis/drivetrain between the two.

I'm looking at the new '71 Demon as the method to go.  Clone the annuals with some improvements like separate clear headlights, etc.

[Motor City]

The headlight area on the '68 Impala grille was a poor fit.  There was a gap between the top of the headlights and the header panel above it.  I filled the gap with Elmer's white glue, which dried clear.  Other than that, the kit had good details.

[doorsovdoon]

On 12/8/2023 at 9:31 PM, Can-Con said:

New body, new hood, new front and back bumpers, new tail lights, new interior maybe? 

 

ah ok, quite a bit then! I thought the body was the same between the '69 and '70. 

[Can-Con]

37 minutes ago, doorsovdoon said:

ah ok, quite a bit then! I thought the body was the same between the '69 and '70. 

Front fenders and hood were quite a bit different. 

[Dave Darby]

On 12/27/2023 at 10:37 PM, tim boyd said:

Should Round 2 choose to eventually reissue (or freshly clone) their '71 GTX/Road Runner tool, this is one way you could build it.  This one used the 1987 yellow plastic reissue of the original kit, with the added 1/1 mid-year canopy vinyl roof and kitbashed wheels/tires replicating the (then) hi-buck aftermarket BFG Radial T/As on the optional 15"x7" Rallye wheels.  Paint was MCW 1970 1/2 and 1971 Sassy Grass Green single stage (rubbed out and polished, without clearcoat).    IIRC the painted dual racing mirrors came from a different Mopar kit that had a more realistic rendition of those parts.   

Would certainly be nice if we got a chance to build these again from fresh kit releases, either in 1971 and/or 1972 replica form....TB 

That's a beauty Tim. With regard to a reissue, from what I've been told, that tool is MIA. 

[mikos]

4 hours ago, Dave Darby said:

That's a beauty Tim. With regard to a reissue, from what I've been told, that tool is MIA. 

They could clone it.

[Justin Porter]

13 hours ago, mikos said:

They could clone it.

They could purchase the raw 3D modeling files from Andy Lesiak for his kits, spend a few months working out sprue gates and injector pins, and deliver a 200% better kit than some POS annual from before the dawn of FM radio in half the time. 

[Motor City]

except FM radio has been around since before WWII 😀

[Rob Hall]

1 minute ago, Motor City said:

except FM radio has been around since before WWII 😀

Not in cars, though...when did cars first have FM, the 60s? 

[Luc Janssens]

21 minutes ago, Justin Porter said:

They could purchase the raw 3D modeling files from Andy Lesiak for his kits, spend a few months working out sprue gates and injector pins, and deliver a 200% better kit than some POS annual from before the dawn of FM radio in half the time. 

Think the only thing they could use is, the data of the skin of the body, all the rest has to be done from scratch. 

With scanning a vintage kit however, they have all the parts and know they can be tooled as is, as they were designed to be ejected from a molding machine. 

Just my 2 cents.

[rickcaps55]

On 12/7/2023 at 10:27 PM, robo37 said:

Would be nice to see these again some day?

Yes yes yes on all 3 kits that would be great.

[tim boyd]

2 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Not in cars, though...when did cars first have FM, the 60s? 

Early 1960s IIRC, though not a common install at first. 

By late 1960s, AM/FM Stereos were starting to become available in some cars (primarily luxury brands and large car near luxury nameplates).  By 1970 FM Alternative (aka "underground") FM stations were underway in larger cities, by that point FMs became a must in most cars bought by our generation (often enabled via an underdash hangon as the factory FM radios were priced inordinately high vs the value they delivered compared to accessory installs). 

Ironically, my Dad's 1971 Fury Sport Suburban had an awesome factory installed five speaker AM/FM Stereo setup, the very same year that MPC introduced the new 1971 Plymouth Road Runner/GTX body (although in fairness to Justin's point earlier, pieces of the underbody gubbins of that kit can be traced back to the 1965 MPC (nee AMT) Coronet annual kit, a point at which FM (but not FM Stereo) radios were just beginning to experience a modest bump in the factory install rate, mostly in middle luxury and luxury nameplates...).  TB     

[Can-Con]

1 hour ago, tim boyd said:

Early 1960s IIRC, though not a common install at first. 

By late 1960s, AM/FM Stereos were starting to become available in some cars (primarily luxury brands and large car near luxury nameplates).  By 1970 FM Alternative (aka "underground") FM stations were underway in larger cities, by that point FMs became a must in most cars bought by our generation (often enabled via an underdash hangon as the factory FM radios were priced inordinately high vs the value they delivered compared to accessory installs). 

Ironically, my Dad's 1971 Fury Sport Suburban had an awesome factory installed five speaker AM/FM Stereo setup, the very same year that MPC introduced the new 1971 Plymouth Road Runner/GTX body (although in fairness to Justin's point earlier, pieces of the underbody gubbins of that kit can be traced back to the 1965 MPC (nee AMT) Coronet annual kit, a point at which FM (but not FM Stereo) radios were just beginning to experience a modest bump in the factory install rate, mostly in middle luxury and luxury nameplates...).  TB     

The '68 Buick Electra LTD. that's been in our family for 50 years has a factory AM/FM radio.

[Motor City]

8 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Not in cars, though...when did cars first have FM, the 60s? 

GM offered them on the full-size models and the Riviera starting with the 1963 model year.  I'm not sure if it was available on the Corvette that year.  Then stereo was optional on the 1965 big Chevy, Chevelle and Corvette.  Cadillac came out with stereo for 1966, followed by the other three divisions in 1967.  FoMoCo had AM-FM by 1965, but I'm not sure when it was first available.  I'm not sure about Chrysler or Rambler/AMC vehicles.   

My '68 Eldorado has the optional AM-FM stereo radio but doesn't have the under-dash 8-track player which was a dealer-installed option starting in May of 1968.  The choices then were AM, AM-FM and AM-FM stereo.  That seems so absurd now, but FM wasn't really a popular option until the early 1970s.  Dad only ordered an AM-FM on his '73 Caprice since the stereo in my grandmother's '71 Eldorado sounded awful.  That Eldorado had an integrated 8-track player.  You pushed the tape through the radio dial to activate the tape.  I still have the radio from it, but the car ended up in a demolition derby at the Washtenaw County fairgrounds outside of Ann Arbor.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Motor City

[GMP440]

11 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

Think the only thing they could use is, the data of the skin of the body, all the rest has to be done from scratch. 

With scanning a vintage kit however, they have all the parts and know they can be tooled as is, as they were designed to be ejected from a molding machine. 

Just my 2 cents.

Absolutely.  Much more cost effective scanning a vintage kit.  More than likely Round 2 has access to one already .    I would bet this is probably on their list of projects slated for production in the future.  

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by GMP440

[mikos]

12 hours ago, Justin Porter said:

They could purchase the raw 3D modeling files from Andy Lesiak for his kits, spend a few months working out sprue gates and injector pins, and deliver a 200% better kit than some POS annual from before the dawn of FM radio in half the time. 

His stuff is good, but I’d rather have Round2 clone an original kit that was done using the factory blueprints of the real thing.  You can’t get any more faithful to the original than that.  Then, combine the cloned body with the correct interior and then use the rest of the parts from the ‘70 Impala.  It’s much less expensive to do it that way than tool up a brand new kit with Tamiya like level detail.  You don’t need a hundred parts count to make a kit look good.

 

[Muncie]

showing my age... FM wasn't really that big in the 60's.  Radios were available but even big markets didn't have many stations broadcasting in FM.  Those stations were usually reserved for classical music and the reception wasn't always that good in a car.  FM kind of turned around when the "underground" rock stations started showing up with better programing format and better music.  Until then, no need for FM radios in cars with nothing to listen to.

[Dave Darby]

14 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

Think the only thing they could use is, the data of the skin of the body, all the rest has to be done from scratch. 

With scanning a vintage kit however, they have all the parts and know they can be tooled as is, as they were designed to be ejected from a molding machine. 

Just my 2 cents.

Not to mention the original issue isn't too bad of a kit. Even the most recent issue is pretty decent. Not like the 69 Charger or the GTO kits.

[CapSat 6]

Regarding MPC’s ‘71-‘72 Road Runner, I think the clone program would be great, with a few caveats: 

1) the original body was good at best. Improvements would be needed: lower grille detail should be added, the windshield area should be strengthened (I used to see a LOT of unbuilt and built kits with warped or curled windshield areas), and especially on the ‘71, the front bumper and grille were shaped a little weirdly. 

2) to maximize bang for the buck from the new tooling, ‘71 and ‘72 versions should be offered. One body can be tooled up for both years. The side marker turn signals can be left off of the body, decals can be supplied for the ‘71’s signals, and very small clear castings can be offered for the ‘72’s “Corporate” items. The ‘71’s should not be sunken into the body sides like they are rendered in MPC’s and Monogram’s kits in the first place- on ‘71 B Bodies, these were flush with the body sides. New pieces can be offered for Road Runner or GTX lower rocker mouldings. Decals can represent body emblems (and extra points for offering “Satellite” and/or “Satellite Sebring Plus” emblems and striping). 

3) the chassis was so-so on these, like they were on all of the annuals of the period. A better brake booster, as well as add on pieces for the lower control arms and sway bars could be done to enhance the realism of the chassis. 

4) the engine in these kits was ok for the time, and by the ‘80’s reissue, perhaps a little weak. It would be nice if they cloned the much, much nicer engine (or at least the air cleaner) from the AMT ‘71 Charger for this kit, but based on what I have seen with the ‘68 Coronet and ‘71 Demon kits, this will probably not happen. 

5) in 1:1, these were perhaps the cars with the widest array of options available that Chrysler (or any other manufacturer) has ever made. They had numerous options for trim, striping, wheels, hoods, interior (bucket or bench seats with multiple textures and materials, console, power windows, and Chrysler’s cassette deck). Round 2 could develop multiple variations with different powertrains (383/400, 440+6, Hemi, 340) and options that could boost the desirability of each release. At the very least, offering the Cassette deck with dictaphone in scale would be a baller move on Round 2’s part. 

[Can-Con]

13 hours ago, Muncie said:

showing my age... FM wasn't really that big in the 60's.  Radios were available but even big markets didn't have many stations broadcasting in FM.  Those stations were usually reserved for classical music and the reception wasn't always that good in a car.  FM kind of turned around when the "underground" rock stations started showing up with better programing format and better music.  Until then, no need for FM radios in cars with nothing to listen to.

Yea. We didn't have an FM station here in Fredericton until around '80 or '81 ,, and then, IIRC, it was a country station. Mainstream rock/top 40 stations started within months though.

[doorsovdoon]

On 12/29/2023 at 5:39 PM, Can-Con said:

Front fenders and hood were quite a bit different. 

ah, I can see it now, the front of the fenders. The '69 does look good!

[espo]

On 12/28/2023 at 12:09 AM, zaina said:

I offer the 68 impala in 3d printed kit form. I can do it in a 2door, 4door and wagon. Also have the 68 belair and caprice available. So if this kit never gets reissued then this would be one option. 

Please send me any additional information on the 1968 Bel Air two door. 

[Bob Ellis]

Revell and Round2 have been purposely avoiding 1968, 1969 and 1971 and 1972 Impalas

[Can-Con]

1 hour ago, Bob Ellis said:

Revell and Round2 have been purposely avoiding 1968, 1969 and 1971 and 1972 Impalas

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to live with that. 😔😉