MPC Howmet TX Turbine Road Racer 1:25 scale

[ea0863]

Below is my generally stock build of the MPC Howmet TX Turbine Road Racer released in 1968. My kit was complete in an open box, although a few pieces had succumbed to the years having become brittle, warped and broken. These were replaced with ones scavenged from the MPC Can Am reissue. 

First up was the Continental TS325-1 gas turbine engine which I had built twice before for my MPC Can-Am version of this car, as well as a customized version envisioning what a "Mark III" might have looked like. In this instance, I left the engine in chrome and misted Tamiya TS-94 Metallic Gray over it for a very satisfying Panel Line Accent effect. The exhausts were painted Krylon Metallic Rust. The rest of the frame, interior, and suspension went together identically to my two prior builds utilizing virtually all the same parts. The rear sway bar was done in brass as the original was beyond saving. The only other modification was a pair of fuel inlets extending right and left above the tank.

Next was the body, which was nicely molded except for a short shot in the tail and roll pan. The pan was addressed with a piece of plastic cut from a prescription bottle of the appropriate diameter, along with putty. 

In terms of its shape, the body in this kit looked much like the version of the Howmet that raced in the 1968 Daytona 24 hours and Sebring 12 hours - - - thus became my inspiration for the build.

The original decals were long yellowed and dried out, thus an aftermarket set was pressed into service. They went on beautifully, although required much extra labor as components were separate and had to be placed one layer on top of another. (For instance, just the little American flags required a white background decal, then a red stripes decal, followed by a blue stars decal).

The paintwork on the body required a base coat of Tamiya TS-26 Pure White, masked area on the nose in TS-51 Racing Blue, another masked area in the engine compartment for AS-12 Bare Metal Silver, headlight buckets and dash in TS-14 Black, and TS-94 Metallic Gray over the chrome greenhouse to knock down the sheen. (TS-94 has become my favorite to give realism to just about any paintjob as it lays down evenly, is fairly translucent, and the effect can be controlled by how heavily it is applied). The build was quite satisfying as parts went together nicely, and I believe the final product came out presentable:

The American Racing rims that came with the kit were replaced with the more accurate Halibrands found in period photos, these having come from a Revell Shelby Cobra Streetburner kit. Likewise, the sideview mirrors from the MPC kit were the wrong size, shape, and location. Thus, they too were replaced with period correct bullet mirrors from the same Revell Cobra kit and relocated to the front fenders. Next, the one-piece chrome plastic piece for the rear was replaced with aluminum mesh (I only noticed after the kit was done that I should have rotated the diamond pattern on this mesh 90 degrees). And finally, a small conceit was the addition of tow hooks under the nose of the car from a Fujimi Ford GT kit.

 

Since I also have the Mark II Can Am version of this car done in period trim, it seemed only fitting to do a beauty shot of the two cars together (Interestingly, I have never seen a photo of the two 1:1 cars together). 

And finally, inclusion of my interpretation of how the "Mark III" would have looked - - - borrowing elements from both of its predecessors...

Edited Friday at 02:10 AM by ea0863

[meechum68]

Wicked!! 

 

 

[ea0863]

41 minutes ago, meechum68 said:

Wicked!! 

 

 

Thank you Michael. I think I enjoy the research almost as much as the building with these historic vehicles  

[Andria H]

How is the MPC Can-Am reissue to build? I like the simplicity of its decal scheme and how easy that aspect seems to recreate, but I am worried about the kit being brittle or poorly designed. 

The Howmets are among my favorites of this era/genre now that I have discovered them and started deep diving into road racing/Can-Am. 

[Rich Chernosky]

Emre.. you have scored another hit with this one.  I bought both these kits new and dug into them over the years but never completed.  This is truly inspiration for me to do so.  A great collection and some good background info. Very nice post. 

[kensar]

A nice collection of Howmets and great work on them.  Interesting subjects.

[Beans]

Been intrigued by this kit.  Yours turned out great!

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

Still have both kits in my stash.

 

[Jim B]

Cool car. Well done. 

[stavanzer]

Really Neat Family of kits. You did them all Justice.

 

Good Show.

[Big Messer]

Very nice!. Probably an unexpected benefit of the exhausts pointing up was an increase in downforce.

[ea0863]

9 hours ago, Andria H said:

How is the MPC Can-Am reissue to build? I like the simplicity of its decal scheme and how easy that aspect seems to recreate, but I am worried about the kit being brittle or poorly designed. 

The Howmets are among my favorites of this era/genre now that I have discovered them and started deep diving into road racing/Can-Am. 

Hi Andria, the biggest concern with the reissue is that the rear cowl section never seems to want to line up with the front body, mostly due to warpage. On my "Mark III" version, I glued the two halves together since the engine could be seen through the rear glass. On the stock "Mark II" version, I made a gusset from .032 x .25 inch brass stock which I glued under the rear cowl. The gusset could be bent at will to line up the two halves nicely. You can see it more in detail at the below link:

As for the rest, the reissue was not brittle, went together nicely (as long as you paid strict attention to the order of assembly), and looked quite presentable when completed. I would certainly not hesitate to get one at have a go!

[ea0863]

8 hours ago, Rich Chernosky said:

Emre.. you have scored another hit with this one.  I bought both these kits new and dug into them over the years but never completed.  This is truly inspiration for me to do so.  A great collection and some good background info. Very nice post. 

Thank you Rich for your kind words. I would LOVE to see your rendition of a Howmet TX! I'm sure it would come out stunning. I recently saw a post of a gentleman that did a Profil 24 version of that car, and the detail work reminded me of your beautiful builds!

[ea0863]

4 hours ago, kensar said:

A nice collection of Howmets and great work on them.  Interesting subjects.

Thank you much Ken.

[ea0863]

4 hours ago, ChrisR said:

Looks great!

Still have both kits in my stash.

 

Thank you Chris! By all means, pull them out and build them! For old designs, they come out quite presentable when done.

4 hours ago, Beans said:

Been intrigued by this kit.  Yours turned out great!

Thank you kindly Joe!

Edited Friday at 06:01 PM by ea0863

[ea0863]

4 hours ago, Jim B said:

Cool car. Well done. 

Thanks James, I appreciate that.

[ea0863]

2 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Really Neat Family of kits. You did them all Justice.

 

Good Show.

Thank you much Alan!

[ea0863]

2 hours ago, Big Messer said:

Very nice!. Probably an unexpected benefit of the exhausts pointing up was an increase in downforce.

Thanks Joe! Your observation is hilarious with the accompanying photo  . On the other hand, I wonder if there is some truth to it?

[Andria H]

2 hours ago, ea0863 said:

Hi Andria, the biggest concern with the reissue is that the rear cowl section never seems to want to line up with the front body, mostly due to warpage. On my "Mark III" version, I glued the two halves together since the engine could be seen through the rear glass. On the stock "Mark II" version, I made a gusset from .032 x .25 inch brass stock which I glued under the rear cowl. The gusset could be bent at will to line up the two halves nicely. You can see it more in detail at the below link:

As for the rest, the reissue was not brittle, went together nicely (as long as you paid strict attention to the order of assembly), and looked quite presentable when completed. I would certainly not hesitate to get one at have a go!

excellent, I am hoping to get one sometime in the future. Might even make a transporter set using an AMT '60 F100 and trailer. 

[ea0863]

5 minutes ago, Andria H said:

excellent, I am hoping to get one sometime in the future. Might even make a transporter set using an AMT '60 F100 and trailer. 

Very cool idea! 

[iBorg]

Great build of a rare kit.

[ea0863]

1 hour ago, iBorg said:

Great build of a rare kit.

Thnk you Mike  

[1959scudetto]

Very good looking build of this kit I've never seen built before - quite a rarity !

[TonyK]

As a couple of comments have said, great job on a rare kit and I believe this is the first time I've seen one built. All your work paid off with a real nice model.

[thebavarian]

What a great car from your workbench. I see it the first time and want to buy the kit immediately.