MPC kits

[Donny]

Having just returned to the model car building scene, I have never purchased a MPC kit, so how do they rate compared to Revell and AMT? Good or bad guys?

Don

[Fat Brian]

They're about equivalent to AMT, like AMT a lot are old promos and annuals that have been through the wringer to varying degrees. In fact, a few kits on the market are combinations of AMT and MPC parts, the 70 Superbee comes to mind immediately with it's AMT chassis and MPC body and interior. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

The question needs to be equated with kits from comparable eras.

Of course Revell has a number of exceptional newer kits produced within the past couple of decades, but MPC hasn’t produced a new kit since probably at least the mid 80s.

Since they were absorbed into ERTL, all of MPC’s offerings have been re-pops of earlier kits, so if comparisons are going to be made, they need to be made with AMT and Revell kits from the same time period.

As a rule, I think that you’ll find that they’re no better or no worse than anything else from the same time frame.

 

 

 

Steve

[sidcharles]

1 hour ago, Donny said:

Having just returned to the model car building scene, I have never purchased a MPC kit, so how do they rate compared to Revell and AMT? Good or bad guys?

Don

i know it isn't an answer to you question, but a suggestion is to build a couple of AMT Trophy kit reissues as confidence enhancers, and then jump into MPC world.

[Can-Con]

As I've said before, ANY kit from ANY company needs to be taken on it's own merit. 

That being said, it also depends on the skill set of the builder. Some can build a great model out of anything, some should stick to Lego. 

[Donny]

10 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

As I've said before, ANY kit from ANY company needs to be taken on it's own merit. 

That being said, it also depends on the skill set of the builder. Some can build a great model out of anything, some should stick to Lego. 

😄point taken

Don

[peteski]

5 hours ago, Donny said:

Having just returned to the model car building scene, I have never purchased a MPC kit, so how do they rate compared to Revell and AMT? Good or bad guys?

There are no recent MPC or AMT, or  AMT/Ertl kits because those companies have not existed for quite a few years (or decades). If you see kits branded for those companies, they are older kits.  But the rights to those names (and often some older molds) were acquired by new model companies which do production runs using those older molds. Sometimes those companies modify old molds to add some features or correct some problems. Sometimes they reprint old decal artwork, other times they run new version of the decals. 

Basically there is no simple answer as to which brand kits are better than others. You have to research the specific models you are interested in and compare them with others.  Then of course are Japanese model companies too.

[Donny]

4 minutes ago, peteski said:

There are no recent MPC or AMT, or  AMT/Ertl kits because those companies have not existed for quite a few years (or decades). If you see kits branded for those companies, they are older kits.  But the rights to those names (and often some older molds) were acquired by new model companies which do production runs using those older molds. Sometimes those companies modify old molds to add some features or correct some problems. Sometimes they reprint old decal artwork, other times they run new version of the decals. 

Basically there is no simple answer as to which brand kits are better than others. You have to research the specific models you are interested in and compare them with others.  Then of course are Japanese model companies too.

Thanks Peter. I never thought about car kits this way. Just don't want to buy a lemon.

Don

[stavanzer]

Most of the MPC kits have tooling similar to AMT kits of the same vintage. MPC lasted up to about 1988 or so.

I find the MPC kits to be a little more delicate in the tooling than AMT kits, but it is mostly a matter of taste. MPC did kit some cars that AMT & Revell never did, so it depends on what you are wanting as to whose kit is better. Sometimes the MPC (or AMT, or Revell)kit is the only game in town for a particular car.

Scalemates is a good place to check the history of a Car Kit.

Ask lots of questions about a kit before you buy it. All of us here will try to help you get an idea of what you are looking at.

Alan

[Chris V]

The majority of the american car kit manufacturers have been around since the late fifties/early sities. With tooling archives spanning multiple decades of production and technological advancements there’s not much point in comparing any manufacturer to the other in general terms: They all have their good, bad, and uglies. 
 

As mentioned above, MPC has been under the same ownership as AMT since the nineties and was absorbed by the AMT brand for a while. The current owners, Round2, has re-established MPC as a separate brand and started reissuing and and re-creating improved versions of their older kits. 
 

Model kit reviews like the ones posted on this forum are generally the best way to find out how a particular kit rates. Though many people are fond of the website Scalemates, it’s important to note that it’s uncurated and more or less free to edit by contributors - and thus contains a lot of incorrect information as well. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Chris V

[Donny]

3 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Most of the MPC kits have tooling similar to AMT kits of the same vintage. MPC lasted up to about 1988 or so.

I find the MPC kits to be a little more delicate in the tooling than AMT kits, but it is mostly a matter of taste. MPC did kit some cars that AMT & Revell never did, so it depends on what you are wanting as to whose kit is better. Sometimes the MPC (or AMT, or Revell)kit is the only game in town for a particular car.

Scalemates is a good place to check the history of a Car Kit.

Ask lots of questions about a kit before you buy it. All of us here will try to help you get an idea of what you are looking at.

Alan

Thanks Alan, appreciate the advice and information.

Don

[Dave G.]

MPC kits weren't particularly tricky to build, if that's what you're asking. I built mostly the classic era kits, like the 1928 Lincoln. Similar to Monogram at the time, only 1/25th rather than Monograms 1/24. This was before the Monogram/Revell merger. I did find the fine work, such as chrome door handles, spoked wheels, the hood ornaments to be of better scale than AMT by a little bit, in that era vehicle at least.