question about 80's vacu form kits

[randx0]

I found some old vacu formed kits on ebay and was fascinated and am wondering if anyone can tell me more about that point in modeling history. I got a kgmodels miller 91(with cady decals) an olds aerotech, an olds cutlass or trofeo or something like that and some back then sprint bodies probably for the grant king car. also from hayward model parts a late model body for the asa kits. and from mpb a 63 corvette roadster conversion kit and lastly floor boards for the amt 40 ford so you can remove the molded in exhuast and what not. I have had in my collection a stinger hood for the amt nova from mpb so i have heard of them but would like to know more. I can post pictures of these later but wanted to learn more about these right now . let me know what you know or even if you have built or unbuilt examples of these. I suspect these are all f

rom 86 or 87 maybe but not later than 90. thanks for taking the time!

Edited November 3, 2011 by randx0

[randx0]

[randx0]

[slantasaurus]

About 15 years ago or so I found a vacuum formed kit at a LHS. It was very simalar to the last picture you posted, it was an 85 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais but the one I had was an Indy Pace Car version. A convertible, the seats that were included looked like MPC parts that I've seen in other mid-80's kits and there were 2 peice resin tires that looked to be cast from the old Monogram TRX's. It was a very crude kit and I bought it more as a couiosity, about 5 years ago I was showing it to another well know hobby shop owner and I never got it back from him, other wise I would post pics.

[randx0]

I just find them interesting because you don't see them very often . when i purchased these I was thinking they were probably slotcars but they are kits and that miller 91 looks pretty nice.

[Greg Myers]

The white metal parts are more interesting to me than the body's.

[Mark]

The MPB hoods were created by me. I started around 1987, and closed down in 1995 (but still have some items left). The first hood I did was the W-30 unit for the Jo-Han '70 4-4-2.

Initially, I looked into getting tooling cut and having the hoods injection molded. Back then, the lowest estimate I got for tooling for the hood (just the hood, mind you) was around $5,000. And that was an aluminum tool, not a steel one; the number of parts that can be produced from it is very limited.

I had no idea about how many hoods I could sell.

To top it off, around that time I saw a Xerox copy of a 1987 AMT/Ertl catalog. In it was a "reissue" of the AMT '70 4-4-2, this time with a W-30 hood. Apparently nobody at Ertl knew that AMT's '70 4-4-2 was a re-boxed Jo-Han kit! Ertl couldn't reissue a kit they never had the tooling for. But would they tool a new kit if demand was there? I decided not to try an injection-molded styrene hood. (Ertl did issue an all-new 1969 4-4-2 under the MPC brand the following year.)

Vacuum forming allowed for lower startup cost, and fewer parts had to be sold to break even. The drawback was that assembly and fitting was required. The positives included the ability to undercut the price of resin cast hoods at that time. The vacuum formed hoods were made of white styrene, same material the kit was made from.

Since then, resin casting supplies and information have spread like wildfire, so the advantage now lies with resin. Today, builders generally don't want to spend time cutting, fitting, and assembling a hood when they can get a resin casting that, in many cases, fits the kit body like a glove. I do still sell a hood or two every now and then, though. Methodology in the selection of items to sell wasn't exactly rocket science; I just did parts I wanted for myself. I figured that if I wanted it, there would be enough people out there who thought like me and wanted the same parts.

The 4-4-2 hood was formed over an epoxy mold. I used the same material to make my molds that professional vacuum formers (sign and package makers) used to make theirs. Later on, I figured out how to get fairly sharp detail by making the molds in reverse and forming the plastic into them as opposed to over them. When the molds warmed up during production, some of the detail and shapes were heat-stamped into the plastic. The 4-4-2 hood could not be made in a reverse mold (if it were possible to do so, I would have created a new mold). Most of the other hoods and other parts I sold were reverse-molded. I used that method wherever I could.

The production was done by one of those professional guys; I'd make the molds and he'd stick them in alongside other jobs he was running. He supplied the material (which was on the margins of the "main" job, and would have been scrap had my molds not been there alongside his). He had the professional quality vacuum forming equipment, with more power and heat than anything I could build. I'd leave the molds with him, and he'd call me after having run the "main" job for someone else. I'd go pick up a pile of stuff, he'd get paid for material he would otherwise throw away...everyone was happy. I should call him and see how he's doing.

I remember looking at that Oldsmobile pace car kit ('85 Calais); it was by KG Models. I passed on it at the time, should have bought one of them.

[Camshaft]

All of these Olds kits are right up my alley...thanks for sharing!

[randx0]

Mark ,it is great to hear that you are still around (the modeling community) and thank you for sharing the history of your company. as I stated above I have one of your stinger hoods for the amt nova which the name recognition is what prompted me to purchase this lot that and the miller 91. I like these products they are somewhat unique and I think they could still fill a need but you would know better than I would. I did suspect that the resin had a lot to do with the downfall of vacuforming but I would still rather be working with plastic.thanks again for the history I feel there is a lack of historical knowledge and this has helped me understand a litlle more about the, as they called it back then, cottage industry.

[Modelmartin]

I remember the Ken Glenn kits. I met the guy a few times in the early 80s. He was a very good builder and I think he assumed the majority of builders were at his skill level. The Miller was buildable but hose polyester resin model T wheels were awful. If you substitute plastic ones or find a better alternative you will have a unique model.

I have built a few vac-form aircraft kits and I like the process. I just don't think the process lends itself well to complete modern car bodies except for windows and pieces that have to be thin.