62rebel Posted November 8, 2011 Posted November 8, 2011 killing time waiting for various assemblies to cure/dry/evolve on their own, i busy myself rummaging through the stash boxes looking for parts for the NEXT build... i happen upon a set of JoHan Petty Plymouth chrome steel rims and one has a VERY weak bead... so weak that it broke off while i was examining it... yikes. i'm loathe to use superglue near chrome but this has to be fixed before it's forgotten, so i hitch up my courage and brace my shakey hands and actually manage to put the errant bead (about 5/16ths long) back in place. whooooo... but that's not my puzzlement this evening. also in with those relics were two pairs of deep chrome reverse steel rims from the AMT '51 Bel Air hardtop. nicely detailed, good chrome.... and no lug nut detail. as in, NO LUG NUTS. ummmm... i wonder why they DID that? there's shallow holes where they ought to be; great for making a pair of drag slick mounts as long as you don't intend to have them on the car (unless, of course, you add lug nuts)... additionally... i've been finishing up the '75 MPC Dart Sport recently, only adding what i thought was absolutely essential to bring it somewhere near the turn of the century.... only to discover that MPC rivaled AMT and JoHan in presenting a visually accurate BODY , and fell flat on it's face with interiors and chassis; chassis especially, on annuals. i made the mistake of not verifying wheel centerlines front and rear before gluing everything up.... and the wheels don't line up correctly from side to side. add to that nearly non-existent chassis location points.... well. here, it's more a matter of "i wonder why they DIDN'T do that?" , i.e., add even rudimentary locating points.... not to say that i don't LIKE the kit; it's nostalgic and went together just like i remember them.
Draggon Posted November 8, 2011 Posted November 8, 2011 On some of Tamiya and Aoshimas kits the chassis plate snaps into place, no glue needed, not to mention the wheels being centered, and the car having a realistic ride height. Now why cant the Americans do that?
Chuck Most Posted November 8, 2011 Posted November 8, 2011 On some of Tamiya and Aoshimas kits the chassis plate snaps into place, no glue needed, not to mention the wheels being centered, and the car having a realistic ride height. Now why cant the Americans do that? A lot of American kits are like that- you just need to look for something tooled a bit later, say, 1977 and up or so.
62rebel Posted November 9, 2011 Author Posted November 9, 2011 we lost a little something when they deleted the screw-on chassis capability it seems..... even after all the construction work i did to my promo Falcon, i kept the rear chassis posts on the body for that very reason; a sure and reasonably accurate method of location. wasn't MPC a big promo supplier through the 70's and into the '80's? i have several Aoshima kits, the one that pops into my mind is the BTTF Delorean with folding wheels... built that many years ago for my wife and it still looks fairly accurate and straight as a arrow. how about those missing lug nuts?
Longbox55 Posted November 9, 2011 Posted November 9, 2011 How about the ones that have wheels with the wrong number of lug nuts??!! A few examples, the deep dish steelies and spare on the old AMT '72 Blazer. The front ones with the 4x4 hubs are correct, with 6 lugs, but the rears and the spare only have 5. Same thin for the spare on the Revell '64/'65 Chevy trucks, 5 lug spare when the 1:1 is 6 lug. I also have a version of the MPC '69 Firebird that came with 6 lug custom wheels.
highway Posted November 9, 2011 Posted November 9, 2011 How about the ones that have wheels with the wrong number of lug nuts??!! A few examples, the deep dish steelies and spare on the old AMT '72 Blazer. The front ones with the 4x4 hubs are correct, with 6 lugs, but the rears and the spare only have 5. Same thin for the spare on the Revell '64/'65 Chevy trucks, 5 lug spare when the 1:1 is 6 lug. I also have a version of the MPC '69 Firebird that came with 6 lug custom wheels. Bill, it's funny you bring those up! I've been looking for a set of six lug wheels for a build and looked through the 72 Blazer and noticed they were the same nice front hub wheels I found in a friend's parts box I couldn't find rears for, then I noticed the 5 lug rear wheels! Talk about having a "HUH??" moment! Also, if the 69 T/A were centerline style wheels, I'm not 100% sure but I believe the 73 Mercury Cougar issued as "The Cat" also had those 6 lug wheels in it.
Longbox55 Posted November 9, 2011 Posted November 9, 2011 Yup, the Centerlines are the ones my Firebird has.
Chuck Most Posted November 9, 2011 Posted November 9, 2011 The '69 Barracuda kit also comes with six-bolt optional wheels, if I recall.
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