MPC Chrysler Hydro-Vee "Charger" Boat Kit and Other Boat Kits

[tim boyd]

Way nicely done, Alan!   Thanks for bringing us up to date....TIM

[alan barton]

Thanks Tim, I thought you might like it.  The woody, by the way, was inspired by your bronze woody that I saw at NNL Toledo back in 2010.

So seeing as how this is the boat thread and I haven't seen a review here for the Lindberg Century Coronado, I figured it was time I did one.

 

Here's the box.

Edited May 28, 2017 by alan barton
mistyping

[alan barton]

Pretty cool artwork huh?

The biggest sprue contains the two sides, the deck and the transom.  The  five piece motor looks like a V6 Hemi - was there such a thing? - and those two big crossmember thingies are part of the display base.

[alan barton]

The next white sprue contains all three rows of seats, the engine cover and the roof. Not to mention a rather toylike flag pole. As you can see, there is a lot of flash on this old tool.  You need to prepare yourself to clean up evry side of every part, plus the feed tags are humungous and often interfere with a glue mating surface so you need to be extra vigilant to spot them all.  Patience grasshopper, patience.......

[alan barton]

Hey, I got three photos posted before Photoslowbucket did it's usual hissy fit and threw the teddy out of the cot! I'll just have to paint a picture with words from here on.

The pro's of this kit?  Simple, it's a boat.  There are so few boats out there in 1/25th scale that any new boat is a bonus.  I thought I knew my boat kits, thanks in part to Tim's boat chronicles, but I didn't know about this one until I heard of the reissue!  Plus, it is a completely bonkers design which displays everything we love about the excesses of automotive design in the fifties. Also, despite its age and its parents, it's not a bad kit and my experiences so far show it goes together pretty well, with one caveat.

I mentioned the flash.  Flash doesn't usually worry me. Some kits have lots, some have almost none.  It's a part of building a plastic model.  The problem with this kit is that there is so much of it that if you are not very careful, you can trim off part of the actual part.  Which I did.  Twice.  

SO don't be like me and be very careful when you do some test fitting. I should have paid more attention to the actual mating surfaces and not worried about most of the flash until the basic hull was assembled.  Hey, it's not a deal breaker but ti did cost me an hour or two fixing by boo boo.

The way the chrome sprue is arranged means there is a horrible amount of attachment points on the chrome tiara roof band.  You guys could send it off to Chrome tech easy enough but way out here I will just break out the Molotow pens.

I think I will leave it at that and start a build thread for this model.  I'll talk to you all again when Photopluckit starts to play nice again.

Cheer

Alan

 

[unclescott58]

Alan, I'm looking forward to seeing more from you. Especially your Coronado build. I've picked up the kit, but haven't done anything with it yet. I'm also waiting for somebody to do a review on Lindberg's Owens Cabin Cruiser kit. I have not picked that one up yet.

Scott

 

[ChrisBcritter]

The five piece motor looks like a V6 Hemi - was there such a thing?

From looking at the photos of the kit's engine, I'm not sure what that thing is supposed to represent. The main offering from Century was the Gray Marine engine, which is based on the AMC 327 V8. I've found other images of them with Cadillacs, Chrysler Marine Hemis, Ford Y-block and FE marine engines as well, so you can probably swap in whatever you can fit to the bellhousing and scratchbuild the marine parts.

Edited May 29, 2017 by ChrisBcritter

[alan barton]

Thanks guys.  The thing about that anaemic looking engine, it sits on the hull with barely a hint of a mounting point and virtually no detail.  Plus it is hidden under an enormous engine cover which needs to be accessed through the roof of the boat.  In my house, I can't see this ever happening so I am just going to glue the engine cover on and put the engine in the parts box for .... who knows? Mind you, I do have spares of all the engines ChrisB mentioned.  Hmmmm....

I figure I have a limited number of hours for modelling and a massive stash to work my way through.  Trying to make a silk purse out of this sow's ear makes no sense.  I have other boats underway that have fully exposed engines - I will bank the time for those efforts.

 

Cheers

Alan

Edited May 30, 2017 by alan barton
Bad typing!

[GLMFAA1]

Could not pass up this opportunity to show this off:

Robbe 1/24th scale German fireboat, Figures are Tamiya German soldiers and Revell fire figures. Boat is radio controlled by 16 channel radio, pumps water, launches boat at aft and more.

can't trailer this baby!

greg

Edited May 30, 2017 by GLMFAA1
spelling

[Bob Ellis]

IIRC it was Wes Gallogly, who was one of AMT's top executives back in the late 1950's/early 1960's.

 

Tom West was never associated with AMT to my knowledge; he did work for Revell, Aurora (via the wonderful 1/16th scale funny car series), Accurate Miniatures, and Galaxie Limited, and also did artwork back in the day for some of the car magazines, as well as DieCast manufacturers.

 

TB

Wes Gallogly was a lawyer who owned AMT. He had buddies at Ford that got him business

[Edsel-Dan]

I have pic's of an OLD build of the Coronado on the previous page,

 

I Do LOVE that Fireboat!!!!!!!

[alan barton]

Thanks Edsel-Dan,for putting up your photos otherwise I would never have known it existed at all.  Sometimes oddball stuff like this doesn't make it to Australia and I could have easily missed getting one. Your post was the reason I now have one!

For those who want to follow the build of a Coronado, I have started a build thread.  I put it in "On the workbench" but for some reason it has turned up in "All the rest". Considering how much interest there has been in this thread and how few replies there have been to my build post, I figure very few people have seen it. If you are interested in speedboats, that's where it is.

 

Cheers

Alan

[Atmobil]

Sorry for bringing up an old thread but I recently found a toy boat that I had as a kid (I got no picture right now but will have for later). It is 270mm long and 82mm wide at the widest part of the hull. The hull is just about 40mm from the bottom and up to the deckline. I was thinking of converting this in to a 1:25 boat and started doing the math. 270mm in 1:25 is 270 inches or 22,5 feet. I then remebered the Owens cabin cruiser that had been reissued by Lindberg recently. It is said to be a 22 foot cabin cruiser on the box it self and the boxart drawing makes it look really nice but on the pictures of the real thing it looks kind of odd.
I took it out of the box and measured and there it was: the hull is only 215mm long, in 1:25 scale 215 inches and that is just under 18feet (17,91 to be exact). So that is why it looks so stubby
But then again, when you consider what manufacturer made this kit the first time it may not be such a surprice afterall, it was made by Palmer

[alan barton]

Sorry everybody - readers ,modellers,  moderators, Gregg, everyone.  Although I work with computers every day, I hate them.  With a passion.  They are without doubt the biggest mongrel machines ever put on the face of this planet and you are meant to learn about them solely by osmosis.

Tonight I tried to remove all of Photobucket's ransom notes and resubmit my boat photos.  Despite me deleting everything, using the trash can icon etc etc etc, I now have multiple photos in every post.  I am not going to continue wrecking this forum so I think this is where I just give up. I had new photos of the Coronet Toronado to put up but I think I will forget about this and just stick to modelling in the real word, not the cyberworld, and show my mates my work here in Perth.  It is a shame as I have enjoyed it here but I simply cannot put up with the frustration of trying to post photos successfully and then end up looking like a complete muppet when I do so.

It's all too hard.

Cheers

Alan

[alan barton]

This is my last shot at posting - either it works or I'm done.  I got the boat out for some photos today.  Overall I'm fairly happy with it but being a Lindberg and being old it takes a lot of work to get it decent and I would never enter it in a comp - there are just too many issues with fit and finish. I think it would need something like an Aarri 58 Caddy to tow it as the size would overshadow most models.  To be honest, it would overshadow a real car in 1:1 but the difference in size never seems as obvious in a 1:1 as it does with a model.

Just noticed I still have to run some black paint into the intake scoops up front and paint the port and starboard lights. I also decided to leave the window frames off the starboard side - it gives it more of a hardtop look and less of a ferry boat look!

Cheers

Alan

[stavanzer]

Wow, Alan! That is a Laser Sharp build. You may have just sold on this kit. All it needs is a trailer.

Alan Alexis

[dimaxion]

Could not pass up this opportunity to show this off:

Robbe 1/24th scale German fireboat, Figures are Tamiya German soldiers and Revell fire figures. Boat is radio controlled by 16 channel radio, pumps water, launches boat at aft and more.

can't trailer this baby!

greg

You did not brag up some features of this Gem . I will , many working features , floats and Remote Controls in a body of water ..  Still presents itself well . I've not changed my mind about this stunner .   Thanx .. 

[dimaxion]

OK . I have a question (or 3) ?? I did buy a Resin Conversion from Caniglia Castings to create a Jet Drive Watercraft .  Parts are quite correct as far as I can tell . Top quality and parts all are crisp . I've only seen on in my lifetime up close . I/O Propulsion without a Prop . Do these have any type of Under Hull Stabilizer ? Are these smooth bottom to navigate in shallow waters instead ?  Are these still made and used today ? My online research is sure lacking on answers .. Like a trip into the unknown .. Thanx .. 

[unclescott58]

Beautiful work on the above boat Alan. Figuring out how I'm going to do the "correct" factory style two-tone paint job on this kit, is the one thing that is holding me up on doing mine. A lot of tape is going to be need to make the old Coronado look good. Despite wanting to paint it in the correct factory paint layout, I am thinking I want to do it in white and a light metallic blue. Rather than the factory correct colors of white and red. Blue is my favorite color. For just about everything.

 

[alan barton]

Thank you Alan and Ron.  Without a doubt, the masking was the most challenging part.  I did the rear deck and  left hand side with Bare Metal foil and the right hand side and the lower part of the hull with Tamiya masking tape - I definitely got better results with theTamiya tape and far less cleanup. The shape on the side of the hull is outlined with a groove so cutting the tape is not a drama. The only tricky part is where the spear widens out as it goes towards the rear - the edge is a bit soft here and tricky to cut cleanly.  I still have to psych myself up to gluing the windshield frame on - lots of room for error here as the mounting is very vague!

I used Tamiya Pure White and Testors Fabric red from the spray can and Tamiya Dark Red airbrushed on the hull to reduce paint build-up on the masking.  I can definitely see lght metallic blue working on this colour scheme!

Cheers

Alan

[tim boyd]

This is my last shot at posting - either it works or I'm done.  I got the boat out for some photos today.  Overall I'm fairly happy with it but being a Lindberg and being old it takes a lot of work to get it decent and I would never enter it in a comp - there are just too many issues with fit and finish. I think it would need something like an Aarri 58 Caddy to tow it as the size would overshadow most models.  To be honest, it would overshadow a real car in 1:1 but the difference in size never seems as obvious in a 1:1 as it does with a model.

Just noticed I still have to run some black paint into the intake scoops up front and paint the port and starboard lights. I also decided to leave the window frames off the starboard side - it gives it more of a hardtop look and less of a ferry boat look!

Cheers

Alan

Alan.....very,very sharp build of a kit that was clearly engineered to different aspirations and market expectations some 60 years ago.  Way to go!  And please, keep posting.  Your work is ALWAYS inspirational and interesting to me, and I suspect, many other readers of this forum.   Cheers, mate.....TIM

Edited October 9, 2017 by tim boyd

[espo]

OK . I have a question (or 3) ?? I did buy a Resin Conversion from Caniglia Castings to create a Jet Drive Watercraft .  Parts are quite correct as far as I can tell . Top quality and parts all are crisp . I've only seen on in my lifetime up close . I/O Propulsion without a Prop . Do these have any type of Under Hull Stabilizer ? Are these smooth bottom to navigate in shallow waters instead ?  Are these still made and used today ? My online research is sure lacking on answers .. Like a trip into the unknown .. Thanx .. 

I also used this conversion on a Hull Raiser kit. I have had friends with "Jet Boats" and this conversion is dead on and the casting quality is perfect. A couple of technical issues that will need to be addressed. In a V-Drive set up the engine is looking at the stern, and a Jet Boat will be looking at the bow. In my case I sort of updated the engine and used a big block Chevy with a Supercharger. I used the engine mounts for the Chrysler engine with a little modification and relocated their position and it worked perfect. If you want to stay with the Chrysler you might want rethink the induction system. The six carbs. look impressive but where out by the time "Squirt Boats" came about. Tunnel Ram Intakes with one or two carbs were more common.   I used a piece of spark plug wire for the control from the transom to the nozzle.  

[Bernard Kron]

Great thread and the perfect inspiration as I tackle my first ski boat. Alan, your boats in particular are ideal as reference to what I have in mind. My favorites are the early style race boat, the Moon River, and the blue flaked and flamed blown ski boat. I'm furthering my experiments with large scale decals to do a fogged panel boat flake paint job for a show-worthy boat like those shown in the 60's. I'm using a 90's re-issue of the the Revell Hemi Hydro, but the kit motor is so cool that I'm saving it for a car build and will be using a Revell Parts Pak blown Ford 427 just dripping in chrome. I'll post where I'm at in a separate thread because I'm just getting started.

Great inspiration:

[Bernard Kron]

Here's a link to the build thread I just started on my Revell Hemi Hydro which I refered to above: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/126697-revell-hemi-hydro-show-n-go-drag-boat/ .

This is a Photoshopped mockup of where I'm headed:

[alan barton]

Thanks Tim and Bernard, I'm not a boat person per se but I think they look great behind hot rods and classics so they make a great accessory.  Speed boats are cool!

 

Cheers

Alan