Kaleb Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I got my second Johan kit, first was a 1935 Mercedes it was ok. My second was a 1970 olds 442 and my cow it has a lot of flash on it. What's the big deal with these kits? I see some guys wanted specifically Johan stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Johnny Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Wore out molds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
route66modeler Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 be very carefull buying factory seaed "GC" gold cup kits. have see several "short shot" kits that were missing parts of bodies. steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaleb Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 No worries, I won't be buying anymore. This one is missing the tires but I also bought it used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Custom Mike Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 The big problem with Jo-Han kits is flash, they rarely maintained their tools like other manufacturers do, they just used 'em and didn't sweat the flash. Probably the reason they went under, among other things. I never bought any Jo-Han kits when I was younger, I wish I had though. They may be light on detail, with promo-style chassis and bad interiors, but their bodies were dead-on accurate compared to the other manufacturers, and they put out a ton of kits that no one else would. With a bit of work, you can put a modern kit chassis under one, and rework the interior so it's presentable, but it's usually more work than most builders want to take on. I know AMT's '71 Charger chassis fits almost perfectly under Jo-Han's '71-74 Javelin kits....now I've got to get off my butt and build one someday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Many Johan kits had accurate bodies and they were the only option for many subjects, so there are desirable to some just for that reason alone. Plus, add in the fact they are no longer in business, the building was razed, and the semi-mysterious history of the tooling since the '80s X-El/Seville legal issues, and you have yourself a good story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Johan kits can be just like any other model company kits, some good, some bad, just depends on what kit, I think Johan's Cadillac kits where some of their better kits, I have not in my time built alot of Johan kits, the ones I did where the Hearse and ambo kit, the Eldorado kit, and the Fury police car. But those are some of the better kits, IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disabled modeler Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I grew up on early Johan and MPC,AMT kits. As far as for the flash on the Johans Ill take them...love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62rebel Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 threatening not to buy any more JoHan kits sounds really serious. i, for one, am never going to buy 35cent a gallon gasoline again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Most Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 And let's not forget, JoHan did the Chrysler Turbine concept car kit, which is still one of the best-detailed kits ever made. Their series of Classic kits ('31 Cadillacs, Mercedes Roadster, etc.) are very good kits, with comprehensive parts breakdown, very sharp surface detail, and quite a few working features. Their annual kits were something else entirely- glass that seems thick enough to withstand a bullet, shallow interior tubs, and some pretty glaring ommissions (like the lack of inner front fenders in the '60 Plymouth wagon). So it could be said JoHan's products run the full gamut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deathgoblin Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Since I got back into car modelling, I've only got one Jo-Han kit. Full detail '63 Chrysler Turbine. It's in my stash until I'm skilled enough to build it the way I want. One of the exhaust ducts is short-shot, but otherwise it's in good shape and complete. I should be able to scratch-build the missing parts of the exhaust duct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philo426 Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Its a tough kit but can be built into a nice model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaleb Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 Simple things are fine. I do scratch build some and it really isn't that hard. Beings that Johan is shut down my threat is invalid. I don't run across many Johan kits anyway. The few things I do like about them are the box, detailed engines and simple build if you want a quick build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 One observation: Johan's original Gold Cup version of the 1935 Mercedes 500K coupe with the burgundy body is far superior in crisp detail, lack of flash and mold seams, compared to the later (non-Gold Cup) reissue with the red body, which had plenty of flash, incomplete chrome coverage and short shots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaleb Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 Lol that's the one I got but I'm not using it for the kit though. I'm using it for the frame and drivetrain on the roadster that someone made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george 53 Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Maybe the problem is cause JoHan NO LONGER EXISTS!!!!! The NAME is still around, but the COMPANY who produced these cars has been gone fpr YEARS!!! The junk that Okie is passing off as JoHan kits are nuthing but leftover parts! IF you unfortunate to need one of his kits, it's no better than the bagged kits your Ma used to get you for a buck from the A&P food markets! His interiors are just USELESS lumps of resin, you MAY get a useable dash out of it, but don't look for accuracy. Your best bet is to try to adapt a different interior. I get rather perterbed that guys actually think they're getting an ORIGINAL JoHan kit when they buy Okies,"Jokes". If you ever saw a REAL original JoHan kit, you'd see and NOTICE the differences right away!!! Okie just sells the NAME, NOT the quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkman Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 (edited) The real Jo-Han died a slow and painful death during the Eighties. One could see the decline in quality back then, the kits became worse and worse as the decade progressed, not so much because the molds wore out, but due to less and less skilled staff working the equipment. Seville did a valiant job cranking out over 30 reissues in promo form under the X-EL banner. This must have been extremely difficult, considering Jo Han molds were made to a unique design and could not be used in standard injection molding machines. It proved so difficult, that Seville was constantly behind schedule (at some stage by as much as two years!), for which they got quite some beating from the customers, and the whole thing probably never turned them a profit in the end. When the crisis hit the Detroit auto makers in the Nineties (Seville was mainly a plastic parts supplier to the car industry), Seville pulled the plug and X-EL production ceased. Whatever happened in the buyout by Okey Spaulding is unclear, but each and every version of the story I heard cannot be topped in naivety, credulity and downright dimwittedness on the side of Mr. Spaulding. Even after all these years, he never clearly told the story of what really happened, which is very sad indeed. What little info I have is courtesy of Dennis Doty, who worked for Jo-Han, and later X-EL, and he has nothing good to say about his former employers, but revealed to me, that Mr. Spaulding really got the shaft end of the deal. Mr. Doty had left Seville for becoming a writer and editor in Texas before the deal with Mr. Spaulding was struck and had no part in it. In fact, it was Mr. Doty who assisted Mr. Spaulding in identifying what was there after the deal turned out pear-shaped. So the big deal is that there is no deal. Jo-Han is dead as a tin of corned beef and there is no way to make that cow graze the meadows ever again. Edited June 18, 2012 by Junkman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 And let's not forget, JoHan did the Chrysler Turbine concept car kit, which is still one of the best-detailed kits ever made. Their series of Classic kits ('31 Cadillacs, Mercedes Roadster, etc.) are very good kits, with comprehensive parts breakdown, very sharp surface detail, and quite a few working features. Their annual kits were something else entirely- glass that seems thick enough to withstand a bullet, shallow interior tubs, and some pretty glaring ommissions (like the lack of inner front fenders in the '60 Plymouth wagon). So it could be said JoHan's products run the full gamut. Chuck, considering the time frame from which most all JoHan "annual series" kits came from (1959-circa 1976), they were right in there with AMT and MPC--both of which had issues similar to, or exactly the same as what you are describing. It was sort of "the tenor of the times" in US made model car kits. Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Most Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Chuck, considering the time frame from which most all JoHan "annual series" kits came from (1959-circa 1976), they were right in there with AMT and MPC--both of which had issues similar to, or exactly the same as what you are describing. It was sort of "the tenor of the times" in US made model car kits. Art True enough, but AMT never forgot the front inner fenders. And come to think of it, they included quite a few building varitations and optional parts, something JoHan didn't always do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatz4u Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I like their 71 Comet & the cousin the Ford Maverick, that all I have to say.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I like their 71 Comet & the cousin the Ford Maverick, that all I have to say.. It's too bad the later issues of those kits didn't have the stock parts, though. I have a couple of the '80s-90s issue Comets and they only have the drag car parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disabled modeler Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Id still take any of there 60s to mid 70s models....to me there worth the work for a unique car or something different--glue kits,snaps,promo it does not bother me a bit....the one thing i have is time...LOL... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peekay Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I like Johan kits! I work my way round their faults and omissions and end up with nice results. I build them curbside if the motor/engine bay isn't up to it but I've done that with AMTs too for the same reason. I like them for having done the "other" cars - a Studebaker Lark or a Rambler station wagon. At the moment I'm working on the 1934 Mercedes Roadster and an X-EL 59 Dodge with a Modelhaus interior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I think the biggest draw of JoHan kits may be the generally very accurate bodies, and the fact that many of those models were never made by any other manufacturer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 (edited) I think the biggest draw of JoHan kits may be the generally very accurate bodies, and the fact that many of those models were never made by any other manufacturer. Yes...a big part of the appeal of them to me is the subject matter...Caddy de Villes, Eldorados, Olds Toronados, AMCs, '60s Chrysler 300s, etc... Edited June 18, 2012 by Rob Hall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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