MPC '49 Mercury Snap Kit

[Ace-Garageguy]

Anybody know anything about the MPC snapper '49 Merc?

Is the tooling derived from the AMT kit??

how are the body proportions???

Anybody ????

[Draggon]

Ive got a few of those snappers. I cant give exact specifics, but the body/interior/and frame are different enough that I doubt they are related. The interior sucks and has very poor engraving, the chassis isnt too good, the overall fit is lousy, but that body...Oooooo....It just looks almost perfect from all angles. The windshield frame is too thick, but thats easily fixed.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Thanks Glenn ! Yes, that body DOES look very very good. Just what I needed to know.

I've got some no-body AMT donor kits that became slotcars or hopelessly mutilated top-chops in the wayback.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[Brett Barrow]

Unrelated to the AMT kit, from the days when MPC and AMT were separate companies. Never owned the MPC but have always heard it has the best body proportions of all the styrene 49 Mercs on the market.

[W-409]

That MPC Snap Tite kit isn't that bad, I won one at a local Model Car Contest and built it basically Box Stock. The body is really nice, actually my only complaints are molded in Fender Skirts (Yep, I never liked them on almost any car) and of course that the hood doesn't open, which is completely understandable in a Snapper. But it was a lot of fun to build and it turned out surprisingly good, even if I built it almost Box Stock. With some little modifications here and there I bet it would be a very cool Mild Custom.

[Mark]

Unrelated to the AMT kit, from the days when MPC and AMT were separate companies. Never owned the MPC but have always heard it has the best body proportions of all the styrene 49 Mercs on the market.

It's cribbed from AMT's kit...look at the top of the MPC kit's chassis. It has some of the "trunk mat" detail copied from AMT's kit. You can even see remnants of the engine block seam on the oil pan on the snap kit's one-piece chassis. The snap Willys sedan delivery is pretty clearly copied from AMT's kit, as is the snap '40 Ford coupe. There are some interesting differences though...the snap Merc has 1950 front fender trim, the Willys has a stock grille, running boards, and '34 hood sides.

[Draggon]

It's cribbed from AMT's kit...look at the top of the MPC kit's chassis. It has some of the "trunk mat" detail copied from AMT's kit. You can even see remnants of the engine block seam on the oil pan on the snap kit's one-piece chassis. The snap Willys sedan delivery is pretty clearly copied from AMT's kit, as is the snap '40 Ford coupe. There are some interesting differences though...the snap Merc has 1950 front fender trim, the Willys has a stock grille, running boards, and '34 hood sides.

I'll be darned, you're right!

[mredjr]

Does this kit have opening hood and is the chassis detailed? Does any have an open kit that could post photos of the parts?

[larry ray]

If thats the police car kit the hood does not open.I can not renber about the chassis I think it is not detailed.

Larry

[Casey]

Edited August 17, 2019 by Casey

[mredjr]

Thanks to both of you I have 3 or 4 of the AMT Kits and it is a good kit. I am building a diorama of my old teenage hang out from the 60's and want one that is curb side with just a platform chassis and hood does not open.

[Mark]

The MPC snap Mercury is cribbed from the AMT kit.  It is called a '49 but has '50 side trim (and a '49 grille).

[mredjr]

Thanks Mark that is what I am looking for.

[Mark]

20 hours ago, Casey said:

 Compare the MPC chassis with AMT's.  On the MPC (shown) you can see the seam on the oil pan where the engine is halved in the AMT kit.  If I remember right, the top of the MPC chassis has some of the engraved trunk mat detail from the AMT kit, even though the MPC kit doesn't have an opening trunk.

[Xingu]

I merged these threads.

[Joe Handley]

Just picked a couple of these up, thought that they might make for a couple nice curbside lead sled builds.

[bobss396]

I looked at one a few weeks ago at a kit-sellers place of business. Even for free, I would not touch one. It may make a good diorama addition at best. Even the iconic AMT kit blows it away.

[Mark]

The body, being a copy of the AMT piece except for the 1950 front fender trim, is as good.  It doesn't have an opening hood or trunk, or engine compartment detail though.  I haven’t looked at one in awhile but I remember the skirts being molded as part of the body also.  It also lacks the '49 rear window dividing straps as the '50 had one-piece rear glass as opposed to the '49 three-piece.  

With the "police" version you also have the accessory holes to deal with.  But overall body shape compares well with AMT's body, the AMT chassis ought to swap in easily, and you also get bumpers without molded-in guards.  

[Joe Handley]

This kit being a curbside is why I bought a couple, don’t have to mess with the engine and should be easier to get really low. The body lines look pretty nice and I do like that the trunk is part of the body (as I do with the Revell Merc) as I just really don’t care for the fit of the trunk on the AMT kit. The skirts are molded on too, which is ok and can always be worked around if I want to do something different too.

Edited March 17, 2024 by Joe Handley

[Joe Handley]

I started digging into one of mine yesterday.

[Sledsel]

This is one of my favorite slump busters and I have several in my stash.

[Joe Handley]

1 hour ago, Sledsel said:

This is one of my favorite slump busters and I have several in my stash.

Funny you said that, as Dad and I were getting into his minivan after buying my second of this kit as well as another Black Beauty Imperial kit, I told him I was probably going to pick more of these Merc kits up as I find them if the price is decent.