70 Challenger

[lucas454]

For those that saw my last post I mentioned that I was working on a Challenger and here it is.

I originally got one of these kits about 15years ago and thought it was a really good kit. I also bought a second one to do a conversion to a 71 Challenger. That kit was different from the first in that it lacked the rally rims and racing gas cap. I ranked the first kit as one of the better Round 2 kits for years. My first one came out great, but this kit is another Round 2 head scratcher. It left me more than a little frustrated. First off, this is the new kit in the metal collector's box. The box art has a Plum Crazy Challenger with a wing spoiler. Awesome! I love Challengers with spoilers; it's always been a criticism that they weren't in a lot of kits. Now I can finally build one with a spoiler..............No, no, I won't. There is no wing spoiler in the box. Well at least it will have that nice vinyl SE top and the option to make it a convertible............Nope, neither are in the kit. The vinyl top you get instead is for the regular wide window version. However, the top is not complete; as in there isn't a complete frame and the car's body is supposed to complete the lower portion of the window frame. So you have to paint the body to match the vinyl top. Did I mention the fit is not so great for the top? Yeah, it's not as good a fit as the old kit. I would have done the convertible if it had come with the option. The hood fit is also bad, so I had to glue it shut. The dash fit was also pretty bad and I had a hard time getting it in. The only good thing I could say about the kit was that they have all new decals for SOME of the emblems. Kind of a head scratcher as to why they didn't do the Challenger emblems for the fenders. Over all, the kit came out alright, but nowhere near as good as my first.


SAM_1558 by Eric Lucas, on Flickr


SAM_1559 by Eric Lucas, on Flickr


SAM_1560 by Eric Lucas, on Flickr

[kyledehart5]

Nice job!! Great color, of course. Turned out excellent.

[handiabled]

You nailed the color on this perfectly!

[lyle]

Beautifully done. The color is great.

[406 Silverado]

Color came out terrific and love the work on the vinyl top Eric! Man do I ever feel your pain with what's ON the box vs. what's IN the box. When I built my 67 Fastback GT Mustang, the box top had the Wide O Oval Firestone tires with a killer stance. What was in the box were completely different tires with a different manufacturer on them. The suspension set up was anything BUT what was on the box top. Box top had a slight forward rake to it whereas the build up of the kit had an a$$ low / nose high stance. I did contact AMT about that and they made the corrections in the kit to include the Wide O Oval tires that were on the box top but the stance issues needed correcting (and in a big way) to match what was on the box top.

[lucas454]

Thanks everyone

Gonna be posting some more stuff this week. Got some builds done in the last couple weeks, but never had a chance to upload. Been a little busy with some personal stuff.

[Steve Zuleski]

That's a good lookin ride, great work!

[modelcarjr]

Looks good, Lucas! I like the Revell kit much better. I still have one in the closet.

[lucas454]

Feb 7, 2024 7:44:41 GMT -5 modelcarjr said:

Looks good, Lucas! I like the Revell kit much better. I still have one in the closet.

I've got three of the Revell kits in the collection.  They do build a lot nicer and have a lot better quality, but I think they got the proportions wrong.  The Revell kits seem to be a bit more bloated.  The body panels hang a bit lower than they should.  Or at least in my opinion they do.  Looks more like the proportions of the modern cars than the 70's cars.

[brandonk]

Let's just say that this is a late '69 built car when the Go-wing was not available yet. As far as the SE window, that is odd they would include that and show other parts on the pic, but not in the box. I wonder if anyone has called them out on this. It used to be, not sure if this has changed, that the image on the box HAD to be what you could build it up to and not ART. Curious... Either way, this is a splendid build and looks very cool. Well done.

[70 STING]

Perfect colour for a sweet build.

[lucas454]

Feb 7, 2024 10:32:02 GMT -5 brandonk said:

Let's just say that this is a late '69 built car when the Go-wing was not available yet. As far as the SE window, that is odd they would include that and show other parts on the pic, but not in the box. I wonder if anyone has called them out on this. It used to be, not sure if this has changed, that the image on the box HAD to be what you could build it up to and not ART. Curious... Either way, this is a splendid build and looks very cool. Well done.

The wing was in the artwork, but not the SE option.  That was part of the older kit from when it was last issued.  I guess they decided to change it up a bit.  Maybe someone complained they wanted the standard version.

[brandonk]

I wish they would just leave ALL the parts in the kits as they change them, but then you wouldn't have to buy 6 kits to get all the choices. It's all about forcing us to buy more kits.

[lucas454]

Feb 8, 2024 10:50:58 GMT -5 brandonk said:

I wish they would just leave ALL the parts in the kits as they change them, but then you wouldn't have to buy 6 kits to get all the choices. It's all about forcing us to buy more kits.

I'll agree with that.  It's a shame

[TJ]

Another beautiful Mopar.