Right On! Replicas

Right On Replicas, LLC SnapShot Review 20150421*
1953 Corvette 1:25 Scale AMT Model Kit #910 Review

Review and Photos by Doug Cole

 Every Corvette is special but none, perhaps, more than the first one!  It was a car that should never have been born.  Built in a garage in Flint, MI development was kept under the radar from the top brass at GM for most of 1952.  Launched on a shoestring budget, there wasn’t any money for sheet metal dies so they turned to a newly developed medium: fiberglass, for the body panels.  Panned by hotrod enthusiasts of the day for lack of a V-8 or manual transmission, it was, not much more than a snappy little runabout.  Then something awesome happened in 1955!  The genius and enthusiasm of Zora Duntov jammed a V-8 under the hood and the legend of Corvette was on its way.  Today the Corvette is still a bargain priced luxury sports car (a Ferrari is over $230,000) and it’s stunning appearance and performance are the crown jewels of the GM lineup, but it never would have happened without the 1953 Corvette.

 

For the modeler: This is a review of the 1953 Corvette 1:25 Scale AMT Model Kit #910/12. It’s rated a Skill Level 2 kit by AMT for moderate builders.  That might be a little conservative as some of the assemblies take some advanced skills.  This is considered a Re-Release as the original kit was issued in the mid-seventies with an update around 1993. The kit is molded in White, Clear, Chrome and has soft vinyl tires. It comes with waterslide decals and instructions.  The custom version tires are tampo printed Goodyear Polyglas GT’s and the stock wheels are tampo printed wide whitewall tires.  The kit features a nicely detailed 23-piece Blue Flame Stovebolt Six engine. The engine looks good in the bay and it has a few other details to bring that part of the car to life.  The dashboard is well detailed and adds to the sharp looking interior.  The fact that this is an old tooling design does show up, so although this model can turn out to look like the audacious first Corvette did, it will take some work to get there.  One of the things you’ll probably run into is the ride height which can be corrected in most cases by taking some of the upper mating surfaces and lower door panels down with a rotary grinder.  Aside from that you’ll find the usual number of parting line flash and ejector pin marks present on many of the pieces.  Careful removal and sanding will address those issues.   This model can be built two ways as either stock or custom.  Overall dimensions are: Length: 6½”, Width: 2¾”, Height: 2¼”.

 

I went with the Americana style paint and decal set for this build and it turned out looking like someone’s SCCA racer from the time period with the kit supplied Polyglas tires and wire wheels.  This kit also includes a nice looking uptop that simply sits on the car for display.

Right On Replicas, LLC ©2015 All rights reserved. *All registered trademarks are the property of their respective brands. Follow the manufacturer’s safety recommendations for any product mentioned here.

Right On Replicas, LLC SnapShot Review 20150420*
Ford Police Car 1:25 Scale Revell SnapTite Model Kit #85-1688 Review

Review and Photos by Doug Cole

 For decades the iconic Police car was the ultra comfortable and dependable Ford Victoria.  Along with the similar bodied Chevy Caprice they made up the majority of the Police car fleets in North America. This generic rendition of a police fleet vehicle is made with great detail and is the perfect blend of features and durability.  The flexible plastic and gloss finish are designed for Build-N-Play with the six-year-old in mind.

 

For the Modeler: This review covers the skill level 1 designed Ford police cruiser, 1:25 Scale Revell Model Kit #85-1688. This kit is a SnapTite model consisting of 17 parts or modules.  Even the wheels have already been installed on the chassis to ease assembly.  Included is a realistic passenger compartment divider and a three color lightbar.  The average six year old child should be able to assemble this model in less than 30 minutes with minimal supervision. The kit is precisely molded in white, black, and chrome plated parts with clear pre-surround painted windows, vinyl tires and transparent red/blue lightbar segments.  There’s virtually no flash and the pre-finished surface is excellent.  This is an exceptional kit for the first time builder. It assembles easily according to the instructions. Right out of the box, with a little guidance, it can be built in about 10 minutes.  It then becomes a prideful shelf display or ready-to-play model. You can find these kits in rectangular green and red boxes and larger hobby stores and online retailers at a very reasonable price.  Finished dimensions are~: Length: 8½”, Width: 3”, Height: 2½”.

Overall; This is a great first kit for a young child moving into the realm of kit building.  You won’t find a car kit that has this intent more clearly engineered than this one.  For accomplishing its mission in that regard, I give this kit 10 out of 10 stars!

Right On Replicas, LLC ©2015 All rights reserved. *All registered trademarks are the property of their respective brands. Follow the manufacturer’s safety recommendations for any product mentioned here.

Right On Replicas, LLC Step-by-Step Review 20150417*
1979 Pontiac Firebird T/A 1:25 Scale MPC Model Kit #820 Review

Review and Photos by Alan Mann

The Firebird was produced by the Pontiac division of General Motors between 1967 and 2002. It was introduced the same year as the automaker’s platform-sharing model, the Chevrolet Camaro. The vehicles were powered by various four-cylinder, six-cylinder, and V8 engines sourced from all GM divisions. While primarily Pontiac-powered until 1977, Firebirds were built with several different engines from nearly every division until 1982 when GM began to discontinue engines it felt were unneeded and either spread successful designs from individual divisions among all divisions or used new engines of a corporate architecture. The Trans Am was a specialty package for the Firebird, typically upgrading handling, suspension, and horsepower, as well as minor appearance modifications such as exclusive hoods, spoilers, fog lights and wheels. In using the name Trans Am, a registered trademark, GM agreed to pay $5 per car sold to the SCCA. Despite its name, the Trans Am was not initially used in the Trans Am Series, as its smallest engine exceeded the SCCA’s five liter displacement limit. 1979 marked the 10th Anniversary of the Trans Am, and a special anniversary package was made available: Silver paint with Gray paint accents and a Silver leather interior. The 10th Anniversary cars also featured a special Firebird hood decal, which extended off of the hood and onto the front fenders. Pontiac produced 7,500 10th Anniversary cars, of which 1,817 were equipped with the Pontiac 400 engine, and the only option on these cars was the engine. In 1979 Pontiac sold 116,535 Trans Am models which still holds the record to this day.

For the modeler: This review covers the Round2/ MPC Kit #820 ’79 Pontiac Firebird T/A. This is a 1/25 scale kit available in the “3n1” options style. You get the parts for Stock, Street and Race versions. This is a direct Re-release (Re-Pop) with new decals. This kit has seen multiple box arts under the MPC and AMT line. There are around 120 parts molded in White, Chrome, Clear, Clear Red and has Vinyl tires and a Metal axle. Decals include three different colored versions. The overall design is typical MPC from the 80’s and builds in simple steps. You get a fairly detailed motor. Simple wiring will improve this greatly. The chassis is somewhat basic with the axles having built on exhaust. There is a typical Tub interior with minimal details or the Race version which has no interior tub and is built on the chassis pan.  The body overall looks good and all the exterior parts can be assembled prior to painting. This helps give a better finish to your build. Decals are easy to use and include multiple license plates but no interior details. Overall dimensions are Length: 7-1/2”, Width: 3”, Height: 2”.

 

Covered in this Review:  If you want to perfect your build; basic construction; preparing parts for better finishing; alternate assembly sequence suggestions for fit and ease of finishing; abrasive choices; complete paint and adhesive selections and applications; test fitting; repairing excess flash; mold seam identification and repair; using white glue for the window glass; suspension installation; detailing the tires for realism; chassis construction and detailing; mounting the body to the chassis; locating the connection points; tire logo considerations;  detailing the dashboard;  optional parts considerations; using an aftermarket wired distributor; add aftermarket flocking to the interior; making custom floor mats; installing aftermarket gauges dials; cutting out the “tee” tops; using foil to highlight the trim; correct wiring instruction guide; removing unwanted parts for specific versions;  turn signal finishing colors; engine color guide; a perfect hood shaker installation method; engine bay detailing; combining instruction steps for better finishing; using floor wax to make crystal clear window glass; decal preparation and application; using decal setting solutions for that “painted on” look; installing “faux” side pipes; are all fully examined in this 18 page, full-color Step-by-Step review in PDF format.

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Right On Replicas, LLC ©2015 All rights reserved. *All registered trademarks are the property of their respective brands. Follow the manufacturer’s safety recommendations for any product mentioned here.