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Originally Posted by Hiroboy
I'm making my first american muscle car, being a 1971 Dodge Challenger and would like to make more. These are the ones I'm after, But the question is which make is the best for each car.
1. 1966 Ford Mustang (Hardtop)
2. 1969 Ford Mustand Boss 302
3. 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator
4. Plymouth 'Hemi' Cuda
I don't have experience with Revell USA, AMT, Monogram MPC, etc
Also as I have only bought Jap Kits I'm not sure of the best place on the Internet to get these (Best Prices and International Export to the UK)
Any help would be great
Thanks
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Okay, piece by piece here's your outlook for muscle car kits.
1 - 1966 Ford Mustang: Well, AMT did a 1/25th back in the sixties as part of their "annual" series. It's mostly accurate body wise but the chassis is pants with that old school metal axle through the engine block. Your best bet is to combine the AMT body with an AMT/Ertl 1967 Mustang chassis and interior, with suitable modifications for accuracy.
The Revell/Monogram 1964/65 Mustang is 1:24th scale and wouldn't be as good for the conversion, also it's only available as either a convertible or fastback - never as the hard top.
2 - 1969 Boss 302 Mustang: Revell produced a good kit of the 1969 Mustang 428CJ in the 80's that had slightly incorrect grille proportions. AMT produced in the 60's a regular 1969 Mustang based off their 1968 tooling that had a good grille, but woefully incorrect body proportions. Combine the Revell 1969 Mustang 428CJ (also sold as a Dyno Don Nicholson car in the Hot Rod series of kits) with an AMT grille and with parts from the Revell/Monogram 1970 Boss 302 Mustang (along with a resin Cross Boss or inline fourbarrel carb intake, options you could get in 1969 that you couldn't get in 1970) to build an accurate 1969 Boss.
3 - 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator: If you'd said 1969, you'd be in luck since AMT/Ertl has an excellent 1969 Cougar on the market in current production. However, they haven't produced the 1970 Cougar Eliminator since 1970. Your best bet here is to look into resin sources like Modelhaus.
4 - Hemi Cuda: Pick a year. 1968/69 your only option is to correct the old MPC/AMT annual kit which has another lousy chassis and a shallow interior to boot. The Hemi Cuda hoodscoop is in the kit, though. 1971has been available from Revell/Monogram and Johan. The Johan kit has the better body proportions and superior engine detail (even though the tooling dates back to 1971) but the Revell/Monogram kit has better chassis detail and is more readily available.
Also, it must be mentioned that the Revell 1970 AAR 'Cuda kit is a complete steaming pile. Instead of revising the 1971 Hemi 'Cuda tooling from Monogram (which Revell had at their disposal at the time) they used their in house 1970 Challenger T/A tooling instead. While the Challenger and the 'Cuda were similar cars on the same platform, they shared very few body panels and the net result was a Challenger wearing a 'Cuda nose and bumper. You can, however, transplant the AAR 'Cuda nose onto the 1971 Hemi 'Cuda body for a fairly passable 1970 'Cuda.
However, you can also just add chassis detail from the AMT/Ertl 1970 Challenger kit to a Johan 1970 Hemi 'Cuda kit (namely the Sox & Martin Pro Stock kit) and a stock hood from a resin caster and get the same if not more pleasing results.