AMT Fast and Furious 1970 Dodge Charger

[larrygre]

Yes, it's out, and RCErtl screws up again. Royally.

In the box is the Dukes of Hazzard Charger kit (a '69) with a revised body that has (finally) the tunnel roof rear window. Unfortunately, its too small. The new blower and scoop are a joke, and the interior is stock Charger 500, though it does come with a roll cage.

The new wheels and grille for the F&F car, frankly, suck. They look like stuff taken from a cheap toy.

AMT/Ertl is now 1 for 3 on F&F cars. The Supra was good, the Eclipse is a disaster, and this Charger is at least workable though I wonder if it's really worth the effort.

Maybe when AF enables pic uploading agaion I can upload a pic of the parts.

My rating:

[EMAXX]

Yeah, AMT isn't that good at making kits. They have some cool ones and all, but the quality sucks. I have like 3 of them going right now, and I'm so pissed at all of them. The windows are too small, the parts aren't long enough, the parts are too big etc. The list goes on and on.

[Vric]

Use the "Manage Attachments" to post pictures

btw, for 10$, I think those kit are enjoyable.. at least Supra was and Eclipse look ok..I know it's not acurate, but if the end result look cool, this is the main thing we want.

post picture please !

[larrygre]

Originally Posted by Vric

post picture please !

Here ya go.

[slk320]

wow... those wheels are almost cartoonish...

I love the charger and they had a potential of making a really good kit....

[larrygre]

Originally Posted by slk320

wow... those wheels are almost cartoonish...

I love the charger and they had a potential of making a really good kit....

Almost??? They bear no resemblance to any real car wheels I have ever seen.

I'm beginning to get to the point where I'm wishing RC2 would just sell off AMT to someone who would really make a go of it. Kind of like what we all wished back in the mid 1980s when Ertl bought AMT and proceeded to turn it into a laughingstock. Then in 1986 Ertl put some people who KNEW the plastic kit market in charge of AMT, and AMT took off once again.

Can history repeat itself???????

[slk320]

if Tamya started to put engines in all their cars I would never buy anything else.

its just hard for to imagine Tamyia make a nice 1932 Ford High Boy

[Layla's Keeper]

I'm just curious as to why folks haven't just turned to modifying the Revell Dick Landy 1968 Charger. It's a Hemi, has probably the best midsize Chryco chassis out there, and I think one of the resin casters did a set of 1970 bumpers for the kit (Perry's resin, if I'm not mistaken?).

Honestly folks, AMT never had good Charger tooling in the first place (their MPC based Chargers are a joke, end of story, and their 1971 Charger tool was accurate and fair detailed, but problematic in fit and had some odd suspension height issues.)

The only happiness I've found is that they're bringing back the old Corvair kit. I like the old Corvair kit.

[Purpura Delujo]

Isn't the Charger in that movie a `68? Alot of stupid people think it was a Challenger, that thing was way to big to be a Challenger. The kit looks ok to me for an AMT, looks alot better then their `70 Impala does. You can always get some Cragars out of another kit you know.

[larrygre]

Originally Posted by Purpura Delujo

Isn't the Charger in that movie a `68? Alot of stupid people think it was a Challenger, that thing was way to big to be a Challenger. The kit looks ok to me for an AMT, looks alot better then their `70 Impala does. You can always get some Cragars out of another kit you know.

The movie car(s) were constructed from parts of both '69s and '70s, according to Eddie Paul's book The Cars of The Fast and the Furious. That explains the '70 front bumpers with the '69 style fenders.

First off, the kit is not an AMT kit by heritage. It is a vintage MPC kit, now marketed under the AMT name. It - and the '70 Impala you mention - are both OLD KITS. Old as in, the tooling is over 30 years old.

Swapping wheels from another kit is easy.
Getting the manufacturer to produce a quality model in the first place, that's hard.

[Kasso]

i hope they sell the 2 Fast 2 Furious cars' rights to Tamiya or Revell...but i doubt it

[Bloodhound]

just pray no-one's stupid enough to buy em so they'll need to sell the rights to make some kind of profit. the blower looks like it could be at least transplanted onto another engine.

[larrygre]

Originally Posted by Kasso

i hope they sell the 2 Fast 2 Furious cars' rights to Tamiya or Revell...but i doubt it

Generally, in the hobby business, once a company secures the rights to a licensed property they hold on to it and milk it for all it's worth.

Case in point: AMT. AMT held the rights to STAR TREK from 1966 until 1999. Star Trek models were AMT's hottest property, especially during the 1990s, when they did ships from every movie and TV show (except Voyager - Paramount granted Voyager licensing to Revell-Monogram). When sales of Star Trek models died in the late 1990s, AMT (or rather, Racing Champions, who bought AMT/Ertl) let the license lapse. In 2002, Bandai and Polar Lights picked up the Star Trek licensing. Bandai's pre-decorated and lighted movie-version USS Enterprise is expensive (over 5000 yen in Japan), but it's selling like there's no tomorrow. Ditto for Polar Lights' TV series original USS Enterprise, which is inexpensive ($12), has parts and decals for different variations, and fits together better than any of the AMT kits.

Tamiya seems to shy away from licensed properties like movies and TV shows. They do license real racing car trademarks and team schemes. As for Revell, they still havethe F&F license, and can produce more. As far as 2F2F, we'll find out if there are any plans when they announce the 2004 2nd half new items at the New York Toy Fair in February.

[tonioseven]

The correct wheels for the car are American Racing "Daisies"; they can be found in the AMT '63 Impala release. Look closely at the wheels on the movie car; they're not Cragar SS wheels.

[larrygre]

Originally Posted by Bloodhound

the blower looks like it could be at least transplanted onto another engine.

Nahhh. The blower in the Charger kit is total junk, the blower manifold is also total junk, and the injector scoop is even worse than both of them - it's too long, too narrow, and just plain too big. The whole thing looks like a caricature instead of a real blown and injected Hemi. Revell's diecast Charger's engine looks a lot closer to reality, at least as far as the F&F Charger goes.