71 Plymouth Roadrunner--Caution--Vintage Build Ahead!!!

Welcome back!! Chargers are done!! On to the next build!



I started this one while waiting for the Charger "Scrap Parts" build to dry....Bought on Ebay for about $45, it's a 1971 Plymouth Roadrunner as you can see. I always liked 71 Roadrunners and as far as I know this tooling hasn't been reissued in a really long time--say in the past 15-20 years? So it's a vintage kit....there's a common Revell 1971 (72?)GTX 1:24 kit around, but I don't build in 1:24 generally so here we are.






A few weeks ago I began working on the engine compartment, but the hood never really fit right, so sadly due to time constraints it's going to have the hood glued shut. But worse: to me the MPC 1:25 the body looks very little like the 1:1 car, as evident from the box art photo of the "actual model" compared to 1:1 pix I see on the web, like this cool 71 owned by the great Richard Carpenter. I mean come on--does the box art photo really look like a 71 Roadrunner? The stance is close but not quite right, and the general squareness of the 1:25 stock build makes it look like, well, I don't know what, but not a 71 Roadrunner.






Another big issue is the chrome grille/bumper that came with the 71 MPC kit. The bumper is the wrong shape and the headlights are too small and incorrectly positioned. So I got a 71 NASCAR Roadrunner resin body from Competition Resins and stole the bumper/grille off that--that's the whiteish thing on the bottom of the photo. To me, the resin bumper looks more like the 1:1 bumper, which is good! I am going to have to do some surgery this still, for sure, but it'll be easier than scratchbuilding the whole thing or trying to hack up the MPC bumper/grille to make it look better. To this end I am going to try to make a resin copy of of the resin copy...I don't want to work on the original if possible--it was expensive....and then see what I can do....this will be my first attempt at casting....we will see how it comes out.






So here's what I have so far. With the resin grille in place it looks decent--doesn't have some of the sexy organic lines of the 1:1 car but it's close. I took a file to the really sharp edges to the fenders....add some cool wheels/tires, a 70's era beam-me-up-Scotty-interior, etc., and we'll have a pretty good looking car...hopefully!