MPC 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

[Nacho Z]

I thought I would share the WIP on a '79 T/A that I recently built.  I am posting this WIP to help out anyone who is thinking of building this kit.  Maybe it will help someone.  This is the MPC kit that was popped in 2015.  I really fell in love with the box art.  Yup, I'm a sucker for box art, always have been and probably always will be...?.  I have been around plenty long enough to know that what is on the box doesn't always match what is in the box...lol.  This kit was a bit of a pig.  As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.  Let's take a look.

What I started with.

The ubiquitous spoon test.  In the end, I got carried away and put too many coats on the body and it was a little darker than I wanted. 

A picture of the beautiful decals.  They really are nice!

It goes downhill from here...lol.  Here is how the bumpers and spoiler are attached to the sprue.  Why?!?!

Here is an example of what you will find in the kit.  At least this is what I had in mine.

I started work on the body.  I attached the front and rear bumpers.  They did not fit.  Not. At. All.  I compromise a little on the fit and still had to add shims to fill in the massive gaps.  Pictures are from both sides of the rear end.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by Nacho Z

[Stingray wes]

I saw this kit at my local hobby store and considered picking it up. Might skip that plan now.

will be following along. Good luck with the build, interested to see how it comes along.

[KWT]

I bought one of these... For the decals...

I'm looking forward to see how you turned this kit around.

[iamsuperdan]

Although I don't own this kit, I had briefly considered it. But the MPC logo turned me away. These old repops are terrible kits. I have a couple of MPC Chargers, and they are some of the worst kits I've ever attempted. Nothing fits, more flash than actual parts, vague instructions. 

 

Looking forward though to seeing what you can make of this. I can already tell you have more patience than I do!

[TransAmMike]

Not meaning to "hijack" your thread John, but I did this kit a while back and really don't remember all those sprue and flash issues you show ( but hey, I could have forgot...I'm old).  Maybe a bad batch of kits?

The decals aren't the best for sure.

[AMT68]

I built this kit about two years ago. I personally found it to be a kit that required a good deal of patience. I spent hours filling, sanding and smoothing mold lines. I had some issues aligning the fender flares and front end which required a lot of the filling and sanding. There are two small pins that protrude from the front nose which provide a resting point for the hood. Mine only had one pin that projected far enough but that only requires a pin of some sort properly positioned. The trim lines around the side windows are rough and I managed to sand them smooth enough but I'm sure there are some that would replace them with styrene strips. Overall the assembly went fairly good and I ended up with a decent build. Funny thing was I wound up buying a second kit. Maybe it was the attractive box art. 

Edited December 15, 2020 by AMT68

[Can-Con]

Yes, they are a handful but luckily, I like to do the bodywork. ?

But they can look good with some work.  

[Dragonhawk1066]

I bought two, but have only built one so far and I used the same color, Testors Icy Blue. Mine wasn't too bad, but it's still a very challenging kit with poor details. The windshield and final body/chassis/interior fit are the worst. I built mine , but wasn't happy with it so I did a hurry up and finish job on it. I then took it back apart about 8 months later and did more details, put on some aftermarket 20" Snowflakes, and got the final fit more to where I'm happy with it.

[Nacho Z]

8 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

Not meaning to "hijack" your thread John, but I did this kit a while back and really don't remember all those sprue and flash issues you show ( but hey, I could have forgot...I'm old).  Maybe a bad batch of kits?

The decals aren't the best for sure.

No worries, Mike. Your model looks good!  My kit definitely had some issues. I did a fair bit of work on it which I will share in this thread.

[Nacho Z]

3 hours ago, Can-Con said:

Yes, they are a handful but luckily, I like to do the bodywork. ?

But they can look good with some work.  

She is a beauty, Steve!

[Nacho Z]

1 hour ago, Dragonhawk1066 said:

I bought two, but have only built one so far and I used the same color, Testors Icy Blue. Mine wasn't too bad, but it's still a very challenging kit with poor details. The windshield and final body/chassis/interior fit are the worst. I built mine , but wasn't happy with it so I did a hurry up and finish job on it. I then took it back apart about 8 months later and did more details, put on some aftermarket 20" Snowflakes, and got the final fit more to where I'm happy with it.

This is going to be one of those "aww, man, cool beans!" kinda moments. This model right here is what inspired me to keep plugging away at mine. While doing some internet searches for the model I came across your thread and pictures. Although I already knew that I was going to go with the box art color, I had not started airbrushing yet and had to use a spray can. I went with the Icy Blue. I felt it was close enough for my purposes. You just never know how what you do in this life might affect someone else. Maybe not today or tomorrow. Maybe not life altering. Maybe just silly model cars. But what we do in our lives definitely affects others, even if what don't realize it. Wow! That is too deep for a model car board...lol. Anyhow, Craig, thanks for giving me something to shoot for!

[Nacho Z]

This model was never intended to be a contest winning model. After starting on it and having so many issues with the body pieces, I quickly just wanted to be able to finish it and have it not be an embarrassment. I kept plugging away and the front and rear bumper areas. Lots of filling and sanding. The next two pictures are showing progress but not I was not finished yet.

The front was just as bad as the rear. The rear spoiler did not fit properly. The fender flares were not horrible but were not anything to write home about. I had to use so much filler on the front that I decided to give up on having the prototypically correct separation between the fender and front fascia. I just filled it all in and tried my best to get a smooth transition.

Even the hood needed work...lol

Next up will be the interior.

[TransAmMike]

Great job on those Guys', incidently , the reason I put the Torque Thrust "tumblers" on mine was to replicate the 1:1 car I bought new in '79 (and of course wish stiill had).

Another pic of the model slightly different angle

[peteski]

This reminds me when I built the 1:8 Monogram's version of that car about 35 years ago.  That was a nice model.  When I was moving in 1991 it was too large to deal with, so I tossed in the trash!  How I wish I had that model today.

[Dragonhawk1066]

22 hours ago, Nacho Z said:

This is going to be one of those "aww, man, cool beans!" kinda moments. This model right here is what inspired me to keep plugging away at mine. While doing some internet searches for the model I came across your thread and pictures. Although I already knew that I was going to go with the box art color, I had not started airbrushing yet and had to use a spray can. I went with the Icy Blue. I felt it was close enough for my purposes. You just never know how what you do in this life might affect someone else. Maybe not today or tomorrow. Maybe not life altering. Maybe just silly model cars. But what we do in our lives definitely affects others, even if what don't realize it. Wow! That is too deep for a model car board...lol. Anyhow, Craig, thanks for giving me something to shoot for!

Well, I'm both humbled and speechless, lol. I've certainly been inspired myself by others' works, but never knowingly been the inspiration, but I'm definitely honored and glad to have been able to. I like what you've done with the body fixes so far, and am certain you will at least match, and probably surpass my example. I will definitely be watching your build thread with great interest. I really like these cars in 1:1 and have the 1/16 scale MPC Trans Am kit that will be done in as close to the Atlantis Blue as I can get, and have this planned for my other build of this kit, whenever I feel like tackling it's issues again, lol.

[Timonator]

How is the chassis and engine in this kit ?

[TransAmMike]

Wow, that burgandy T/A might be the best looking unmodified (with the exception of the custom snowflake wheels)  '79 T/A i've seen. And now I do remember having fit issues with the bumpers and spoiler'

 

[Nacho Z]

That burgundy T/A is gorgeous!!!  

On 12/16/2020 at 7:20 PM, Timonator said:

How is the chassis and engine in this kit ?

Tim, I'll be covering that shortly.

While working on the body, waiting for putty to dry, etc, I would work on other parts of the model.  As I said earlier in this thread, I didn't airbrush.  Because I knew early on in this build that it would not be anything more than a shelf model, I told myself that I was going to start airbrushing with this one.  I bought some craft paint and learned how to thin it.  I airbrushed the interior.  I was pretty proud of myself.  (Note: In 2020 I taught myself to airbrush on an Aztek.  I have airbrushed everything from craft paint to fingernail polish to Alclad, Testors, AK Interactive, LifeColor, Zero, Gravity, Splash and a few others.  I then went to a Paasche VL and currently use an Iwata Eclipse.)

In the first and second pictures you can see how bad the interior engraving is.

Again, this was never intended to be contest quality.  I just kinda phoned this one in.

As with all of these older kits, the glass was scuffed up pretty bad.  I polished out the rough spots, (1st pic), and dipped it in Future, (2nd pic).  If you have not tried Future for glass repair I would suggest you should.

Next installment, we'll shoot some paint!

[TransAmMike]

Wow, I gotta believe the kit I did was in better shape than yours John but I really can't remember.   I do know it came out pretty good tho.

[AMT68]

On 12/17/2020 at 8:39 PM, Nacho Z said:

As with all of these older kits, the glass was scuffed up pretty bad.  I polished out the rough spots, (1st pic), and dipped it in Future, (2nd pic).  If you have not tried Future for glass repair I would suggest you should.

I remember the glass with this kit having  a wavy appearance. Does the Future help to make the glass look smoother?

[slusher]

Great color you used. On the interior....

[1972coronet]

Something about a silk purse and a sow's ear going on here . You must inhabit the patience of a brain surgeon ! 

These 70's Firebird-T/A kits from MPC have tooling that's as old as me ( e.g. , half-century old ! ) , starting with the 1970 annual and finishing with the c.1981 annual ---- that's A LOT of runs ! 

Last time I attempted to build one of these worn-out piles was the Bronze Anniversary ( or whatever the 1979 iteration was called ) back in 1980 , and it was a poor-fitting lump o' junk back then . 

I salvaged its tyres and the Spyders wheels , and the rest of it became firecracker fodder .

Keep on keepin' on with your example . Great colour choices ; fantastic body work ; nice save on the windscreen . 

[Nacho Z]

7 hours ago, AMT68 said:

I remember the glass with this kit having  a wavy appearance. Does the Future help to make the glass look smoother?

Yes, Sir!  Here is another example. This time it is the glass from the Monogram '55 Chevy Street Machine kit, an oldie but a goodie.  I am pretty sure I did nothing in the way of prep to the glass, I think I just dunked it.  Notice the distortion at the top of the first picture.  I have a dedicated little super cheap plastic dish that I use only for Future.

 

[Nacho Z]

51 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

Something about a silk purse and a sow's ear going on here . You must inhabit the patience of a brain surgeon ! 

These 70's Firebird-T/A kits from MPC have tooling that's as old as me ( e.g. , half-century old ! ) , starting with the 1970 annual and finishing with the c.1981 annual ---- that's A LOT of runs ! 

Last time I attempted to build one of these worn-out piles was the Bronze Anniversary ( or whatever the 1979 iteration was called ) back in 1980 , and it was a poor-fitting lump o' junk back then . 

I salvaged its tyres and the Spyders wheels , and the rest of it became firecracker fodder .

Keep on keepin' on with your example . Great colour choices ; fantastic body work ; nice save on the windscreen . 

Thank you for the kind words, John, I do appreciate them.  This was going to be a stress free build and I tried to stay true to that mindset.  I did not go overboard with details or detailing.  In my mind the reward was not going to be work the effort.

[Timonator]

What grit did you finish the glass in before dunking it in the future floor gloss ?