MPC Original Issue 1971 Challenger R/T, Completed in Hemi Orange Metallic

[tim boyd]

Or....yet another project intended to be a stress-buster that didn't turn out that way.

It was a fully painted body (MCW Mopar Hemi Orange Metallic) from about 25 years ago), polished, and lightly cleared (around 2018 or 2019) resin rebop body that sat in my cabinet of partially finished projects. It kept starting at me every time I passed by. I always thought I could finish the model if I could find enough parts leftover from two other projects dating back over 50 years ago to finish the model.

It seemed like a great way to take a break from the major kitbash project that ended up on the cover of issue #222 of Model Cars Magazine. So?

Not really. Not even close. But it's done now, and you get a chance to take a look. Check out the build photos and captions in the "WIP Model Cars" tab here, or at my Fotki site using the "Roll" feature tab to scroll through all the pix and captions.  Finished project photos and captions copied below.  Questions and comments welcome...and thanks for checking this one out. TIM

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After considerable mashing of the teeth and hours spent searching for old leftover parts, the project was finally complete! So much for being a stress buster after all!

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The 3/4 birds eye rear view...

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The resin body did not come with windows. I ended up using the front windshield from an MPC 1970 Barracuda kit (an ancient leftover piece from a funny car project).
But naturally the rear window from that kit did not fit the Challenger body, So I found an acceptable substitute in the Model King "Plum Crazy" funny car kit. It was not a great fit but got the job done.

BTW, the slightly orange peeled decals are from the 1971 Charger and Challenger R/T promos (the decal sheet provided with the promos had the graphics for both the charger and Challenger on the same sheet).  The MPC 1971 Challenger assembly kit had decals that omitted the factory R/T graphics. Miraculously, these 53-year-old decals were soaked and applied a little over a week ago, and other than that slight orange peel, they did great!  

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Here is a closeup of the rear end detailing. It was patterned after careful study of 1/1 scale 1971 Challenger R/Ts.

I didn't notice until just about the end that the resin body molding of the Challenger's distinctive quad exhaust tips was pretty poor. I did what I could to rectify it, but the result is still far from satisfactory.

The resin kit's rear bumper was poorly molded and unusable. The 1970-74 MPC Challenger kit rear bumpers have a cutout for the license plate, but it was not present on this plated piece found in my parts box. I presume it was from one of the old MPC funny car kits.

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The grille molding of the MPC kit (and the resin rebop) is oversimplified vs. the 1/1 piece, but I paint detailed it to the best of my ability. The resin kit front bumper had all kinds of extra material on the backside that made fitting to the body impossible. This slightly cut down piece came from one of those two leftover projects shown at the beginning of the aforementioned build thread.  It was painted with Revell "Chrom" paint, and the results were beautiful until the paint on the bumper edges showed wear during handling while being glued in place. Cursis! (N>B> yes, ordered some SpazStic clear for chrome this week...).  One final comment...although the resin body appeared to be from a two-piece mold, it was still a bit thicker than the original MPC kit, which placed the windows a little too deep in the body as you can see here. 

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The paint detailed mostly one-piece platform chassis view....

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In keeping with the minimally equipped spec of this particular Challenger (and that I've raided way too many otherwise complete kits for Mopar 1970-74 dual racing mirrors), I used the seldom seen (in 1/1 scale) standard outside mirror for those years, sourced from the AMT Ertl 1971 Charger R/T kit.

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While MPC's 1970/1971 Challenger annual kit was clearly deficient in a number of areas, they nailed the overall body proportions, and for the most part, the body detailing. But they missed adding the subtle chamfered/recessed areas just beyond the wheel lip moldings on the 1/1. (N.B.: The later AMT/Ertl Challenger kit included these recessed areas, but in a greatly overdone rendition of the actual appearance).

Yes, I lowered the front suspension from the kit format, which like many MPC models back in the day placed the stock version front end unrealistically high.   Even the 1/1 factory setting, depending on the prep dept. of the dealer where the car was purchased, sometimes placed the front end too high.  Thank goodness for my Craftsman rachet wrench and those torsion bar adjusting bolts!    

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Here you can see the damaged chrome paint on the bumper end tips. The side market lamps were very subtly engraved, making paint detailing a bit of a challenge. The resulting somewhat sloppy appearance here does not meet my normal standards, I must confess. But it is OK in my book for a shelf model, which was the goal of this completed project.

Finally, you can see just a slight bit of non-conformity of surface along the upper and lower edges of the stripe decal. Again, not exactly what you would wish, but then again, any decal that is 53 years old and goes on as well as this one did is a victory in its own right....

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Say what you will, but the Dodge Challenger had street presence, and I feel the built-up kit delivers a similar vibe in scale.

For decades I felt the freshened 1/1 detailing of the 1971 Challenger R/T (striping, the fake side scoops, and to a lesser extent the front and rear appearances) represented a big step backward from the clean 1970 Challenger design. I still feel that way but, in recent years I have become more accepting of the 1971 rendition in its own right.

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I always like the low angle views of model car projects.

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With its hood glued shut (see the build thread for more on this) and the compromises from a resin rebop origin, this model is obviously nothing more ambitious than a shelf/cabinet display model. But at least it is done now, and proudly grabs its place among the Boyd Mopar E-Body model collection.

Thanks for your interest and for following along. Cheers....TIM

Edited March 3, 2024 by tim boyd

[Hard_2_Handle_454]

Cool, I'm about to do a conversion of a 70 to a 71 in the same colors.  Hoping to get the parts and decals soon.

[FoMoCo66]

Nice job!

[karbuildr]

Very well done, I really like the color and the work you did was worth it in the end. By the way, the link you posted to your Fotki site instead takes one to the work in progress and not your Fotki site. No biggie, your Fotki site is easy enough to search for.

[Rattlecan Dan]

Nice eye-catcher. Great stance, color and detail. Great perseverance over the many fit and finish issues.

[Yeah Nah]

May not have turned out a stress buster for you Tim but it's a pretty cool model for the rest of us to look at and enjoy!

[Chinacar]

Nice job Tim!

[tim boyd]

3 hours ago, karbuildr said:

Very well done, I really like the color and the work you did was worth it in the end. By the way, the link you posted to your Fotki site instead takes one to the work in progress and not your Fotki site. No biggie, your Fotki site is easy enough to search for.

Link fixed.   Thanks for the heads-up David!  Cheers...TIM 

[charger74]

Very nice work ????

[XYHARRY]

Very nice Challenger there Tim, I've wanted to build one of these for quite some time. Yours looks great in that colour,  well done. 

Cheers, 

David. ??

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[Jim B]

Great looking Challenger.

[PappyD340]

Very nice!!

[tim boyd]

Thanks all for your comments and feedback.  Glad you enjoyed reading about and looking at the result, in spite of the issues and "challenges".  In any case, it was a great deal cheaper than buying a mint unbuilt MPC 1971 Challenger, and had I done that I wouldn't have wanted to build it anyway.  Very best to you all...TIM  

[slusher]

Great looking Challenger!

 

 

[drodg]

Good job Tim and as I said in the build section you never see these built.  Interesting stress reducer build for you!   Lol!  I got a little stressed just reading everything you had to do to make it correct.   Again it looks very good and nice to see it wrapped up.  

[ewetwo]

It looks great. 

[Hmann68]

Really nice looking Challenger! One of my favorite colors too! Nice job as usual ?

[carrucha]

Cool Challenger!