Triumph GT6+

[lordairgtar]

I got one today from the hobby shop and I am going to work on this. I think the old Pyro molds have held up or Dave from Model king cleaned up a lot of mold work. It's molded in white plastic. There are chrome parts and clear. The tail light assembly is molded onto the body, so you will have to foil and paint the thing. The tyres are very small and devoid of any sidewall detail. Tread is ghosted onto the tyre, so it resembles a tyre with 70,000 miles on it. The parts box is your friend. Bare with me as my PC does not recognize my camera, and Photobucket is being recalcitrant.

Kit is made in the USA so you can feel good about buying US goods if you are American. The kit comes in a pizza style box which I hate BTW, although this one stays closed when you close it.

The chrome tree holds the bumpers, grille, muffler, exhaust pipe and header, valve cover, intake/carbs, air cleaner housing, two piece wheels, headlight buckets, roll bar, wheelie bar (why?), side pipes (again why?), and two unidentified scoop like things.

The decal sheet has a lot of numbers to make any combination of race car numbers and also has three roundels for the numbers and three soft rectangles for larger numbers if you wanted to use them. Has some sponsor decals mostly of American companies like Champion and cragar, Fram, Valvoline, and Doug Headers. Why no Lucas or other British decals? Some door size banners are in there advertising some hobby shops with actual phone numbers...are these real shops? Several "TRIUMPH" decals are here as well as two sets of stripes, one in olive drab and the other, white. Other banners read "Triumphant GT-6", "Rantin' & Ravin' ", and "Cartastrophy".

The clear tree has the wind screen, back light, and side and vent windows. The back light has defroster lines engraved and the wind screen has small wipers at the bottom edge. The headlight lenses are there as well.

The Body! Oh such a body! This is a multi-piece body with opening doors and bonnet (hood). Don't fret, as this is the way the real body is constructed. This one would make nice additions to a resto-shop diorama. Chassis is separate and has a detailed suspension. Not as detailed as a newer kit but quite the kit in it's day. My original PYRO kit shows well next to this. The new kit is in white plastic as the old PYRO kit was molded in a weird dusty rose/brown color. Interior builds up platform style like new Revell kit. The two bucket seats with console is a one piece mold. The six cylinder engine is kind of chunky, but will look nice if some attention is given it. Has separate differential/drive shaft/transmission as a unit. One bad point is the windscreen opening is kind of smallish in that it has rather thick posts. The box art belies this, so be aware of this. I think I will file out the opening to improve the look and make a new windscreen.

I am going to enjoy working on this and I was going to rip into the original PYRO kit, but when I heard this was coming out, I held off on that and a $70 dollar rarity was spared. I may still build that one anyway. I recommend this one for builders with a modicum of skill and a well stocked parts bin for some detail bits like the tyres, a fuel cap (kit's is molded to body) and some other bits. I would find a set of mini-lites for a better set of wheels, or maybe even wire wheels, although I don't know if the real one had them. Good building!

Edited August 9, 2009 by lordairgtar

[rick6343]

I've heard the horror stories about this kit and have wondered what the parts actually look like and how well it actually builds. Like you said, the real cars are made this way-and show it. I hope you'll bring it to the next club meeting?

[elan]

I hope you post some pictures. I was planning on buying this one, but the price seems to be a bit high for something with this many problems. I'll be following your posts. Edited August 10, 2009 by elan

[CAL]

I picked on up. I haven't actually built it but it doesn't as horrible as it's been made out to be.

[gasman]

I got this kit yesterday, its deffinently not for the faint of heart but its buildable. The biggist issue is the incorrect front window, but it appears to be fixable.

[kitbash1]

Please post some pictures of the build. I've been thinking of getting one of these kit's as I had a GT6 and a Spitfire in high school & collage. It would be neet to have one of my old cars sitting on the shelf.

Edited August 18, 2009 by kitbash1

[charlie8575]

I got this kit yesterday, its deffinently not for the faint of heart but its buildable. The biggist issue is the incorrect front window, but it appears to be fixable.

[Lownslow]

not worth it i tried to go the weathering route after some problems then i threw it in the garbage

[lordairgtar]

not worth it i tried to go the weathering route after some problems then i threw it in the garbage

Dig it back out and send it to me...I need another engine.

[Lownslow]

Dig it back out and send it to me...I need another engine.

somewhere in a landfill now

[Chuck Most]

somewhere in a landfill now

Hmmmmm.... could you be a bit more specific?

[Matt Bacon]

...anyone on here built one up that they want to show me (ideally as a straight street version, not any kind of racer...)? Is the engine a reasonable starting point for detailing? How does the body fit together? What version is it -- round-arsed or with the sharp Kamm tail? Since I'd really like a 1:1, but can't afford one (yet), I have a hankering to add one to the scale garage instead... I DO have the definitive reference book to work from now, post-birthday...

bestest,

M.

[lordairgtar]

I don't have pics of mine as of yet, but I can tel you, it's a bit of work to make right. It is a round tail I believe as the kit is quite old. It was first sold by PYRO. The windshield pillars are quite thick. You are going to open the window hole up a bit to make it look right and rescribe the trim lines around the opening. I think the back light (window) is too small as well, but I haven't verified that as yet. The engine assembly is basic. Not a lot of detail, but if you can bring up pics online, you can see that it wouldn't take much to bring that engine around. Tail lights are molded as part of the body, so bare metalling and tail light clear red paint is the order of the day. I would swap out the head lamps for something better from the scrap box. It's a project, but can be made right. Still working on mine.

[cobraman]

I built one but modified it into a gasser type of street rod. the kit is a pita IMO.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

The window does need to be bigger. Here's a pic of my Mk.II GT6+, which is what the kit is.

[Deathgoblin]

I've got one of these. It'll take some work to make it accurate. But it'll be fun.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Lotsa problems with this one. I bought one to do a replica of one I had many years ago, and after looking carefully at the parts, I've postponed it indefinitely. This is NOT mine, but as you can see, the windshield, the roof above it and the pillars are really bad. However, I think the overall shape is close enough that you could do a very nice model...with a lot of patient re-work.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[Snake45]

...after looking carefully at the parts, I've postponed it indefinitely.

I feel ya, mah brothah. This has happened to me at least five or six times on this kit so far.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

What I can see it needs... (apart from a one-piece body > )

- thinner windshield surround

- thinner vent window pillars

- adjusted vent above rear fenders

- bigger rear window

- bigger hood bulge

- maybe separate tail lights, but they look adequate

- remove rear fender marker lights

- grill thingy under windshield wipers

- remove smaller grilles on top of hood

Not sure about engine inaccuracies... Here's a couple mediocre pictures I took a while ago.

Edited October 19, 2014 by chunkypeanutbutter

[chunkypeanutbutter]

The roof might need work, but what really stands out is that line that needs smoothing and readjusting.

This hood shouldn't be used as a reference for the bulge, obviously, as this is a Spit nose. The GT6 nose rusted out on this and we replaced it before setting it aside.

Edited October 19, 2014 by chunkypeanutbutter

[jbwelda]

looks like the poor thing has had a very hard life. in a very hostile climate. does it start and run?

jb

[chunkypeanutbutter]

looks like the poor thing has had a very hard life. in a very hostile climate. does it start and run?

jb

It turns over when the carbs are on, which they aren't right now.

Needs major rust work. Maine isn't a very considerate climate for steel.

Edited October 19, 2014 by chunkypeanutbutter

[Jaguar man 21]

I've tried to build it the body did not fit together at all

[unclescott58]

That is one horrible looking model kit. Thankfully I am not a big fan of Triumph GT6.

Scott

[cobraman]

Not the style you are looking for but here is the best I could do with this kit.