MPC Chrysler Hydro-Vee "Charger" Boat Kit and Other Boat Kits

[espo]

On the issue of rollers or sliders, The rollers would work well if the trailer could not be submerged enough to get under the hull for loading and unloading of the boat. The draw back to the rollers was rapid deterioration and pressure on small parts of the haul. The two boat/trailer combinations that I have owned were both the slider style and this spread the support of the haul over a much wider area and these were Fiberglass hauls so that was very important. I built one of the Hemi Hydro kits last year and the kit represents a combination of the two styles. Assembly is a little fussy and the mounting points for the rollers are very iffy to say the least. The kit provided parts for a hand cranked pully assist for loading the boat. The scale is off, but if you think about it it would be very hard to replicate the 1:1 in 1/25th scale anyway.   

[Mr. Metallic]

On 10/18/2018 at 8:19 AM, espo said:

 I built one of the Hemi Hydro kits last year. The scale is off.  

Don't say that too loud, or you'll start a fight with Tim Boyd, right Tim?  

Edited October 19, 2018 by Mr. Metallic

[tim boyd]

6 hours ago, Mr. Metallic said:

Don't say that too loud, or you'll start a fight with Tim Boyd, right Tim?  

Smile…but not a fight, just a discussion   TIM 

PS - when I first read that comment, I presumed it applied to the rollers on the trailer.  And in that case, I totally agree that they are out of scale!    TIM  

 

Edited October 19, 2018 by tim boyd

[espo]

I was in fact talking about the rollers. As for the haul, in my opinion anyway, the bow portion running too about the seating area is more Tug Boat than Flat Bottom. Based on the boats that I have been around that were owned by friends that had Flat Bottoms this area was much narrower and sleeker looking. This may have to do with the hauls manufacture as much as anything. It would impossible to say really without knowing which manufacture the haul is based upon. This is still a great kit and I have a few others that I have picked up thru the years for future builds. The trailer thing can be fixed. One change I did on my build was to cover the step plates on the side of the trailer with some scale diamond plate much like you see on many boat trailers. The rear lighting and license plate mounting is another area that you will need to get creative with, but isn't that half the fun of building a model in the first place.     

[tim boyd]

I think we can (nearly) all agree that the Revell boat kit hull is too wide at the seating area, perhaps even way too wide. 

But the overall hull length is clearly similar to the other 1/25th scale drag boat kits, which means that the kit was intended to be in 1/25th scale (it was originally marketed and advertised by Revell in its 1963 "Show and Go" release as a companion kit to their 1/25th 1956 F-100 kit).  

Interesting as well is that the hull width of the original AMT Rayson Craft kit is much wider than the hull width (at the seating area) of the Kindsvater hull that is in the retooled AMT "Hull Raiser" kit.  Not nearly as wide as the Revell kit, but wider than I think we generally would expect having used the Hull Raiser kit as our primary basis of comparison.  

Excellent comments, btw.  Thanks....TIM 

 

[dimaxion]

On 2/1/2013 at 8:32 PM, Casey said:

Was this Westcraft boat ever offered in another kit, or only in this AMT '64 Chevelle El Camino?:

Miniatures and Replicas of Maryland sells a resin of this one . Norm Veeber sure does great products . Thanx 

[Casey]

On 10/11/2018 at 12:00 AM, peteski said:

Are there any photos on the box sides showing that area? I'm not an expert but it seems to me that the mounts on the outboard motor's halves have to be glued into slots in parts #10.  Just like the dashed-line shows. On a real boat those areas would likely be hinged so the motor can tilt. Then the backs of parts #10 woudl be glued to the boats stern (rear), again as shown on the diagram. 

Looking at the long side of the box in one of Tim's pics of the original issue's box, you can see how the battery was mounted and where. I can't make out the position of the straps, but I would guess they attach to the underside of the floor:

 

Here's another pic of the mini boat found in the Revell "River Rat" kit, too:

 

[dimaxion]

On 5/29/2017 at 9:14 PM, GLMFAA1 said:

Could not pass up this opportunity to show this off:

Robbe 1/24th scale German fireboat, Figures are Tamiya German soldiers and Revell fire figures. Boat is radio controlled by 16 channel radio, pumps water, launches boat at aft and more.

can't trailer this baby!

greg

Beautiful Build Greg . Thanx .. 

[Casey]

Do these three kits all contain the same boat?

[spike morelli]

I think the above kits do all have the same boat. I have the last one pictured, with the Pontiac Bonneville to tow it ( which I wont use ).  The 427 Ford "Cammer" is a fairly rare engine in the real world, and I'd substitute a different engine to represent the heyday of hot ski-boating, were I to build this kit as a ski-boat. My family had hot flatbottoms in the sixties, and most people towed with something more like a half ton pick-up, El Camino, Ranchero, or station wagon, although there were those few who used their everyday passenger cars to tow with. The kit's centerdeck is a bit wide, for the scale, and I'll narrow that, or remove it altogether. Centerdecks were found most often on wood decked hulls ( yes, a few manufacturers made 'glass decked hulls with a centerdeck, but most were not ).

Today, I still own a few boats, one of which is a 5-time World record holder for Unblown Gas Flatbottom, and I want to use this model's hull to base my model kit vershion of the "Mortician" ( sitting in my garage as we speak), complete with two injected 327 Chevys, inline, on Nitro! See photos....

[Daddy Mack]

48 minutes ago, spike morelli said:

two injected 327 Chevys, inline, on Nitro

Looks like the front engine spit out its camshaft.

[slusher]

On October 29, 2018 at 12:16 PM, Casey said:

Looking at the long side of the box in one of Tim's pics of the original issue's box, you can see how the battery was mounted and where. I can't make out the position of the straps, but I would guess they attach to the underside of the floor:

 

Here's another pic of the mini boat found in the Revell "River Rat" kit, too:

 

Man, wish I could afford to buy that kit again, had it at 13....

[Oldcarfan27]

On 5/25/2017 at 9:47 PM, alan barton said:

Someone had carefully cut all the boat parts off the chrome sprue. Being right in the middle of the sprue I hadn't noticed their absence when I inspected it at the toy fair. You can’t begin to imagine my disappointment.

I'll never know if the vendor was a crook or if the guy that sold the kit to him was a crook...

Whether he was THE crook or not - that would be the last time I would ever buy anything from him again! Charging a whopping $150 firm and not even verifying that it was 100% complete makes me doubt his credibility for anything else he sells.

He probably knew those parts were missing and stuck you for it without even telling you upfront about the discrepancy. What'd he care, he'd be gone with your money before you'd ever find out.

I'm glad you were able to make lemonade from that lemon. I would have been too sick to continue with it!

Sure looks good behind that woody.

[spike morelli]

7 hours ago, Daddy Mack said:

Looks like the front engine spit out its camshaft.

Yeah, in that particular photo I was in the process of building the engines, so empty "mock-up" engines were dressed up and installed just for show. Those engines lacked all internals, but had most of the outer accessories bolted up. 

[tim boyd]

On 1/31/2019 at 2:15 PM, Casey said:

Do these three kits all contain the same boat?

All three of these kits had the same boat, the heavily revised "Hull Raiser" variation of AMT's original Rayson-Craft Trophy Series kit introduced in 1963.  The Hull Raiser kit replicated a 1/1 scale Kindsvater hull.  The kit was introduced in 1968 in both the stand alone small flatbox form (the "portrait series" box shown above) and as a combo kit with the "custom" 1968 Firebird (really Camaro) annual kit as shown here 

The "Aqua Rod' version was introduced around 1975, and then the Model King version debuted around 2005-ish.   I wouldn't be surprised to see the "Hull Raiser" resurface again from Round 2 at some point in the future, either as a stand alone or comb kit subject.....Tim 

[tim boyd]

15 hours ago, spike morelli said:

I think the above kits do all have the same boat. I have the last one pictured, with the Pontiac Bonneville to tow it ( which I wont use ).  The 427 Ford "Cammer" is a fairly rare engine in the real world, and I'd substitute a different engine to represent the heyday of hot ski-boating, were I to build this kit as a ski-boat. My family had hot flatbottoms in the sixties, and most people towed with something more like a half ton pick-up, El Camino, Ranchero, or station wagon, although there were those few who used their everyday passenger cars to tow with. The kit's centerdeck is a bit wide, for the scale, and I'll narrow that, or remove it altogether. Centerdecks were found most often on wood decked hulls ( yes, a few manufacturers made 'glass decked hulls with a centerdeck, but most were not ).

Today, I still own a few boats, one of which is a 5-time World record holder for Unblown Gas Flatbottom, and I want to use this model's hull to base my model kit vershion of the "Mortician" ( sitting in my garage as we speak), complete with two injected 327 Chevys, inline, on Nitro! See photos....

Spike....be still my heart!   What a cool, cool boat!  Sigh.....

Wasn't this boat (your first picture above) featured in the book on drag and ski boats published about ten years ago? 

If so, it inspired this 1/25th scale kitbash from my ski and drag model collection....

TIM 

 

Edited February 3, 2019 by tim boyd

[spike morelli]

Tim, you have sharp eyes! Yes, the Mortician was in that book. It has a lot of history.....the model will be done up exactly as raced, along with a Hearse tow vehicle, which the real boat had.

Your twin engine hydro is just spectacular! I think you had posted that on another site, because I have the image saved to my computer, and I was so impressed with your work. In reality, there were a small handful of people who tried the mating of two engines but most never really performed as well as expected. Of note, two boats made waves ( no pun intended), and held records. The Mortician was one of those, along with a hydro named "Adios Two", which your model reminds me of very strongly.  Attached are photos of the Mortician being towed by the hearse, as well as  photos of the twin engine "Adios Two" hydro. 

Edited February 4, 2019 by spike morelli

[tim boyd]

1 hour ago, spike morelli said:

Tim, you have sharp eyes! Yes, the Mortician was in that book. It has a lot of history.....the model will be done up exactly as raced, along with a Hearse tow vehicle, which the real boat had.

Your twin engine hydro is just spectacular! I think you had posted that on another site, because I have the image saved to my computer, and I was so impressed with your work. In reality, there were a small handful of people who tried the mating of two engines but most never really performed as well as expected. Of note, two boats made waves ( no pun intended), and held records. The Mortician was one of those, along with a hydro named "Adios Two", which your model reminds me of very strongly.  Attached is a photo of the Mortician being towed by the hearse, as well as a photo of the twin engine "Adios Two" hydro. 

 

 

Spike....thanks for the response.  Those last two images are killer and a gold mine for anyone trying to replicate yours in 1/25th scale.....good luck with your project and thanks again....TIM 

[spike morelli]

I know a guy, who was the Blown Gas Hydro record holder back in the sixties, with his Hallett hydro "Golden Komotion". Someone made a resin kit 1/25 scale of the boat, I want to say "Mad Dog Resin Kits" is the name who made it. I have one of those resin kits, and I got it from  Don Edwards, who owned and drove the real one. I haven't built the kit yet, although I did start on scratchbuilding the trailer.

My photographic skills are limited, the last models I tried to post ended up kinda blurry, but I'll dig out the kit and show you all here. It's  the only scale model drag hydro I've ever seen . Hold on

Edited February 4, 2019 by spike morelli

[Casey]

On 2/3/2019 at 7:03 AM, tim boyd said:

 I wouldn't be surprised to see the "Hull Raiser" resurface again from Round 2 at some point in the future, either as a stand alone or comb kit subject.....Tim 

Fingers still crossed that happens.

Here's the sell sheet for the Rayson Craft boat kit:

[alan barton]

Seeing as how this thread has become the unofficial MCM marina for all speedboat kits, I thought I would pop up a photo of the latest addition to my fleet. Tequila Sunrise is a narrowed Revell Hemi Hydro with mostly stock running gear and a few upgraded details. More photos and details can be found here.

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by alan barton

[afx]

Very nice John, I'll have a shot.

[tim boyd]

3 hours ago, alan barton said:

Seeing as how this thread has become the unofficial MCS marina for all speedboat kits, I thought I would pop up a photo of the latest addition to my fleet. Tequila Sunrise is a narrowed Revell Hemi Hydro with mostly stock running gear and a few upgraded details. More photos and details can be found here.

 

 

[tim boyd]

Alan.....that is one sharp piece of work.  Narrowing the hull makes such a difference in providing a realistic look to the boat, too. 

How did you do the trailer?  Is it the Revell trailer (also narrowed) with the fenders from the Revell-Monogram 1990's F1 race boats trailer?  Whatever it is it sure looks good here...TIM 

[alan barton]

yep, Tim, I'm glad I did it now though there were times when I had my doubts. 

The trailer is nearly stock Revell.  I didn't narrow it but I did notch the fenders so that they hugged the boat a bit closer than the originals would have.  ( The single wheel fenders are now on my Thunderboat trailer - waste not, want not)  A dear friend and sadly deceased gave me the resin fenders - I think they are off the F1 trailer but haven't checked.

Cheers

Alan