Reviews : MPC '32 Chrysler Imperial Gangbusters

This is a neat theme - a bullet-ridden gangster car, complete with gangsters, a safe, a briefcase full of cash, a jewelry case, 3 different firearms, and a MOTORCYCLE!! The motorcycle came out nice. Lots of detail molded in, just waiting for paint. The handlebars do steer the front tire, if you're careful. Now the car. It's a beautiful car, but the execution of the kit left a lot to be desired. I had more cussing fits over the front axle and steering gear - and wound up having to glue it all in place. None of the wheels are straight. (Tip - Mount the tire/wheel assemblies to the mounting plates BEFORE you put the suspensions together - otherwise, you'll never get the pins firmly and fully set without breaking something else..) The hood gave me more fits. I attempted to make it a butterfly opening hood, except when trimming the massive amount of flash I inadvertently removed the pins, and replaced them with the ends of straight pins. Doing things this way, it's almost impossible to get the X bracing and hood mounted and square. Install the rumble seat BEFORE finishing the interior, or you'll never get it in place!! And there were other issues.... I'm not proud of the results, but it did come out nicely. I haven't used the figures and other accessories. My advice - don't attempt to make the steering gear steerable; don't make the hood a true butterfly but have it a set-on hood.

I really dislike criticizing kits, but in the interests of fellow kit makers, I have to be honest here. This kit was a major disappointment. Maybe I got that bad apple, but maybe not. Pros: creative with the guns, safe, bullet holes, etc., although I didn't use most of it because it seemed a bit corny. Cons: very cheap, lightweight plastic that was easy to damage. Extremely limited, confusing, and often inaccurate instructions. For example, several part numbers were wrong and it says a square icon directs what suggested colors to use. But there are no squares and no list of colors. Several small parts had fallen off the sprues and I almost lost some of them. This is due to the cheap plastic used. One direction says to scrape the chrome from a part before gluing. Good advice, except that part wasn't chromed. I spent most of my time scraping flash from most parts and trying to figure out the obscure and limited instruction sheet, which consisted of four pages. They put so many parts on each page with different sets of numbers for each, that it was very hard to decipher things. I would not recommend this kit to anyone, beginner or pro, unless you like dealing with the things I've listed. I've done over 50 kits the past 3 years, some with a few issues, but this one stands out as the worst and most frustrating of the lot. Sorry for the negativity, but forewarned is forearmed.

I loved this kit; it was a challenge to build and resulted in a beautiful piece. The first 3 steps went together well, but then things began to go south. There was a little flash that was easily removed. No big deal. The front axle in step 4 featured poseable steering but the mechanism was too floppy and the wheels too wobbly to successfully pull this off. I loved the idea, but ended up gluing everything solid. In step 7 I recommend installing the shifter and handbrake in step 8 after installing the seat. In step 8 install the rumble seat bottom to the rear of the locating pins, otherwise a large gap will result with the seat back. Also, undercut the lower inside of the rumble seat opening otherwise the seat will be locked in the closed position. Again, in step 8, the front seat was too large. I trimmed 2 mm from the bottom, separated the back from the bottom, then trimmed 3 mm from the cushion before gluing it back together. In step 9 the tail lights needed to be pinned using wire to ease assembly. In addition, the bottom of the hood spear needed to be sanded to allow it to sit flush. Styrene strip can be added to the bottom of the running boards to support the chrome trim. As you can see from numerous member pictures, the result can be nothing short of stunning!

Great subject matter. Instructions were spot on and easy to follow. Flash was very light and the detail was above average (could have been crisper but the age of the molds) but good. Parts fit was excellent. I really took my time with this one because museum pieces are few and far between. I added all engine detail and fuel lines. I even made my own wire wheels out of guitar strings. I painted the body white and the fenders dark red. The decals went on without any issues. I would recommend this kit to all builders. This one is going into my car museum diorama.

Was a little bit of a challenge with the flash on almost every part. Just have to tale your time and be wit h the small parts. They will crack easily. The figures, safe, money, parts with bullet holes and guns go with the gang busters theme very well. I built it stock.

Busy kit. Seems like a lot to build on this kit. Has some flash. Not to offend any snow flakes but this kit does include nice copies of some firearms. A safe. And the motorcycle. Has bullet shot windows as a option. Nice scale, looks right in size. Fast shipping.

Overall, I enjoyed building this model. A fair amount of cleaning and straightening but nothing serious. The results were everything I hoped for right down to the steering mechanism. Finely detailed but added my own upper radiator hose.

good kit nice extras but no paint references a little extra clean up(flashing)