Before, Dodge boys and girls wanting an altered wheelbase\n1964-65 Mopar had to scrounge up a 1960s vintage Ramchargers 1964 Dodge 440\nor Richard Petty Plymouth Belvedere hardtop by JoHan, or the ultra-rare 1965\nDodge Coronet 500 hardtop kit by AMT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After finding one of these expensive kits \u2013 which have not\nbeen reissued for decades \u2013 the process of altering the wheelbase to achieve\nthe Funny Car effect was left up to the builder. That\u2019s right, these kits\nrepresented standard wheelbase cars. Moving the wheels around was extra credit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An alternative was offered, off and on, by the low-volume\nresin cast cottage industry, which did a few pretty decent altered wheelbase Plymouth\nand Dodge conversion kits. But being resin, they usually suffered from pin\nholes, blobby details and skittish availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, thanks to Moebius Models and The Model King, those days\nare over with the recent (2019) release of the Golden Commandos kit. Let\u2019s\nexplore this amazing kit\u2019s many features and details, and show one built up\nwithout paint, all the better to see what it\u2019s made of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With so many of us cooped up indoors thanks to COVID-19, maybe it\u2019s time to grab a plastic model kit and get to work!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Golden Commandos kit includes over 125 parts, most of\nwhich are molded in pure white for easy painting. Because Moebius offers other\n1965 Plymouth kits (see photo 14), some of the parts trees contain items that\nare not used in this particular build. No sweat, these goodies are welcome\nadditions to the parts bin and easily fit on other 1\/25 scale models. One\nobservation, the box art incorrectly calls the kit a \u201cSatellite\u201d, which is not\naccurate. In fact, the altered wheelbase Plymouths were based on Belvedere II\nhardtop bodies (the Belvedere I was a formal roof sedan). ‘Tis a minor thing\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 426 Race HEMI\u00ae<\/sup> engine can be assembled with the crossram intake\nmanifold with dual Holley four-barrel carburetors or a Hilborn mechanical fuel\ninjection unit with the choice of long or short ram tubes (to be cut to length).\nExtra parts include full-length Max Wedge and A990 Race HEMI single-exhaust\ntracts and a center sump oil pan from other versions of the Moebius 1965\nPlymouth kit. The miniature headers are faithful reproductions of the S&S\nheaders (designed by Frank Sanders) used on the real cars in 1965.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The highly detailed chassis and floor pan include separate\ntorsion bar front suspension and semi-correct Dana 60 rear axle. Though the six\nDodges and six Plymouths built by Chrysler for the 1965 factory A\/FX teams were\nall delivered with Chrysler 8-3\/4 rear axles, 4-speed racers like Sox &\nMartin and Butch Leal\u2019s California Flash soon appeared with stronger Dana 60\nrear axles (see photo 17). The rectangular openings in the front inner fenders are\nsurgery scars left when the upper control arm brackets and shock absorber\nshells were moved forward 10 inches by Chrysler employees working inside the\nformer Amblewagon ambulance conversion facility in Detroit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A thoroughly modern model kit maker, Moebius Models breaks\naway from the age-old one-piece interior tub with a multi-piece assembly\nconsisting of an individual floor, side panels, dash, rear seat delete panel,\nfour-point roll bar and more. The correct Bostrum Thin Line bucket seats and\ncolumn-shifted TorqueFlite are faithfully rendered, along with the simplified square-pleat\nA990 Super Stock door and side panels. The only boo-boo is the inclusion of a\nradio (knife points). The real Golden Commandos FX\u2019er initially had a\nlightweight steel A990 dashboard with a radio delete plate before being\nreplaced with a one-piece fiberglass dash board with a sealed radio hole and\nglove box (see photo 16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n First seen in Moebius Models\u2019 Melrose Missile 1965 Plymouth\nBelvedere I HEMI Super Stock Sedan kit from 2015, the Golden Commandos altered\nwheelbase kit also includes the choice of stock steel or American Racing\nTorq-Thrust mag wheels. Though their outside diameters are studded with odd\nplastic ribs, once pressed into the tires, they look fantastic. The mags, that\nis. As for the steel wheels, they suffer from a general lack of accuracy and\nappear somewhat generic. JoHan did a much better job of rendering Chrysler\nsteel wheels back in 1964. Speaking of generic, the skinny front tires and\npre-wrinkle wall \u201cpie crust\u201d drag slicks lack manufacturer markings but are\nexcellent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thankfully, Moebius Models and The Model King struck a\nlicensing deal with the Golden Commandos, allowing for an exceptional decal\nsheet. Two graphics treatments are possible, the minimalist effect that was\nquickly applied to the car for its January 29-31, 1965, debut at the AHRA Winter\nChampionships at Beeline Dragway in Phoenix, Arizona, and the later two-tone white\nand gold effect applied soon after. The styrene body, bumpers and grille are\nperfectly sized and proportioned. Bravo, Moebius!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moebius teased public reaction to an altered wheelbase Mopar\nkit with this assembled \u201ctest shot\u201d back in 2016. At the time, the non-altered\n(standard wheelbase) Melrose Missile Super Stock Belvedere kit had been on the\nmarket for one year and was a wish come true for altered wheelbase fans who\nquickly got busy with X-Acto knives and body putty. It\u2019s now four years later\nand the wait was fully justified. With specific decals and minor tweaks, the\nGolden Commandos kit could easily spin off replicas of the \u201965 Plymouths raced\nby Sox & Martin, Lee Smith, Butch Leal (California Flash), Tommy Grove (Melrose\nMissile), not to mention dozens of independent 1965 Plymouth Funny Cars. As for the\nsix-car 1965 Dodge altered wheelbase fleet, so far Moebius hasn\u2019t released a\nDodge Coronet version of this kit. That said, it wouldn\u2019t require much more\nthan a new body and a few interior tweaks. Then we could have little replicas\nof Funny Cars raced by the Ramchargers, Dick Landy, Color Me Gone, Yankee Peddler,\nDave Strickler, Bud Faubel, Shirl Greer and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of 1965 Dodge model kits, here\u2019s the granddaddy of\nthem all; the AMT HEMI-Charger Dodge Coronet. Released way back in 1965 with\nmouthwatering Ramchargers box art, these kits are worth hundreds today. Though\nthe body is excellent, it depicts a standard wheelbase Coronet hardtop, so\nsurgery is required to render an altered wheelbase replica. Beyond the body,\nMoebius\u2019 under car, engine bay and suspension detailing is light years ahead of\nthis ancient AMT offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the Moebius\/The Model King Golden Commandos Plymouth kit\nshook up the Mopar B-body world, here\u2019s a roundup of what mid-sixties altered\nwheelbase seekers had to work with. JoHan\u2019s 1964 Dodge hardtop (back row) was\noffered in a few forms, including a Ramchargers Super Stocker, Cotton Owens\nNASCAR stock car and generic Re-Charged HEMI Super Stock. Aside from a single\n330 sedan built by Dick Landy (and lovingly restored by HEMI fanatic Pete\nHaldiman in the 1990s), no factory-supported altered wheelbase machines were\nbased on the 1964 Dodge platform. In the middle row, we see the aforementioned\nAMT Coronet 500 (left) and something exciting from 2006, the Polar Lights 1965\nDodge Coronet 500. Available in hardtop and convertible form, this kit was the\nequal of the vintage AMT offering and finally gave altered wheelbase builders\nanother 1965 Dodge to work with. In the front row is a resin cast altered\nwheelbase 1965 Plymouth hardtop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back in 1978, your author transformed a JoHan 1964 Dodge 440\nhardtop (near camera) into a very loose interpretation of a Ramchargers team\ncar. Testors putty was used to cover the surgery scars and masking tape and\nspray paint were used to create the candy stripe graphics. Lacking Ramchargers\ndecals, then-14-year-old me cut logos out of magazine ads for the Ramchargers\nspeed shop and glued them on with Testors cement. Two decades later, in 1996,\nLindberg took another stab at a 1964 Dodge 330 sedan model kit, which include\nthe full-color decal sheet I would have been happy to have in 1978!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the late 1980s, a large cottage industry sprang up to provide\n1\/25 scale replicas of obscure subjects the mainstream model manufacturers\nignored. This altered wheelbase 1965 Plymouth Belvedere trans-kit is by Model\nCar World Resin Replicas of Burlington, North Carolina. It required the Lindberg 1964 Dodge\nfor items like the 426 HEMI, suspension, wheels and tires. Resin differs from\nstyrene in that it is hand poured and can suffer from pin holes, warping, excess\nthickness, trapped bubbles and chemical rejection of certain paints unless\nproperly sealed. Still, these limited-release trans-kits serve a much-needed\nrole in the hobby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After buying up Lindberg and AMT, a progressive company called Round 2 (reviver of Johnny Lightning die cast toys and the force behind the Polar Lights model kit line of the 1990s) put the 1996-vintage Lindberg 1964 Dodge sedan into a box marked AMT. With new Roger Lindamood \/ Color Me Gone box art and graphics, the welcomed kit is back in circulation. Note the box art boo-boo. The \u201c300\u201d should read \u201c330\u201d – oops, it\u2019s still a great kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Golden Commandos altered wheelbase replica isn\u2019t the\nonly 1965 Plymouth offered by Moebius. The Melrose Missile HEMI Super Stock\nhardtop and 426 Street Wedge Satellite hardtop (bottom row) came first in 2015,\nfollowed in 2016 by a much-needed Belvedere I sedan (top left). With its\nthick-pillar roof line, this is the first 1962-65 Mopar B-body sedan ever offered<\/em> in mainstream plastic kit\nform. Many Mopar model builders have their fingers crossed for versions of this\nkit depicting an A990 Race HEMI or 225 Slant Six-powered fleet car, perhaps a\nFire Chief or urban police machine. It wouldn\u2019t take much to pull them off.\nPlease, please, double please?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The restored Golden Commandos Belvedere II match racer was\ndisplayed at the 2014 Chryslers at Carlisle show. At the time, I was part of\nthe Dodge Performance Showcase, meeting and greeting Dodge fans in the hot July\nsun. I also had the honor to conduct live interview sessions with members of\nthe Golden Commandos and Ramchargers during the weekend-long event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stripped for the match race circuit, the passenger side\nBostrom seat, steering wheel horn ring and center cap have been removed for an\nimproved power-to-weight ratio. The stock instrument cluster fits inside a\none-piece fiberglass dashboard. Note how the radio delete area and glove box\nsurfaces are sealed closed. Little upgrades like this took place with every\npassing week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look close and you can see frame rail extensions and lower\nquarter panel seam work from where the rear axle was moved forward 15 inches.\nThe kit\u2019s Dana 60 rear axle is inaccurate. The Golden Commandos used a 727\nTorqueFlite, which cushioned the smaller Chrysler 8-3\/4 from the brutal shock\nloads encountered in 4-speed cars like the Sox & Martin machine. The standard\nissue 18-gallon fuel tank is not depicted in the Moebius kit (see photo 4).\nBut that\u2019s acceptable because the team only used it when extra traction was\nneeded. And there was no guarantee it held gasoline. Water was used as ballast\nfrom time to time. Now it can be told\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you been working on a model car? Tell us about it in the comments!<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n SOURCES:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moebius Models: Montclair, CA; moebiusmodels.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Model King: 1032 Englemere Blvd., Toms River, NJ 08757;\n732-240-3987; modelking.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n Model Car World Resin Replicas: P.O. Box 0518, Burlington,\nNC 27216-0518; 336-228-0240<\/p>\n\n\n\n Round 2 Models: 4073 Meghan Beeler Court, South Bend,\nIN 46628; round2.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Moebius Models and The Model King Create First Ever 1965 Plymouth Altered Wheelbase Model Kit! Moebius Models and The Model King have done Mopar\u00ae fans a huge service with the recent introduction of an ultra-detailed 1\/25 scale plastic model kit of the 1965 Golden Commandos altered wheelbase Plymouth Belvedere. Never before has an altered wheelbase Mopar Funny Car been rendered in polystyrene as a complete kit. Before, Dodge boys and girls wanting an altered wheelbase 1964-65 Mopar had to scrounge up a 1960s vintage Ramchargers 1964 Dodge 440 or Richard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":37542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2622],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heritage"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/tabletopfeature.png","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37251"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37544,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37251\/revisions\/37544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"car](\"https:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG001.jpg\")
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