Raiders Coach

       

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Original Kit:
Raiders Coach
Made By:
AMT/Ertl (kit #30261)
Scale:
1/25
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The Raiders Coach
Raiders Coach engines Raiders Coach tractor rear Raiders Coach driver perch Raiders Coach interior Raiders Coach keyboards Raiders Coach rear

 
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Not to be confused with the other Koach that came out of Barris' shop in the '60s, this was built to cash in on the popularity of Paul Revere and the Raiders as well as their endorsement of Pontiac's GTO. Like many Barris Kustoms it underwent several changes over the years, but without a primary appearance in a TV show or movie I could kind of wing it on the specifics.

Most of the build was done straight out of the box. There was quite a bit of flash on the springs, but other than that it was surprisingly clean considering the age of the tooling. It also went together easier than I expected, though some of the locators weren't quite as positive as I'd like. This was particularly true when assembling the coach body, where the seats all kind of had to go "somewhere" within the body. I found the best way to get everything placed was to glue one side to the floor, let that sit, then assemble the seats and opposite wall from there. That way there were at least two solid surfaces to build off of, and if nothing else it made test fitting a lot easier.

The one detail I did change was the intake bells on the engines. It's one area that even newer Tamiya kits have a problem with, so having a good set right out of the box was way too much to ask from an MPC kit originally released in 1969. These were made from crimp sleeves and O rings, and fit right into the spacers on the air cleaners.

Paint was simple enough on paper: black, yellow, red, and a few minor details. In practice, however, there were essentially no subassemblies that could be painted independently. That meant that quite a bit of time was spent masking and re-masking various areas to get the correct color breaks. The seats, curtains, and side panels were done with Tamiya TS-47 Chrome Yellow, the nose was painted TS-31 Bright Orange, and the body and frame were done with a mix of matte, satin, and gloss blacks to try to get a little variety. The engines got a shot of TS-86 Pure Red with Testors Aluminum for the transmissions. I was originally going to use the decals for the pinstripes in the yellow side panels, but the first one I tried was oversized so I said forget it and left them all off. Given how much is going on with the Coach already, it didn't really need the extra embellishments.

The chrome was extensive, and generally decent. I cleaned up a few edges on the radiators and air cleaners, but the worst parts were the side lanterns (no real surprise there, lanterns are often the weakest detail of any kit). For them, I cleaned up as much as I could and then replaced the damaged areas with pieces of chrome vinyl and silver paint. The rest of the trim just needed the usual cleanup at the sprue attachment points.

Overall, this was a fun change of pace from what I usually build. The Coach itself isn't exactly my favorite show rod, but MPC did a good job making a fun and straightforward model that goes together with little drama.

 

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