JoHan in general, Mustang "Digger" Funny Car in particular

[jbwelda]

I never paid a whole lot of attention to JoHan models, other than the old promo releases, the Chrysler Turbine car, and the occasional Rambler oddball, but lately I have been curious about some of their later offerings. Like their funny cars. So I bid on and won this Mustang "Digger" Funny car (I thought funny cars and "diggers" were two different worlds, but let me not digress).




Paid about 35 for it, shipped, seemed like a pretty good deal, especially for something that is probably totally out of production, forever.

Or, is it? Have the molds for this been picked up by some other company and reissued? When was this model last issued?

And I have heard there is a decent level of detail, if maybe a little generic. Is this same funny car chassis used for other kits (like the pinto FC?) and is the body a stockish body (that is, stock wheelbase)? I hear the engines are particularly nice, any comments on that?

I do see it is molded in dark blue, and the example I bought is still factory sealed inside. 

Are there extra parts included, or is it pretty much strictly the FC version?


Now here is another one I am interested in. Any comments on it or its contents? I believe it contains a whole slew of extra parts.




I was actually planning on building it for a contest on our sister site, to enter in the custom category. The idea would be box art model of one of the dumbest, accessoried out, awkwardly styled Kustoms of the time...eg: the box art model. Dig the Krome rear fender skirts. And don't miss the spiked front and rear "bumpers". All included in the kit.

So, any comments welcome whether they be about these exact cars, or about similar cars in their line, or about completely unrelated JoHan releases. I do know they are revered for their accurate body lines and derided for their sometimes too shallow interiors.

thanks for any comments
jb

[Mr.409]

Yeah, I'd think it's pretty safe to say that those kits won't be reissued ever, but I certainly hope that I'd be wrong. I've never had that Mustang FC kit myself, even though I've been trying to find one with a reasonable price tag like yours, but I've heard many times about that kit since my dad built one when he was a kid. He said that the body is not stock and that it builds up pretty nice, but even though the engine is pretty nicely done, it's too small to look good between the frame rails. But what I really like about that kit is the decal sheet. Luckily my dad didn't put the decals on when he built that, because now I have the original decal sheet. It has some very cool vintage sponsor decals in it.

I bought one of those '63 Fury kits last year. It was unstarted and all parts were there. I probably paid too much on it, but I really wanted to have it. The kit indeed has all of those Custom parts (if I remember correctly) and it's pretty nice. The body looks very good, engine bay could be a little better, but the engine itself is really good. Filling the metal axle hole on the engine block is required if you want to improve the engine bay detailing, but that shouldn't be a big problem. Interior has door panels and seats molded in, but it's definitely not the worst effort that I've seen from Jo-Han. And while the dashboard is really nice, I think the interior will build up very nice. Definitely the worst part is the chassis with everything molded in, including the exhaust. Mine will probably be a race car so I'll have to change the whole chassis. I think Lindberg's '64 Dodge will be a perfect donor kit for that...

Hope this helps.

[sixty3]

My experience with JoHan kits has been pretty positive. In the early 70's I bought many of the Funny Car kits and as a teenager interested in Drag Racing found them to be a fairly close representation of the Funny cars I saw in the magazines. I recall having several including a 1969 Road Runner, 1969 Olds Cutlass and a Javelin. I think they were all the same chassis, motor combo with a different body and interior tin. I also recall the Sox and Martin Pro Stock Cuda kit being a pretty nice kit. The carburetors in that kit were very detailed as I recall. That is one JoHan kit I would like to have again but the prices are out of reach. JoHan always offered some decent Drag Racing cars in the Pro Stock classes with an AMX version, Mercury Comet and Ford Mavericks as well as the Cuda.

[Mr.409]

The Jo-Han Pro Stock Barracuda is indeed a pretty good kit. Even though it's fairly simple, it builds up very nicely. Especially the engine in that kit is really nice and I agree that the carburetor detailing is pretty sharp. I built one of these from a glue bomb a few years ago, and now I bought another glue bomb for $5...

Here is the one I rebuilt.


The "Drag On Lady" AMX Super Stock kit builds up pretty nice as well, but the kit has some problems. I decided to go full detail on that one, but even if I didn't, the kit would still require some modifying. The trickiest part might be the inner fenders in the engine bay. The only kit pieces that are close come in the Jo-Han SC Rambler, luckily I found one of those as a glue bomb as well so I'll take the inner fenders from that and install them on my AMX.

[Deleted]

You really can't go wrong with a Johan kit, they are pure FUN...