Model Kit Monday - Entex MGTC
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So I got a pretty good reaction last week, so I guess I'll keep going...
If you know the name Entex, you're probably my age, give or take a few years. And you probably remember them for either Loc-Blocs or handheld electronic video games. But the once-pride of Compton, California also sold model kits, usually license-made by various companies in Japan.
Some of them were fairly simple affairs; I have a Lotus Esprit model from Entex that has no engine detail and a simple one-piece chassis. There are maybe 30-40 pieces in the whole thing. But this MGTC is a bit more complicated: 164 pieces, to be exact.
Big or little, simple or complex, Entex models were always well-made and included good detail. I mean, just look at these wire wheels. They even have valve stems!
It also includes nice little details like a piano-hinge for the top of the hood (sorry, "bonnet") and a complete fifth wheel and tire for the spare.
I built a couple of Entex models when I was a kid, and I was impressed by the quality even back then. Someone at Entex must have been a big Mazda rotary fan: the two kits I remember building were a 1/20 scale Mazda RX3 coupe, and a 1/5 scale rotary engine, with a transparent block so you could see the rotors turn. (These are still not too hard to find on eBay and pretty cool; I may pick up another one to build again someday.)
So we've done a German sports coupe and the British granddaddy of all roadsters. Next week, we're going all-American, and totally metal.
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Very cool!
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...hey buddy ol pal ol friend, want to build a 1/12 scale Lotus Europa race care in the next few weeks? Cause uhhhh I don't need to keep this big ol kit I've got!
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I have a Lotus 49 and Lotus 25 I bought years ago -an Ebbro and some other - which I really need to get around to completing.
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@mark-tucker Interesting. That's either before my time or just outside my preference, but those are really impressive kits. Any time they add mixed media like those piano hinges it gets a fave from me.
Are you going to build it? I'd love to see it completed. -
@mark-tucker I would like to see it when you have it together - one of the best looking cars ever I think.
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@skyfire77 Yes... eventually. I have about 70 kits (and counting) and a fleet of vintage '80s RC cars as well, so it may be a while before I get around to this one.
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@mark-tucker I know that feeling.
I've not inventoried my unbuilt kits in a while, but there's probably nearly that many, and at least four kits in various states of completion, including an LHA and a kit-bashed SR-71C that are basically abandoned until I source replacement parts. -
Yep, I built that one, too. Although it's looking a bit like a barn find with years of dust on it.
