Scale Auto – October 2019

Several areas on the chassis contain large

ejector-pin marks that might be visible, like

these at the nose. Fill and sand as necessary.

The underside of the pickup box also contains
some ejector-pin marks that will be visible on
either side of the rear chassis. Those need to
be filled and sanded.

Out of the box, the rear suspension is slightly

low, causing the rear of the truck to sag a bit.

Also, the differential has a clearance issue with

the fuel tank. I added shims made from .020-

inch sheet styrene to raise the rear end.

The engine in the MPC Dodge pickups has been
described at times as a 440, a 400, a 360, and
even a 318. But with a front distributor, this is
a big block. Except for the oil pan and air
cleaner, it’s essentially the same engine
included in the MPC ’71 Road Runner.

The interior goes back to the early Adventurer

SE releases of the kit. To do the correct seat

pattern, all the seat pleats should be filled.

MPC offers a choice of four different wheel

and tire options (top). Even base Utiline

trucks could be optioned with the five-slot

wheel and white-letter tires, so I used a set of

L60-15 Goodyear Polyglas tires from the AMT

Polyglas GT Tires Parts Pack (No. AMTPP006)

instead (bottom).

http://www.ScaleAutoMag.com 29

Dodge pickups did not include a headliner in

1978, so the inside of the cab needs to be

painted as well as the outside. Here again,

large ejector-pin marks need to be filled.

Mold lines were minimal on my sample. Note

that the mold line at the rear top of the cab

door is a seam visible on the real truck, so don’t

eliminate it. In fact, some scribing may be

necessary to sharpen this detail.

The fender tips don’t form completely around
the grille. You’ll have to fill and sand to get
those to form up. I used some plastic shavings
and Testors liquid cement to fill the gaps.