Mad Max Interceptor scratch build Query...

New member here, I have been using this site for inspiration and reference for a long time now, finally joined today, one of the best communities out there!

Now for the first time, I need to ask the RPF for some advice regarding scratch building a Mad Max Interceptor. I know that there is a kit available from Aoshima, but this is too pricey so I have decided to finally try my hand at scratch building one using and existing 1:24 scale model car kit as a base. Although I have been building models and scratch building movie props for many many years, I do not have a hugely extensive knowledge about cars.

Can anyone advise a 1:24 scale model car kit that would make a semi-decent base for an Interceptor? I know the actual car used in the movie was a XB GT Ford Falcon, but I have never been able to find a kit of this car, so wondered if there might be another car out there that is pretty close to it?

Any help appreciated!

I think the 1970-73ish ford torino could be made to work good.

Mad Max Movies - Comparison of the Australian XB Coupe with US Cars

The closest car size wise was a Ford Maverick. The Torino is way too long, and while it shares some features, over all it's not a good match. The Mach 1 Mustang also shares some features with the Ford Falcon XB.

a word of advice from someone who has built a very large, and detailed mad max diorama. The Aoshima kit might seem expensive, but the $40-50 you'll spend on the kit, is going to be cheap compared to what you'll spend buying multiple model kits for single bits and pieces, and the styrene and tools. Plus the time.

You can also back order it right now from HLJ for $30

With the new movie coming next year, I'm sure you'll see a repop of the Aoshima kit, so if you have a little patience you can pick one up, have a straight forward, very accurate build, at a pretty reasonable price.

Thanks for the advice all, I guess I just get more satisfaction out of making something that is really my own. The Aoshima kit is very tempting, but not sure if I will go for it yet. If I can see a good model car to base it from, I would really enjoy the challenge of converting it to an interceptor....we will see if anything turns up! Perhaps my Mrs might see this post and buy me the Aoshima kit for Christmas this year!!

as tgreco says the mach 1 mustang is very similiar but like he also says the aoshima kit would be the go.very nice kit.

Thanks all, I will check out both suggestions, off to do a little research.......if it really looks like way too much work, I may take your advice and just go the Aoshima route....I suppose I could then build a little Max to sit in it!

Actually, I remember coming across someone that kit bashed one together, using the front of a 1980s Camero with a 1969 Shelby Mustang body (I think. And I think possibly another vehicle as well, but I can't remember). The guy who made it, his website no long exists. But thanks to the Mad Max Movies fan site, they still had a picture of it:

Oh, awesome, that looks pretty good! Thanks for posting the pictures, after researching some of the other suggestions, I had come to the conclusion that I might have to abandon this project and just save my pennies for the Aoshima kit. This looks ok though, Camaro and Mustang could be a possibility! Time for a nice a cup of tea and more research....without some of these suggestions I would be totally lost!

This is probably one of the cheapest chances to get your hands on one of these kits. Shipping is included on this offer.
Aoshima Model Kit 1 24 Road Warrior Mad Max 2 Interceptor 1973 XB GT Ford | eBay
Don´t waste too much time. They will eventually be sold out and start skyrocketing again. That happend each time when the Interceptor was re-released.

Here´s my unfinished build of the Interceptor. I modified it to the specs of the original Mad Max movie.





It´s a rather simple curbside model, but it looks brutal and to me it was definately worth the investment.

For a scratchbuilt project, I´d use the 70 Torino from Revell. It has VERY similar roof lines and quarter panels. The main part that has to be modified is the rear panel, the front fenders and a little bit work on the door panels. Then incorporate the hood from AMT´s 73 Mustang, add fender flares and you´re on the right path.

Maybe you can track down some built-up parts cars from evilbay. The kits mentioned are not rare and should be dead cheap when they pop up.

Best regards,
Kevin

The Aoshima kit looks very impressive, thanks for the advice regarding purchasing it soon. I really appreciate the kit bash advice, one of the main reasons I wanted to go this route (apart from price!) is that 1/24 car kits are always turning up at our local thrift store for a couple of dollars, so I tend to accumulate them easily. Will check out your suggestions, I think the Torino/Mustang way might be the winning combination....thank you so much! Obviously, if I go ahead with either option I will put the build up on the rpf for anyone who is interested!

Well, actually we are all interested in a build log.:cool

I was just surfing through evilbay and took a look for the stuff you´d need for the scratchbuild route. This is the Mustang hood I was talking about:
AMT Parts '70's Mustang Hood | eBay
There is currently no ´70 Torino gluebomb available but it´s just a matter of time for one to show up. And I happen to have some left-over wheels in my parts box for the Interceptor project. Just in case you get started soon.:thumbsup

Cheers, much appreciated! Will start doing a little planning and snooping around for kits, if and when this one gets off the ground I will be sure to make a build log so you can view my progress/frustration!

I'm resurrecting this old post since its in relation of the topic.

I've been looking at other models to see if there were any other possible combination of models that could be Frankensteined together to make a decent looking Interceptor. So far, I've figured out that for U.S. models, a Revell 1970 2'n'1 Ford Torino at least from the front of the doors on back.



Here's a side shot of the model off the box:


Here's a side shot of an Interceptor for comparison.


It may not be exactly the same by comparing the sides. In fact, I think the tail end of the Torino is a bit longer in comparison to the Interceptor, but the general shape from the front of the doors to the back seem close enough, and the back seat windows seem to match in shape. A little modification to the tail end of the car as well may be able to help in getting it to look close to the Interceptor.

Now, for the front end, a mid-1980s Chevy Camaro can be useful. However, after some looking around, I found another front half that can work, and its from another Ford: the 1979-1982 Ford Mustang. Revell, Monogram and even MPC made kits for these year models, and some of them look like that they can serve as the front of an Interceptor with some minor modification to the grill area, the fenders and adding coverage over the headlights. Here's a picture of an old Monogram 1982 Ford Mustang kit:



As you can see, the front of the vehicle looks quite similar to the Interceptor, it requiring some minor modifications to cover the running lights on the front sides of the fenders. Unfortunately, I don't know if there are any of these kits recently available or if there's any that can be found to be used.

I did, however, find a Mack DM600 model from MPC at Hobby Lobby that looked like a great base for a model of the Mack truck from The Road Warrior. Here's a picture of the box:



With some minor modifications and a scratch built front guard, this thing would make a great addition to any Mad Max scale model fleet and is 1/25 scale.

That's about it for now. Trying to figure out if there's any other recent models that could be used for other Mad Max vehicles.

Being a Kiwi living in Aussie I would say there is nothing close to an XB. But, wow, a lot of similarities. Even the rear side windows are quite close. Nice spotting CB2001.:cheers

Chaank said:

Being a Kiwi living in Aussie I would say there is nothing close to an XB. But, wow, a lot of similarities. Even the rear side windows are quite close. Nice spotting CB2001.:cheers

Click to expand...

Thanks. And the best part is that Tornino model is available here in the States (in fact, I went to Hobby Lobby after seeing the latest Terminator movie just to see the kit with my own eyes to compare with photos of various fan replicas of the vehicle and screen caps of the first film), and the body seems like it would require minor modifications to be at least close enough (especially the rear section for the tail lights and such). The drawback is that I don't know how available the 1980s Ford Mustang models are for the front, or if any company is currently producing them (but I've wondered if maybe the front of the early 1990s Mustangs would also be likely (before the 1994 where they changed the shape of the cars). I have also been trying to compare current available models to the Nightrider Interceptor seen at the beginning of the first film, and so far, a 1969 Camaro looks like a possibility from the doors on back (much like Torino, it looks like the rear would have to be modified).

Honestly, I wish that AMT/ERTL, Monogram, Polar Lights or some other U.S. Company would just go ahead and do the model of the Interceptor (hell, if a model of The Chevy driven by Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher for about two scenes can be released, and it has, why not the Interceptor, one of the most iconic film vehicles?). But, since we here in the States haven't gotten one, and most model kits are either inaccurate or are from other countries (such as one from Japan that's real popular, but goes into the mid triple digits in pricing on eBay), I figured it'd be easier to find out what models could be Frankensteined together to make a decent Interceptor (granted, not 100% accurate, but at least a decent enough one).

In relation to the topic, I think that if someone wanted to do a modern version of the Interceptor, there's a couple of car kits of modern vehicles that can be used for Frankenstening a modern interpretation of the vehicle (so far, the best back section I can see is from the doors on back for a current model Chevy Camaro, or whatever the modern year model Camaro Bumblebee from Transformers is suppose to be, primarily because of how the rear windows are shaped similar to the Falcon).

Of course, to me, it was better to share possible vehicles to Frankenstein together to get that classic Interceptor style than to keep it to myself. I'm someone can take this info and run with it if I don't get around to it (I'm trying to get back into model car building, and am looking at weathering techniques to make a post-apocalyptic type vehicle from another franchise.

Not sure if this will help, but I built a MadMax style Car a few weeks ago using a Mach 1 Mustang. It was a very fun build!

Nice ride, TokyoJoe. The Mach 1 also seems like an excellent base for an Interceptor. Like I've posted before here, someone over at MadMaxFans made one using a Shelby Mustang body and a 1980s Camaro front. So the classic Mustangs in one way or another can be excellent bases.

Superbeast said:

a XB GT Ford Falcon, but I have never been able to find a kit of this car, !

Click to expand...

There's a resin kit of the XB GT, but it's just as expensive as the Aoshima kit

http://www.thepartsbox.com/

a torino shouldn't look too bad as a Mad Max interceptor


here's a photoshop of a 73 Dodge Charger

I actually purchased the Torino model I found from Hobby Lobby earlier today. I can see that the doors on the model won't be as good for the Interceptor (the handles for the Torino are the chrome kind that stick out, unlike the doors of a Falcon where its built into the door). So, whatever the front that's used for an Interceptor model, the doors will have to be used from that model as well. I haven't found any 1979-1982 Ford Mustang models that best match the front end. I've seen a couple of 1980s Camaros on eBay, but the 1980s Camaro in model form appears to be few and far between (the ones I've found have been a part of "junkyard lots", where people have a bulk of models and model parts for sale that they no longer want. Typically, these are parts box stuff, other times are completed models or completed models that got damaged). But I'm keeping my eye open for either one.

Also, I found this paper craft model. I figured it could probably be used for scratch building an Interceptor (similar to how paper craft templates are used for armor building, but more like how its used in this tutorial). I don't know what the scale is, but I think it could be possible to scale it to match the 1/24 or 1/25 size, and may be useful for scratch building an Interceptor: http://longtailscafe.com/papermodelworld/papermodelworld_01.html

The model is in PDF format for an easy print and build. They also have the yellow Interceptors down towards the bottom of the page. Hope this is helpful.

Honestly, I wish that AMT/ERTL, Monogram, Polar Lights or some other U.S. Company would just go ahead and do the model of the Interceptor (hell, if a model of The Chevy driven by Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher for about two scenes can be released, and it has, why not the Interceptor, one of the most iconic film vehicles?)

Click to expand...

The Jack Reacher car was a Chevelle that is very popular in its own right. They already had a kit for it. That's the difference.

In the 'states an XB Falcon is the MM car and nothing else, and Fury Road gave that car its first 30 seconds of screen time in the last 30 years.