To honor funny car racers of the ’60s and ’70s, Round 2 LLC announced last year that it will be releasing a new drag racing memorabilia line called "Legends of the Quarter Mile." The first model kit released was Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick's 1969 GTO funny car known as the "Super Judge." Hailing from Morrison, Illinois, Beswick is a legend in his own time. He is the most well-known Pontiac drag racer in the world. For over 50 years, his successes have made him a fan favorite. Keep in mind this nostalgia kit was originally issued in 1969 by MPC, and has been reissued several times since, this time in a very cool original box art. As it’s an older kit, expect to spend considerable time cleaning up the parts. Round 2 has also added "MH Racemaster" printed slicks and very nice Beswick decals. The assembly breaks down into several sub assemblies:

Engine

It’s simple and not highly detailed, and there are alignment issues that will need puttying. You can add plugs, magneto, and wires on your own to spruce up the engine. I did not have a chrome manifold in my kit. Instead, there is an unchromed one, but it was not a good fit with this particular engine. I used a piece of styrene sheet that I fitted to the engine. Round 2 also provides a "tail stock" part to lengthen the transmission; however, this made the driveshaft too long. Take care assembling the completed engine to the chassis – I had to enlarge the front engine mount holes to accommodate the engine fan belt, and had trouble fitting the front blower to the fan belt as well, and sanded off the blower's attachment point to fit to the belt.

Chassis

Be sure to get both frames lined up squarely. I used a jig consisting of 0.100" x .125" strip sprue taped to a grid for proper alignment – my self-healing craft mat worked well. I tried out the frame alignment using white glue on the parts. When ready, I cleaned up the parts and used Tamiya extra thin liquid glue to attach the frames to the 4 cross-mount pieces. The Tamiya glue takes 10-15 minutes to set up, allowing time to position each piece properly. The front and rear suspensions are fragile, but go together well if you follow the instructions. Just a note: I'd recommend stripping the chrome after mold line clean-up, and re-spraying with Alclad or a similar product. The cockpit section, seat, and roll bars fit well. Keep in mind, the steering wheel, like the body (see below) is "stock," not a racing-style wheel. The wheel-to-tire assembly is difficult – because the tires are hollow, it's hard to get the wheel edge outside of the tire lip. It took a couple of attempts before getting them properly aligned. To expedite the build, I painted the non chrome parts flat black.

Body

You get a stock ‘69 GTO body with door handles, key locks, and scripts that should be sanded off. The hood panel lines needed to be sanded smooth, and there are gaps in the front grill and rear bumper assemblies that need to be filled. I painted the body with Alclad's new candy line, starting with Alclad's silver undercoat, which is to be applied directly to the unprimed body. I found the silver highlighted every minor body scratch I made sanding the body's imperfections. Next time I'll use a darker undercoat that hides minor scratches, or polish the body before using the silver. The candy paints sprayed with ease, and dried to a nice gloss. Start with a mist coat or two, and then build up with heavier wet coats. You get two windshields – clear and yellow tint; I used the latter. The inner firewall is nicely detailed with rivets. Unfortunately, I could not get the assembled body on the chassis when completed! The decals are excellent, in focus, and easy to apply. Just watch the long decals, as they can tear!

Thanks to Round 2 for re-issuing this kit. Bear in mind that the molds for this kit are well over 40 years old. While they have held up over the years, there is a large amount of clean-up needed. With a few added details, this kit will build up into a nice replica of an iconic funny car from the late 60's. I look forward to other Round 2 releases.

Thanks to Round 2 for the kit, and thanks to IPMS USA for the opportunity to build and review this kit.