The F1M Forums

Hi

so I got myself a couple of old indycar kits; since the decals are not that good anymore I'll be getting some new ones from Indycals - but since not all the liveries are my favourites, I might build some different versions. But when browsing the Indycals offerings, I get a bit confused, since not all the kits clearly state which exact car they are, so I'm doing some research to find out, what decals fit what model, so what exactly I can build...
My knowledge of Indycar and Indycar kits before 1993 is limited, so if anyone here could help me out...

Kit 1 is an '88 AMT Penske PC17 with Miller sponsoring, for this I would get the 88 Pennzoil markings, this seems to be fine, I think.

Kit 2 is an '88 AMT KRACO March 88C - I guess the 88 Quaker State Porsche decals would fit, if I ignore the wrong engine, correct? The options with the same engine don't seem so exciting to me.

Kit 3 is the '89 AMT Amway Lola - from what I see, the 89 Newman Haas decals should fit (again ignoring the engine). The only interesting option with the correct engine would be the STP #7 car, I guess.

Kit 4 is a '88 Monogram Valvoline March - I think I will keep this livery, just get new Decals

Kit 5 is an Monogram Buick Lola, I guess I will keep this livery, too; no replacement decals there, but they still seem useable. If I ignore the engine again, I could go for Newman Haas or Provimi, but on the Indycals page those decals are not listed for the monogram kits.

With the wrong engines it would probably depend on whether I care about the differences, I guess...

So if anyone has experience with these kits, and could tell me if I'm at least not totally wrong...

I think your best option is to contact Michael at Indycals by email. He always responds promptly, and can probably answer all of your questions.

Kit 1 is an '88 AMT Penske PC17 with Miller sponsoring, for this I would get the 88 Pennzoil markings, this seems to be fine, I think.

Yes

Kit 2 is an '88 AMT KRACO March 88C - I guess the 88 Quaker State Porsche decals would fit, if I ignore the wrong engine, correct? The options with the same engine don't seem so exciting to me.

Again, correct. There's not much love for those 88C's - I sell very few decals for those kits and most are the Quaker State set. One of the March kits - the Domino's kit - was only ran part of the year. Most of 1988 they used a Lola.

Kit 3 is the '89 AMT Amway Lola - from what I see, the 89 Newman Haas decals should fit (again ignoring the engine). The only interesting option with the correct engine would be the STP #7 car, I guess.

Pretty much all Lola decals will fit any AMT lola kit. But with the Amway kit I have noticed that some of them have the 1988 bodywork and some have the 1989 body work and there is no way to tell what is in the box until you open it. The differences are subtle, mainly the engine cover is more streamlined/rounded and the kick-ups in from of the rear tires don't go as high. It wouldn't be hard to find a Chevy engine and do Al Unser Jr's 1989 2nd place Indy 500 car, although you'd need the 1988 flip-ups.

Kit 4 is a '88 Monogram Valvoline March - I think I will keep this livery, just get new Decals

Kit 5 is an Monogram Buick Lola, I guess I will keep this livery, too; no replacement decals there, but they still seem useable. If I ignore the engine again, I could go for Newman Haas or Provimi, but on the Indycals page those decals are not listed for the monogram kits.

Honestly I'm not a fan of those kits, thus my lack of decals for those kits. The March doesn't look like a March and the Lola doesn't look like a Lola and they both tend to look more like each other than the cars they are supposed to represent. Drive-train detail is generic and the gearboxes look nothing like what was actually used. Keep in mind that I do make a Buick engine to go in the AMT kits and I do have several decals for the AMT kits that replicate Buick powered cars.

Thanks a lot, I will see what else I'll need and then place an order.

Michael is the MAN for your Indy car decal needs.

But another key point to consider about the Monogram kits in addition to Michael's comments above -- the Monogram kits are 1/24 and the AMTs are 1/25. You will find the Monogram cars look really clunky side by side with the AMT kits.

Well, my Indycar collection so far consists of the Newman Haas Tamiya and two Revell Reynards, so I'm not that concerned about scale... and of course I need to build them first, which may take a while