Round 2 re-released the AMT 1/25 scale 1970 Ford Mustang Funny Car Mach Won plastic model kit — which hasn’t seen the light of day in decades — and this time, it comes back with “refreshed” tooling and a plentiful decal sheet.
When you dig in, familiarize yourself with the parts inside because none of them are numbered. The instructions list the parts for each step, so you’ll need to be vigilant.
For the 427 ci big-block engine, I trimmed all 17 parts from the parts tree first, making sure to have all the pieces needed to complete the assembly. Without part numbers, this is a must. Trimming the chrome parts will leave visible areas that require touching up. You’ll need to clean up the engine block to eliminate the seam after assembly. The finished engine is a good representation of an old-school Funny Car mill.
Round 2 upgraded the tires from the original release (a usual move for the company), and the kit offers you a choice of American mag wheels front and back or swapping out the fronts for Shelby wheels.
I ran into some challenges with the chassis. You’ll assemble the frame rails, including the center pieces, first. Then, attach the mount for the fuel tanks, the drive shaft loop, the transmission mount, and the rear crossmember in that order. Make sure to keep these straight once they are in place.
Things get tricky with the rear suspension, the rear axle, and both the left and right radius rods. The locators in the rear axle don’t align well with the radius rods, which are supposed to line up with the pins on top of the rear axle. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get them to align, which put the rear axle off-center in the chassis.
The front suspension comes with its share of fit issues, too. However, the front shocks line up with the marks in the chassis, centering the suspension in the frame. The lower tie rod attaches to the front axle, followed by the radius rods, left and right. For me, the front shock interferes with fitting the drag link to the bell crank/upper tie rod. In turn, this poses a problem when assembling the pitman arm to the drag link. Fixing this will require reconfiguring the front shocks.
The interior floor pan is basic, which isn’t a knock — there wasn't a lot to these race cars. With approximately 10 parts, I had no issues with the entire assembly once completed. The drops into the chassis, followed by the headers and wheels. Pop on the two rear dust covers, and the chassis is complete!
The body of the Mach Won appears to be stock, but you have some options when it comes to the front grille, front pan, and lower spoiler. You also get two options for the headlights. The hood will be glued permanently closed to replicate a Funny Car. The taillight panel fits nicely, but the rear roll pan will need extensive work to fit properly. Without the roll pan, the body still looks good. There are no issues fitting the window to the body.
The decals provide plenty of options for marking the Mustang and customizing the look to your tastes. Although the instructions give you no indication of placement, it's not too hard to develop a game plan for placing the decals.
The AMT 1/25 scale 1970 Ford Mustang Funny Car Mach Won plastic model kit provides plenty of modeling challenges. After all, it’s still a vintage kit with some updates to the tooling, not an entirely redesigned kit from the ground up. If you spend time on the corrections needed, you will definitely be happy you did.
Round 2 keeps giving us the option to relive the kits of our past, so if your passion is Funny Cars, add this one to the list, but I’d suggest you have experience modifying parts before crawling under the hood.