Another General Lee (nice one)

[Mike DC]

There seems to be one of those "Charger laws of the universe" that the rollcages on die-cast Charger toys must look like crap.  

Sort of like the law that says any 2nd-gen getting a major role in Hollywood must get wrecked.  

Or the law that the plastic grilles must never be reproduced.  

[MoparManJim]

John, dont bother anymore.

Myself & Gene (hemigeno) had our hands in making the 68-70 Charger Authentics series...they actually used Gene's '69 Hemi Charger as the main model.  It was a long process that took many emails, phone calls back and forth, pictures etc to agree on what was "right" and what was "acceptable" due to price, labor & tooling constraints.

Bottom line is you cant/wont please everyone........

PS---I've used the glue comment a few times as well....

I am starting to anymore get offended by it in a way 

[jwramc]

John, dont bother anymore.

Bottom line is you cant/wont please everyone........

And I know that, too. I just have a really low tolerance for stupid and always feel I have to try and fix it. But it's true, it can't be fixed.

He's made it to my ignore list...like the rest of the world's, I suppose.

Nice sample pics. Did you get to keep that?  

John

[MoparManJim]

John, dont bother anymore.

Bottom line is you cant/wont please everyone........

And I know that, too. I just have a really low tolerance for stupid and always feel I have to try and fix it. But it's true, it can't be fixed.

He's made it to my ignore list...like the rest of the world's, I suppose.

Nice sample pics. Did you get to keep that?  

John

I don't care really if you put me on your ignore list or not, I know you will not see this but I don't care. I guess you all don't care how a die cast looks. Oh well.. 

[Brock Lee]

I worked with them on the General Lee's for the RC2 Authentics run. I also gave them the info to make the 1968 headlight bezels. Anyone involved in that project remembers the sad events that led up to the General Lee. We had a guy working it, eager to get it all right, hammered out the Archer CB antenna and before it could go any farther, he fell ill. The project was pushed through with the old screens and parts. I am so, so glad they are getting some of these revisions done we hoped for on the RC2 run. I will buy one.

[jwramc]

I worked with them on the General Lee's for the RC2 Authentics run. I also gave them the info to make the 1968 headlight bezels. Anyone involved in that project remembers the sad events that led up to the General Lee. We had a guy working it, eager to get it all right, hammered out the Archer CB antenna and before it could go any farther, he fell ill. The project was pushed through with the old screens and parts. I am so, so glad they are getting some of these revisions done we hoped for on the RC2 run. I will buy one.

Yup, the GL lost a huge accuracy buff when he passed, and the RC2 leadership decided anything orange with a flag on it will sell (and it did, so from their viewpoint, they did the right thing).

AW now has guys like that helping them, hence the new changes. That we can't have EVERYTHING we want is a matter of financial and logistical business compromise. But we've never had a better GL to buy, and another successsful run can mean more corrections on any possible future run. These days, it's about surviving the downturn, and hoping for better days ahead. Do what you can with what you have available, and improve what you can with the lowest new investments. Reality bites.

Thanks, Brock. 

[TUFCAT]

jwramc, I thouroughly enjoy reading your insights on the filming of DMCL.... Your memory and historical knowledge is fascinating! Keep those obscure (otherwise forgotten) move facts coming in. As a DMCL fan, I enjoy reading every single post, as well as those from Bert "model maker"!    

[MoparManJim]

The last few days, I been upset over afew things not board related. I flew into jwramc over the General Lee issue. I just wanted to apologize to you (jwramc).. sorry I came at you so hard like I did, man, about the General Lee flaws. I'm not asking you to for give me or anything at all.. I just wanted to apologize was all. Thank you.   

[jwramc]

Well, thanks TC.  

It's really just that I personally fell hard for this movie, and every viewing makes me love it more. And the internet became a good way to network with a few other folks I found that had tidbits of info, and it just kept spreading. Goodle Earth was invaluable as once I knew the filming took place in and around Linden, CA, I just 'flew' overhead looking for objects and intersections in the area that seemed to match shots in the film, and I'd zoom to street level to see photos of that area. Also, the locomotive was tracked down really easy, as the railroad still exists, so I called the office, they said they still owned it and I added it to places to visit. Once there, I met one of the film crew that gave me lots of pieces of memory about the train crash filming weekend, and coupled with the DVD interviews andtalking with others than knew a little something about this and that...it all kind of comes together. There's always holes, but I'll lay out the pieces and think- how do we get from this to this...the simplest way? Those ideas then inform other holes...and eventually you get stuff like my description of that train crash weekend. 90% of that was jumbled pieces...like the El camino mentioned as towing the Charger after the pullet broke on an earlier take. A separate mention was the train swap overnight. Still another was Bert's car surviving to be sold, which disproved the director's memory that all three were destroyed. The precise order of events is partly conjecture, but it was the best 'fit' to make a sensible chain of events. I'd be shocked if the events happened in a wildly different manner than I laid out, given how each change would alter the timing of other factors.

In the simplest example, it's easy to figure out that the shot of the SE Charger headed toward the crash with the red pickup was filmed quite early as the car is rather clean (tho the platic grille surround is warped somewhat on the passenger side)....while the shot of it at the flea market was filmed very late...weeks later. The signage on the building behind it doesn't match the shots of the RT car sitting there moments later in the film, and the white Rambler behind the RT isn't behind the SE either. Common sense would tell you this is the order those scenes were shot...even if the director hadn't said so specifically to explain why the flea market scenes look very different shot-to-shot. So much of the 10% I've added in comes from the DVD itself, crawling through shots looking for the clues.

I'm always open to ideas that alter the understanding I have of how things were done. I wasn't there. I have to rely on stories and such told 40 years later...and decide how much of it fits, and how much of it just makes no sense so must be a faulty recollection (if solid evidence can't be sourced). Susan George tells a doozie on the DVD where she claims the cast were in the Charger while it was being side-bumped by the patrol car...which is ridiculous if for no other reason than the camera is mounted on the door of the #1 car they inhabit in that chase...on the cop's side! Ignoring the fact that we only see the #2 (from behind) and #3 car (front in front) being bumped...(different takes as there's no camera on the door looking in)....the crew would never allow the camera between two cars banging into each other. The cast shots were taken with nothing next to the Charger, and they just reacted as if they were being bumped....y'know, acting?! She's either got a fluffy memory or, more likely, she's over-selling it for the DVD's sake.

Everytime I tell this stuff, I'm hoping to be challenged...cuz the debate helps to fine tune the whole history.

MMJim- Accepted. Life's too short and all that. 

[Mike DC]

I worked with them on the General Lee's for the RC2 Authentics run. I also gave them the info to make the 1968 headlight bezels. Anyone involved in that project remembers the sad events that led up to the General Lee. We had a guy working it, eager to get it all right, hammered out the Archer CB antenna and before it could go any farther, he fell ill. The project was pushed through with the old screens and parts. I am so, so glad they are getting some of these revisions done we hoped for on the RC2 run. I will buy one.

Unfortunate.   Did the guy turn out all right?

For what it's worth this looks like the first GL toy that I won't be changing half the details on.  The cage annoys me but most of the rest of it is impressive.  I would make a couple more changes but only a couple.  I will definitely be buying one of them when they come out.  

I bought a Corgi 1/43rd scale die-cast General Lee (about 6 inches long) in London a few years ago.  That one is the most accurate GL toy I have found up to now.  I think just the fact that it was foreign meant they didn't start out by repeating any of the decades-long mistakes in the American toys.

[jwramc]

...which are made in China.  ...but I digress. 

[Gregory]

Just read the thread, GL looks great, I like seeing how everyone likes them different. Even if it's the same concept people are picky about every detail, interesting.....I love them all...all chargers!!

[kikgas01]

I worked with them on the General Lee's for the RC2 Authentics run. I also gave them the info to make the 1968 headlight bezels. Anyone involved in that project remembers the sad events that led up to the General Lee. We had a guy working it, eager to get it all right, hammered out the Archer CB antenna and before it could go any farther, he fell ill. The project was pushed through with the old screens and parts. I am so, so glad they are getting some of these revisions done we hoped for on the RC2 run. I will buy one.

Unfortunate.   Did the guy turn out all right?

For what it's worth this looks like the first GL toy that I won't be changing half the details on.  The cage annoys me but most of the rest of it is impressive.  I would make a couple more changes but only a couple.  I will definitely be buying one of them when they come out.  

I bought a Corgi 1/43rd scale die-cast General Lee (about 6 inches long) in London a few years ago.  That one is the most accurate GL toy I have found up to now.  I think just the fact that it was foreign meant they didn't start out by repeating any of the decades-long mistakes in the American toys.

Mike DC Can you post a pic of it?

[kikgas01]

Hey jwramc , do you know what color of orange they are using? Or is it 1975 Corvette flame red?

[Mike DC]

Mike DC Can you post a pic of it?

Here's a pic of one that I just pulled off the net. 
It's not particularly impressive next to the 1:18th cars but this thing is pretty small.

[jwramc]

Regarding the color, I'll ask.

If that's a Corgi, it's impressive as they normally make US stuff look much boxier than it should...the bodies lose all finese. That Charger ain't too shabby at all.

[kikgas01]

Agreed, it looks pretty darn good.

[jwramc]

Am I crazy or did they paint the vinyl trim on only one sail panel?  What the  filth  and  flarn! It's so easy to do it right!! Why do the companies not care about us!!?!! I've never been so personally offended!! I'm gonna go kick my dog....

[nvrbdn]

i think what your seeing is that they only painted it on the outside on each side.

[jwramc]

I was only busting chops BUT look on the forward/left corner of the trunklid.

[Mike DC]

  
My own Corgi GL has the vinyl top trim painted evenly on both sides.  

Once again, you need take into account the size of the thing.  The tires are the diameter of a dime.  The whole car fits nicely on top of a dollar bill with nothing hanging over the edges. 

[Brock Lee]

Unfortunate.   Did the guy turn out all right?

He passed away.

[nvrbdn]

I was only busting chops BUT look on the forward/left corner of the trunklid.

my bad, i thought the lines there might be glare rather than paint.

[jwramc]

S'ok. My sarcasm in the 'complaint' post went largely un-noticed as well.

[kikgas01]

YE

S'ok. My sarcasm in the 'complaint' post went largely un-noticed as well.

YEP HAHA. Anyway that Corgi looks a LOT bigger in the pic.