Monogram '53 Corvette vs AMT '53 Corvette?

[Aaronw]

I see Revell is re-issuing the 1/24 Monogram Corvette. I am currently building an AMT '53 Corvette which appears to be one of their later kits. I am quite happy with this kit as far as fit and detail.

I have plans for a second '53 Corvette that I am looking at doing a bit differantly more of a concept car and so I'm wondering how these kits compare other than the slight scale difference. The Monogram kit should be a little easier to find when it comes out, but the AMT kit is far from difficult to locate on ebay.

Anyone have experience with both kits that can give an opinion of the pros and cons of each kit or if one is clearly a better kit?

Thanks

[Greg Pugh]

I'll say that the Monogram kit has a better fit/finish thing going for it. There is not as much clean up to do to it either. It's a rather simple (read: plain) model that a person would probably need to add quite a bit to it if you're a details freak but overall, it's a great model. The only other thing I could say about the Monogram kit is that it looks great when sitting but itself but (to me anyway) it looks like it's too large. I'd say it scales out closer to a 1/22 or something. I haven't actually measured it but when it's sitting next to Monogram's '58 Thunderbird, it looks too big. It's proportionately appealing to the eye in itself though.

In a nutshell, I would go with Monogram's kit over AMT's in my opinion.

[jaydar]

What scale is AMT's '53 vette? I am a bit miffed that Revell released Monogram's 1/24 rather than a 1/25 keeping in scale with all of the other Revell corvettes.

joe.

[Danno]

What scale is AMT's '53 vette? I am a bit miffed that Revell released Monogram's 1/24 rather than a 1/25 keeping in scale with all of the other Revell corvettes.

joe.

AMT's '53 Vette is 1/25 scale, like all their kits since time began.

Monogram's '53 Vette was advertised as 1/24. That kit dates back to the time when Monogram was trying to force-change the USA convention of 1/25-scale over to "world" convention of 1/24-scale. Didn't work out too well for them.

Revell produced its domestic (North American) kits in 1/25-scale. When they merged, they adopted an approach of Monogram producing 1/24 kits and Revell producing 1/25 kits. When they reissue old kits (such as the '53 Vette), they sell them under the appropriate brand.

That's the nutshell version.

[niteowl7710]

Revell produced its domestic (North American) kits in 1/25-scale. When they merged, they adopted an approach of Monogram producing 1/24 kits and Revell producing 1/25 kits. When they reissue old kits (such as the '53 Vette), they sell them under the appropriate brand.

That's the nutshell version.

If only out were that easy, as of this last batch of reissues, EVERYTHING has been coming out under that Monogram "Wheels of Badly Reissued Dreams" label as the Lighting F-150, Ram V-10, '99 Mustang Cobra, and Dodge Viper amongst others are 1:25 scale Revell kits.

Edited November 14, 2012 by niteowl7710

[Aaronw]

I'll say that the Monogram kit has a better fit/finish thing going for it. There is not as much clean up to do to it either. It's a rather simple (read: plain) model that a person would probably need to add quite a bit to it if you're a details freak but overall, it's a great model. The only other thing I could say about the Monogram kit is that it looks great when sitting but itself but (to me anyway) it looks like it's too large. I'd say it scales out closer to a 1/22 or something. I haven't actually measured it but when it's sitting next to Monogram's '58 Thunderbird, it looks too big. It's proportionately appealing to the eye in itself though.

In a nutshell, I would go with Monogram's kit over AMT's in my opinion.

I'm wondering if there is more than one AMT '53 Corvette glue kit (I know they also did a snap kit). Looking on line I'm seeing one in a much older looking box listed as T310, but the one I have is listed as 31811 and it looks very much like something AMT would have done in the 90s. I'm not seeing your description of the Monogram kit as better than what I have on the work bench (out of scale, minimal detail) which also leads me to believe maybe we are not looking at the same AMT kit.

The out of scale thing could work for me though, as I'm looking at a what if Corvette and bigger means more room to tinker.

Thanks

[Danno]

AMT T310 was the early issue glue kit.

31811 was a reissue of the same kit.

8314 was a simplified snap kit.

All good kits.

My only issue (pardon the pun) with Monogram is their non-traditional scale ... in other words, I'm a bit of a scale bigot and prefer 1/25 to 1/24 ... all things being equal.

[Don Sikora II]

The AMT glue '53 Vette was first released sometime in the mid-to-late 1970s.

[Aaronw]

I am very surprised to find out the AMT kit is so old. I associate 1970s AMT kits with metal axles and one piece chassis / frame plates.

Thanks for the info.

[slantasaurus]

Something nobody has mentioned yet about the AMT Corvette is that in the mid 90s they cleaned up the tooling.......in doing so they messed up the chrome trim on one side of the body ( I think it was the passengers side ) and it now runs "up hill", i.e. it is not parralel to the ground or rocker panels anymore but slopes upward slightly. Everyone has been trashing the 58 Belvedere ( rightly so ) for its curved side trim ( among other problems ) but no one has mentioned this problem on the recient issues of the 53 Corvette.

Since you are going to be building a concept Corvette out of the kit it might not be much of an issue for you if you are going to sand off the trim anyway. I built the Monogram Vette years ago and thought it was a nice kit, no fit issues at all. I have a half built AMT Vette right now, also a nice kit but I would give the edge to Monogram for everything except the fact that it is 1/24 scale.

The Monogram kit was first issued in the mid 70s as a metal bodied kit, die cast Corvettes have always puzzled me.......Can a die cast Corvette kit win "Best Replica Stock" in a model contest ????

[Craig Irwin]

The Monogram kit was first issued in the mid 70s as a metal bodied kit, die cast Corvettes have always puzzled me.......Can a die cast Corvette kit win "Best Replica Stock" in a model contest ????

I would so love to see a crusty Cranky-ised 'Vette from thr Lab-Rat-Ory !

[Art Anderson]

I'm wondering if there is more than one AMT '53 Corvette glue kit (I know they also did a snap kit). Looking on line I'm seeing one in a much older looking box listed as T310, but the one I have is listed as 31811 and it looks very much like something AMT would have done in the 90s. I'm not seeing your description of the Monogram kit as better than what I have on the work bench (out of scale, minimal detail) which also leads me to believe maybe we are not looking at the same AMT kit.

The out of scale thing could work for me though, as I'm looking at a what if Corvette and bigger means more room to tinker.

Thanks

AMT Corporation first tooled up their '53 Corvette kit in the middle 1970's,, with a '55 variant coming out a year or so later. In keeping with the times, which were increasingly difficult for plastic model companies, particularly where cars were concerned, given the incessant recessions of that decade, along with inflation which hit the model kit business pretty hard, AMT didn't do their best work with this kit--lots of niggling problems with it.

AMT/Ertl, in the 1990's, in keeping with the craze at that time for anything that was "retro", produced a line of "retro-promo's" of cars that AMT Corporation either did, or would have done, back in the days when the particular car subjects were new cars. One of those was a "retro-promo" 1953 Corvette, which was later released as a snap kit. It's actually quite nicely done, and represents the actual car very well.

One thing to keep in mind here: While virtually every era and year of Corvette has been done in model form, and while PMC (Product Miniatures Company) did a promotional model/snap kit of the '53 Corvette back in the day, it was really quite crude even for the time. Ideal Toy Corporation did a sorta kit of that first Vette in a much larger scale, also not very well done, certainly not by the standards we find acceptable today. Other than a stab here or there in toys, the '53 didn't see a reasonable model kit until about 1975 or so, with the above mentioned AMT kit. It was Monogram who really stepped up to the plate with a decently done '53 Corvette, in styrene, with a diecast body and hood, in time for Christmas 1977. While the diecast body shell idea ('56 TBird, '48 MG-TC, '48 Jaguar XK-120 and a couple of Classic Era luxury car kits from Monogram used this approach) seemed to make sense in that era of rapidly rising crude oil prices (with styrene price increases matching that), the diecast body thing never really caught on. In 1984, Monogram reissued their 1/24 scale '53 Vette, this time having the body shell and hood shot in styrene, which worked a lot better with the styrene chassis and running gear--and it is a very nicely done kit.

However, Monogram, by tradition going back to the early 1960's, concentrated on 1/24 scale for reasons best known to them--and Revell-Monogram did not produce any new model car kit under the Monogram label in 1/25th scale until the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible kit came out in early September 1992.

Art

Edited November 26, 2012 by Art Anderson

[Art Anderson]

The Monogram kit was first issued in the mid 70s as a metal bodied kit, die cast Corvettes have always puzzled me.......Can a die cast Corvette kit win "Best Replica Stock" in a model contest ????

No more and no less than a plastic bodied Corvette with a plastic chassis and engine!

[sjordan2]

I mentioned this on another thread, but my biggest concern about this kit is the headlight mesh. All 53 Corvette kits have headlight mesh that is very thick and seems to just sit uncomfortably on the headlight body recesses, and aftermarket PE mesh looks like it needs some hand molding that would be far beyond my skills.

I wish someone who has conquered this problem would show us the results.

Same goes for chrome headlight glass surrounds on most XK-E and Ferrari kits, which are too thick - even on the 1/8 XK-E, which needs to be thinned out considerably. Alex Kustov has figured it out for the Ferraris.

Edited November 26, 2012 by sjordan2

[Danno]

I mentioned this on another thread, but my biggest concern about this kit is the headlight mesh. All 53 Corvette kits have headlight mesh that is very thick and seems to just sit uncomfortably on the headlight body recesses, and aftermarket PE mesh looks like it needs some hand molding that would be far beyond my skills.

I wish someone who has conquered this problem would show us the results.

Same goes for chrome headlight glass surrounds on most XK-E and Ferrari kits, which are too thick - even on the 1/8 XK-E, which needs to be thinned out considerably. Alex Kustov has figured it out for the Ferraris.

Well, if Alex has it figured out ... maybe he would share his technique with us. If it works for Ferraris, it should work for Jags and Vettes, too.

[sjordan2]

Well, if Alex has it figured out ... maybe he would share his technique with us. If it works for Ferraris, it should work for Jags and Vettes, too.

As I implied, he's figured out the Ferrari surrounds (hand-cut), but has nothing for Corvette mesh. It would be separate operations for surrounds and mesh. I suspect that the best answer for the Corvette is a lot of very precise filing, and perhaps some re-chroming. But I wouldn't be happy with the box-stock headlight mesh.

www.italianhorses. net.

Edited November 26, 2012 by sjordan2

[Aaronw]

I looked at screen, but nothing fine enough for the headlight mesh. I thought about drilling out all the holes between the molded in mesh, but then came to my senses. I'm going to try using a silver sharpie on the molded in mesh and see how that turns out.

[jaydar]

Why not sand off the mesh, repolish and then use super thin clear fishing line to recreate the wire mesh.

This has to be the fly line that they use for rigging 1/700 ships.

It might work if you do not go crazy first.

[john sharisky]

Model Car Garage offers the headlight mesh on their '53 to '55 photo-etch Corvette product. However, they stipulate that the sheet fits the Monogram 1/24th Corvette kit.

John

Edited November 30, 2012 by john sharisky

[Harry P.]

http://modelcargarage.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=201&idcategory=12

[Sport Suburban]

I recently finished my 55 Corvette based on the Monogram 53 Corvette. I used the photoetched set from Model Car Garage. The headlight mesh looks great and was a real pain to get the curves correct untill it hit me.

My wife had some medical issues that prevented her from swallowing pills. So she crushed them in between two spoons. That's when it hit me. I took the two clear mesh lenses that monogram gives you in the kit. Then I put the photo etch mesh in between them and pressed them together. This pressed the mesh into the correct shape!! Then I glued them in place.

Also Monograms kit inclued parts for both the 53 engine or the 54 engine. So you can build it as a 54 Corvette if you wanted too.

[Danno]

Good info and great tip, Raoul!

[sjordan2]

Finally. Great tip. Thanks.

[gtx6970]

I built one of these when it first came out and I don't remember any issues , BUT, that was a long time ago and my menory isn't waht it used to be.

might have to give it another try (must resist the urge of another project idea )

[Art Anderson]

The Monogram kit isn't exactly "new" either.

IIRC, it was based on a die-cast kit they made back around '79 or '80.

Monogram first issued metal bodied car kits in the fall of 1977: 1948 MGTC, 1953 Corvette, and the 1956 Thunderbird. These had diecast metal bodies and hoods,, with pretty well detailed styrene everything else. In 1983, recognizing the rather poor reception these kits (as well as with the 1980 release of the '48 Jaguar XK-120, '32 Duesenberg Boattail and '31 Packard dual cowl phaeton) got with diecast metal bodies, the company reworked the tooling so that the body shells and hoods could be shot in styrene, which resulted in the kits we still have today (of the second set of metal bodied kits, only the Jaguar XK-120 was ever reissued with a plastic body).

Of the Styrene plastic '53 Corvette kits, the AMT glue kit is probably the least attractive, having been tooled in a very trying period for AMT, and first released in 1974 or 1975. It just doesn't look right in the eyes of a lot of modelers. Monogram's, while 1/24 scale, just has the look, as does the AMT '53 Corvette snap kit, which itself is an unassembled version of a "retro-promo" that AMT/Ertl did about 20 years ago, to mark the 40th Anniversary of the first Corvette--this one is quite nicely done, but of course, is a curbside--but like the Monogram kit, it just has "the look".

Art