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I just got this one finished it’s the AMT 1966 Chevelle . The kit wheels were swapped out for some steel wheels out of the parts box I believe they are Johann . I used the headers from the old pro nova kit and the slicks are AMT. The paint job is testors white enamel. As for the decals I have no clue who made them or how old they are, but what I didn’t find out until I put them on is that the clear that they used to seal them must’ve yellowed. I’m not real happy with how they came out. Unless I can get new ones made it’s what I’m stuck with. It’s still a pretty cool replica of a seldom seen stocker . Until next time thanks for looking. Mike

This one’s a combination of parts from The AMT double dragster and a body from the MPC bantam blast. The big slicks are from the AMT parts pack. The double dragster frame was modified to fit the bantam body shell. The long block is also double dragster with the blower pieces coming from my parts box. It’s painted with testors metallic red topped with slixx decals. This issue of DRAG RACING MAGAZINE has great reference photos with a good article about this car it also is a great reference for the GOLDEN COMMANDOS awb 65 Plymouth. Until next time thanks for looking . Mike

This is constructed from a mix of parts starting with the AMT T body parts pack. The frame is a combination of the double dragster fiat for the back half with front half of the single engine dragster frame. The front axle and spring are left overs from the Atlantis fiat. The roll bar hoop is made of 0.80 styrene rod. The 392 hemi is from the MPC bantam blast kit the headers are actually the hemi injector tubes from a couple of double dragster kits. The rear wheels are some left overs from the AMT 40 Willy’s kit with AMT pie crust slicks. The front wheels are from the MPC Winged Express warped with some spare AMT hollow Firestone supremes . The red paint on the bucket is Testors red enamel with wet look clear. The Tuanna cover is painted with a Krylon red to get a slight contrast. The decals are available from Chris Walsh . I did add the NHRA , and the welded strokers crankshaft decals from a random Slixx sheet. The reference photo is from an early 70’s issue of DRAG RACING USA. Until next time thanks for looking. Mike

I thought I would share my 2024, 24 Annual Model Build entry with you. The build took place this weekend on Saturday the 27th at noon until Sunday the 28th at noon. This was the 18th year for this event. I have done all 18 years as I am one of the founding members of this event. It wasn't an event 18 years ago, it was 5 friends getting together to build a new, untouched model in 24 hours and watching the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and various car movies. We had such a blast that we decided to do it again the next year, and as they say, the rest is history. This model is the Model King issue of what I believe is an MPC kit. My box says AMT, but Scale Mates says MPC was the original version of this kit. All I did this model prior to the 24 hour build was wash the parts. I was able to finish in about 22 hours. Color is Tamiya Maroon straight from the can. The pictures of the finished model were taken immediately after it was finished. I may tweak a few things and I may add a few sponsorship decals. I may just leave it as it is and put it in a display case. Thanks for looking. Let me know what you think and let me know if you have any questions about the Annual 24 Hour Build.

I finished this one a little over a week ago, but I was waiting for my new light box to arrive. Then I picked up a wicked head cold, so it had to wait another week to be revealed. This is the AMT 1971 Superbug Gasser, from the Coca-Cola Unity Collection. I picked this kit up for $5, thinking it would be cool to have a Beetle in the stash. I didn't realize it was the short-body version, so upon opening the box and seeing the body, my first thought was "this will never get built". But as luck would have it, last summer was spent learning to paint. For a fiver, I figured it would be a practice body, and that would be the end of it. As I was really just using it for practice, it got painted and stripped something like 3-4 times before getting it right. But the final paint job turned out to be one of my better attempts. This inspired me to continue on and finish the little bug. Speaking of paint, the color is Testors Extreme Lacquer Star Spangled Blue, straight from the can, followed up with clear lacquer (I forget the brand). The idea for the build was to create a tribute to one of my favorite old red-line Hot Wheels cars. Most of the kit was built straight from the box, but a few modifications were made for various reasons. The hydraulic steering damper was reworked, because the original part feels like it's not even from the same kit. Doesn't even come close to fitting properly. Battery cables were added just for fun and because I'd never done it before. Also, the exhaust was completely reworked. The kit supplies two exhaust options, neither one of which did much for me. Finally, if built straight out of the box, the engine cover won't close. Instructions even tell you to glue it open. I couldn't live with that, so the engine was moved inward and modified. For those that are interested in the build, the WIP can be found here: Without further ado, here's my take on the AMT '71 Superbug Gasser. As always, questions, comment, and constructive criticism are always welcome. Thanks for looking!

Round2 has brought back the 57 Thunderbird after a 17 year absence. In true Round 2 fashion, this isn't just a straight re-issue. Many parts from previous incarnations as far back as 1962 have found their way back into the box. These include parts from the 1962 3 in 1 kit, and the Here Comes The Judge Drag version. These photos are just an appetizer. Click the link at the bottom of the post to see what's in the box. Let's take a look. Click here to see what's in the box, with a detailed description of what's new! https://public.fotki.com/DWDarby/model_cars/kit-reviews/amt-round2-57-thund/?view=roll

Here’s my build of the recent release of AMT’s ‘65 El Camino Camper! I liked the custom fluted glass-looking grill/headlight cover so I decided to go custom with this one. In my mind, the camper manufacturer built this custom show truck to promote their new El Camino Campers! It’s painted Tamiya Light Green with Tamiya Pearl White for the bumpers and interior. The cab carpet is Tamiya Dark Green, and the white paint on the camper shell is Tamiya white primer. The decals came from the recent release AMT ‘65 Bonneville, and the wheels are from the parts box (I believe from the MPC “Bad Company” Dodge Van). I drilled new axle holes in the chassis to lower the stance. This is a very basic promo style kit but it has some cool custom parts, and 10 pad printed tires. I had a lot of fun with this build!

I always loved the body style of the 57 T-Birds and wanted to build an early street machine version of one. I built this using the AMT 57 Thunderbird kit. Paint is Tamiyas Yellow Pearl over Tamiyas white primer then coated with Testors Wet Coat. Mags and tires are parts box finds. New axles were made using weld wire to bring the wheels out to a correct position. The sneaker pipes are from AMT's 49 Ford. Taillights are from AMT's 56 Ford as are the traction bars. Windshield frame and headlight brows are from a vintage issue of the 57. Overall it was a fun build however, the windshield did not want to cooperate no matter what glass or frame I used.

This was made from a altered states resin stock height 1933 Willy’s body with a amt donor kit. The hemi is sourced from a amt parts pack. It’s painted in tamyia bright red with slixx decals . The square hole halibrand front wheels are resin pieces I brought off eBay. Until next time thanks for looking 👀. Mike

I used the amt kit for most of everything, the wheels came from revell’s thunderbolt, the slicks are amt the headers are custom made to fit the chassis. I have lost count of how many times I glued my fingers to the body attaching all the side trim and trim for the vinyl top. I painted it tamyia dark blue which almost looks black which I believe was the original color of the car . The decals are old Billy gooche. This was a complicated build getting the body’s trim right and sanded around. Until next time thanks for looking 👀, Mike

Here’s my AMT 1971 Coca-Cola Shorty Beetle! I have several Coke kits in the stash that will likely not get Coke livery, so I figured I should do at least one with Coke graphics. It was fun picking out which decals to use from this kit’s huge selection of wild “Unity Collection” decals. I love how you can make the body removable so you can see the dune buggy chassis. The red is Krylon’s Apple Red. The kit includes a stock-ish VW dashboard, but the instructions don’t mention where it goes (I think you’re supposed to glue it into the body, but I don’t know how you’d align the steering shaft properly). I cut it down and glued it to the tubular dash structure to give the interior more detail. I could not get those fragile individual exhaust tubes to align properly so I gave up and left them off. The Coke crate comes from the Dodge D-50 Coke kit. The body is painted Testors Extreme Lacquer “Bronze” with the inserts done in Tamiya TS75 “Champagne Gold”. Part fit up is not great. The fragile roll bars are a nightmare to align, the chassis/front suspension ended up warped and the engine cover won’t close. I cut the generator belt/pulleys off and shaved their mounts down to pull it closer to the engine. Both hoods are glued shut. Overall this was a fun kit to build despite its foibles, with lots of customization opportunities. I picked up another one cheap from Ollies that will get a whole different look (eventually).

Here’s my build of the recent Craftsman Plus release of the ‘63 Nova wagon. I picked this kit up cheap from Ollie’s and figured it would be a quick build to practice bare metal foil on. My last and only other car I’ve foiled was a ‘57 Chevy… and while this Nova turned out well, I still don’t enjoy foiling. 😅 If you’re trying foiling out for the first time, this is a great kit for it because the trim details are super crisp and it’s easy to cut the foil cleanly. The body is painted Tamiya TS45 Pearl White over grey primer and the interior is Rustoleum Apple Red. The pearl white looks more silvery/dove grey in person over that grey primer than a pearl white but I think it looks good with the red interior.The roof on that ‘57 is the same TS45 pearl white, but over white primer.

Now that Revell has made the MPC/AMT ‘71-‘73 Mustang kits obsolete… here’s my AMT 007 Mustang Mach 1! I left most of the kit’s inaccuracies intact, and built it as-is out of box. I did fill in the hood vent though. Body and interior are painted Rustoleum Gloss Apple Red over Tamiya pink primer with Krylon semigloss Black for the lower body. Cleared with Pledge floor gloss. I mistakenly glued the firewall to the interior tub and didn’t notice until final assembly. It should be glued into the body shell, further forward. I had to trim the firewall sides down to get the glued chassis and tub into the body. I managed to make the grossly inaccurate engine bay even worse! Exterior shots: Companion shots:007 Mach 1 with Supernatural Impala‘71 Fastback with ‘66 Coupe’71 Fastback with ‘94 Convertible Thanks for looking!

Hello all. I went for a stroll around a hobby shop and found the AMT White-Freightliner kit. Being a transformers fan I knew immediately I wanted to make it an Optimus Prime look-a-like. The kit isn't any exact Prime alt mode so I hope to be blending aspects from all. I know other people have already done this based on my research and it was great to get inspiration! Right next to it just so happened to be a 1/25 scale trailer too! This solidified the idea. I hope to use polystyrene sheets to fill in the ridges along the side in the shape of his iconic stripe, in theory to make it smooth all the way along just like the original toy.

This is another one of my amt Z-11 kit bash projects. This one is finished with testors white enamel topped with smp decals. Thanks for checking it out, mike

Here’s my Econoline Conversion Van, finally finished after about 6 months. I really wanted to build a 1980s style high roof conversion van, so I had to find a “Matilda” release of AMT’s Ford van. From what I understand, the Matilda release is the only one with this roof. At the time, the cheapest one on eBay was this complete, yet water damaged kit that also REEKED of cigarette smoke. I checked today and there are two nice kits available for less than I paid 6 months ago, so snap one up if you want a high top! AMT’s Ford van depicts a ‘75-‘78 model, so I used the custom square headlight grill in the kit to give it more of a mid-80’s vibe. The Matilda release doesn’t include the rear spare tire mount so I swiped this one from my recent “Cruising Van” release. The front and middle row seats are the custom option from ‘90s releases of the AMT 1940 Ford coupe and sedan delivery. They are similar to C4 Corvette seats and look right at home in a luxury conversion van. I only had two ‘90s ‘40 Ford kits, so the 3rd row seats are the custom option from the MPC ‘82 Cavalier. Close enough! The interior brown and tan are Krylon. For the wood trim, I first used Tamiya flat “Light Brown” and then brushed with Tamiya clear orange. The picnic table is scratch built from scrap styrene. The Matilda release includes the trapezoid rearmost side windows but only two of them. The middle side windows are leftover camper shell windows from the recent AMT Courier Mini Van. The high top “windows” are molded closed with no glass available so I just used black Sharpie to look like limo tint. The main body is painted Tamiya TS75 “Champagne Gold”, and the roof and ground effects are painted Testors Extreme Lacquer “Bronze”. The body stripes are leftover decals from the Courier Mini Van kit. Overall this kit builds up pretty nice for its age, but even in the older Matilda release there’s a ton of flash to deal with. I’m very pleased with how this one turned out! If Round 2 is listening: please bring back the high roof option! I know it would be a smash hit. Maybe leave off the kangaroo dome window though…

Hello I'm going to build this kit to mark the 60th anniversary of the model. I will take pictures and share my experiences as I build. I made an unboxing video where you can see the parts. Based on the 3in1 option, I'm not sure how I'm going to put it together. If you have already made this kit, please tell me what I need to pay attention to. Thank you.

HI everyone!😄 this is my 1/25 AMT '67 shelby GT-350 this kit got some issues..I try to build it as good as I could.. not perfect...but I am happy with this result.. hope you guys like it!😄 and here is the video build if you are interested:😄

Here’s my build of AMT’s Snap-it 2016 Camaro! I painted it Tamiya TS39 Mica Red directly over the metallic red plastic the body was molded in (possibly TS19 Metallic Red; I painted the body two months ago and chucked the empty can 😂). Interior is Krylon black primer with XF66 light gray for the seat inserts. I love the pre-painted glass it came with, complete with amber rear window defrost lines. Despite being a snap kit it has a ton of detail and it goes together perfectly!

Today I figured it was time to drag out of the archives, the original, vintage Boondocker Blazer I bought off of ebay years ago. I don't even remember how long ago I painted it but I'm pretty sure it was with high temp engine paint (hugger orange). Today I will attempt to do something I have been putting off for years now. The daunting decals. I have 3 sheets to choose from. Including the vintage originals. I think I'll go with the newer ones that a member of this board generously sent me. I'm very good at screwing these decals up. I've already done so with 3 of the side window ones. I don't know why these decals seemed so easy when I was a kid.

I’m finally finished with this Supernatural Impala build! After two botched paint jobs, fighting the ill-fitting body-to-chassis marriage, smudged Molotow at the last second, and never ending static/dust, it’s safe to say this model was equally as cursed as the Winchester boys from the show! It came together in the end, but there’s a fair amount of blemishes that don’t show in the pictures. Built box stock, except for the tires which came from the AMT ‘66 Mustang Coupe. The tires that came in this kit were very rough with flash and fit the rims poorly. The car from the show never actually had white letter tires, but I think they look pretty cool here. I modified the steering rack to make wheels pose-able by cutting the tabs off where the rack glues to the chassis, and simply not gluing the steering knuckles. I left off the A pillar spotlights just to get it finished but I might add them later. Overall my build looks good enough for my shelf so I’m happy with it. I’m glad to have a model of a pretty sweet and unusual (hero cars are RARELY four-doors!) TV car in my collection!

Hi All. I just finished my version of a supercharged 1957 Ford Thunderbird Land Speed Racecar. My version is inspired by Ford's Battlebird and modified for land speed trails at places like Bonneville and Muroc. The model is based on the AMT/ERTL kit. I created the front end from the back end of a '34 Ford fenders and roll-pan and scratch-built the tonneau cover. I scratch-built the McCullough supercharger from left over misc parts. I kept it simple by not detailing the molded chassis and even still used the metal axles. By the way, the vintage-style trailer is a modified race-boat trailer from a Bronco combo-kit. I hope this inspires more kit bashing and customizing. Enjoy.

Here’s my build of AMT’s Indy 500 Dodge Stealth! This kit was molded in a pale metallic yellow to match the custom painted real “official” cars. Whenever I get a molded-in-color kit, I try to use the bare plastic body, polished with a coat or three of Pledge gloss, assuming there aren’t any flow lines in the cured plastic. This rarely happens with metallic plastic (or solid colors for that matter), but this particular kit looked perfect! Kit goes together pretty well, but the under hood hoses are a bit tedious. Despite being a glue kit, there are a lot of vestigial promo/snap kit features in the assembly which was kind of interesting. Overall a nice kit to build of a cool looking car, so I’m surprised they still sell so cheaply on eBay. I actually bought a two pack of this kit for $16!

I recently bought an AMT Rescue Van model, but built it as a (more or less) stock van. Building it brought back lots of memories of back when vans were "the big thing". My parents had a couple over the years, both cargo vans purchased from my Dad's employer, and the later one Dad and I worked on together. I wasn't old enough to have a license yet, but sure enjoyed the time spent with him as we bought a bench seat from the wreckers and installed it at home- measuring, drilling holes in the floor and all. So, I decided to build another van. This time I started with the AMT Police Van, which is more or less the same kit apart from a few accessories. I'd never customized a model other than a few minor details, so I figured why not try a custom van 70s style. Or at least start out in that direction and see where we end up. I started by cutting the body into pieces (gasp!) and removing a section from the middle to make "shorty" van.

2 old builts from the mid 80's (pictures taken in 2020,beforse selling them off): The notorious F-100/1956 (Revell kit) is from the 1983 "Street Demons" series and could not be built stock - I discarded the ugly 2-piece plastic wheels and replaced them with Monogram's 56 T-Bird units. The interior is also customized - this kit gave me hard times: fitment was very bad, especially in the windshield/firewall/hood and the interior footwell/floor area - horrible (noticeable gaps everywhere) ! Decals are from amt's Pete Wrecker, color is car laquer sprayed from the can: The other one is amt's famous 1953 F-100 kit: I wanted it to look like a typical (?) late 50's custom so I used as many of those ugly custom parts (which were included in the kit) as I could stand; auto laquer from the spray-can, whitewalls are brushed with Humbrol matt white enamel - trim Humbrol silver, bare metal foil for the rails in the bed - this was the final result: