1/25 AMT George Barris' Fireball 500

[Casey]

.

Edited September 19, 2018 by Casey

[Ron Hamilton]

good luck painting it!!!!

[Snake45]

I bought a couple of these last time they were at Walmart. I think I've figured out how to de-uglify one and make it look like a factory concept car.

[GaryR]

I bought a couple of these last time they were at Walmart. I think I've figured out how to de-uglify one and make it look like a factory concept car.

De uglifying a Barris late model is quite an accomplishment! Love to see that, interesting idea.

[gtx6970]

good luck painting it!!!!

Piece of cake.

 

Wonder what the decals look like this issue ?

[AC Norton]

....Not a great idea of another reissue of a very common kit....much as I am a Round2 fan, I can't see this being a real winner....again...just my 2 cents...the Ace...

[1930fordpickup]

....Not a great idea of another reissue of a very common kit....much as I am a Round2 fan, I can't see this being a real winner....again...just my 2 cents...the Ace...

I agree but with the bonus trailer they will be worth the 8 bucks at ollies in a years or so. Maybe 10 by then. 

[Mr mopar]

It's a Mopar so I have to get one and I like the box art .

[AC Norton]

I agree but with the bonus trailer they will be worth the 8 bucks at ollies in a years or so. Maybe 10 by then. 

Yup, the trailer is the winner item here, Andy.....wait just a couple of months and I bet ebayers will be selling the trailers for 4 or 5 bucks.....lol........the Ace.....oh,,, there is one other note regarding this Fireball kit...if someone wants a quick fix to any MPC 69 Barracuda with the exhaust deleted on the chassis to build a drag car, this kit will suffice for that, as well as having a so-so at best cross ram hemi that could be useful being that the 69 Cuda kits in the last many issues contain the 383 mill.....but if one uses all the included hemi gear the 69 Cuda has, except that hemi cylinder heads are void in it,,,then bashing parts will create your super/stocker deal using some Cuda and some Fireball parts. This in no way is as nice a set up as some other chassis and engine combos bashing other kits are for the Cuda, but for a fun, quick, and inexpensive shelf car build, it will pass....just a thought....the Ace...

Edited October 7, 2017 by AC Norton
text

[Snake45]

De uglifying a Barris late model is quite an accomplishment! Love to see that, interesting idea.

I happen to have a '64 or 5 Valiant front end (grille, bumper, headlights) that I'll work in. The double windshield nonsense has to go--will probably use a windshield from a '69 Camaro, just since I've bought several of those kits just for parts. The hood goofiness and the lake pipes will hit the spare junk box, too. Whatever happens, it almost has to look better than the original.

[stavanzer]

And, Just No!

A pretty poor kit even by 1960's standards, and recently available too. Yellow Glass, Decal Options & Pad Printed Tires...... Not enough incentive there, Kats. The Trailer? A flimsy, lightweight thing, and not very realistic. In May or June of 2018, when Hobby Lobby puts them on clearance, I'll get one. Maybe.....

YMMV.

[gtx6970]

I've still got the trailer out of mine. I'll never do anything with . I can be talked out of

['70 Grande]

Bill,

I PM'd you about that trailer!

[Ron Hamilton]

Piece of cake.

 

Wonder what the decals look like this issue ?

I've only seen one of these built decently other than the one in this picture. I have one from a long time ago. I have a Barris Book with the original car in it, as well as I saw the movie with the one-to-one in it. The trailer looks to be the same one that is in the '64 Corvette Roadster, and is good for just about any sports car.

[Bob Ellis]

This is the early 70s box of the FIreball kit 

[unclescott58]

Piece of cake.

 

Wonder what the decals look like this issue ?

Very nice. How did you do it? And do think one could do it using rattle cans?

 

[gtx6970]

On 10/8/2017 at 1:57 PM, unclescott58 said:

Very nice. How did you do it? And do think one could do it using rattle cans?

 

This is all rattle cans.

1st painted the entire body gold. I took a mailing box not much bigger then the body itself. cut open one end at a slight angle to mimic the angle of the colors as shown placed just enough to allow the nose to stick out from about the center of the front wheel openings exposed . Then spray the white nose using Tamiya pure white, followed by a misting of Testors white lightning to get the pearl look to it. Again over the white part of the nose only.

Holding the body in hand I sprayed the back of it just maybe a couple inches from the tail lights forward . With what  '  I think it was a testors'  DARK metallic red. followed by 2 or 3 light coats of Tamiya Clear red  with the heavier coats towards the back end of the body. Thus making it look like it fades into the gold. Using the previous box . Place it over the front end of the body . spray a light coat of clear red. . prior to the next coats slide the box back maybe an inch . Essentially making the red get darker as it goes rearward. Its a little hard to see the fade in pictures,,but its there .  Then 2 or 3 coats of wet look clear once the decals are on it .

This is a curbside build.. There's  no engine , the  hood is glued shut , chassis and interior is nothing but Duplicolor satin black and very little interior detailing picked out with a silver sharpie .    I built in a day. Just to see if I could do it

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by gtx6970

[Tom Geiger]

This kit is the last hurrah for the '65-66 Barracuda kit.  If you are restoring one, there are parts here you can use such as the chassis. The big block optional engine is here too.  

Interesting trivia-  I believe this is the original body from the AMT Valiant Craftsman kits and promos.  The last version was the '66 Valiant Signet promo, which is very rare. (there's a whole story there!) There was no '66 kit.  Since we know where the '65-66 Barracuda body is, this is the option. I have both an original '66 Valiant and a resin copy. There are some scratch marks inside this body that match those.

[horsepower]

I'm going to get one and using the body parts from the reissued early Hemi Under Glass kit to build a Barracuda. My only problem is what I'll do for that BIG ol' back glass., and I'd like to be able to put a little 273 in it instead of the engine this monster has in it.........guess I could just build it as a curbside and TELL people it has the 273 in it. ??

[Snake45]

I'm going to get one and using the body parts from the reissued early Hemi Under Glass kit to build a Barracuda. My only problem is what I'll do for that BIG ol' back glass., and I'd like to be able to put a little 273 in it instead of the engine this monster has in it.........guess I could just build it as a curbside and TELL people it has the 273 in it. ??

The HUG kit comes with stock glass. If you don't have that, I'm pretty sure you can make the back glass from a piece of flexible clear plastic. It won't have the very slight convexity in it of stock, but it might be close enough to get by. (I have an original old HUG body with no glass and I'm gonna try this to make at least a funny car out of it.

[Tom Geiger]

I'm going to get one and using the body parts from the reissued early Hemi Under Glass kit to build a Barracuda. My only problem is what I'll do for that BIG ol' back glass., and I'd like to be able to put a little 273 in it instead of the engine this monster has in it.........guess I could just build it as a curbside and TELL people it has the 273 in it. ??

The Hemi Under Glass has the full body, glass and chrome needed to create a Barracuda. The few issues are that it's missing some front emblems and the rear wheel wells are hogged out.  The body also has a fixed hood (if I remember right) which will work fine if you are doing a curbside.  The chassis in the Fireball originally went in this body.  For the Fireball they extended the front and rear of the chassis but you can literally see the lines where you need to cut it back down to size. The Barracuda firewall and radiator panel are in this kit.  The Fireball has the original '66 Barracuda interior, but only the front half, and they molded in the bucket seats. There is nothing past the seats.  The seats are correct.  The bottom of the dash, console and steering wheel are correct. The top of the dash is unique to the Fireball kit.  For a small block, the more recent AMT 71 Duster has a nice one.

The interesting part is that the Fireball 500 is a true movie car,  only what would be seen was modified.  The real car has a 273 automatic,  the dashboard and most of the interior parts were stock Barracuda. I sat in the real car back when it lived in New Jersey.

If I wanted to build a stock '65 or '66 Barracuda, I'd buy a resin kit and use the chassis from the later release  AMT 71 Duster or Revell 68-9 Darts.

 

Edited October 9, 2017 by Tom Geiger

[Mr mopar]

This is all rattle cans.

1st painted the entire body gold. I took a mailing box not much bigger then the body itself. cut open one end at a slight angle to mimic the angle of the colors as shown placed just enough to allow the nose to stick out from about the center of the front wheel openings exposed . Then spray the white nose using Tamiya pure white, followed by a misting of Testors white lightning to get the pearl look to it. Again over the white part of the nose only.

Holding the body in hand I sprayed the back of it just maybe a couple inches from the tail lights forward . With what  '  I think it was a testors'  DARK metallic red. followed by 2 or 3 light coats of Tamiya Clear red  with the heavier coats towards the back end of the body. Thus making it look like it fades into the gold. Using the previous box . Place it over the front end of the body . spray a light coat of clear red. . prior to the next coats slide the box back maybe an inch . Essentially making the red get darker as it goes rearward. Its a little hard to see the fade in pictures,,but its there .  Then 2 or 3 coats of wet look clear once the decals are on it .

This is a curbside build.. There's  no engine , the  hood is glued shut , chassis and interior is nothing but Duplicolor satin black and very little interior detailing picked out with a silver sharpie .    I built in a day. Just to see if I could do it

 

 

That looks real nice bill ,the fade paint job worked out pretty good .

[horsepower]

The Hemi Under Glass has the full body, glass and chrome needed to create a Barracuda. The few issues are that it's missing some front emblems and the rear wheel wells are hogged out.  The body also has a fixed hood (if I remember right) which will work fine if you are doing a curbside.  The chassis in the Fireball originally went in this body.  For the Fireball they extended the front and rear of the chassis but you can literally see the lines where you need to cut it back down to size. The Barracuda firewall and radiator panel are in this kit.  The Fireball has the original '66 Barracuda interior, but only the front half, and they molded in the bucket seats. There is nothing past the seats.  The seats are correct.  The bottom of the dash, console and steering wheel are correct. The top of the dash is unique to the Fireball kit.  For a small block, the more recent AMT 71 Duster has a nice one.

The interesting part is that the Fireball 500 is a true movie car,  only what would be seen was modified.  The real car has a 273 automatic,  the dashboard and most of the interior parts were stock Barracuda. I sat in the real car back when it lived in New Jersey.

If I wanted to build a stock '65 or '66 Barracuda, I'd buy a resin kit and use the chassis from the later release  AMT 71 Duster or Revell 68-9 Darts.

 

Thanks to both of you for the news about the kit glass. It's been a couple of years since I've opened up the box, and I'd forgot what exactly WAS in the box.

Edited October 14, 2017 by horsepower

[Casey]

Here's a good look at the last issue of this kit and what to expect from it: https://modelingmadness.com/scott/cars/500.htm

That chassis detail, tho...

 

[zenrat]

I built one for the first Scale Cannonball Run Community Build (back then it was held on the Scale Auto Forum) using an AMT '71 Duster chassis.

Dustball 500 29-11-08 01 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
Dustball 500 29-11-08 07 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr