Encourage your fellow modeler.

[Nick Notarangelo]

In a few post I have been reading when advice is asked about if a person should build a kit of very questionable quality"example 69 daytona or 69 charger",dont be affraid guys and gals to take a stab at that craptacular kit,it maybe a lemon but with a little effort you can make it a jem.

the question is how many of us have turn junk kits to jems with whats in the box??

[John Pol]

I have look at the MPC 72 GTO or any of the Revell gasser kits. To make them right you pretty well have kitbashed them to look right. I just did the 72 GTO and only used the body and chrome for the body and Interior. Most of the rest came from the 69 AMT Olds kit.

John Pol

[ChrisPflug]

Personally I'm partial to older annuals as starting points- it even seems as if there a quite a few newer "engineered" kits that have great detailled chassis and engine but just seem to miss the overall "feel" of the 1:1

Worst starting points were probably the RC2 issues of the old kits they were cranking out with no budget for repairs or updates for the low-bid Wally World "checkered box" releases- really a shame because just prior to that we were getting some really nice brand new stuff from AMT

[diymirage]

also keep in mind net every build is ment to look brand spanking new

i have more then one build where a bad kit is actually a better starting point then a nice one because it is closer to the vision of the car i have in mind

[Patrick2005]

I also have turned ###### into gold. I know the Daytona isn't exactly a great kit to start but I have built them too look pretty decent. I also recall building a 64 Ford Thunderbird and somehow I lost the rear leaf springs. I thought it was doomed to go up for parts but I had a cool idea and glued the rear wheels to the wheel tubs in back and made it look like a lowrider with its nose up. sometimes you have to get creative when things don't work out like you had planned and what comes out may really surprise you.

[Junkman]

Personally I'm partial to older annuals as starting points- it even seems as if there a quite a few newer "engineered" kits that have great detailled chassis and engine but just seem to miss the overall "feel" of the 1:1

That is exactly my impression, too. The modern reincarnations of old annuals are often oddly soulless and fail to capture the 'mood'(?) of the real cars in the same way those old models did. I have several projects lined up, where I will use the body from an annual and the underpinnings and interior of the modern kit. This is a real credit to the old generation master modellers, who where true artists in my opinion.

[Eshaver]

Somehow , this subject reminds me of the time Mr. Obsessive and I were mailing one another on the old I M C Cougar II. Yes, it's currently a Linburg kit . Still, the lack of engineering that went into that kit is it's biggest flaw . Bill did one hulluva job correcting and re- engineering to make a shining example of that car. .......... Ed Shaver

[Craig Irwin]

I think steering someone onto a better kit is helping them.

[Nick Notarangelo]

Somehow , this subject reminds me of the time Mr. Obsessive and I were mailing one another on the old I M C Cougar II. Yes, it's currently a Linburg kit . Still, the lack of engineering that went into that kit is it's biggest flaw . Bill did one hulluva job correcting and re- engineering to make a shining example of that car. .......... Ed Shaver

see this is what I'm talking about,making something that is crapola shine like gold.

[Greg Pugh]

I think steering someone onto a better kit is helping them.

I kinda agree on both sides but I would tend to side with Craig more here and only because.....if the person asking about the Daytona model doesn't know about the ProModeler version, we're doing him a dis-service by not letting him know there's a MUCH better kit if all he wants to do is build a Daytona. However, I agree with the other sentiment too. I've spent the last year working over AMT's '69 Chevelle and I have to say that while I hate that kit, it's the only one out there so I have to stay the course.

[VW Dave]

I think steering someone onto a better kit is helping them.

If you're dealing with a less-experienced builder, that is the best move. A couple of young guys I knew that started building models aren't old guys building models today because of a couple bad kits

[Jantrix]

Lets not overlook that it can really be a lot of fun to take that lousy kit and make it LOOK lousy. That is bad kits are perfect for weathering. Also they give you a perfect opportunity to experiment with heavy scratchbuilding or kit bashing without risking a really good kit.

This was built from the AMT 66 Mustang Coupe and the AMT 73 Cougar. By most opinions both are not great kits. But by combining the best of both (the body and chassis respectively), a few parts box parts, and some scratchbuilding I got this, that has won several awards.

Knock them all you want but don't let a bad kit keep you from building it.