Bob Ellis

It's as I expected. Should upgrade a Johan Torino nicely.

I use white latex paint and it dries normally. If you can set up a jig with a spinning drill, you should be able to do narrow whitewalls..

I agree a '75 would be nice. Since the nose is an add on, maybe they could like they flip from '77 to '79. They would sell more as a '70-76.

The Palmer 1971 Challenger became a 1973. Then it later showed up as a Lindberg kit. To me, it is the only good kit Palmer ever did, though some may disagree. I bought the 1971 at Woolworths back in the '70s. The box says 440 Six Pack, but it has a single 4bbl HEMI. It is a starting point to do a 1972-74 Challenger.

There are 2 Chevy C10 pickup tools; one is AMT and the other is MPC. The AMT was converted to a GMC Sierra in 1971 and finally into a GMC short bed. It was never a tow truck. The tow truck is the MPC and the AMT 1967. I believe decisions to produce a kit are base on dealers and distributer orders, not letters or comments from people. Letters may create interest, but whether a kit is produced is based on monetary concerns.

I think people are upset that that the "Model King" type kits had low part content. They figured that for $25-30, they should have tons of parts. They overlooked the fact that they were getting a kit that was out of production for 30-40 years. Also, the cost of the includes repair of the tool, packaging design , shipping, paying distributers/dealers and various other costs that high or low part content kits must pay anyway.

You can slice open the hoods on the curbsides. It's a starting point for a model that would be impossible to kit bash yourself into something respectable. Interesting that people will pay $90 for a resin kit of a rare kit, but $25-30 is out of the question for a reissued rare styrene kit with original glass. It makes no sense to me?

Really, the Revell '69 Dart had a vinyl roof?

JTRACING, those are great reference photos. I guess you could say the roll bars are an integral frame? I was surprised that they used that much stock parts. I understood Ford stopped using stock bodies after the switch to Fairlanes that had a unibody.That is why I asked.

Missing Link has convertible body?

Was there any tube framing on the chassis? Considering it is a unibody.

James Garner didn't like the '79-81 Firebirds, and I guess nobody else really does either. If they could have revised it back to the 1970-1973 form, it would sell like wildfire.

Speed freak, this is a very nice build. I think sometimes people tend forget that these AMT early funny cars were done in haste. They took an annual kit body, modified the rear wheel openings and dropped it on a one size fits all chassis and plain interior bucket. They require some effort to make them as detailed as today's kits. I suppose it is possible to cut up a stock 66 Mustang interior to match some of the vintage Mustang funnies. maybe it matters whether you are modeling an all glass body or steel glass combo?

This kit reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode in which a guy travels back into the past but finds out it's not what he expected it would be. The kit dates back to 1970 which is first year second generation Firebird. The original kit tires were Goodyear whitewalls with Rallye wheels, a combo which I think lasted to 1972. The Rallye wheels were modified (not to the better also) and fatter hollow tires were introduced in 1973. Then came snowflake/turbine wheels in 1977 on. I bought a few of these kits for reasons other than building a stock 1979. They are a parts source for glass, chassis, engine and other parts to rebuild any 1970-1981 Firebird. It is what it is. Remember, it also was the base of promos.

AC, should be an interesting drag car. Lots of good parts in this kit including that SOHC motor. This is one of the few AMT kits that appears to be unchanged from the first issue. Only addition Round2 could have done was issue it as the convertible. Is the boot included in the kit?

I don't know how many people have heard it, but 1966 is the last year that Holman Moody supplied stock Galaxie bodies for NASCAR racing. They never used real stock bodies again. Using stock bodies was born from the requirement that any car raced had to be sold in the quantity of 500 units to the public. From what I understand, when Ford went to using a Fairlane body for racing in 1967, it was a uni-body which was unacceptable for safety in racing. From there it evolved into tube frame bodies specifically made for racing. That is what is interesting about this 1966 Galaxie kit as a NASCAR racer.

I think if there was enough demand for a '60 El Camino, it would have been done in the last 40 years. I'm sure AMT and Revell considered it but got no bites from distributers or stores. It also hurts that there are tons of reasonably good built (and sometimes unbuilt) original AMT '60 El Caminos for sale on eBay and other places. Then there are resin copies, and Do It Yourselfers that marry a '59 AMT with a Revell '60 Impala. If somebody made one new, I would buy it. I think the chances are low.

I am going to have to agree with Harry P. While I have not seen this with spray paint cans, I have seen it happen with soda cans that just sit in a controlled environment and no agitation. Over the years it has been the can companies goal to reduce the material used with no adverse affect on performance. About 30 years ago, there was a soda company in Massachusetts that had tons on cans releasing their contents with nobody doing anything to cause it. The problem seemed to go away as I never saw or heard about again. But, the cans are not as robust as they were 40-50 years ago, and probably less now. It wouldn't hurt contacting the paint company and telling them what happened. Maybe they have fixed the problem already if some have complained. I am sure they don't want it to continue.

Nice job restoring it to a convertible. Those wheels did not come from that kit for sure, but I don't know the Tom Daniels kit well. I bought that same '58 Impala kit at Sears when they used to sell models. It's the first of the AMT foldable boxes which I think began about 1971. Should have a T273-225 kit number, I think. -225 means $2.25

Walmart in Hudson, NH carries model car kits but the Walmart in Hudson/Marborough, MA does not. About a 30 mile separation. Last time the Massachusetts Walmart had models was in the ERTL checkered box days.

Just say $12.99 shipped to your door

Comparing new and old kits based on the same car is a mixed bag. Newer kits have more separate details, but the older ones seem to have better fidelity to shape, in a lot of cases.

Tom, you are correct. It has to fit before paint and assembly. I am guessing that maybe there is a 5% shrink in a resin copy versus original. Even still, the body is thicker in the resin that original and it is not consistent in thickness. There are 2 Modelhaus '60 rear bumpers. One is the Impala shown above used in the AMT Craftsman Nomad kit. You need to order the promo '60 rear bumper for the Nomad which has 4 tail lights.