Bob Ellis

I got a re-issue of a Tamiya CB750 that was released back in the 1970s. It took 30 years.

Very interesting

Never thought of making a copy of the '68 Marker light. The Model Car Garage stuff was easy to use. I set it in place with nail polish. Charlie, the AMT '69 Chevelle kit seems to be a legacy of the declining days of AMT. I remember building the kit back in the '70s and removing the '68 trim. It's ironic that I want to keep those details now.

Our neighbor across the street bought a brand new '67 SS396 convertible and it came with a bench seat. The only options I remember was an AM radio, 4 speed on the floor and those awful faux mag wheel covers. It's true, not all SSs had buckets or a lot of options. The vent windows were scratch built using Evergreen Styrene. Believe it, or not, the kit comes with '68 Chevelle glass and this is one of the goofs AMT made when producing the kit. The other goof is that the AMT '69 Chevelle has the '68 Chevelle side trim except for the side marker lights. I removed off the side marker lights.

Finally got to foil the 68 Chevelle. I decided to use a bench seat instead of bucket seats. I remember a lot of the muscle cars with few options. Otherwise the car would cost $5000 which most buyers couldn't afford.

JT, nice bronze color

Made some progress on the Mannix '72 Cuda.

Tim, I have the Revell Torino Cobra #85-8253. It appears to have the undesirable rear quarter. Maybe the Street Burner version is correct, but I don't have that kit.

I could be wrong, but the lack of emblems and lack of vent window frames, makes me believe that Revell is going to blow out a '68 Camaro kit in the not so distant future. I am becoming a photo etch detail fan. I know how some feel but in the end, the etched emblems or decals look better than paint covered emblems.

Tim, is the rear quarter body error also on the Cobra version issued more recently. I was wondering if a new kit body would fit on the Cobra kit too as a fix. I am thinking that I will use the old Torino kit to fix an old MPC Cyclone kit. It is great that you have been posting lots of photos to show what's in the box. I have to admit that this is sort of a must have kit.

That Challenger photo is interesting. It shows how the 5 mph bumpers stick out from the body. The current ERTL AMT Cuda snap model is modified from original. Some details are different than back in 72, 73 and 74. The '73 MPC kit says Barracuda on the model, but now it says Cuda. All these 72-74 kits had flat hoods and Hemi engines. I suppose they were never absolutely accurate.

The original AMT '64 Impala came with this up-top for the convertible.

The nice thing about '60s annual kits, if the roof is screwed up, give it a haircut.

It is a great build. You would never guess it is scratch built.

I like this kit If you look at my Mannix Cuda in the On The Workbench forum, you will see what I did with this kit. The body is the most important part as it represents a 1972-1974 Barracuda. The bumpers are '73/'74. If you want 1972, you need to get them from Modelhaus. This is a snap kit and the hood is molded in. 15 minutes with the back side of an Xacto knife will scrape/slice it open. I replaced the chassis with the one from the AMT '70 Challenger. I might try a Revell '70 Cuda, if I did it over again. In either scenario, you get an engine. The headlights are a little funky. They were changed when the kit became a modified stocker. I changed the lights on mine. Cudas came in a bright yellow or blue, that might be nice. Good luck on the project.

Pretty interesting; that you could make a Fairmont out of a '65 GTO. I checked out the photos.

Kelson is correct, Bandit has a flat hood to go with the '71 Chevelle kit. Not sure if you can buy separate but contacting them would be best idea. kdog@banditresins.com

Made a little more progress on the 64 Impala. Bare metal foil was a major pain.

Unfortunately, glues with MEK and (toulenol?) are the only ones that work well. The NO-TOX glue of the early '70s, to prevent glue sniffers, didn't work at all. I used to put some kits together with a soldering iron. Actually worked. Like they used to build promos. You might consider building outside.

Ebay is good because before, it was much harder finding kits and parts. Assuming the auction is not rigged, prices are what the market will bear. One seller that was mentioned shipped exactly what I wanted and fast too. I had no problems. Yes, it is a lot of work to sell parts at a couple bucks.

I bui8lt a '67 Lincoln convertible for the same reason; somebody glued (welded would be a better description) the padded roof on he top and the glass on the the inside of the roof. AMT never made the '66 and '67 convertibles. Ford didn't make any '68 or '69s.

Exnyman, I have the Bat Machine. It has the same trunk as the '69 MPC Impala convertible with indentation. Yes, had all the stock parts as well as skulls, spider webs ect. The 1969 and 1970 AMT Impalas are a bit more correct as AMT got the promo contracts for both those two years. MPC used Impala twice on the side and no SS on the trunk. The AMT rear window is concaved like the real Custom Coupe was. The biggest error in the '70 MPC Impala hardtop and '70 Impala convertible (Bat Machine) is that MPC didn't know GM dropped the bucket seats in the '70 Impala. The AMT kit replaced the buckets with a bench seat.

After seeing the Trumpeter Bonneville hardtop compared to the real car, I see you had no choice but replace the top. Also, what were they thinking using a 2 door post sedan roof on a Bonneville? On another note about Trumpeter and the '63 Nova convertible kit; if you look at the box side, the windshield is correct on a picture scaled the same size as the model. But the actual model windshield looks like it came from those kiddie ride cars at the amusement park. I think this problem is best solved using the Modelhaus '62 Nova convertible windshield replacement piece. As much as we complain about these imperfect models, it is better to have them and be able to fix them, than not have them at all. original AMT Bonnevilles cost more even as a gluebomb.

You did a great job on that 60 Bonneville. I knew that roof was a little funky and one reason I did not bother build one. With all the computer aided designing, I can't understand how Trumpeter could mess it up. The tall convertible windshield on the '63 Nova is another example. You would think the first test shot could show the problem. All your cars, 58, 59 60 look great.

Kevin, beautiful work