Custom Hearse

I bought this at my LHS last week. It's a 3-1 curbside kit(stock, custom and stock car racer), with a removable roof. It comes with a nice set of decals, but the decals shown on the box don't match the ones shown in the instructions. They include a choice of red or yellow stripes that turn into dots, and they include the Imperial name within the stripes. You also get mustard yellow flames, which include the Imperial name within. License plates: You get 8 sets of plate to add to the car: one set of '59 South Carolina plates, '59 Alabama plates, one set of "personalized" Texas plates(did people personalize plates back then?), 4 "current California "personalized" plates, and one set of "imperial" black and yellow plates(they look like older Ca. plates, but without the date. You get two large, and two small pinstripe sets, Three bumper stickers, a state inspection sticker(too small for me to read what state.... I'm old)one tachometer decal, and one instrument panel decal, two roundels with black "59's", and your choice of red, or white lines for your tires. The body is really nice! There are only six spots of flash on it(between the top front side trim, just behind the doors on the top, and just below the taillights), and no sinkholes to fill. The frame has all the details molded in, with no realistic detail for the front suspension, and use solid metal axles. Four screws are included to attach the chassis to the body promo style. The interior is three pieces stock(interior pan, dash, and steering column), and five pieces race, and custom(add a tach, and a floor shifter). The front and rear seats are molded into the interior bucket. The custom parts are interesting, to say the least. You get quite a few choices of parts to adorn this kit with. Scoops, louvers, grills, exhausts, spare tire covers, taillights.... One thing of interest.... Do you like big fins? Well.... You can make these fins at least two scale feet taller, and add a custom tail fin to the center of the trunk! YIKES!!!! The stock car racer is just the basic stock vehicle, leaving off the car, and according to the instruction sheet, using the masking tape decals on the decal sheet(none to be found). There are 15 steps all told on the instruction sheet(The wheel assembly looks like it'll be the most work.... to insert the wheel into the tire, you need a wooden block, and a hammer.... watch them thumbs kids!!!!), and they include a section of tips for the stock car, and, customizing tips....

Wow.... I must of slept through something or missed it completely.... I thought AMT was calling it quits at the start of 2008.... Whats the deal? If they are staying in business I'd want them to re-issue all the 1/16 kits they had! Especially the '55 Nomad!!!!

Thanks Joe! I need to finish this build up sometime, so I plan on doing it on my next day off. Thanks again for your compliment!

Thanks guys! I really appreciate it! I've been trying to catch up on some of my projects, but work has kept me busy. Hope to have an update soon! Thanks again!

Who makes that Cadillac? I'd like to get one for the front and rear clips....

Thanks Jairus! I loved reading those when I was a kid! Even though they have Krass and Bernie in Car Craft magazine, I wish they would do a re-issue of all the mags again.... And issue some new ones to boot!

Beautiful work! That was my all time favorite funny car! I watched it race at OCIR many times. You did a great job on it!

I made a new hood for this car.... Let me know what you think.... Casket cowl induction....

Got a couple of glosscoats on the Vette, and I plan to add a couple more. Here is a couple of pics of the actual color....

A friend of mine showed me this web site. It shows the forum rankings for all of the U.S. Here's our ranking, and average age and description of members.... http://www.quantcast.com/modelcarsmag.com

Thanks Bill! I'm learning new things every day!

They both Look awesome Steve! Great Job! By the way.... Does the '55 need to be registered with the FAA, for being that high up?

Hey Bill! Nice work so far on the Magnum! I'm building one myself, as a Joplin P.D. car. I noticed you painted the intake aluminum.... I took a pic of the 1:1 Magnum, and the intake is black. Here's a couple of pics.... This is a 2007 Hemi, so it could be different from the 2006.... I painted mine the same as the JPD Magnum. It looks silver for some reason.... Anyway, I thought you might want to know about it.

Thanks everyone. Hope to have it finished soon.

Painted.... Still unfinished. More to follow soon....

Do they make bald headed cars? Actually, I'd like to see them model a '70 superbird.... In 1/8th scale!!!!

What engine was in the movie car? I thought about getting that kit at Hobby Lobby myself, but I'd have to put an engine into it.

I don't think you could ever bore us.... And the cat is MUCH happier too(not getting stuffed through a door jam!)! I definitly enjoy the work you do, and I come away with new knowledge!

Thanks Michael, I'd appreciate it! I've seen it, but it's been a while. Hope you like this build! Thank you Bill! I'm trying to get it smooth as possible. I'm using Evercoat polyester 2 part automotive putty. There's no shrinkage, and it's ready to sand in an hour. I couldn't beleive how well this stuff works! Thanks Zoli! I know what you mean about about black and gold T/A's.... They've always looked really cool! This is my homage to the Pontiac Trans Am of the '70s.

Thanks Wayne! Coming from you, that is a great compliment!

Thanks Ismael! I plan to paint it black with gold accents.... But I don't plan adding a C.B. to it. I'm gonna change the interior too, to look more like a '77s. I have a dash from the Monogram '77 that I plan to install, and I'm going to either change the seats to look like the custom buckets, or I'll use the AMT, or Monogram seats, with the pillow style custom interior....

Thanks Jaffa! Hmmmmm..... 30th Anniversary edition Bandit.... Now that would be cool!

Thanks Rob! I'm glad you think it's really cool! The body work is almost finished, then I'll start the interior work. Thanks again!

I finally went and got some more 2 part putty today. Ya should've seen the look on the paint store's clerk when I told him what it was for! Here's an overall pic of the car puttied up.... The front end.... The back end.... I filled the Camaro vents in, and added a little putty to the "C" pillar inserts. I just have to fill the rear spoiler in a little more, then spray a check coat of primer, to see if any of the body work needs to be touched up. Then I can spray a few final coats of primer, then the painting can begin! Let me know what you think, and thanks for looking!

Thanks Brian! I did some putty work tonight on it, and it's getting closer!