StevenGuthmiller

The hood is stock, but had the "custom" holes opened on the top. These were a fairly common feature on some of AMT's annual kits during this period. The holes on the side of the hood were where the "hood spears"/emblems mounted. Steve

You're correct. Speculation is that this was one of the examples where the "cart was ahead of the horse". Apparently, the model was finalized and ready for production, or may have already been on the market, before the plans for the 1:1 Bonneville were final. Seems that this sort of thing happened on occasion back in the day. Steve

Thank you all so much for all of your kind words! They are greatly appreciated and inspirational to me! Steve

You're right. Wrong place to ask. Steve

Our annual Christmas seafood feast, including broiled lobster and snow crab, garlic shrimp scampi, southern fried catfish and Thai curry mussels. Steve

Stay tuned. Maybe I'll try my hand at casting them before I use the originals. Steve

This has been pretty standard for me over the past couple of years. The low "finished" count is due solely to the higher level of detail I've begun putting into these builds. But I've been having a lot of fun rebuilding interiors and swapping chassis and engines, so it's worth not getting as much accomplished. Steve

Without a doubt one of the nicest examples I've seen of this kit to date! Great work!! Steve

Exceptionally nice work on the Trans Am! Steve

Yeah, but it's a great one!! Steve

Isn't that the truth! If I dumped every AMT kit that I own, my stash would shrink by probably more than 70% ! Steve

That is a good one! There have been quite a few great AMT kits produced in recent years. The newer tool AMT '57 Belair was a pretty nice kit. Some minor engine placement issues, but if something like that is an insurmountable problem, a different hobby is probably in order. Steve

Steve

In the past couple of years, I've adopted this philosophy more and more. In the past, I was a little frightened to do too much messing around with modifying anything on a vintage kit because I was afraid that I might irreversibly damage difficult or impossible to find parts. Now, because I have come to realize that it's all just plastic, I've really begun to feel free and am no longer afraid to throw caution to the wind and really dig into these old kits. As an example, I felt that my most recent project could benefit a great deal from some modifications to the interior, as well as many other aspects of the kit. Rather than let the provided parts dictate to me what could be done, I went all out and basically built all new door cards from scratch using only a very small portion of the original panels. This is a perfect example of how a freeing attitude, (and the realization that I'm smarter than what I'm working on) can greatly enhance the model building experience. I can't imagine anything more satisfying than knowing that you have full control over what you would really like to do, in contrast to the model itself dictating those decisions. "No AMT or MPC, you can't tell me what to do!" Steve

That's because there are few options if you want a '72 Impala. With this kit, there is already prior information that there will be a detailed kit to follow, so I see no point in purchasing a curbside version, unless that's your thing. Steve

Just a few of my favorite AMT models. Without AMT, none of these would ever have been kitted, and quite possibly never will be again. Steve

I suppose I'm just getting too old, but it's always been my opinion that subject matter is the most important factor in choosing a model. Granted, my skills have improved as I've progressed in the hobby and I suppose that I might be in the minority in my view that if it's a subject that I want to build, I can deal with a kit's inadequacies. The absolutely most rewarding work I do is to take a sub-par kit, (by today's standards) and re-engineer and re-build it to meet the standards of today. Model building has become more to me than just following the instructions and gluing part A to part B. It's more of an exercise in creativity, and I really care little about pins or tabs or how well the parts fit. I take great pride in the fact that my models stand out on the show table because I know that the educated modeler knows what went into re-engineering a simple, "poorly fitting" vintage kit to make it as good, or better, than all of the "perfectly" engineered kits that share the table with it. Personally, I have nothing but affection for all of my old AMT kits because, A; they offer many alternatives of subjects that nobody else offers, and B; because I'm not afraid of them. I demand that the kit bends to my will, not the other way around. Steve

Possibly. But I don't think that would have been much of a factor in how well the kit sold initially. The '58 Edsel was requested repeatedly for a number of years before it was finally released by AMT. The point is that even a kit that seems as if it should do very well doesn't always perform as expected. Steve

Sometimes certain kits require actual modeling skills because of their age. There are newer kits that are no picnic either. It's just part of the hobby that either you deal with, or you give up. It's been said a thousand times before, but if we were all just "model assemblers" instead of "model builders", the hobby would be as dull as white toast. Steve

A couple of days ago, but I had some pork cutlets that I pounded paper thin and fried them up to make Pork Tender sandwiches, and accompanied them with some garlic Yukon Gold potatoes and steamed broccoli with sharp Cheddar and bacon. Steve

I sincerely hope that I'm wrong and this kit is a roaring success.......I really do. I'm just not convinced and will wait to see what actually takes place. In the mean time, I truly hope that Round 2 will continue with this idea of bringing back some of the long lost kits that so many of us would like to see again. As for me building a '63 Nova wagon?......you may have to wait for a considerable amount of time on that. It's pretty likely that I won't even buy one, and if I do, I have far too many projects that I have real interest in that will take precedence. It will probably never happen. Steve

Not trying to be negative, just realistic. Everybody gets excited about these new kits, and that's a good thing, but it doesn't necessarily translate into huge sales numbers. One of the most requested kits in recent history was the '58 Edsel. If we're to believe some of what we've heard on this and other boards, the AMT Edsel was not exactly a raucous success. I'm just a little concerned that starting out a campaign of completely refurbishing long lusted after old kits could possibly end with a giant thud if this first offering winds up being a bad choice. By the way, a couple of dozen guys posting back forth multiple times on a 337 post thread is not going to make much of a dent in the thousands of units that Round 2 is going to have to sell to make this venture a success. It "could" be an indication of interest, but it might not mean much of anything. I hope everyone is right! I hope they sell a million of them! I just hope that they didn't make a mistake by starting the ball rolling with a Nova wagon, that's all. Steve

I'm happy that everyone is so confident that it will be a smash hit. I'm sure that every other disaster produced by the model companies was destined to be a barn burner too. Nobody produces a kit that they "know" is going to flop, especially these days. Whether or not this particular model will be a success is a complete cr*p shoot, and I think we all know that. Anyone who says that they "know" that this will be successful is talking out of their backside. Round 2 is "hoping" that this offering will be successful, and that's about the best that can be said. Again, I'm hoping that it sells extremely well, because it bodes well for future releases of other models, but not a single one of us can say exactly where this is headed. Steve

That's the question. If this one winds up being a flop, what are the odds that they will make more attempts? Steve

I don't doubt that there are people that will buy it. But will it be enough to justify all of the new tooling? Takes a lot of units to make a profit. Time will tell. Steve