Mark

The first AMT Ford Econoline kit was the "Vantom" which was issued in 1976. It includes stock parts. There was no 1976 annual kit. The only annual was the '77 Cruising Van which can only be built as the stock "factory customized" Ford van. The Cruising Van does not include stock wheel covers. The later Six-Wheel and "Matilda" (movie tie-in) issues include all of the stock parts except for tires, though the parts aren't used in those issues and aren't shown on the instruction sheets. The kits that don't include stock exterior trim parts are the Disco Van, Cuckoo Nest, and Hyper Hut. The stock grille, bumpers, and wheels for the Econoline kits were on the plated tree. With custom parts substituted, there was nothing left on the stock plated tree that was needed to build the custom vans so that tree was left out. The AMT Chevy vans had a number of engine parts on the plated tree (unlike the Fords). The tree with the engine parts had to be left in the custom Chevy kits, so all of the Chevies had stock bumpers and wheels. (As an aside, that tree was left unplated in the first issue A-Team van kit.) As for the MPC Fords, the 4 x 4 was issued first and can only be built as a 4 x 4 as illustrated on the box. Those were molded in red and white, I have one of each color. There were several two wheel drive MPC issues. All of those have stock parts, but most have pre-cut custom porthole window openings on the quarter panels. MPC #1-0439 "Juke Box" (molded in black) issued in 1980 is the only 2wd issue I know of that does not have the portholes. There is also a "Sorcerer" (molded in white) and "Sunrunner" (molded in yellow), and there may be others.

For sheet plastic, look up "plastics" in the business section of the phone directory. If you have a plastics supplier/fabricator in your area, often you can buy their "cutoffs" (surplus/waste pieces from signs or other jobs). This material is sold by the pound, and you can pick and choose only from what they have. I have found sheet styrene in thicknesses ranging from .030" to 1/8". Even though these pieces are "scrap", they are usually way larger than anything you find in the hobby shops. I haven't bought any in a couple years (probably have too much already) but last time I checked, the price hadn't changed: $1.50 per pound, buy five pounds and get five free (which translates to $7.50 plus sales tax for ten pounds). If you can scrounge that much, ten pounds is a lot of plastic. I still buy Evergreen or Plastruct styrene rod, tubing, channel and other shapes, but not sheet material unless I don't have the thickness I need (which is never). I've still got a lot of .020" cutoff material from my vacuforming days. For inexpensive molded styrene nuts, bolts, and rivets, you can't beat Tichy Train Group...good quantity in each package for not a lot of money. Some packages even instruct you about the diameter drill to use to drill holes to accept the molded shank of the detail piece so you can insert them and cement them in from the back side.

Actually, the last bunch of AMT kits turned up in closeout stores because of two things: (1) Wal-Mart got out of carrying model kits, and (2) probably in part due to (1), RC2 decided to shut down AMT and quit the (in their words) "automotive collectibles" market in favor of toys. To clear the warehouse to make way for toys, and without WM to sell the kits to, they wound up at closeout stores along with the remaining WM stock. Though the more rabid model car guys won't want a(nother) 300, issuing it now makes sense. Revell still has a 300 out there, so someone is buying them. Sometimes we forget that there are a lot of model car builders/buyers out there who don't buy model magazines or aftermarket stuff, and aren't connected with the "model car community" at large. They just buy a kit and stick the thing together every so often. They've been the ones buying the Chrysler 300s, Cadillac Escalades, '66 Mustang coupes, and AMT '64 Impalas. A guy I knew who operated a hobby shop (since closed) told me he could never get enough of the latter two kits. He'd order twice as many as he really wanted, the wholesaler would send him half as many as he really wanted, he'd put them on the shelf, and within a day or two he'd be cleaned out of them. Every year, I look at the upcoming releases that have been announced, and shrug my shoulders at half of the stuff. But hopefully, the manufacturers do well with those items that I couldn't care less about, and they'll take some of that money and invest it in something that I would want...

For a trailer frame, 2" x 2" square tubing should be just fine. In 1/25 scale, this would translate to .080" square strip. For an older drag car frame using rectangular tubing, 2" x 3" was often used, which translates to .080" x .125". If you are building frame rails that kick up at the front and/or rear, consider using .080" thick sheet plastic. You would then cut the rails out as one piece with the kickups built in, which would save time and save a lot of angle cuts. The leftover pieces could be cut into .125" strips and used to build crossmembers, traction bars, etc. To build two matching rails, cut the two pieces out, tack them together in a few spots (not too many) with super glue, then finish shaping them while they are together. When you are done filing them to shape, separate the two pieces with a single-edge razor blade and scrape/sand off the glue. A trailer frame would normally be built to allow for a flat floor, so you don't need to worry about kickups. Straight strip material should work for that. For a trailer axle (or a drag car straight tubular axle), don't use styrene rod. Instead, use 3/32" styrene tube with .039" music wire inside. The styrene rod will sag or bend under the weight of a finished model (even a trailer). The music wire, though difficult to cut, will not bend. If you use regular model kit wheel backs that are made for the usual model kit wire axles, you will have to plug the axle holes and redrill them smaller for the music wire. Don't use larger styrene tube with a regular model kit wire axle inside unless you are constructing a trailer to haul a car on. In that case, you'd probably use larger styrene channel or I-beam to build the trailer frame too.

Ollie's has been in my area (western NY) for three or four years now. The only times they have had model kits was two years ago (a few months after Wal-Mart cleared out their model kits) and last fall (when Testors got out of marketing kits under their name). The Wal-Mart clearout consisted of mostly AMT stuff like the WM-specific "Street, Strip, and Show" (or whatever they called it) series. I picked up a couple of the '65 Fairlane Modified Stocker kits (lots of parts in those that aren't shown on the box or in the instructions) and the ex-MPC dirt track cars (called a '36 Chevy on the box, but with a '34 Ford coupe inside). The Testors clearout included their diecast kits as well as the plastic Dodge Charger kits. With model kits having been pushed off of department store shelves, and supply adjusted to meet demand, it's unlikely that you'll see too many of them in closeout stores again. On the flip side, I have seen Duplicolor automotive touch-up sprays there from time to time. Most recently (a couple of months ago) they were $.59 per can. No primers, the most popular colors were probably picked over, but I have found ones there that I liked. Those unassembled "collectibles display cases" turn up there every so often, and I have also found closeout artists' supplies like paint brushes there too. It's worth stopping in every so often, and you should sign up for the e-mail flyers.

If you have the set of CAR MODEL magazines that contains the series of articles written by Jim Keeler, you could build a Dodge Fever. The first one was built for a CAR MODEL contest involving the '68 Coronet kit. Jim built a second one (not sure which year body he used, '68 or '69) and photographed the building process step-by-step for the series of articles. The chassis was built like an Indy Car "aluminum tub" with sheet plastic overlaid with thin aluminum with rivet detail that was pressed in. Two engines were built; the first with a Revell Parts Pack engine (which can be found in the Miss Deal Studebaker kit), the second used a Jo-Han single-piece engine block from an Olds 442 kit. The body was cut down from a stock MPC annual kit body. If you go through the articles, you can probably get the vast majority of parts from reissues of the kits originally used. The AMT/MPC '70 Coronet body could be used if a junker '68 or '69 body can't be found. A few loosely copied versions turn up in later issues of CAR MODEL, but to my knowledge nobody has attempted to build a Dodge Fever recently. As an aside, does anyone else see the resemblance between the Dodge Fevers and the AMT Digger 'Cuda (first issued in 1970)?

I don't remember any GTO funny car, but there was a David Pearson NASCAR '71 GTO. The body in that kit was molded in clear to show how incorrect the chassis was (rear axle had leaf springs, needed to be coils on a GM intermediate). MPC also made George Montgomery's '69 Mustang gasser (the Mr. Gasket car). I've got a Gunze Sangyo High-Tech Isetta kit with a clear body. Gunze didn't mold it that way to show the detail, though. The builder is supposed to paint the body leaving the molded-in glass areas clear. One other clear-body kit, probably the easiest to find one out there, is the AMT Don Garlits Wynn's Jammer. The Stevens International generic reissue does not have the body molded in clear, but all of the Garlits issues (of which there were several) do have a clear body and oil pan.

Parting out newer kits works out only when you are able to sell all of the subassemblies. One eBay seller was doing that with the Revell new-tool Willys coupe kits. He'd sell the body and trim pieces, the engine, the bare chassis, and the wheels and tires as assemblies. He did pretty well because the slot car guys would bid the body package up to near the price of a complete kit. He did this with both the gasser and street machine versions. I did the same with a couple of the street machines. I wanted the chassis for other projects; it's got a decent frame, Mustang II front suspension, and 392 Hemi engine with nice block-hugger headers. I picked up a couple of untouched kits at automotive flea markets or toy shows for $7-$8 apiece. After selling the bodies and related trim pieces at NNL East for $7 each, I basically got a couple of free chassis. On the flip side, at the Three Rivers show I bought a few kits from someone who was using the bodies to make slot cars. For $4 apiece I got an AMT Resto Rods '66 Nova, AMT '71 Duster (should have bought the other one!) and a Model King issue '70-1/2 Z/28. I wanted the Resto Rod wheels, tires, and seats from the Nova. Now that I think of it, I might just use the whole chassis under a '65 Nova AWB body after moving the rear wheel openings on the body back to stock. The Duster chassis pan gets set aside for a Richard Petty Barracuda, with the 340 engine being set aside to upgrade the AMT Dodge Kit Car roundy-round car. I don't have specific plans for the Camaro parts, but did want a Camaro front subframe, engine, and wheels for different things. The Model King issue decals are there to be used to upgrade an original issue kit. For some reason the hood wasn't taken from the kit, and I was looking for one of those too. One other kit I bought was a '66 Fairlane 427, the one with the bench seats. I've got a model of my first car ('66 two-door sedan) around here somewhere, the new chassis will be an upgrade over the original and will let me scratch the single exhaust system that my car had. So, parting kits out can work for buyers and sellers. I seldom sell parted-out kits and don't part out older stuff. When I do sell something that's missing parts though, I advise potential buyers, as do the guys who set up with me.

The Digger 'Cuda is fictional, created by AMT to share the chassis from the Tommy Ivo dragster kit. This kit was announced before Don Garlits built his mid engine (everyone calls them "rear engine") dragster, so it's not something that was created because the chassis was obsolete. Anyway, there are some little "tab" pieces included, to be glued to the inside of the body so that the upper half can be removed and set back on. I don't care for the separation line running down the lower third of the body side, so mine will be glued together, molded, then cut apart at the lower edge. That is, once I figure out what to do with the steering linkage...

As an aside, the Chitwood Camaro (and Hell Drivers Mustang II) kits I have seen have the "thrill show ramps" made of printed cardboard, as opposed to the detailed styrene ramps in the '49 Ford, '49 Mercury, and '50 Ford Convertible kits.

Which '40 Ford? Don't forget the two-door sedan, and the sedan delivery. I've seen coupes molded in black, white, blue, and gray. I have sedan kits molded in black (original issue), maroon (Lesney/Matchbox issue), tan (AMT/Ertl), gray (Millennium), and have had them in white also. The original issue sedan delivery (derived from the coupe kit) was molded in yellow and white, with AMT/Ertl issues being molded in gray.

I have used Chrome-Tech exclusively for plating resin parts over the last twenty years or so. I've always been satisfied with the results. Sometimes a few parts are unusable due to dirt or other contaminants in the plating, but that happens with ordinary styrene parts from time to time also. I stopped using mold release on castings that are scheduled for plating (actually, I no longer use it at all, having replaced the silicone "greasy kid stuff" with ordinary baby powder bought at the "dollar store"). No more having to wash the mold release off of the parts. I do plan to try Little Motor Kar one of these days, but that is not a reflection on Chrome Tech's service or the quality of their work.

Which hardness? I'm guessing either 60 or 70, leaning towards 70

It has the same parts as other issues since the late Seventies, possibly with a few parts from earlier issues if the tool has been "unblocked". It won't have the optional wheels or slicks from the early issues, though.

Ignore that last sentence...after looking at the '65 hardtop kit, it is apparent that much of the engine and chassis is shared with the '66. The parts trees look a bit different because they are arranged and cut differently to fit in a normal-size kit box. The '65 kits came in much larger boxes. --Mark

Picked one up today, it looks pretty good. The only real knock I can come up with involves the chassis. The front 1/3 of the floorpan area on the chassis is open, with the bottom of the interior floor serving as the floorpan in that area. However, the interior floor has no engraved detail or shape in that area; it is just flat except for the tunnel. It makes for quite a contrast with the portion of the floorpan that is molded as part of the chassis. The width of the driveline tunnel doesn't match up well between the two sections either. By the way, this kit looks to be all-nerw tooling, not derived from the '65 kits. --Mark

Monogram offered two Kurtis-Kraft midget kits. The large one, often called the PC-1 kit (Plastic Car #1, first plastic Monogram car kit) is about 1/18 scale. At the height of the slot car craze, Monogram made a 1/24 scale slot midget. The body from the slot car was also offered as a shelf model, with no engine detail and a driver to fill the space in the cockpit over the area where the slot car's motor would be. The newly announced kit appears to be all-new however, with full interior and engine detail.

Probably just the hood stripe, license plates, and radio face (the newer '70-'71-'72 kits include the '70 ZR-1, which wasn't available with a radio). There were no AMT '71 annual Corvette kits; the '70 coupe and roadster were sold unchanged for '71. Same deal with the original AMT '70-1/2 Camaro. --Mark

Those are from an MPC Vega kit. All of the annual kits (1971-77) had them. MPC offered the kit as a "Chevy Hatchback" (Monza S) for 1978; I'd bet that one has those wheels too. --Mark

The Torino was updated and sold as a 1969 model (along with the other AMT 1969 model kits). It was issued as the Cobra "coupe". But the roof was a separate glue-on piece with vinyl roof texture, and the convertible boot was still included. --Mark

what i find interesting and a bit amusing is how the rear window is the largest one in the whole car Dave The rear window is so large because it's stock size. The curved rear glass couldn't be cut, so the glass and its opening were cut free and fitted back to the body intact. As for the chop itself, the side window openings look "funny", the door windows in particular. The openings seem to rise at the top going from front to back, reaching a high point at the B-pillar, then drop off again towards the rear. I'm not sure whether to re-chop the top or to just cut the window opening areas out, fix them, and graft them back in. --Mark

Never heard of this one! My guess is that it was a handout item at one of the World's Fairs in the Sixties. One year (I believe it was '62) the handout was (or included) some unique decals. I've got a couple sets of the decals, but I've never heard of, or seen, the key. I couldn't guess at the time frame, but if I had to, I'd say it was done after Budd Anderson left AMT in mid-'64. After his departure AMT did run some comic book ads with a cartoon "Kat from AMT" that resembled the key. But there were little figures included in AMT kits that resembled the "kat" before that, so who knows. Nice find!

John: Only the issue with the metallic blue Impala on the box is 100% stock. The current "Rides" issue looks like it is based on the stock version, but it will not have stock wheels. If you can scrounge stock Rally wheels (or resin wheel covers from the annual kits) a stock SS looks do-able. --Mark