Mark

Taillights are different, I believe the rear bumpers in the kits may be different (they aren't on the actual cars, but might be in the kits for some reason). Jo-Han did the promos back in the day, '71 and '72 interiors were the same in those so I'm guessing changes were minimal. The 1:1 '72 midsized GM cars were holdovers; what appeared for '73 were originally set to be the '72s but a strike at GM pushed them back.

Wouldn't be a stretch to swap parts between '71 coupe and '72 convertible kits, to end up with a '71 convertible and '72 coupe.

#2357, from 1966. Second issue. Not simply a reboot of the first issue, like many other Trophy Series kits from around that time. The hardtop was added, and the optional wheels changed from the "1962 Styline spoke wheels" to the chromed/reversed style with the inner wheels serving as the inner portion.

But the Revell kit is a Z-16, only 201 of those were built. Different trim and taillight panel from the more common Malibu, and the frame is slightly different (Z-16 used the convertible frame). Revell would have been wiser to have done a run-of-the-mill Malibu. The interior might be usable if it fits the AMT body.

The ambulances, hearses, and limousines were based on the commercial "chassis" which was wider than that of the passenger cars.

I thought that stretchers were carried, while gurneys have wheels. Could be wrong, though.

They aren't all the same when you take the earliest issues into consideration. When you are talking post-1974 issues, they are for the most part very similar. First issue includes a ton of styling parts, and came in two boxes: small (T-57) and large (T-2257). Same artwork on the outside, same content inside. Second issue added a stock hardtop and changed the custom wheels, but still has the styling parts. Third issue was the Elegance Series in a larger flat box, with a little can of pearlescent spray paint (smaller than the cans AMT sold separately). Molded in red with blue tinted clear parts including headlight lenses. The parts included were only what was needed to build the car as shown on the box, a mildly customized version. Most of these will be missing the can of spray paint. Some eBay liars will claim that their kit doesn't have the paint because "it was sold in California and they didn't allow the paint to be included"...BS. Someone swiped it back in the day to use on something else. Here Comes the Judge was next, the only issue with the drag version and SOHC engine. Next up was the Modern Classic, with only the stock version plus new custom wheels and a set of C3 Corvette side exhausts. Stock engine was not plated as in earlier issues. Molded in either white or black (no way to tell which on a sealed kit). Red taillight lenses were eliminated with this issue. The Vegas TV issue added the continental kit, Ertl later put back the custom roof from the early issues and started plating the engine again, but for the most part the Modern Classic and newer issues are pretty much alike.

Back one of those fastbacks off of the truck for me...

Bumpers are styrene. Acetate bumpers would probably have warped/shrunk during the vacuum medallions (plating) process, as heat is involved. Monogram did plate acetate trim parts for its '55-'56 Cadillac kits. All of those that I have seen were more of a dull silver than bright chrome.

The issue with acetate promos is not that they warp. It's that they warp and shrink, and don't do either uniformly. 999 times out of 1,000, trying to straighten one is a fool's errand. And that 1,000th one is best handled by someone with experience in doing so. And that person will probably suggest that you leave it alone if it is otherwise in good shape.

Silver is tough to get a good match on. You might have to experiment with a couple of different silvers, with different clears over them.

In most cases the same tooling was used to produce promos and kits. There are exceptions, but those were just that, exceptions. Those were probably dictated by larger than usual promo orders, or anticipated demand for kits. It's all guesswork sixty years after the fact. AMT/SMP promos started getting away from warpage prone acetate during the 1961 model year. I don't bother with the acetate promos, so I can't say which ones were produced in what material, or if any were produced in both acetate and Cycolac (styrene promos weren't made until later). I do have a '61 Impala four-door hardtop promo, and I know that one isn't acetate.

I don't have the Mongoose '57 Chevy, but the chassis under that is mid-Eighties Monogram tooling. Unless it's worn out, it should be a pretty easy build out of the box. The ex-Revell kits like the Jungle Jim Camaro are another thing altogether. That one wasn't considered to be very good even when it was new. Some of these things need to be looked at strictly as what they are, nostalgia items and nothing more. As strictly that, they fulfill their purpose and probably 90% of those who bought them are cool with that.

AMT started out in Birmingham, Michigan, and later moved to Troy. The Troy facility was sold to Stanley (tool/garage door hardware company) in 1978 when property values started going up. Everything got moved to a smaller facility they already had in Baltimore, where they had been producing truck kits up until then. Lesney bought AMT around that time. The Troy building was later used by Ford, the first generation "retro" Ford GTs were at least partly assembled there. Not sure who is there now, or even if it still standing.

AMT was heavily tied in with Ford, the kits were AMT. SMP was a separate company but with some investment from AMT. SMP was set up to try to get promo model business from Chevrolet and Chrysler, and had success doing so. Of the 11 1958 "AMT" annual kits, three were SMP (Chevrolet Impala convertible and hardtop, and Imperial which was only sold as a convertible in kit form). The remaining eight (Ford, Edsel, Pontiac, and Buick, all offered as both hardtop and convertible) were AMT. AMT formally bought out SMP in August 1961. A handful of '62 Imperial convertible kits, and a number of '62 Valiant Styline kits, were produced with SMP boxes. '62 Impala kits have license plates with SMP lettering on the plated trees.

And yet I placed an order with Spotlight a week ago today, and it was at my house on Monday. It's hard to wrap your head around how they can do a great job half of the time, and a lousy job the rest of the time.

Kit. A promo would have been assembled by heat staking the interior posts (heating them with an iron until they mushroomed around the interior tabs). It would probably have a metal chassis with no detail, that would probably be attached with metal pins as opposed to screws.

IF the clear piece is correct for (fits) the body, the only issue it could be from would be the mid-Eighties MPC "Duster Street Machine". Though called a Duster, it was still the '75-'76 Dart. MPC had a nasty habit of using that dark tint clear in the early Eighties, in some annual kits as well as reissues like the '67 GTO. But I parted out a few of those "Duster Dart" kits back when they were cheap and easy to get (engine and chassis was carried over from earlier MPC Duster annuals) and don't recall any of mine having tinted windows. I still have a couple of parts kits hanging around, I'll have to check those.

Is it a very dark tint? Someone may have swapped the window unit that came in the kit for one from an Eighties issue MPC kit. Neither of the Round 2 issue kits ('75 or '75) had anything but clear windows. Only one piece per kit, no "choice of clear or tinted clear" as in some other kits.

Looks like AMT. Some of the add-on parts look like they are carried over from the recent Surf Shark version. The AMT version started out as the Ecto 1A (second of the original films). By altering it, Round 2 keeps the Polar Lights version intact. Most offshoot products like video games use the first version vehicle, so keeping that one intact would seem to be the thing to do.

Test first (as with anything you have not tried before), but I'd try acrylic. The solvents in lacquer or enamel are probably mingling with one or more components of the vinyl that the tire is made of.

The original Jo-Han '64 Dodge was a Polara, with side trim. There was also a 1965 reissue which also had the trim. The only difference was that the annual kits had the wedge engine while the '65 reissue (hardtop only, no convertible) had the 426 Hemi. There was also a 98-cent stock-only convertible kit (there may have been a hardtop also) but don't worry about tripping over any of those, they are seldom seen. The Lindberg underbody should fit the Jo-Han body. The rear wheel tubs are wider than stock, and the Lindberg kits have the wrong rear axle for 1964. The Jo-Han glass is thinner than any of the Lindberg parts, and will fit better. I tried the bumpers, I believe they will fit but again the Jo-Han stuff is better.

The Coca-Cola version of the Chevy pickup is molded in red. The Racer's Wedge version is all white. Ironically, the original MPC '71 Wedge kit was molded in red except for the ramp body which was white. So, by combining the two current issues you could piece one together with the same combination of red and white parts as the original.

AMT '65 Olds 88.

Any method of payment that involves gift cards, or PayPal "friends and family" (cheaper/free, but no possibility of a refund) should be a tipoff for anybody. And if you propose a legit payment method, and the "seller" balks at it, there's another red flag.