Snake45

At this point, I thought maybe you were building a 1/4 scale milk crate!

I thought it was pretty decent for the price, and it didn't need much Snake-Fu at all.

Yeah, that thread is EXCELLENT discussion of what's wrong with that body. Some discussion on HOW to fix it, but so far, no one has actually tried AFAIK. About a month ago, I dug one of these out, determined to Snake-slap it together regardless of the inaccuracies just to get it on the shelf. After an evening of studying the body (and its weak panel lines, among other flaws), I put it back in the box. It would take just TOO much time and work to get even a marginally acceptable result. I got other stuff to do.

How about methylene chloride?

Now I am sad. I just got a '69 Javelin promo in a beautiful turquoise, very restorable except it's missing both A-pillars. They look pretty easy to scratchbuild, but.... Now I am sad.

But it might reappear someday, The Good Lord Willing and the creek don't rise....

Very clean work! Especially considering you had to make it out of three bad ones. I still have the one I built in 1968. I should dig that thing out and restore it sometime.

Good for you! That's what I call GITTIN' STUFF DONE!

No, it's awful. It was poorly converted from the fairly decent '68 Firebird and they left half the job undone. The whole basic shape of the sides is wrong, and this can't be easily fixed. But if you want a '69 Firebird, it's the only game in town, and the only one that has EVER been. Sadly. If you're just in the mood to build a 1st Gen Firebird, get the Revell '68, which is a darn fine kit.

Common Testor "little bottle" orange is very close to Chevy Engine Orange. I'm not 100% sure they were still using that in 1972, or if everything had been switched over to Chevy Engine Red by that time. (CER was used on ALL 396-427-454 engines during this timeframe.) Testor Model Master had Chevy Engine Red in both enamel and acrylic.

I plan to take a lot of measurements with a dial caliper before I cut. I don't know if it will work or not, but I suspect I can make it work.

Agree completely. And the same is true of polishing out the paint.

So basically the Revell Snapper. I like those a LOT. In fact, I think they (and their '67 Coupe kit, but not the roadster) have the most accurate 1/25 C2 bodies ever made.

Wow! In that pic, the Revell diecast looks closer to the Palmer kit (which I happen to have one of) than the AMT. Even after Snake-Fu, mine might end up in the box of toys for my grandsons to play with when they come. Or maybe to sit on my workbench as a "sacrificial lamb" for their visits (a strategy I've found worthwhile).

Haven't done it but I want to try grafting the front end of the Revell '55 onto the AMT '55 2DS, because the more I work with the AMT body, the worse the whole front end looks to me. I just haven't yet run across a Revell glue bomb to experiment with, or for that matter a cheap unbuilt kit. The rest of the AMT body looks okay to me.

I got curious about what might have been on the doors of the Revell. Google found me this: https://www.ebay.com/p/1501602761?iid=263283374798&chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=263283374798&targetid=857442850066&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=1018611&poi=&campaignid=8086082777&mkgroupid=86287201382&rlsatarget=pla-857442850066&abcId=1139466&merchantid=101742706&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlcHl5MGS5wIVQP7jBx2xoA65EAQYByABEgKL4_D_BwE Which looks exactly like mine in every other respect. I found other issues of the Revell diecast for sale for as much as $40 (definitely not worth that). I forgot to take "Before" pics of the thing, so you'll have to take my word for how lame it was to start, but the ePay pics will give you some idea.

Last night I scored an original (Trophy series, Tiger box) AMT '65 GTO, started kit, might have some minor body damage but all the chrome bits seem to be present and unused (most of the chrome is still on the sprue). I'm given to understand that the rear chrome panel and taillights were more accurate on the promos and original issues; I KNOW the original headlights are vastly superior to any of the reissues. I'm interested to see what the original rear end looks like. When I get the thing I'll post some pics. Maybe someone here who has the capability to do resin could make a few copies of these parts, if they're better than what's available now. I'd be willing to lend the parts out for duplication to a trusted board member, and I KNOW there is some interest here in such parts--I think a dozen sets could be moved very easily.

I've only used Molotow on small areas such as window trim and bumper corner touchup, so can't compare perfectly to these bumpers, but I'd say the Molotow is definitely "chromier" in shine and reflectance. Same goes for properly applied Alclad, which I've never used but have seen very nice results of. The Foil seems to be more durable/handle-able than Molotow. I was surprised at how well it held up to handling when I did the black-wash. I'd have expected Molotow to show some wear or damage from this. The Krylon Foil's high points are, it's relatively cheap, relatively available (I think I got it at Hobby Lobby), and easy to use. It's not a replacement for replating or well-done Alclad, but for many jobs (such as a quick, inexpensive glue bomb resto/rescue) it seems like a good fit. In my case, it did EXACTLY what I wanted it to do and even exceeded my expectations.

Dunno. The promo parts I shot were VERY shiny. They might have had the clear coat on them but in my experience lye (Easy Off/Super Clean) will remove that and both these parts spent a week in Super Clean. I didn't notice any clear buildup or yellowing on them, but as I said, the plastic was VERY shiny. I should also point out that these 1967 promos MIGHT not have been styrene. I think some promos were made of something stronger, like Cycloac, and these MIGHT have been that. I'd urge everyone to experiment on the exact plastic you want to "plate." I didn't prime these parts because I suspected that surface smoothness might be an issue. If I'd used a (flat) primer, I might have had to shoot two or more coats, which might have obscured detail. I DID test the stuff on the underside of the promo's interior to make sure it wouldn't eat the plastic. It looked pretty good there, so I just drove on. You might want to do your own tests with glossy primers and so forth. All I can tell you is what I did and show you how it worked. I'm sure there are other ways to use this product. What I did produced good results for what I wanted to do--better than I expected, if the truth were known.

I haven't had much luck with debonding chemicals and haven't fooled with any for a while. I get stuff apart by prying, cutting with Xacto or razor saw, or, in extreme cases, grinding with a Dremel.

Oh you KNOW I am down with this topic! I've got three of them on the bench even as we speak, and two more lined up right after that. As JJ said, it's more fun to bring some old crock back from the dead than to work with the finest new kit on the market (which dozens of others are working on at the same time). In many cases it's the only way to get a rare old model, or at least one you can afford. In other cases it's just fun to take some old unloved cast-off piece of junk and see if you can with minimal effort make it acceptably good to sit on your shelf. Glue bombs forever!

So More On Trivia predicted correctly. (Let's see who gets that.)

Here's a tutorial I wrote on the subject. The Photobucket pics are now hard to see, but maybe you can still get the idea.

Too bad we're not neighbors. I love doing body prep work, but hate to paint!

Got the black-wash and black detailing done on three promos I'm restoring, two '67 Impalas and a '65 Chevelle. There was a lot of fiddly work to do and it took a lot longer than I thought. While I had the black paint and the brushes out, I also black-washed two diecasts slated for upcoming Snake-Fu work, a '63 Vette and a Porsche 356. My original plan for the weekend was to get at least one of the Impalas finished, and hopefully both of them. Didn't happen. My kid and my grandson came over for a nice visit yesterday afternoon, and then I got all involved with the '65 Chevelle promo I just got and let it cut to the front of the line, so I didn't get any of them finished. But I've got all three nicely positioned to drag across the finish line next weekend, or maybe even this week. It's all about moving forward! (And staying off the Shelf of Doom!)