Snake45

I'm not sure a new build from this kit would be THAT big a challenge. I don't think the guy who built this one was a master modeler, and HE got it together--with the doors working, no less. A few more pieces than the typical AMTVell kit, maybe, but it looks like everything fits pretty well. The real challenge in this one was getting it apart, then getting the windshield out and polishing it on the inside, all without breaking it. I'd happily take on a build of this from a mint kit.

Does anyone repro the JoHan '69 GTX grille? Because we need it for, y'know, the AMT '69 GTX.

Very clean! Nicely done!

Now that's pretty cool! I like it!

I got this at an estate sale in the early ‘90s among a dozen or so other goodies from the ‘80s-early ‘90s. I assume it’s the Monogram reissue of the ancient Aurora kit. It's been in a box in the depths of the Snakepit ever since, never seeing the light of day. Recently got in the mood to dig it out and restore it. I thought all it would need was cleaning, some detailing, and maybe a coat of hand-brushed Future for a little shine. A detailed look at it told a different story. For example, look at the “Before” pics below. What’s the first thing you see? I’ll bet you said the glue smear on the windshield. And it’s on the INSIDE, too. [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/AstonMartin02_zpselwlnlfg.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/AstonMartin03_zpshur9niuy.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/AstonMartin04_zpsmtleym9b.jpg.html][/URL] So the thing had to come apart. Disassembly was definitely the most difficult step of this resto. First off, the body’s front and rear pans have to be installed AFTER the chassis is in place, so I had to carefully remove those. And then I couldn’t figure out how to get the body off. It didn’t seem to be glued anywhere I could see (the body sides could be pulled away from the chassis), and yet it wouldn’t budge at all. I finally figured out that it was glued at the firewall/dashboard, and was able to get a tool in through the hood opening and pry that joint loose. That done, I carefully persuaded the windshield (which had been installed with tube glue) to turn loose, and was then able to even more carefully polish out the glue booger. I was lucky this was built with ‘80s-‘90s “safe” tube glue—the old ‘60s stuff would have penetrated the clear plastic and ruined it to the core. This glass was also noticeably thinner than typical model car glass, too, just to make it even more challenging. But as you’ll see, I was able to get it all out of there. I reinstalled the windshield with Tacky Glue. I decided the body paint wasn’t worth trying to improve, even with Future, so just left it alone (apart from a good soapwater cleaning). Reassembly was almost as difficult as disassembly. I discovered that these old Aurora kits (or at least this one) are so brilliantly engineered that they fit together like a Chinese puzzle (or a Ruger .22 automatic pistol)—there’s only ONE way to do it right, and it might take you some time to find it, but when you do, everything just clicks right into place and no glue is needed to hold it all together. Body back on chassis, I reinstalled the front and rear pans and bumpers with Tacky Glue (the bumpers mainly hide the joints), then blackwashed the grille and touched up the painted taillights. Done! The opening doors even work on this one, and pretty well, too. At some point I might get in the mood to completely disassemble the thing and strip the body, do the necessary bodywork (mold line removal and sinkhole filling), and repaint it, but for the moment, I’m happy to have it back in shelfworthy shape. [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/AstonMartin08_zpsielkszai.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/AstonMartin09_zpsqz0xtups.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/AstonMartin10_zps2bjsua1a.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/AstonMartin12_zpsj4eiakvm.jpg.html][/URL]

I could swear I recently saw a '74 GTO or conversion pieces on some resincaster site very recently, but I might be mistaken, it might have been '72. It was SOMETHING of the sort that interested me. ETA: I think this might have been what I saw. Possibly your closest starting point. http://www.rocketfin.com/resin_product.cfm?id=2450

I was just about to ask if that was 999 Orange. Been thinking of doing a Road Runner in that color.

I feel your pain. Even as we speak, I'm "restoring" a previously built one (HT). After stripping it, I'm polishing the black plastic and of course came up against this inaccurate seam. I think I've figured out a way to fill it, leaving the joint virtually invisible in the polished black plastic. So far so good. If it all works out as planned, I'll be posting a tips/tutorial here soon, and "Under Glass" pics too. Fingers crossed!

That was my impression too.

Sweet! I have the one I built as a kid (most of it anyway, including the complete body and interior), two eBay glue bombs, and one complete unbuilt Street Shark. I'm gonna restore my old one curbside/slammer style, and between the other three, I'm pretty sure I have enough good parts to make one good "stock" Mako Shark with enough left over to do a street one. Planning to do a what-if or phantom as if the MS had actually become the '68-'72 Corvette.

Different, subtle, interesting! Nice to see one built without that ill-fitting AMT kit flip front end.

I was wondering the same thing. And it looks more Zinger than Hot Wheels to me, but what do I know?

Very interesting. I've never heard that SSs got the fake chrome vents, but supposedly all Rally Sports should have had them because the RS option included Style Trim Group. I once owned a '69 SS/RS and of course it had all the chrome trim, which I didn't particularly care for (and eventually had removed). My car was that light metallic blue with a white painted top--no question about its originality--but I read in some reference somewhere that painted tops weren't available on SS (I don't remember where I read it) but obviously at least one was. If you're talking about removing the wheel moldings on the Revell body, I've done two of them now (i.e., eight moldings removed) and it's a tedious task, no fun at all. The proximity to the body line is the problem. I found the best way was to carefully scrape them away with the point of an Xacto (a curved blade might have worked even better), rather than try to sand or file them off. (I apologize to the OP, as none of this has much if anything to do with his build.)

Yup. Your friend's car is exactly the way the Revell body is molded. Drive on!

Looks great. Yours looks a bit "bluer" than a paint job I did with that paint. But I left mine flat as a worn finish, yours is glossy--maybe that's where the "depth" comes from.

Hard to tell for certain from the first photo, but it looks like your friend's car follows exactly the (incorrect) Revell kit body: It's got the Style Trim Group chome moldings around the wheel openings (and side windows), but is missing the chrome trim on the fake vents ahead of the rear wheels. So you got THAT goin' for ya!

Another of the Glue Bomb Saviors heard from!

Nice clean build! What paint is that blue? It looks good!

You don't go looking for glue bombs on eBay. You go looking for the make and model and year of car you want, and the gluebombs (and clean builtups and big-$ mint unbuilts) will find you.

Very, very nice indeed! I hereby proclaim you an official member of the Glue Bomb Saviors, a club I just this minute invented!

Just to try to drift back on topic, how about a Goat Glue Bomb? Before: After:

I had to give up the bars in 1984.

How about in the soup? 'Cause, you know, that could actually rock.

I'm not a fan of Cadillacs, '40s cars in general, Foose, or Coddington. So why does this thing actually look kind of cool and interesting to me?

Nothing here I really need. I already have at least two of those H-19 choppers stacked up in the Snakepit. That old Renwal Sherman tank might be fun, if I run across one locally. I've never built a Renwal kit, and would like to give one a go.