Snake45

Yup. They obviously used the same masters for both kits.

The '67's finished. Heading over to Under Glass. [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB26_zpsgi4f1ayk.jpg.html][/URL]

Here it is with an MPC '67 “Night Stalker” I Snake-slapped together six or eight years ago, just for a handy comparison of the two. [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB34_zpsqudgeybj.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB31_zpsfhzykc0w.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB32_zpsbmdk49nv.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB33_zpsys7kpebj.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB37_zpsbunywcs7.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB38_zps7dbuanqx.jpg.html][/URL]

I polished the glass (and trimmed it back in the vent window areas—it's too long there and will stick out) and, after removing some of the errant original sillver trim, re-did the window frames with my beloved Silver Sharpie. The body paint was clean and shiny enough I didn't even polish it out, but did touch up a couple bare spots with a black Sharpie (whose purplish tint came in handy here—you can hardly see it unless you know exactly where to look). Painted the grille with a black wash, the “stinger” scoop opening black, the backup light white with Testor White Lightning over that, and the turn signals with orange and TS Amber. I put AMT Parts Pack tires on black-painted Americans from an AMT '63 Vette reissue for a Day Two look. If I didn't have another good '67 AMT body with all emblems intact in the Snakepit, I might have stripped this thing and done a full-tilt resto on it. But for $8 and eight or ten hours of fun time invested, it looks pretty good on my shelf. [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB17_zps4riyf078.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB19_zpsqsbgi5ir.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB23_zpstpcimxb6.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB24_zpsmbbrluiq.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB26_zpsgi4f1ayk.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB29_zpskygxxtej.jpg.html][/URL]

Bought this built original AMT ’67 Vette Coupe at the local toy show in December for the princely sum of $8. Thought that was the deal of the century until I got it home and took a GOOD look at it. Sadly, the body emblems had been sanded off, the rotating headlight doors filled, and the rally wheels weren’t the kit’s own correct ‘67s, but appeared to be ’68-ups from some MPC kit. So it couldn’t be restored as stock (at least not stock out-of-the-box). [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB02_zpsd0vt6cni.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB04_zpscvyrenyp.jpg.html][/URL] Of course, the paint is a nonstock color, too. It’s a very deep purple/plum (which looks black until you set it next to something that's really black), but was so clean and shiny that I decided to just Snake-slap the thing through my resto shop as a cool modified “Day Two” cruiser. Near as I can tell, the paint is a candy red, or maybe a candy grape, over black primer. Here’s what the overspray looks like on the inside of the body. [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB10_zpspllzzrza.jpg.html][/URL] The interior had been hand-brushed in red and flat black. I stripped it with Easy-Off, which took off about 95% of it, but not all. If I could have gotten the seats out, I'd have done the interior in white, but they're molded as part of the bucket in all AMT '63-'67 Coupe kits (and the '63-'64 Roadsters, and as far as I know, in all reissues of the '63 Roadster; they were separate parts in original '65-'67 Roadsters). Original Builder had glued in those goofy X-shaped plastic seat belts, which I can't stand (have you EVER seen seat belts arranged like that in Real Life? Me neither). The left one popped out okay but the right one left notable glue damage. So I just rattlecanned the whole gut with semigloss black and did minimal detailing on the dash and steering wheel and called it done. Pardon the "dandruff"--I didn't realize there was so much sanding dust on it when I took these pics (of course I blew/brushed all that out before final assembly). [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB14_zpsgauebesh.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB11_zpstrzn5aiy.jpg.html][/URL]

I had exactly the same thought.

Could it have been Porsche 904? http://mfpilot.com/model-kits/plastic-models/automobile/porsche-904-arii-1-24-race-car-kit.html

I'm pretty sure I saw a model of that backbirth in the toy aisle at Walmart last week.

There's an ad running on this site now that causes me problems like that, and sometimes kicks me clear out of my browser. It's black with just a "play" button in the middle of it, and it can be seen either at the top or bottom of a page/thread. Fortunately it has an X in the left upper corner so you can click it away, and then things work fine again. It's getting so when I open a thread here, first thing I do is check top and bottom to see if that SOB is there, and if so, I wish it into the cornfield so I can get on with my life.

I'm not always a fan of the particular subject matter, but I DO enjoy seeing these vintage, old-school "box art builds." Well done and model on!

And just since I have the pic on Photobucket, in case anyone has a '68 Cougar FC body and would like to alter the rear wheel openings back to stock shape and size, here's a photo with handy ruler for scale which should be helpful:

Just use a common Revell body and do what you have to do to make it fit and leave the nice AMT body alone. The AMT RS front end is MUCH more accurate than Revell's. Interestingly, most if not all of the real '69 Camaros had stretched wheelbases (and probably bodies). Factory Camaro wheelbase was 108" and I believe most of the funny cars in 1969 were running about 120" wheelbases. The rear axle might have actually been moved rearward a couple inches to accomplish this while leaving the front edge of the rear wheel opening about where it would be on a stock car, with the opening lengthened a bit to the rear. I never saw a '69 Camaro funny with the rear wheel openings radiused like they are on the Funny Hugger body.

I built the Mono 911 and thoroughly enjoyed it. Loved everything about it except the too-small rear tires. I guess I should just replace those.

Did the real ones end up as early funny cars? There were a few of them campaigned. Someone does that body in resin, and there are even decals available.

That "funny business" with the wheel openings looks very much like what they did with the original annual '69 Camaro body, too, and it lives that way to this day as the "Funny Hugger 2" body. Would love to see R2 take that one back to stock, as the RS front end is much more accurate than the one in the Revell Z/28 kits.

I think so. I have the STP set, and can tell you that the body is pretty close to stock, except for the rear wheel openings, which are way oversized.

Two of the absolute best finishes I've ever seen here (or anywhere else) were done by a Russian modeler--the cars were a '70s Corvette and I think a '55 Chevy. They didn't shine at all but the finishes and overall effect were breathtaking and I returned to both threads several times just to admire them. Anyone remember the models I'm talking about?

I think I'd sand the spot flush, mask off the door, and just reshoot the door. Might be your best bet at a fix at this point. Either that, or leave it as it is and say it's a parking lot door ding.....

Half the work of a good finish happens before the paint goes on. And I never count on getting a good finish straight from the can or airbrush (unless I'm doing something in primer), so the other half of a good finish happens after the paint dries.

Is that an M2 diecast '66 Mustang in Emberglow in that pic? I bought one of those at Walmart last year and pimped it out a little. Love that color!

There's a site that has many of the old CM issues available for viewing. I don't have a link but you might be able to find it with some googling. Worse comes to worst, I can scan that article for you, now that Tim has done the hard work and found out exactly what issue it's in. (Might take me a few days to get to it, though.)

Thanks all for the comments and great pics. I'm hoping the paint on my example is usable so I can just pimp-slap the thing out.

I'm doing a '29 with a Studebaker engine out of the AMT '53. I'm doing it as kind of a low-buck high school hot rod. Just another idea....

In my case, it's more the dreading of a paint job, or putting it off as long as possible. Once I've got the paint ON and it's dry, the fun can begin. I will avoid the airbrush corner of the Snakepit for months at a time, simply dreading the task. The funny thing is, once I start using it again, it becomes "no big deal" and I might be over there six or eight times a day airbrushing stuff, and this phase can go on for weeks until the next Hiatus of Dread begins.

Well, kinda sorta. I have several nice models with no body paint at all--I just polished the plastic. I'm particularly proud of some of these. But yeah, the finish of a built model--whether it's show-car shiny or worn and weathered--is probably the first thing that catches my eye. That and overall "sit" and stance. And then wheels/tires. And only then do I start looking at details, if any.