Snake45

It was a Wildcat. I still have an unbuilt one.

I was about to tell you don't waste your time, just squirt the thing in semigloss black and get on with your life, and then I remembered that quite recently I spent a certain amount of time pimping out the interior of an equally wretched old MPC '69 Camaro. I don't know what drives and compels us to expend precious time and effort on kits that are horrendous backbirths when much, much better kits are readily available, and yet, we do it, don't we? So drive on, and above all, have FUN with it.

Pretty cool, and yes, we need MORE PICTURES!

The JoHan Rambler Americans had a usable straight 6, at least up through the '66 annual. (That kit would eventually become the V8 '69 Scrambler.)

Great paint! What paint is it? Also, I dunno if it's just the lighting or you deliberately accomplished this in some way, but I love how the seats look slightly dirty, like people have actually been sitting on them. Well done! Also, unless you swapped roofs for some reason, that's not a Grand Prix. Looks like it might be one of those AMT Catalina 2+2 bodies. Either way, sweet build!

That poor old Camaro, which seems to be a '67 with a '68-ish grille. What did it do to anyone to deserve that treatment? Fortunately, it looks as though it could be cured completely with a simple blowerectomy.to remove the tumorous growth.

I went back and checked my emails and my last from them is July 7th. Right after I placed that order I thought of three more things I needed and went back in to place another one and bam, they were gone. Just like that.

Dang, you stole my idea! I've had this very thing in my head for about a decade now!

Good info, thanks for sharing!

I too have bleached unapplied decals by putting them on the package tray (rear window) of my car for a few days. Do NOT try this with a built model! As Droogie said, you might be able to unyellow applied decals by putting the model in a window in your house. Never tried this but it might work. It probably won't get hot enough in the house to melt the model, as it will in a closed car, but if the idea bothers you, you could set up a desk fan to blow on the thing continuously. Come to think of it, it might work to leave the model outside on a few sunny days, if there's a place you can do this safe from theft, animals, birds, etc. Can't promise this wouldn't hurt the paint, though.

When I was a kid, EVERYWHERE sold model kits--drugstores, grocery stores, hardware stores, five-and-dimes (the great-granddaddies of today's big box stores), and of course the early discount chains. There were two competing five-and-dimes across the street from each other on the main drag here in Dickburg and each of them had more kits on the shelf (and more DIFFERENT kits) than any modern Hobby Lobby today. Not all that long ago, I bought a bunch of slightly played-with old promos for $20 each at a flea market. The haul included a '66 T-Bird hardtop, '65 Mustang coupe, '65 Bonneville, '67 T-Bird, and '67 Riviera. Oh, and the star of the show, '66 Barracuda. $120 was a lot of money for me at the time, but that is a LOT of great vintage plastic. Some time after that, a mint unbuilt AMT '65 Corvette coupe, new in box, showed up at another local flea market with a $95 price tag on it. I watched it for weeks, and then one day the place had a "30% Off Everything!" sale and I almost sprained my wrist grabbing for my wallet. I still have it, still in the box, unbuilt. Since I've picked up a couple restorable glue bombs since then, I doubt I will ever build it.

Interesting. I was under the impression that the floor pans were primer gray (some possibly in natural fiberglass) but then I've done more research on C2s than C3s. Also, as to the fit and difficulty of assembly of this kit: I built one a while ago and had some frustrations in the front inner fenders area. I forget whether I ended up gluing those into the body and not onto the chassis, or I trimmed some plastic off the edges of them, but I did solve the problem one way or another and then final assembly went fine. I had a similar issue more recently with their '67 Corvette kit.

Not a mistake, just an oddity: The original annual MPC '66 Corvettes were molded in gray, not white. At least the four I have personal knowledge of are, all from different parts of the country (so presumably not all from one odd production lot). I've never seen another MPC or AMT annual of that era that wasn't molded in white. (There might have been some colored JoHan annuals around then, but every one of those I ever bought or saw was also white.)

I forget, did they stop orders right after Memorial Day, or right after 4th of July? I remember it was a couple days after a holiday, and I got in right at the very end. I was hoping for delivery sometime in the spring, but now it looks more like summer--LATE summer or fall. I'll go ahead and plan my spring/summer modeling around other projects. Lord Knows I've got 'em stacked up.

That's about what I use, too. Although I go by what feels right and/or works, and don't pay all that much attention to the actual numbers.

For paint on that thing, use Model Master Nassau Blue lacquer and don't clear-coat or polish it. It'll look perfect.

Revell's '69 COPO Nova. There was no '69 COPO Nova. The MPC '66 and '67 Corvettes had big-block hoods, but small-block engines. The AMT '66 Corvette Coupe kit had an (optional) big block engine, but no big block hood for it. It also had no air cleaner (for the 427), because it wouldn't have fit under the regular small-block hood.

Skynyrd, Simple Man.

One of the better builds of this kit that I've seen! What are the Fugitive decals from? I like those!

What scale? What kit?

Here’s a couple of real simple ones. Sand your tire treads. #280 or #320 sandpaper on a foam-backed sanding block makes quick work of this. If you drill out your exhaust pipes, don’t paint flat black inside the tips. That would indicate a very rich-running engine. Use a medium gray such as Model Master Gunship Gray, or even Dark Gull Gray. For a weathered paint job, I like the Model Master lacquers that are meant to be clearcoated. Without the clearcoat, they have a nice, smooth matte finish that looks like it’s seen several years of rain and sun. A few spots of primer in places where that type of car typically rusts (rocker panels, around rear window, etc.) gets the point across that this is intentional and not just a “bad” paint job. On the rare occasion when I want to portray the chassis of a daily driver, I start with a quantity of Testor Dullcote, then add a tiny bit (a drop or two) of a flat tan and a tiny bit of a light gray. I thin this way down with lacquer thinner and airbrush it on the completed chassis in several light coats, letting the various chassis colors (black or primer, silver exhaust pipes and gas tank, etc.) still show through. (Don't forget the inner sides of the wheels and tires.) When you reach the point where you think, “One more coat should do it,” STOP! You’re there already. You can also “dust” this concoction along the body lower edges behind the wheels.

Early '60s Camaro/Firebird? What, like a '62 or '63?

Great color, and it's right in the neighborhood of genuine '68 Corvette Bronze.

There's a modern (18"?) reinterpretation of these wheels (with lug mounts) in the Revell snapper '57 Chevy, seen here on their '63 Corvette coupe snapper. I thought these wheels were a model fantasy until I recently saw them in an American ad, so apparently they're real. American calls their interpretation "Salt Flat Special." http://www.americanracing.com/wheel/4442/vn471-salt-flat-special

Now THAT's different!