Snake45

Ooooh, Revell '69 Vette is another great idea! I'm pretty sure I have one of those! Thanks much!

Couple years ago I bought this sad unloved AMT '66 Skylark off ePay. It's the 1967-issue "Craftsman" kit, basically an unassembled promo molded in a cool green that's close to the "stock" illustration on the original AMT annual kit box, though not close to any real '66 Buick color. (They had a metallic green that was much darker.) The body stripped down and polished up pretty nice (for some reason, I just always wanted that box-art model). Before polishing, I corrected the body. The AMT kit body rises on the left side in the front fender/door area, which is incorrect. The right side is okay. Here's where the problem is. Here's some in-progress polishing pictures. I gave the chassis a very basic paintjob. Also in this pic is the front seat/console unit. The seatbacks are raked back a bit too far, and the front edge of them isn't right at all, making the whole seat look even MORE slanty. Those seat fronts were attacked with razor saw and bigass file, one of of my favorite modeling tools. MUCH better, dontcha think? Time for a progress check set-together. Not looking TOO horrible. This is pretty much where I am at the moment. This one's now off the Shelf of Doom, where it's been waiting patiently for a couple years. Hope to have more progress pics soon. Thanks for looking!

Oh wouldn't I LOVE to find a JoHan '69 Road Runner molded in orange! Pretty sure I couldn't afford it on eBay these days, though. Believe it or not, I have an old HAWK 1/72 Spitfire model molded in bright orange. And one in dark red. And one in a pretty good representation of SubLime!

Very interesting! I was also thinking of using orange, or maybe a bright red, or even red primer. Maybe I'll do some experiments on the hood, or on the top of the chassis or something.

Just checked...the AMT '70 Camaro IS molded in orange! It's a bit lighter than Hugger Orange (closer to '74 Bright Orange) but I think I can make it do. It's also quite translucent. Maybe black paint on the entire inside would darken it a bit. I'll have to experiment with that.

Very interesting! I bought one of those just for parts but hadn't opened it yet. But you just reminded me, I think maybe the "new" AMT '70.5 Z/28 is in orange, too. THAT would be an excellent candidate for my project. Gonna go check on that right now. Thanks!

I've bought some at club meetings, others at flea markets, still others off eBay. There are always interesting glue bombs on eBay. Just the other month I scored a nice restorable AMT original annual '67 Camaro at an unbelievably reasonable price (less than a new kit at full retail today!).

Very nice, and very real looking. Great color combo. Well done; model on!

Isn't the "Slingshot" pretty much a copy of one of Don Garlits' early cars? And is it oversized? I think I've read that it's closer to 1/20 than 1/24. I know their old hot rod '32 Ford is oversized.

Hi Jeff! I didn't realize that was you! Now I'm REALLY glad I said nice things about your stuff! I have an odd and random assortment of '66 Barracuda stuff. I have one complete, mint AMT kit that I will never build because it gives me too much pleasure as it is, in the box. I have a bare "funny car" body that I hope to build into some kind of early funny, but front-engine, not rear like the kit. I can get everything else I need for that body from Modelhaus but the glass, so I'll be contacting you about glass. And then I have several copies of the repopped HUG kit, at least one of which I plan to make into a (nonstock) street cruiser, so I'll need a full interior for that one. (Will prolly put that on an AMT '69 Cuda chassis). And then there's this one, which I "rescued" from a somewhat distressed promo. Needs some chrome but I can get all the bits n pieces from Modelhaus. Thanks again for doing the Barracuda. I predict this will be a big seller for you!

Yes. Yes you were. You should have SEEN my Monogram P-38, Hawker Hurricane, and FW 190 back in the day!

Turquoise one with T-tops is the full kit MPC. Green solid-roof is the "AMT" snapper obviously based on the same molds. I actually had more fun building the snapper. Thanks for looking.

For a change of pace, now and then I like to polish out the raw plastic of a colorful snapper or distressed promo and finish it off that way. I realize I now have (or shorty will) completed raw projects in Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. I need an orange one to complete my Spectrum Collection. So what kits have been molded in orange? Monogram '69 GTO Judge would be an obvious choice but in 1/24 it would overwhelm the rest of the collection so I need to stay with 1/25. I have the AMT '68 Z/28 but am having a problem with the fact that orange wasn't a factory '68 color. That model would always just look "unfinished" and wrong to me. I have an orange AMT '70 Challenger that so far looks like my best bet. Not a snapper but I can live with it. Am I overlooking some obvious candidate? (Just for illustration of the concept, here's my "Indigo"--Revell '63 Corvette snapper in dark metallic blue:)

Yeah, that's the one. One big deterrent to my building it is that I can't decide which would be less difficult--shooting the high-gloss SubLime and then masking it for the polished NMF, or the other way around. I wouldn't mind the construction, but I'm really dreading that paint job.

Wow, that is FANTASTIC! I didn't realize they had this out yet! In some ways it looks nicer than the original AMT kit! I can vouch for Motor City. I ordered their '68 Torino coupe body a couple years ago. It's so clean you absolutely can't tell it from 1960s kit white styrene, and I recall service being FAST, like in one week or under. I can't say enough good things about them. I have an old Cuda body that needs glass and interior. I wonder if they'll sell me just those parts.

What's wrong with the rear panel on the snapper '74? (I'm no expert on these things.) What's wrong with the rear panel on the snapper '74? (I'm no expert on these things.) What's wrong with the rear panel on the snapper '74? (I'm no expert on these things.) What's wrong with the rear panel on the snapper '74? (I'm no expert on these things.)

Hard to say for sure from that photo but if it's a standard factory paint I'd guess either Rosewood 78 or Castillian Bronze 67. (I just happen to have my color chip book handy. )

I see that Modelhaus has the headlights and a few other goodies for it. If you can find a hood, you're in the resto bidness! Model on!

Here's a pic I found on the net of a '72 headlight bucket. It's a bit different from the '70. This is the unrestored '72 Motown Missile .

I have the body completely polished out now, ready to start foiling. The chassis is finished, the interior is about 80% finished. I should be starting a Workbench thread on it soon.

Those '72-'74 headlight buckets look 100% better than the kit parts, but it looks like the headlights might sit out too far. Or do they really sit back in those buckets a bit, like the real ones?

Perfectly understandable, and I have NO problem with that. I take it into account when I order from them--I don't wait to order until I need something from them "next week" and count on it getting to me by then. I just like to make others aware that Modelhaus orders take longer getting to you than you might be used to from other suppliers.

If that was for me, it'll be the metallic Marimba Red metallic, not the solid red. I already have the solid red '67 and '70 GTOs in my collection, and I'm looking for as much variety in my "every year GTO" set. I was locked into the dark metallic blue, but recently decided that I'd do the '65 in that color. (The '66 will be light yellow, the '68 will be Verdoro Green, the '69 will be Carousel Red, the '71 will be Castillian Bronze, and the '72 will be Julep Green.)

I love "rescue" work, whether I'm doing it or looking at somebody else's, and you did a fine, fine job with this. Model on!

Interesting idea but that's not where I'm going with it. Remember the Vette Van? The "trunk" section I cut out of that to van-ify it will find a good home on that topless '63 body. (Actually, there's going to be a slightly more complicated 3-way parts swap here, but it would take too long to explain.)