Dave Darby

Another gorgeous from me. Superb job.

I doubt you will ever see the missing parts again (Skirts, fins, Vicky roof, etc). The Showboat issue replaced those parts with a straight axle and plastic drag slicks. The Carson top is still in the kit but is modified into a 'landau' half roof. The good news is there are plenty of inexpensive basket case originals on eBay.

Like Ace said. As far as the MEL series engines go, they were only available (the best of my knowledge) in the larger Mercury based Corsair and Citation Edsels. The AMT kit is a Pacer and is powered by a 361 FE series engine.

Great review Casey. One minor niggle. The photo captioned as tires is a repeat of the Moon Disk and dash gauges photo. I definitely need to pick one of these up.

Gorgeous 'Bird! I'm a big fan of the White Lightning Pearl too... I did a 56 for my wife with it.

Supposedly, the square headlights were an option in the original AMT kit and inspired Studebaker to update the 64s accordingly. Can't vouch for that being true but wow what a gorgeous build and beautiful photography. Very very nice And yes the square lights make it a 64.

I have an old MPC 57 I started years ago and it definitely benefits from having the grille opening enlarged to accept the grille from an AMT 53 Vette. Not sure why I never finished it. Maybe because of the crude chassis....

The wheel covers are one area are the old MPC kit is probably the best of all of them, followed by the later Revell/Pro Modeler 58 kit.

Anything Aurora that Moebius has done is new tool. Monogram bought all of Aurora's assets back in the 1970s. There was a train derailment on the way to Morton Grove and a few of the tools were damaged, but more were just plain scrapped. That said, there are still a few of the tools in existence. But Monogram would be the folks to ask. I'm thinking we'd have seen it back by now if the that tool was still around.

Gorgeous!

Not sure what I love more. The build or the photography. Well done on both!

I think maybe the real problem with the headlights is more with the lenses, which, rather than being recessed into the bezel, are large and bulbous. An almost "muffin top" appearance. I think with a black border on the inside of the bezel, and a {slightly} smaller and thinner lens, the headlights would look more like the real car. I'd be tempted to go with some better wheel covers next time too. But again, these are nit picks. The AMT 57 would still be my go-to for a 56-57 Corvette.

Other than a few really minor details, AMT's 1996 tool 57 Corvette is top shelf. I think the headlights are a touch big and the side coves aren't 100 percent accurate. But it certainly beats the Old MPC kit and gives the Monogram kit a really good run for the money too. Especially in the chassis and engine department.

I didn't do a box art build of this particular car for AMT, but it did lead me to building for them. The mid 80s box art for the 56 Ford was horrendous, so I showed them my build and they put me to work building for them for the next 6 years. You'll have to excuse the less than perfect condition of this 28 year old build. I had young kids at the time, and it did do a nose dive off the shelf at one point.

Another winner from your workbench! I'm never disappointed when I open your posts.

Not sure where that thing about the body colored headlight bezels on the 56 came from. Not true. I believe the only difference between 56 and 57 is no Fuel Injection and and a 265 rather than a 283.

Drop dead gorgeous. And that interior is the icing on a beautiful cake. Tell us how you did the wood grain dash and door tops.

I wish they would have restored the old recording console that sat in the bed in the earlier issues of the El Camino. It also originally came with a nice set of Fenton 5 spoked mags. Good to see it back either way.

Way cool.

I've been meaning to do the blue boxtop build for years. Now I'm finding myself wanting to build that one. Rock solid gorgeous! You can totally share that as a Faux-vivor on our Scale Survivors Facebook page if you like.

MPC's 67 Stingray chassis will fit under that AMT body and interior like a glove. L-R Original 1964 issue, 65-67 annual with working springs, and the Streaker Vette/Night Stalker/Sting Ray issues from 1974-1988. (Just like the 64 minus the stock exhaust system.)

Bad to the bone!

Heck yes!

Gary, those builds are treasures! I don't know if you have Facebook or not but we have a group dedicated to old built models called "Scale Survivors". Your builds would definitely be a hit if you care to share them there. I love old survivors!