ReduitRetro

Thats a nice one Michelle, glad you were able to get that bumper. Love that color too!

Thats a wild ride!...great job!

I like It!...nice execution of a somewhat ho-hum kit. I have one of these in my collection, and you've given me some great ideas. Great job.

Hello again! This is yet another survivor build from nearly 30 years ago. GM back in the day would occasionally put out particular vehicles to showcase what their gear headed engineers could come up with, and the '93 Silverado 1500 SS-454 pickup was no exception. From a long line of factory "specialty" rides, such as the Buick Grand National and its more sinister version the GNX, the GMC Typhoon and Syclone, and the Chevy Impala SS, these vehicles carved out a special place in the hearts of automotive fans everywhere. Recently this kit has been reintroduced with a few improvements over the older version, but in my opinion totally unnecessary. Built completely box stock at the time, as I felt the kit was just about perfect as it came. Apparently many agreed with me indeed. PS, anyone interested in a closer look at Chevy's rival the Ford F-150 Lightning pictured with the featured truck, please refer to my "Forgettable Muscle" post for details. Thanks for looking.

Back in '97 when the newly redesigned pickups from Ford hit the market, some say they completely caught GM asleep at the wheel. With bold, rounded, but completely recognizable appearance as a Ford product, the trucks took on an even larger appeal to truck buyers, and again helped Ford to stay the number one selling domestic truck in America. This kit was built sometime in '98 over a short stay at home vacation week and was yet another quick easy build to get out of a modeling slump in between projects. I started with the AMT/ERTL Snapfast Plus kit, found a way to give the truck a slight suspension lift, which was interesting because this is a promo style kit that featured all the chassis and suspension details molded in on one slab of plastic. I didn't like the choice of wheels/tires in the kit, so I replaced them with a set from the Revell '97 Ford F-150 XLT Flareside kit instead. Other than those changes, the kit is box stock. Thanks for looking.

Looks good. I have a few models that I too took a compilation of parts from other kits to make my own unique ride.

Yes, you sharp eyed modelers would know this is actually Revell's '99 Silverado kit from way back when, but since I didn't get around to building mine until late 2000, I updated the truck a little. The Silverado when it went to the now proven bullet proof GMT800 platform for the '99 model year, the extended cab model featured here was ONLY available with the curb side right rear door that opened. This of course eventually started the "door wars" of all the pickup manufacturer's at the time, and I believe by the model year 2000, all the major players offered a full 4-door extended cab pickup. I eventually made my model an '02 because that was the last year the Silverado had this front end design, as the '03 introduced what is now known as the "cat eye" Chevy's. This kit indeed had its share of problems when introduced by Revell, but with a little patience and care the model can render a very nice example of a pickup that's still all over the place today. I decided to feature this very old build because rarely do you see this kit built anymore, and if you do, its never usually built box stock. The scribed in the street side left rear door was to bring the model up to the 2000-2002 truck specifications. Thanks for looking.

Yes, you sharp eyed modelers would know this is actually Revell's '99 Silverado kit from way back then, but since I didn't get around to building mine until late 2000, I updated the truck a little. The Silverado when it went to the now proven bullet proof GMT800 platform for the '99 model year, the extended cab version featured here was ONLY available with the curb side rear door that opened. This of course eventually started the "door wars" of all the pickup manufacturers at the time, and I believe by the model year 2000 all the major players offered a full 4-door extended cab pickup. I eventually just made my model an '02 because it was the last year the Silverado had this front end design, as the '03 introduced what is now known in the pickup world as the "cat eye" Chevy's. This kit indeed had its share of problems when introduced by Revell, but with a little patience and care the model can render a very nice example of a pickup that's still all over the place today. I decided to feature this very old build because rarely do you see this kit built anymore, and if you do, its never usually built box stock. Thanks for looking.

Although GM was experimenting with turbocharging a variety of naturally aspirated engines at the time in search of performance, the only two that made it to production was Buick's 231(3.8 litre) V6 developed in the late 70's, and Pontiac's 301(4.9 litre) V8 that showed up in late 1980 to be used in the '81 Firebird Turbo Trans Am. This engine however was exclusive and optional only to the Firebird and was never actually offered in its cousin the Chevy Camaro. I guess someone at Monogram Models back in the day did not get the memo, or was led to believe this version of the Z/28 would make it to production...it indeed did not. The kit however is a nice one though if you're looking for a nice second generation Camaro build. It is however the oddball 1/20th scale, and generally is just a "rebodied" Trans Am kit that Monogram also offered back then. Anyway, thanks for looking!

This kit is another long time survivor in my collection that was also built in the late 90's. Pretty much a straight out of the box build, with the exception of some custom wheels, chrome exhaust tips, and a scratch built tool box. Two tone blue and white exterior paint, with white factory bucket seat interior, 350 V-8 and automatic transmission. I neglected to plumb and wire the engine when I originally built it, something I regret today as I feel the truck deserves it. Anyway, I thought I'd include this old girl among all the absolute fabulous builds I'm seeing on the site lately. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for looking.

Absolutely beautiful! Excellent attention to the weathering details...spot on, great work!

Hello again fellow modelers! I've once again reached back into my old builds and decided to feature this one. This is the original issue kit of Fords F-150 Lightning "muscle truck" that was bought and built in the mid '90's and is another survivor in my collection. The particular kit in my opinion when it was released absolutely nailed the look of the real truck, with the only exception being the wheels and tires (both of which were severely undersized). And although I built this some time ago, I finally got tired of the kits wheels and tires spoiling the look for me. So I went to my spare parts box a couple years ago and found a nice set of custom wheels with performance rubber. While I was at it, I added four wheel disk brakes with painted brake calipers, and corrected the trucks stance by raising the rear slightly for a more aggressive "rake" than what the kit offered stock. Other than those "improvements" the truck is box stock. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look, and any and all comments are greatly appreciated.

Very very NICE!...and I can appreciate the realistic way you routed and "layed" the spark plug wires over the valve covers of the engine, as well as nice detailing throughout! Great job!

Very very nice build! I've got one of these I believe in my stash...looks like I should maybe dig it out and get started on it.

Looks great!

No problem LennyB, I figured it probably was not the "original" issue, but I was more or less talking about it in comparison to the newest release. Thanks for the history lesson though, as it looks like I was around 3 years old when the true original kit was for sale, lol!

Very nice! Love the color!

That looks great! Probably about the nicest execution of a custom build of one of these I've seen in a while.

Extremely nice looking build! I built one years ago, and do not recall the fitment issues you described, so it's probably in relation to the reissued kits. I love the factory "C' stripes and paint color choice as well. I have one of these reissued kits in my collection still sealed, I guess I'd better open the box and peek in for any problems. Again, great job!

Thats a cool looking vintage dragster! The look and execution of the build is spot on as well, great job!

This particular model was built way back in '92, and is among some of the oldest in my collection. I wired and plumbed the engine, scratch built dual sport mirrors, hand painted the tire lettering,(something not required today with all the pad printed offerings), and was my very first model I used Bare Metal foil to replicate the chrome on. This original issue kit has managed to survive all these years because it resides in a large display case to keep dust, pets, kids, and grand kids, at bay. I do have the reissued AMT kit in my stash, and plan to build it soon. As always, thanks for stopping and looking!

Holy BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH that's NICE!!!! Great job!!

That looks good to me...nice! And when it comes to that hood..."It's your thang, do what you wanna do"

Very nice build! looks like you and I were reading from the same book when it came to this particular car for sure! Nice!