ReduitRetro

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!

Holy Cow!! Now that's a lot of work ...great job!

Great looking Barracuda! I've been on the fence about purchasing this kit for years, I think your build has convinced me to go ahead and bite! Nice!

When I built this kit, I wanted it to represent something that could be seen at just about any local car show, drive in restaurant, or cruise night anywhere in America. Model features a wired and plumbed 383 Magnum 4-barrel V-8, along with a set of parts box supplied Cragar wheels, and Firestone Wide Oval tires. Otherwise, it was a straight forward build. Hope you enjoy, and as always thanks for looking.

Thats a nice clean build there, Great job!

Thanks vamach1 for your kind words, and you're absolutely correct in what you said. I have noticed that these large car subscription builds have definitely become more detailed right out of the box when compared to this one, so maybe someone somewhere is indeed listening. Case in point I'm currently building the 1/8 scale Fanhome Knight Rider, and it is far more detailed for sure! It's one of the few releases that now have operational interior lights when doors are opened, as well as back lit dash gauges and remote-controlled features so you don't have to remove the model from a display case to show them.

This build was completed about 2 years ago, but I never got around to uploading the pictures to the site. This is Agora Models rendition of DeAgostini Collections 1/8 scale Shelby Mustang. It indeed was nice to build, but in my opinion lacked detail in so many area's that could've easily been better represented in the kit, especially at the price point they were asking. So I set out to correct and embellish what I could to make the model better overall. Now, I know this particular model was of the actual vehicle that Carroll Shelby himself drove to test a new tire that was being offered by Goodyear at the time, at top speed right here in San Angelo, Texas back in '67 at the then new Goodyear Tire Testing facility, which is still in use today actually. I wanted the white over black interior for my car, so I used white automotive interior paint to replicate the look, I just thought it was visually more appealing. Next, the engine had basic kit detail at best, consisting of spark plug wiring, incorrect oil line routing, and one odd heater hose...nothing else! So I added spark plug boots to the wires, added wire holders to the tops of the valve covers, and used the correct 427 V8 firing order to attach them to the scratch built spark plugs. I added a fuel pump, fuel line and filter, as well as a power steering and engine oil dipsticks. Correctly ran the remote oil lines to the oil filter and cooler, and added the heater hoses. Also, ran battery cables, including the starter relay to engine starter, along with carb linkage and spring, and assorted vacuum lines. I replaced the kit supplied 'Kelsey Hayes" Shelby 10 spoke wheels and skinny tires, for the much better looking Shelby "Mag Stars" on wider Goodyear raised white letter performance tires to top off the look. Detail painting brought out the window and door seals, which really added realism to the model when displayed with doors open, as well as the black painted under hood and trunk surfaces. The kit also features an operating fold down rear seat, working head and tail lights, brake lights brighten when brake pedal is pushed, as well as an operating horn, and engine noises when accelerator pedal is pushed...a little corny to me, but oh well. Anyway, thanks for looking, and any comments would be greatly appreciated. Until next time, happy modelling!

I built this kit well over 40 years ago, and boy does it bring back memories. Its getting real hard to find good examples to buy of this old kit for sure. I did manage to find a good MPC Ford Econoline 'Sunrunner" kit a few years ago, I hope to build it soon.

Nothing better than a rough and rowdy old Dodge pickup!

Yes, we all get in a building slump from time to time, and in my case there are several builds on my workbench that have gotten so involved, that I just had to take a break. So, I went to my extensive collection and for some reason this one peaked my interest. I originally built this MPC kit in its original form "Bad Company" some 40 years ago, and the memories of doing so helped me want to build this one. First off, those of you who are familiar with this kit know that the hood is molded closed, so as a result MPC at the time severely simplified and deleted much of the under hood detail as it wouldn't be seen due to the extremely short hood these vans had anyway. I first cut open the hood, scratch built the under hood engine bay area that was completely non-existent in the kit, went to my parts box and scavenged a battery and windshield washer container, radiator fan shroud, and 7-blade heavy duty cooling fan, scratch built an upper radiator hose and a fresh air intake tube for the air cleaner assembly, as well as adding a power steering pump and belt, along with adding painted on wiring and electrical component detail to the firewall. The interior was built straight out the box with the exception of replacing the kit supplied steering wheel with a more sporty one. Dodge van's of this era were of unibody construction, and had no actual separate frame to speak of as in offerings from Ford and Chevy, but had a welded on steel front subframe to support the engine and front suspension,(replicated in black in the underbody picture). To round out the look I was going for, I raised the rear suspension to give the van a more vintage rake and stance, and once again raided my parts box for wheel's and tires, as well as a pair of sport mirrors for the exterior to get rid of the kit supplied "west coast" style in the kit. All in all, I think it turned out okay, and will definitely help get me out of my current slump. Hope you all like it, and thanks for looking.