Chris V

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but is that Dave Koffel's "Flintstone Flyer Too" Studebaker Lark?

A stock 1933-41 Willys has never been kitted, but kitbashing will get you a long way. I’d recommend using Revell/Monogram’s “New Tool” gasser as base, adding dash and brightwork parts from the old Revell Stone, Woods and Cook kit, front axle from AMT’s 1933 Willys Coupé/Delivery, the 4-cylinder Willys flathead from AMT’s “Hogans Heroes” Jeep, and the steel wheels from IMC/Union/Testors’ 1946-48 Ford Kits.

As already stated by others, you should generally try to use the same brand/type of clear as the paint itself. However, TS-13 Clear is well known to ruin some decals. If possible try to test on a spare decal from the same kit. Always give the decals ample time (weeks) to fully dry and set before clearcoating them.

Amazing and informative guide to chopping the Oldsmobile in an authentic manner. Thanks!

Amazing project - I’ll be following this one with great interest! I’ve been working on and off on an MPC 1:20 1970 AMX inspired by that very same commercial…

Considering that the tooling banks of each of the four original companies spans an existence of more than than sixty years, there's not much point in comparing kits at "brand-level" - especially considering the numerous ownership/management changes of the brands and tooling. Some molds are old, some are new. Some molds are worn, some are not. All reflect the consumer demand in the time they were designed. In this case the overall best of the bunch is Revell's 1:25 '66 GTO designed in the late nineties, followed by Monogram's 1:24 '64 GTO designed in the mid-eighties, Polar Lights' (Now Round2/AMT) advanced snap-kit 1:25 '64 GTO designed around the millennium and finally AMT's '65 GTO designed in the mid-sixties, which suffers severely from having been altered back and forth over the years. Additionally, AMT had a 1964 GTO Hardtop and Convertible "Annual kit", which were typical of their time in terms of design and detail, but very well proportioned and good looking models. Furthermore MPC had a '66 GTO "Annual" kit (also issued under the Airfix brand in Europe), which was updated into a '67 model. It was recently reissued by Round2, but frankly the tooling is so worn out by now, that it ought to be retired.

The Tempest kits orignally had a V8 with some particularly nice custom valve covers. For those wishing to build a 4-cylinder version, Revell’s Mickey Thompson “Attempt I” streamliner includes two complete supercharged Pontiac fours…

There’s no definitive answer to your question, as they all have their issues. But if the amount of detail straight out of the box is your main priority, go for AMT’s “Pro Shop” issue of their new tool kit: it includes ignition wiring, a photoetched grille, scripts and additional details.

Well that answers the question pretty darn accurately - Thanks Ed! Looks like I'll be buying a Modified Stocker kit, then...

If you want to keep it authentic, remember that the windshields weren't allowed to be tinted per NHRA rules. Usually the side windows were just replaced with colored plexiglass.

Thanks, Mark! Apparently there's no way to build a halfway decent '34 without having to perform major surgery... 😅 If I decide to go on with the project, I'm leaning towards your option #1 (grafting the MPC roof and upper door frames onto the AMT kit and lengthening the filler the trunk and filler panel above it accordingly) I'm currently working on correcting a few of the old Monogram kits so the bodywork will line up properly. This one being my main priority at the moment: https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/203024-monogram-1934-ford/

There seems to be a general consensus that Monogram's classic 1:24 scale 1934 Ford 3W Coupé/Convertible is the most accurate looking model kit representation of a '34 Ford. Lately I've been wondering if anyone has attempted to convert the well detailed "Mueller Era" AMT 1:25 scale 1934 Ford 5W Coupé into a 3W using the roof panel from the AMT (ex. MPC) 1934 Ford "Modified Stocker" kit? I've noticed that the Modified Stocker kit actually includes the top of the doors/side window surrounds, but can anyone tell me how accurate the proportions of the top are - or how much work it'll take to adapt to fit the 5W kit?

Current project: Revell 1940 Ford DeLuxe Coupé kitbash using the 1940 Standard Coupé and ProModeler 1940 DeLuxe Convertible - a pretty straightforward swap so far... The project will likely use a number of parts including the lowered suspension components from the 1937 Ford Pickup 2'n 1 kit.

I’ve seen this question raised a couple of times. There’s not the slightest indication that the upcoming reissue should be any different from the last, which was already absolutely loaded with optional parts from the various different versions of the kit. Considering that Round2 actually went ahead and retooled the missing assymmetrical front extension and hood for the latest reissue of AMT’s 1963 Impala, we can’t completely rule out the small chance that they might actually have retooled the few missing custom parts from the earliest issues of the 1957 Ford. However, it seems highly unlikely that they would do so - only to create a brand new box art featuring a factory stock car. On a side note they’d be very hard pressed to even fit more parts into a standard sized box for the Fairlane.

With the number of 1932 body styles currently available from Revell I don't think there's a viable business case for a complete redesign of the AMT kit bodies. However, given the interchangeability of parts between the AMT 32 Fords, I've previously proposed that Round2 tools up a small plated parts tree with universal parts, including a proper looking dropped front axle with either "hairpins" or "split wishbones", a dropped headlight bar and a selection of taillights including 1939 Ford and 1950 Pontiac. Considering the number of previous reissues, I imagine it would do quite well as a stand alone parts pack as well...