DJMar

Really great job on a great kit! She looks awesome. The red on red is very tasty. I'm just a little biased as the '62 is one of my favorite Vettes. BTW, where did you get the top?

Yes, please!

The Revell '65 Stepside kit (the Hemi Hydro boat verison, and the later "Trucks" reissue) comes with a period correct, frame mounted hitch. In the kits without the boat & trailer, it's not listed in the instructions, but it's on the sprues. Just another option, someone might have that part floating around.

Great concept. I really dig the dragster wheel and milk bottle shifter. I also didn't realize the Brain Freeze cone had a brain in it, I thought it was just pink sherbet!

As for the pic...

Those seem to be the wheels (and tires) from the Aluma Coupe BUT... AMT also had a set of similar wheels in the late 80s/early 90s reissue of their 40 Ford coupe. Kit #8056. This kit also came with some modern seats and an updated digital dashboard. I have a set of these wheels in the stash, and they all have they same offset, as well as fit the AMT Goodyear Eagles that were all the rage back then.

Just FYI - I'm pretty sure I'm one of the very few that is waiting for the release of the Starlet SE, but PlazaJapan has an expected date of 27 June on their website.

Nice choice on the mirrors. The original AMT kits did include this style of the stock mirror, but the R2 reissue does not, unfortunately. Good to know they're available for 3D printing. Re: the grille. There is a difference between the two stacks. The upper lens is the headlights, with the high/low beams mounted next to each other, while the lower lens covers the parking/running/signal lights, which are amber bulbs behind the clear covers. The lens pattern is different between the two, and it's especially noticeable close up. This is an area where the grille in the original AMT kit is more accurate, as the engraving has a different pattern for each set of lenses. It's subtle, but it's there. The "new & improved" grille in the R2 reboot misses the mark, giving you the exact same lens covers for both sets of lights. IMHO, your solution for this works just fine. For reference, here's 2 examples from the 1991 Chevy truck brochure:

I'm just going by memory here, but I think there were complaints about the A pillars being 1) too thick and 2) laid back too far, which throws off the height of the roof and side window openings. I do know that there are definite shape issues with the big block valve covers in the initial Lindberg releases. Not sure if those were corrected in later reissues. Also, there are some glitches in final assembly that make it difficult to get the body over the chassis/interior. I'm sure others with more A-body experience will chime in with any other bugaboos.

Wow, she looks great! The gray with the red wheels is always a good call.

She's a beauty! I love the color combo. The subtle weathering/detailing on the engine is awesome.

The C1500 Sportside kit that you're basing your build on is a 2wd, standard 1/2 ton. The 3/1 rear leafs on those trucks were almost flat with the weight of the truck and nothing in the bed. AMT probably replicated the sit of the springs when they did the measuring for this model. It's mostly correct. You're trying to build a K-series (4wd), and those rear leafs have more arch for tire & ground clearance.

Those tires look MUCH better than what came in the kit.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-margie/1183264881/in/photostream/ https://www.dodgegarage.com/news/article/racing/2025/02/jim-dunn-drag-racing-legend-part-2.html https://www.draglist.com/2018/08/05/photo-review-1995-us-nats/ https://www.nhra.com/news/2021/tokyo-love-story-how-kenji-okazaki-made-nhra-history

Honda hasn't released a whole bunch of info about the new Prelude since the press announcement back in December. Here's a Carscoops piece from last month revealing a bit more: https://www.carscoops.com/2025/04/honda-reveals-2026-prelude-coupes-interior/

The '32 Ford used in the film was a steel-bodied project rod that the production crew found on a used car lot (ahhh, the early 70s). It had the cowl vent in place.

The AMT SnapFast Plus (and the assembled dealer promos) of the C/K 1500 extended cab trucks had the proper trim molded on the cab. The C/K 3500 series dually kits (and promos) do not have the side trim, which is prototypically correct. You can try to recreate the trim with styrene strip, but it is a multi-grooved shape and will take a bit of work to get it correct. Another option, and one that I have tried, is to make a mold of the side trim from one of the standard cab kits out of RTV silicone, and then cast the trim pieces in 5 minute epoxy. The trim pieces will be fragile and a bit fiddly, but they can be glued onto the body with more epoxy or superglue. You'll need cut & paste a few pieces to make up the correct length, but this might be less work than making the trim by hand. Of course, you can always start over with the proper snap kit or promo cab. The promos are all over eBay and are cheaper than the SnapFast kit, if that helps.

The black and gold Border Patrol emblem on the Gofer sheet isn't one I've seen used as a door flash on vehicles from the early 80s to the early 90s. It's hard to tell if the Gofer decal is black or dark blue, but it is clearly missing the text around the gold ring. The "correct" emblem looked like this: InQuarters has 1:43 and 1:64 versions of the above on their website, but nothing in the larger scales.

Yeah, the Aerodynic style light bar from the Tamiya Celica Supra kit will certainly work. It's more detailed. The lenses are clear, which means you can tint them in whatever color(s) you need. The lenses also assemble in a manner that is much more prototypical than the AMT bar. The center speaker housing has grille detail molded in, which is nice. However, the chrome piece replicating the rotators on the Tamiya kit isn't accurate - but then again, neither is the AMT piece. Either bar will be passable with a little work. I think there might be more folks with some of the older AMT Monaco kits sitting around versus the Tamiya kit, if one was looking to find just the bar instead of buying a whole kit. Both lightbars are roughly the same width - the AMT (1:25) is 53mm and the Tamiya (1:24) is 56mm - and should fit on the roof of the ST Blazer just fine. Here's a link to some more info on the Aerodynic: https://code3garage.com/federal-signal-aerodynic-aerotwinsonic-lightbar/

The old AMT Monaco (TJ Hooker/Batman/Jokermobile) kits had a Federal Aerodynic type bar in them, and they came with 2 piece lenses in both red & blue. I've also seen a few Aerodynic type bars on eBay that are 3D printed. (Just fyi, the recent re-release of the Monaco in CHP markings has a Twinsonic bar, not the Aerodynic.)

UV cured inkjet ink isn't new, as already pointed out. Personally, I have my doubts about using this tech to replicate the things in 1:24/25 scale that were mentioned in the OP, but that's a discussion for another time. It's certainly an interesting leap forward in home printing, so the video is posted below for those interested. !! Spoiler alert !! The Eufy printer in the vid is not actually available yet. The project is being crowdfunded via Kickstarter.

Yes and yes to all of the above. If the paint is still fresh (for enamel paint, a few days old) oven cleaner will definitely make quick work of it. Even moreso if you didn't use a lacquer primer underneath. Super Clean also works really well, and it also comes in an aerosol if you don't have a container available for soaking.

Sweet! Really nice build. IMHO, Bittersweet is one of the best colors for this car, especially with a white interior.

Yup, that's the old Monogram mold, first released in the late 70s IIRC.