pack rat

It's do-able Ron....go for it. A tip re the hood..if you have a 67/68 annual hood in your stash, it's the very same part used on the Mach 1

Some MPC/Canada info: When George Toteff left AMT to start MPC , he opened (or was involved in opening) a tool & die shop in Windsor, Ontario to produce the tooling for MPC kits, as well as do work for others; this was noted in Terry Jessee's (excellent!) book Hot Rod Model Kits. I don't know if any actual production kits were produced in Canada, but the tooling certainly was. In the early days of MPC, kits purchased in Canada were ink-stamped indicating French instructions were included, and there was also a sticker on the box indicating the kit was a Craft Master product (well-known for their puzzles/games at the time). Upon opening the box, French AND English instruction sheets were found, both labeled as being produced by Craft Master in Strathroy, Ontario. Following the above logic, the kit pictured below would have been tooled in Canada, the box (and the kit?) probably produced in Mount Clemens (note the Made and Litho in USA label), then the kit/box was shipped to Canada to be packaged with appropriate bilingual markings. Long before reading Terry's book, I heard stories about the tool and die shop in Windsor, mainly involving guys dumpster-diving after hours in search of test shots. I've seen a few test shots around here over the years that allegedly came from the Windsor facility, but not just MPC stuff. I've seen 80's-90's-era Revell-Monogram and AMT-Ertl as well. My favorite though was an AMT '70 Torino test shot that was allegedly found above a false ceiling after the business closed. Coincidentally, a relative of mine in the Windsor area met a retired gentleman about 10-12 years ago who knew he was into model cars. He introduced himself as having owned a tool and die shop in Windsor that did model car work until it closed. We visited him briefly and he told us he would have us visit again when he cleaned out his (recently flooded) basement as it was full of stuff from his model-tool-producing days. Unfortunately, that day never came. He did, however visit my relative a few weeks later, and gave him a couple of MPC promos including an assembled 74-ish Firebird test shot....he pointed out the interior to him and stated "I remember doing that upholstery". The above doesn't shed much light on the original question above, but it's interesting nonetheless. If anyone has more knowledge on the subject, feel free to add/correct the above.

Thanks The roof scoop is just that...a scoop. It's the scoop from the kit; later issues of the kit call it a hood scoop, but in the original issue it was meant to go right where you see it. I didn't want o/s mirrors; disturbs the smooth look (it's a showboat after all) , and they would have fallen off a dozen times by now. The license plate?.....I thought of that too late when I did the bodywork. I should have cut a shadow-box style mount into the trunklid.

Yes it is

Dusting off some old kits and decided to take some fresh pics of an old favorite. Years ago, after looking through some vintage Rod & Custom mags, and inspired by customs like the Alexander Brothers' Golden Indian, I dug up an old '58 Impala that I had built as a 1/4 miler and decided to do my own 60's-style radical custom. Just some scrap plastic, a whole bunch of putty, (I had to repair the hogged-out rear wheel openings as well) and parts from at least a dozen kits in there somewhere-all vintage (I believe the newest parts are the '67 Camaro custom bucket seats). The only thing that takes it out of the 60's is the Bare Metal foil. The paint is good old Testors sapphire blue (my first airbrush paint job ever). It's strictly a shelf model; it rides on an old wire-axle annual chassis and is powered by an early-60's AMT Pontiac 389 with no wiring, plumbing etc. It looks better in the pics than it does in person; the paint is so-so, some of the bodywork has distorted with age, and if I did it over again I would try to come up with a better front end treatment, and a less-severe top chop (I took a little too much off of the A-pillars). I had a lot of fun with it though......enough that I decided to paint a Revell Harley as a companion piece.

Just curious...which release did you buy? RC2 (top) or Round2 (bottom)

You're not kidding! That '66 GTO was (seemingly) hopeless! My hat is off to you.

My 2 cents on this kit. As most of us know, this was one of the so-called "Mueller-era" kits that was first issued by Ertl in the '90's, with a level of detail that was light years ahead of the old Bonneville annual. It wasn't engineered to fit any sort of existing '61 chassis, Ventura or otherwise (?). I built a display model for Round2 back when the Beswick kit was released. Of all the "new-tool" AMT kits I've built in the last few years this one was my favorite; I was really impressed with the level of detail (this thing even has "T3" engraving on the headlight lenses!), ease of assembly (the slicks are a tight fit though), and finished appearance. I have to confess, I never broke out a ruler to see if it looked right.....I just looked at it. Yes, the PG2 is the same kit in a new package, and some may not like it......to each his own. Yes I know, Beswick fans....the color is way off.

The '62 Catalina and Bonneville were on the same wheelbase? News to me.

If a re-issue ever happened, it would be the Iron Horse version

I originally built this AMT Mach 1 back in the 70's. For years I've wanted to do a proper job on it; it deserved better than the simple silver(?) and flat black paint and quickie-build. I didn't want to get bogged down adding details being as the kit is basically a '66 Mustang annual with a different body and simplified interior. It's tough to match the paint of the 1:1 with so few decent pics out there, so I just went with something I liked; Tamiya pink primer followed by TS-18, then TS-74, and finally Testors Ultra Gloss clear. The tires are MPC hollow Firestones (from a Wilhelm's Wonder kit I believe). I added some detail with a gold Sharpie; the results are so-so, and not very durable. I'll probably replace them with a set of pad-printed Firestone big 'n littles some day soon. Didn't turn out as nice as I envisioned, but not too bad.

Beautiful work! A Little Rod (and a Little Drag) have been on my to-do list for years. For me, the toughest part of the Little Rod is the high top, and you nailed it. The faux store displays are just icing on the cake. I can't wait to see your Little Drag and Tub.

I tossed the idea around, but I really think the car looks much better without it. I have another light blue one on the to-do pile that will get black stripes to match a 1:1 that I remember admiring years ago....if I ever get around to it.

Another one finished. I picked up this damaged promo a few years ago. If you don't mind simple curbside builds these things are a great way to fill holes in the collection without breaking the bank. This one had damage to the roof and drip rails on both sides. After performing the required body work, I modified the chassis to improve the stance, swapped the skinny tires for some old AMT Polyglas, then the rest was just painting/detailing.

Th '63 Willard Battery Indy roadster had them (in "big and little" form) as well. Believe it or not, the same tires also appeared in at least some (maybe all) of the 1968 Mustang Mach 1 concept kits; at least they did in the two I have. I don't know what happened there.

#1 is from an MPC '70 or '71 Challenger annual (some were molded in purple both years) #2 is a rear body panel from a Ford J-car (looks like IMC, but mine is buried presently. could be MPC?) #3 looks like a custom front end from the original AMT '62 Bonneville HT #4 is the rear interior filler-piece for the AMT '40 Ford sedan delivery

The original Polyglas Gasser was a MODIFIED reissue of the annual Bonneville hardtop. The radical Styline custom parts from the original hardtop annual were not included in the Gasser; it only contained the milder custom bits as found in the Bonneville convertible annual. Here is a stock Polyglas Gasser, built basically out-of-the-box with the exception (ironically) of the Polyglas tires.

Yep...I just checked my kit. The instruction sheet calls them "Cal Road Runners". A Google search turned up nothing.

FYI...to anyone out there who wants to clone an early Hot Wheels car in 1/25 scale, they're perfect. Yea, I know....useless info....but I had fun with it.

I can assure you Round2 (unlike RC2) knows exactly what is in the box. There might be the odd leftover part found on a sprue from an older issue that doesn't apply to any of their building versions, but they know its in there.

Kits, maybe. Tooling, no

Beautiful build, Steve.

That empty section at the bottom left is the where the custom grille/headlight guard was. It was in the original AMT '67 and the MPC '68, but I don't know if any later issues included the piece. If you Google the MPC '68 it is pictured on the box top illustration.

#1 looks so close to the AMT Model T/Fruitwagon etc wheels that I'm thinking it must be AMT. The Monogram T-Bird wheels are more shallow and not as well-detailed. Yes, #2 was in the '64 GTO too (don't know about the Lemans convertible).

#1 looks familiar but I can't place it; I'm thinking AMT #2 is an AMT Terra-thrust from the'64 Galaxie, and probably other AMT kits of that era. #3 is found in the re-issued Johan '63 Fury, not sure what the original annual contained. #4...?