krassandbernie

Steve, your interior just keeps getting better with every post! I love that you kept the back seat as two parts like the 1:1! I have 4 of these '68's..........two of which are just bodies I am restoring; and I figured I would end up just molding the interior parts and possibly the bright work (grille and bumpers) down the line to complete them. If you are still looking to have your interior parts molded I would be willing to work with you. I also have 16+ years in the casting business so you can be rest assured I wouldn't run off with your parts. By the way, do you plan on keeping the door handles and window cranks separate (to be painted and glued on after the door panels are painted); or were you planning on mounting them to the door panels at this time? I offer the door handles and window cranks separately for the custom tuck'n roll interiors I mastered and still offer in resin. I would think we could come up with a decent source for interior door handles and window cranks to be made separate from the door panels and keep with the over all level of detail you've put into this interior so far...............Ed (Drag City Casting).

Steve has only gotten the one side done at this point! LOL! He basically said as much............at least the way I read it.

I think you've out Boyd-ed the Tim here Dennis! He's going to have to tribute your building style next! LOL! It's a killer build and it's not even finished! I can hear Tim Allen grunting already!

Your roadster really looks cool and unique Mike! I can't wait to see the finished photos of it! Btw, I replied to you in our personal conversation over on Facebook...........doesn't look like you've seen it yet.....Ed

Looks great built like this! What kit did the Cragars come from if not this kit? The Firestone tires are a new pad printed tire found in this kit from what I've read; but I don't recall seeing the Cragars in this kit............although I could have just forgotten about them?

Last set of photos.................this is one of Dennis Lacy's latest builds. He swapped the roof from one of my resin bodies he received from me onto an original Revell bodied project he had underway since he liked the textured roof insert so much. Here you can see what it looks like painted.

This is another friend's project using the original Revell Model A coupe body. You can see that he was able to make it fit the Revell '30 Model A sedan fenders by filling in the raised rear wheel wells. I will be offering a Model A coupe body with the rear wheel wells reworked to the stock configuration so you will not have to do it yourself.

Here are a couple of photos of one of my customer's builds. He used the 'sister' kit ('29 roadster) for the donor since they share much of the same tooling.

I am only offering the firewall with the bodies at this time or it will throw off the number of castings per body out of the molds. The roof insert is molded into the roof; not a separate part like originally in the kit. Here you can see more clearly what it looked like when I was doing the master work. This is actually the second time I've molded this body (as is).

It's been posted in the Aftermarket section on the forum by a customer of mine and shown by Dennis Lacy on the forum before. Here are a few photos of it. I removed the door hinges so the body would not tear up the mold faster, filled in the two little holes below the deck lid, cleaned up the gigantic injector pins on the underside of the body and roof, and make a more pleasing 'hot rod' style roof insert with textured detail and piping around the perimeter. While not correct for a stock roof insert, it is still much better than the smooth insert piece Revell tooled up. I also ditched the toy-like firewall in favor of one I modified from a personal project of mine......a widened Monogram Model A firewall. The windshield frame and firewall are included with the coupe body.

Dennis and I should have that covered. He is reworking a Revell Model a coupe body so that the rear wheel wells are stock. I am just waiting for him to put the finishing touches on it and send it out to me to mold. Apparently, it doesn't really interest anyone on this forum that I have been offering an improved casting of the Revell Model A coupe body to date though.

I still offer this teardrop hood for the AMT '63 Ford Galaxie kit. You can send me a PM for more information.

The style that marks this era makes me throw up in my mouth a little; while simultaneously bringing up memories of "Hot Rod Magazine" issues from my prepubescent years! Talk about mixed emotions! LOL! But, your talent and craftsmanship keep me checking up on this thread (like every other model you carefully and meticulously construct!) Please take photos of the finished chassis (once painted and up on the rolling stock) before you mount the body. It's a work of art in and of itself; and many hot rods featured in "Hot Rod" often had a full page or double page spread showing the rolling chassis with the body lifted off as I recall! If I could muster up an '80's build it would have to be a loose replica of the "Lime Fire" deuce roadster. I think that was completed in '87..........in 79 days if I recall correctly.

When I test fit the uptop on the untouched (molded in black) Monogram body it fit a lot better than you show here Dennis. The interior tub was even taped up inside of the body. I know that not every single kit body is going to be exactly the same...........after all, look at all the brand new kits we've opened where one body was warped or spread further apart at the bottom. Either way, it doesn't look like it would take much for even the average modeler to make this uptop work on the Monogram body if there's a slight discrepancy in fit.

It appears to fit fairly well! I put the original master uptop on a black issued Monogram deuce roadster body; and don't see any issues. There's no unsightly gaps along the back edge where it meets the body; and it fits generally the same as the uptop does on the Revell bodies Dennis posted above. At worst you may decide to sand just a smidge off the inside of the top where it wraps around the side of the body; but I'm not convinced this is necessary........just showing you were to look if you think the fit is off a hair.

You are correct, I failed to mention it! LOL! Subconsciously I knew you already corrected this on your '69 Coronet R/T; so it would be a bit redundant to bring it up again! LOL!

I agree with you here; having studied these cars for quite some time.......and the MPC kits. The early production '68 bodies have a more accurate shape to the bottom edge of the rear quarter windows; but it was altered to have that goofy sweeping upward curve by the time they came out with the "Feverbee" funnycar kit; and this change stayed put right on through the '69 and '70 bodies. I believe Steve corrected this to some degree on his '69 Coronet R/T build. One other area that is off on the MPC '68-'69 Coronet bodies is the two little indented 'coves' at the front of the quarter panel. They're too large......or long to be a bit more accurate. I plan on attempting to graft the 'coves' from a Monogram '69 Super bee into a junk '70 Super bee body first to see if I run into any issues with the contour of the surrounding 'sheet metal' before cutting on one of my '68 or '69 MPC bodies. Visually, the 'coves' look about the right size despite the Monogram body being 1/24th scale. Back to the '68 grille...........it is also not set into the opening deep enough compared to the 1:1. There's more 'material' on the inside of the fender/grille opening; where it looks more carved out at the deepest area on the sides on the MPC body instead of having a slight angle inward to meet the grille. Since there already appears to be a slight gap around the sides of the grille a little plastic sheet stock glued and reshaped might be all that is needed here to correct this proportional error.

No problem!

The only way around it is to completely scratch build a new grille by cutting out everything but the outer 'frame', laying the appropriate shaped photo etch screen mesh in place with bracing on the backside, using headlight rings and buckets from another source, and then gluing the R/T emblem from the Revell '68 or '69 Charger (for example) onto the grille if you were sticking with building an R/T instead of a Super bee; which would require further scratch building on the taillight panel. The taillights are actually quite different between the R/T and Super bee in '68; yet look similar.

Looking good so far! Here's the hood I offer in resin that Wayne mentioned earlier. It is molded from one cut out of the "Feverbee" funnycar issue; so the fit is as good if not better than the original kit hood (I used a thin photo etch blade to remove the hood before I molded it); and as Wayne pointed out there are no blower hole cut-out marks on the underside of the hood to contend with on the top surface. The first attached photo is of the kit hood on one of my '68 Coronets.....the rest are of the resin hood I offer for comparison.

I molded these seats from the '72 coupe (MPC) a couple years back for my own personal use; but can easily cast more up. Send me a pm if you are interested. I won't bang you over the head. As you can see, I dig these old MPC annual Vettes too!

I will concede to your view point on the '63 snapper roadster body. I thought the bulges on the fenders looked like they might be the same as the Revell '67 roadster body based solely on photos I found on-line; but have not had the '63 roadster snapper in my hands to compare.......having sold the one I had many years ago. I do agree whole heartedly with your last two comments! LOL!

On another note, I plan on building the Prestige '63 roadsters without messing with it; other than possibly converting one to a 'Day 2' '65 or '66. I've looked at them for enough years that it looks fine (or 'cool') as it is. If there's something off with it I don't care! LOL! The only thing I might look into is utilizing the chrome windshield frame from the Revell '67 roadster; which is also on the parts tree of all of the '67 coupe kits I think............so I should have half a dozen spares to play with for my other roadster kits. I think the height might be a factor; but I haven't measured it yet. My luck it will be the width! LOL!

I agree, the Revell '67 roadster is horrible! The body has a wedge shape to it......getting noticeably more narrow front to back! The back end isn't even as wide as the '67 coupe. I still have plans on converting a '67 coupe into a roadster; but keeping the overall dimensions of the coupe by splicing in the rear deck between the quarter panels. The bulges on the fenders and top of the quarter panels looks odd on the '67 roadster too.........as if a caricature of a Corvette! LOL! I have compared the AMT bodies to the Revell '67 coupe; and if my memory isn't failing me, they're pretty close in overall dimensions. The front fenders just look too long on this '63 snap tite Vette (coupe). When looking at pics on-line of the snap tite '63 roadster I immediately saw the similarities to the Revell '67 roadster..........(goofy shaped bulges on the fenders and quarter panels)......which stands to reason if this '63 coupe and the '67 coupe are similar in tooling.........other than overall length. One thing I noticed after posting these photos above is that the roof on the '63 snap tite coupe is a bit longer; or at least overhangs in the front more to make it appear longer. I think with a little splicing the '63 snap tite coupe can be brought into spec a bit more. And yes, I am real sure that the '63 is too long.......and not a case of the '67 being too short.

I just picked up the red version of this snap tite kit; and at first glance I was quite impressed and pleased with it. The first thing I did was compare it to the Revell '67 Corvette coupe body. They actually appeared to be from the same general tooling. However, I finally figured out what it was that my eyes were telling me was different (besides the obvious yearly changes like the rear window, front fender 'coves', emblems, etc.).............the darn thing is LONGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come'oooooonnnnnnnnnnn!!!!! It looks like the majority of the increased length is in the front wheel well, but it's also a little bit longer in the doors and behind the rear wheel wells. Here I was thinking it would be a direct swap for the '67 chassis and even the hood if I wanted to build a Day 2 car. I haven't studied the bodies any more than this quick once-over; but I'm hoping I can determine how to correct the '63 coupe body now.