Chris in Berwyn

Still have my original Gear Hustler box but location of the contents are unknown!

Looks good! I sorta feel like building those is a modeling rite of passage as it is such a classic kit. I should build one. Great color!

Thanks for the compliment. Yes, the taillight decals are on the kit sheet. And he is a good cat!

I think the kits decals are based on the car shown in the first TH pic from this post: That car has the US Navy decals that are on the kit sheet, along with the black patches on the wheel bumps, which are also on the kit sheet. It looks like it has dark blue paint, but I’ve not seen another picture of that version of the TH, so AMT picked a seemingly obscure version to replicate. Why they show black paint on the box art is a good question! I think the purple would look cooler, but I wasn’t trying to build the perfect replica. The cat is named Andy, after Andy Williams, as the cat loves to sing!

I bought this kit about a year ago. I was relocating from San Francisco back east, and figured I could get everything painted, then assemble it while I was in temporary housing. Well, this was not the right kit for that type of build. Turns out, unlike Revell’s funny cars of the era, the front and rear ends of the body contain parts of the front and rear fenders – sort of like someone took a sawzall to the body about 10 real-life inches from the front and rear ends. So you have to glue them on (it’s a butt-joint, so I had to make my own locating tabs) then putty and sand to blend things in. The kit is interesting in several ways. It appears to have been designed based on someone’s memory of what a Mustang II funny car looks like, as opposed to the real thing. The body proportions are a bit off, and the chassis rides too high off the ground. Several parts are undersized. The header tubes are too small a diameter, the fuel tank is too small, the driveshaft is about the same diameter as a piece of thin spaghetti, and the fire extinguishers are tiny. It struck me as a little odd that at the same time Revell was tooling up some really accurate funny cars, AMT was tooling this car and some others in the same series. The model is missing a few key parts that I suspect Larry Fullerton would have found useful. There is no gas pedal, no shifter, no clutch, and just a hand brake. Larry would also be surprised to see a Donovan 417 up front, as he used a 426 Chrysler. I am glad I built it. It is nice to have a Mustang II even if it isn’t quite right. A couple tips a about building it: 1) it will be easiest to decal if you fill in the back window with plastic flush to the rest of the body as the pink decals are part on the body and part on the window. I didn’t do this, so had some gaps to fill where there was no pink. Fortunately I had a bottle of Model Master Acryl Hot Pink Pearl (4640.) It is about a perfect match for the decals. The decals are not pearl, but given how little paint I had to use it doesn’t matter. Also, the dark decals are shown as black on the box, but when you use them, they are really a very dark blue. I had already painted the rear of the car black, so I left it that way. But for touchup work, Model Master Black and Blue Pearl (decanted from a spray can in my case) was the perfect touchup color (again, not enough was used that the pearl makes a difference.) If I build this again, I’d drill locating holes for the spoiler in the body and insert some pins in the spoiler before painting it. I had to trim the tinwork where it butts against the windshield to get it to fit, so be sure to test fit this piece. Lastly, I used a Johan injector scoop as the one in the kit is a bit strangely designed. By the way, for the silver paint, I used Testor’s One Coat Diamond Dust, with one coat clear over the paint and decals. I'd have taken a few more pictures, but as you can see a cat invaded the space where I was taking the pix!

I like these videos but he needs to say "cool" less. A lot less!

The decal choices are hysterical! General Washington with a 13 star flag, General Grant, etc. I was thinking a nice build would be the DOH General Lee with General Grant t-boning into the roof!

Great stuff!! Love these!

I am surprised everyone is surprised about the contents of this kit. AMT/R2 was very straightforward that this was a new body on the Flying Wedge chassis. The only thing that therefore surprised me was the battleship rivets on the wedge. The rest is exactly as they said it would be. We got the exact same thing with the Trojan Horse FC. We got a strange Mustang II body on an odd chassis with bad headers and the wrong engine. But I knew what I was buying and will end up with a shelf model of a Mustang II to go along with a bunch of Revell body FCs.

Great detailing! But before you enter it in a contest, you should swap the headers from side to side - the header you have on the left side belongs on the right, and visa versa. Also, the wrinkle wall shown on the left side should be on the right side. Nice work!

Beautiful work!! And you build so fast! I have a question about weathering the tires. I bought some of the Folk Art gray after you recommended it a few years ago, and have ended up with pretty good results, but I wanted to ask how much you thin it. And do you put on one coat, or multiples? I am using a brush - do you brush it or spray it, and any detail on how you apply it is much appreciated! This build looks great - looking forward to the final touches.

I can't believe I never realized the "recent" Revell FCs are 1/24! I have one I haven't built. No wonder the body is so big!!

Plus the Revell chassis is 1/25 scale. If you want 1/24 the Cop Out or McEwen Chevy may be the only choices.

I am looking forward to getting this kit. The real car does look long and skinny. If the wheelbase is a scale 11 inches short it will be about 0.4 inches too short in scale - a bummer but I can live with it for such a cool car that I never thought I'd see in scale!

While I think the Revellaser is the coolest of the bunch, I'd think twice about getting those decals from Slixx. They cracked like crazy, and Slixx said it was a problem and sent me a few more sets. She (Becky I think) said to use very hot tap water to try and stop the cracking but it didn't really help. i'd go with one of the other two schemes they offer. Chris

Probably the best-ever build of that body! Nice!

And now n Philly!

Since we moved back to Philly after 2+ years on the west coast, Ollie's has arrived. Stopped by the Cherry Hill, NJ one today. Kits were split between a table and the toy aisle. Everything listed above was there except for the LRW double kit, Ivo showboat, Hay T-bird and Surfite I believe. I managed to control myself and pick up just a Slingster, which I will build, and the 55 JukeBox Ford, which I am not sure why I bought! I recall that whenever Revell originally came out with the '66 Chevelle wagon that some of those eventually ended up in Big Lots. Wouldn't be surprised if they think they have way too much inventory they ditch it at Ollie's. They get cash for it now instead of sitting on the inventory for years - perhaps 10,008 Boxsters were expected to sit for way to long!

Really nice, and nice paint! Great grill and headlights decal in that kit!

Regarding the tires, decals do best over a glossy base. I've had the best success sanding the tread for a used look, using testors glosscote on the sidewalls, decaling and the. Testers dullcoat over the whole tire. I've used Future on the sidewalls and dullcoted over that too.

I want to get a 50 - it's really sharp. I don't understand the molded in driveshaft - it's a reversion to the 60s!

Thx. BTW R2 did a new tool 60s Batmobile, NASCAR car of tomorrow, and a few promo-like Camaros and Vettes. They may have done another one or two but I can't recall.

Amazing and fantastic!!!

That is basically completely wrong but thanks for playing.

Thanks Casey. I am going to try just that, and I'm prepared to do some sanding afterwards!!