Chris in Berwyn

Yes, there was a Vega/Astre wagon kit that could be built either way. One just sold on eBay in January for $70.95. I found a pic of the box on Pintrest and attached it. My biggest issue with the Mustang II I have is not the lack of alignment pins or tabs - it is the fact that the grill casting also includes part of the hood, leaving a big seam that includes two major dips that must be filled and contoured properly (not to mention that the width of the elevated part of the hood in the center is a slightly different width on the body vs. on the grill casting, making getting it looking good hard.) I am not a mold designer, but if Revell could design a mold, as on their JJ Vega, to have the seam between the grill and body virtually unnoticeable, you would think AMT could have done the same AMT just retooled the grill casting to change the depth of the headlights (and maybe do something to the grill too) so I wish they had gotten the width to match the body when they retooled. The whole idea I had behind building this was to get everything painted so I could assemble it in a hotel room. My wife and I are relocating back east and I will have some evenings in a hotel by myself and I wanted to be able to work on this. At the rate things are going, I don't think that will happen, so work on this will probably resume in 6 weeks or so once we are fully settled in to the new place.

Tim you are right. It's a Donovan. I was thinking the magneto is where it is on a 426 but it's not. This has the vertical ribs and the right valve covers for a Donovan.

I love building funny cars, but wanted something fairly simple that I could build pretty quickly. This kit has a low parts count, will be simple to paint, and is an interesting subject, so it fit the bill. Here are my comments: Pros: Not much flash, the rear slicks are - I think - the same as in the Connie Kalitta Mustang from a few years back, except they are lettered for M&H. The decal sheet will take care of all the paint except the rear panel, which needs to be painted black. That will be pretty simple as it is a separate piece. I will paint the body silver and the rear end black, then glue it together. Cons: The rear of the body is an accurate Mustang II (although not the same shape as the real Trojan Horse.) The front has very wide wheel bumps, and may be a bit tall too. I think it was first issued as the Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull, which was not a real funny car. In general, I don't think AMT put their top designers on this kit. Unlike Johan funnys, which had 1 piece bodies, or Revells, where the front end/grill and rear panels followed the seams of the cars, so there was little evidence they were separate pieces, this kit was designed as if the front had been cut off with a sawzall and a new one put on - see the picture. There is therefore a huge seam across the hood to be filled. And guess what - no alignment tabs, so I glued some in. The engine is a 392, whereas I think the real one was a 426. When you go to glue the block together - no alignment pins! When you go to glue the heads on - no alignment pins! The chassis is molded in halves, each half having half of a crossmember or part of the rollcage. They are hard to get lined up right, because - no alignment pins! You just butt things together and glue. The decals are nice, but the real car looks to be silver, magenta and purple, and the decals are magenta and black (you paint the body silver.) You will also need to fill in the rear and rear side windows and paint them black to match the real car. If I can get the grill properly aligned and the seam filled well, I think I will enjoy building this, but it will not be the "fairly simple" build I had in mind.

Chris, that is a nice build, and nice use of various paints on the engine.

I took a small handful yesterday. At least it will give you a flavor of the show. https://public.fotki.com/beldarc99/nnl-west-2017/

That looks great!!!

Very nice!!!

That is absolutely fantastic!

OK, so how do I apply the MEK - sounds like a brush?? I have used Zinsser Bin Shellac Base Primer to block this sort of thing, but per Tim's point, that is getting more paint on the body, so I would like to try this approach. Thx. Chris

Very nice!!

Looks nice. I paid full price to mine when I came out Wish there were Ollies out west. I stop in when I am in NY state to se my dad but I've not hit the stores when the good stuff is there. Nice work!!

Looks nice. I paid full price to mine when I came out Wish there were Ollies out west. I stop in when I am in NY state to se my dad but I've not hit the stores when the good stuff is there. Nice work!!

I was at a LHS yesterday, and the metal box version of this kit was $60!!!! I haven't looked elsewhere for it, but I won't be getting it at that price! Yikes!

A long time ago, my job was as product manager for d-Con mouse poison, and a couple years after that I build this model for fun. As someone pointed out, this is a really bad sponsor for a truck that has a mouse-motor!! Anyway, this also happens to be a Mike Skinner truck (as is the nice Bayer truck that just got posted) with neon yellow hardware store paint topped with Krylon clear, and the sponsor decals were made by scanning a d-Con box and printing out resized decals. The same company that makes d-Con also makes Lysol, so Lysol gets a shout out too. My model picture taking skills have improved in the years since I took these, but hope you enjoy.

Great!

Really nice! I've had that under construction for years. I should finish it. Are those the Powerslide decals or another set?

I got an email from R2 about this kit today. It's due this month and has a revised headlight area, new front tires, improved decals and pad printed slicks. Wonder what slicks they'll be? The Kalitta FC has printed slicks but don't know if they'd fit under this body. As I recall the roll cage on this model looked odd to me but if it is incorrect it won't matter to m as it'll be hidden even with the body up.

I got an email from R2 about this kit today. It's due this month and has a revised headlight area, new front tires, improved decals and pad printed slicks. Wonder what slicks they'll be? The Kalitta FC has printed slicks but don't know if they'd fit under this body. As I recall the he roll cage on this model look d odd to me but if it is incorrect it won't matter to m as it'll b hidden even with the body up.

This is getting to be an old thread, but I just sprayed some automotivetouchup.com paint on 2 bodies. It seems great, and does not seem too hot. I put it over Duplicolor primer, and kept it light - will apply a 2nd coat when this one gasses out. That said, I sprayed some on the back of an unprimed panel to see what happens - so far, no crazing. I used regular lacquer thinner (being in California, no fancy lacquer thinners are available.) Did it about equal parts thinner and paint and sprayed at 15 psi. The paint was $12 for 2 ounces. Being unthinned, it is a great value - 1 ounce would go long way - 2 ounces will probably do 4-5 bodies!. Honestly I don't think there is necessarily a reason to use this vs. Scale Finishes. I sort of did it for the heck of it. It requires clear coat. Will see how it looks after that.

Aren't there some little l-shaped panels to put in ahead of trapezoid shaped side panels, also I thought the drive shaft slipped into the the mission. If you can zoom in on picture it might help. http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rtqsdwkkkqkqkrdxdffsrgttqwqd,vi/wgqbrtkbkxskwfgrttsxwrqfwtgqb/0/997090/13556979/Side-vi.jpg

Nice decals! I am sure you know this, but I believe that kit has a hemi and not a Boss 429.

What happened to the Chevy wheelstander? Did you finish it? I have this kit too and am thinking of actually building it and getting it off the shelf. Strange how this kit has somewhat crude headers, while the Bounty Hunter Mustang uses the same chassis and engine but has much nicer headers.

The kit engine is a 392, and that engine has the magneto at the rear of the engine. The real car had a 426, which has the magneto or distributor in the front, but I didn't want to go to the trouble of putting a 426 in. The kit has recently come in either Bounty Hunter or Blue Max liveries, and both ran a 426, so the kit isn't truly accurate for either of those cars. The kit also comes as a Hot Rod magazine car, but I believe that is a fictitious car, so any engine would work.

Nice build!

Nice model!